“Or maybe it’s because of you, Kendra.” Knox crushed the orb of hellfire in his hand. “Maybe it’s because you despise her for having everything you wanted.”

Kendra laughed. “You think I’m jealous that she had Lucian Wallis for a father?”

“You speak of him with such contempt,” observed Keenan. “Yet, you’re trying to find him. Why?”

“I want to confront him. I want to tell him what a bastard he is for leaving my mother so broken that she turned to alcohol for a comfort that it was never going to give her.”

“One way to strike out at him would be through the daughter he acknowledges – the only person he has any real regard for,” Keenan pointed out.

“I don’t want him to hurt because she’s hurt. I want him to hurt because the truth hurts. He needs to hear the truth of what he did to my mother.”

“Maybe that’s true,” said Knox. “But not for one second do I believe that you don’t hate my Harper with a passion.”

“Your Harper?” Her upper lip curled as bitterness wafted from her. “So you are fucking her. I wonder how long it will be before your demon tires of this one. I suppose it won’t be long, since she’s an imp and a W—”

With a snarl, his demon shot to the surface. “I thought you value your life,” it said.

She shrank in her seat, eyes wide. “I – I do.”

The demon had no pity. “Never insult what belongs to me.”

“I’m sorry,” she whimpered.

Knox resurfaced, but she didn’t calm – most likely due to the fury thickening the air and making the floor tremble. “Hear me when I say that if I discover you had anything to do with the attacks on Harper, I will destroy you, Kendra. Not fast. But slowly. Very, very slowly. The pain will be far worse than you can ever imagine. So agonizing that you’ll beg for death. But I wouldn’t give it to you. No, because that would be merciful. And we both know I’m a cruel, ruthless bastard. You might be a nightmare by breed, Kendra, but I’m everybody’s fucking nightmare.”

She licked her lips. “It wasn’t me, I swear it wasn’t me.”

“Then you’ll get to live the life you claim to value. If not, you die.”

Who would ever need so many clothes?

Wrapped in the softest towel ever, Harper puffed out a long breath as she browsed through the things in the huge closet, forcing herself not to check the price tags. The clothes ranged from casual stuff to evening dresses. The lingerie in the drawers were all pretty raunchy, as were the sheer, scraps of lace she was assuming were nightgowns.

Hearing footsteps, she turned to see Knox striding into the room. “Well?”

He fingered her wet locks. “Kendra claims it wasn’t her. Unsurprisingly. She says she met with someone who could give her Lucian’s current location. Apparently, she wishes to confront him.”

That didn’t sound good. “Do you think she means to hurt him?”

“Physically? I don’t believe so.”

“She’ll get a shock if she does. He’s got abilities that freak even me out. And I have eyes that frequently change color – there aren’t much stuff weirder than that.”

Knox looked into eyes that were presently mercury. “Do you get that from Lucian?”

“Nope. I don’t know if it’s a trait that’s in the genes somewhere or just a real freaky defect.”

Knox nipped at her bottom lip. “They’re not freaky or a defect. They’re unique, just like you.” He smiled at her mumbled ‘Whatever.’ “Feeling better?”

“Yes, actually.” Her eyes sharpened. “In fact, you look tenser than I was. I guess it’s always a shitty thing to have to interrogate a member of your own lair. What?” He had the oddest look on his face.

“You referred to the lair as mine.”

She gave him a pitying smile. “It is yours, sweetie. Did you hit your head?”

He ignored the tease. “But you’re my mate, which means you’re part of it now.”

Shit, she really hadn’t considered that. And it presented her with a problem, since…“Knox, I don’t want to leave my lair.”

“I know that you don’t. And I know that trying to demand it of you would gain me nothing but frustration. So we’ll compromise and say you’re part of both lairs.”

“Wow.” She’d expected an argument. “You’re good at this whole compromising thing.”

He brushed his mouth against hers. “I’m someone who chooses his battles wisely.”

“You sound like a parent who’s letting their child win the little battles so the poor thing has the illusion of control and independence.” But she couldn’t be annoyed, because he flashed her that lopsided smile that made her stomach clench.

Knox glanced at the closet. “Have you picked anything to wear yet?”

“Do you realize there are three times more clothing in here than there are in my wardrobe? Of course, there’s a chance that most of the stuff in my wardrobe has been destroyed by the snakes,” she added glumly. Sure, they were only clothes. But a lot of them were from various places around the world, they carried good memories.

“We can go to your apartment to check the damage after Dario’s speech, if you want.”

“Yeah, I’d like to see what survived the spell.” Casting another frown at the full closet, she asked, “Can’t you just pyroport us straight to the hotel suite where my dress is?”