He spoke into her ear. “You told me you love me, you’d always love me, and that you even love my demon… which would have been really sweet if you weren’t bent over the toilet with vomit in your hair.”

She groaned. “I can’t listen to anymore. Leave me to sleep.” Instead, she was gently rolled onto her back. And there he was, fully dressed, looming over her on all fours.

“You’ve been asleep for seven hours.” It was a long time, for a demon. Considering she’d been absolutely smashed last night, Knox figured that she should, by all rights, look a mess. She just looked sleepy and flushed. “I’d kiss you if I didn’t think you’d taste like a bag of fries.” She’d brushed her teeth before bed, almost poking herself in the eye in the process, but still…

“Good call.”

“I might have let you sleep a little longer, but I have news that you should hear. Carla’s awake.”

It was more of a relief than Harper had anticipated it would be. “You need to visit her,” she said, understanding the next expected step. Carla was one of his demons; he was responsible for her. As Prime, he would – at the very least – need to pay her a courtesy visit. And as co-Prime, Harper would be expected to do the same. Shit.

“Yes, but you don’t have to come along if you don’t want to. Honestly, I’d much rather you didn’t.” The woman had hurt his mate enough. It was possible that, like Roan, she blamed Harper for what she’d endured. If that was the case and Carla felt the need to hurl accusations at her, she’d then hurt Harper once again.

“I know I should go with you. Part of me wants to. But it doesn’t feel right to go there.” It was Carla’s home; her sanctuary and safe place. Harper was far from her favorite person, so it would feel like she was intruding on that. “I’m not welcome in that house.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“If she asks to see me, I’ll visit her.” It was doubtful that Carla would want that, however.

Knox rubbed his nose against hers. “Okay, baby.”

“You’re relieved I’m not going with you,” she sensed.

“Yes, I am.”

It was only then that she noticed he was wearing the same shirt and pants he’d worn the day before. “Have you been up all night?”

“Yes. I had a lot of work to do. Speaking of work… why did you close early yesterday?”

She smoothed her hands over his blue shirt. “Raini pointed out that demons would be curious about my reaction to what happened to Carla. People rarely approach me. But if they were sitting in my chair, they’d use the opportunity to – under the pretense of being friendly – ask me questions. So we all agreed we’d close the studio for a few days. I’m not happy about it, but I can’t argue with Raini’s logic.”

Knox was glad she hadn’t. “You working on the new studio again today?”

“Yes.” She had nothing else to do anyway. “First, I need coffee, breakfast, and a shower… and not necessarily in that order.”

Two hours later, they were both ready to leave and Knox walked her to the foyer with his arm around her waist. “I’m glad you’ll be at the new studio today. Crow will have a hard time getting to you there.”

“It’s not me he’s after. He’ll probably be in a panic after he was almost tracked. He might strike at you. I know you want him to do that so you can grab him but… just be careful, okay?”

“I will if you will,” said Knox, helping her slip on her jacket.

Flicking her hair out of her collar, Harper grabbed the lapels of his suit jacket and kissed him. “Then it looks like we’ll both be fine.”

They then parted ways; she slid into the Audi, and Knox hopped into the Bentley.

“Where to?” asked Levi as he put the car in gear.

Knox fixed his cuffs. “Carla’s house.”

Soon enough, they were driving into a small cul-de-sac. The children playing in the road quickly moved onto the sidewalk; the ones from his lair quieted at the sight of the Bentley. Levi parked outside the semi-detached suburban house that Carla and Bray had lived in since their sons were young boys.

“I’ll be no more than ten minutes,” Knox told Levi. “Wait here.” Exiting the car, he nodded at the demons from his Force who were parked behind them, watching over Carla. As he strolled up the path, he noticed Delia peeking out of the venetian blinds of the neighboring house. Before Knox could even press the doorbell, the door opened.

“Knox,” said Bray a little stiffly. “I’m guessing you’re here to see Carla. Come in.” Bray guided him through the house into the kitchen. “Would you like a drink?”

“No, thank you.”

Bray quickly prepared one for Carla and then led Knox out of the patio doors. The decking boards creaked beneath Knox’s feet as he walked with Bray to the table in the middle of the backyard. Feet tucked underneath her, Carla sat on a wrought iron chair with her face angled to the sun, seeming to bask in the warmth. She looked tired yet serene. Personally, Knox didn’t know how she could look so relaxed while those damn wind chimes were clinking together and pop music was filtering through a neighbor’s window.

Bray handed her a glass. “Here’s your ice tea.” He then fussed with the umbrella attached to the table, trying to put her in the shade.