Opening her eyes had never been so hard, but damn they stung. Harper licked her chapped lips. Her mouth was bone dry and it hurt to swallow. Her skin felt cold and dewy, especially the skin of her back – which was no doubt thanks to the damp soil beneath her.
Soil?
Memories slapped her. The restrooms. McCauley. Nora. The portal. Fingertips digging into her arm and shoving her.
Well now.
Apparently, Nora had a fucking death wish. Obliging her would be a pleasure.
Forcing her sore eyes open, Harper awkwardly sat upright and blinked a few times to clear her vision. She almost wished she hadn’t, because finding that she was sprawled on a patch of land encircled by eight, tall boulders wasn’t an uplifting sight.
A cold mist hovered above the ground. It was thin, so it didn’t haze her view of her surroundings. And it had to be said that her surroundings were pretty bleak.
It seemed like an endless stretch of green, bumpy land. There was the occasional puny bush, mossy rock, or twisted tree, but the weedy land was otherwise plain and bare. No blossoms. No mountains. No landmarks. No real color. It was the kind of place where you could just walk and walk and walk, and nothing would look any different.
There was an unnatural quiet that was broken only by the creak of tree branches and the eerie sound the cool wind made as it rushed over the barren land and whistled through the brittle shrubs. It brought with it the scents of grass, soil, and decay.
Shit, she needed to get away from here. Fast.
Knox?
Nothing.
Knox, please say you can hear me.
Still nothing. Crap.
Adrenaline began to pump madly through her veins. Harper kept her cool, knowing it wouldn’t do the baby any good if she lost her shit. Besides, her demon was panicking enough for both of them.
Harper braced her hands on the damp soil and pushed to her feet with a moan. It was no easy feat with a baby bump. She brushed her hands together to get rid of the dirt and then gave said bump a small rub. Her limbs trembled, yet she didn’t feel weak.
The mist gave the place an eerie feel, but that wasn’t what had the hairs on her nape and arms standing on end. No, the uneven ground vibrated beneath her feet, and those vibrations echoed through her body. She didn’t like it, because they didn’t make her feel charged – they made her feel dizzy. Sickly. Soiled, even.
The wind came again, brushing against her skin and ruffling the dress that was now damp and stained with streaks of dirt. She shivered, rubbing at her cool arms, as she gave her surroundings another thorough scan. Just where the fucking hell was she? The gray clouds were low, so she guessed she was somewhere high. Had she been dumped here with the hope that she’d never find her way home? And why, exactly, had the old woman sent her here?
All valid questions, but Harper nonetheless didn’t intend to wait around and find out. Planting her feet, she called to her wings —
White-hot pain streaked down her back, and she spat a vicious curse. She tried calling to them again, but that only earned her more pain. Her heart began to race as fear skittered down her spine. Despite that fear, the protective power that lived in her belly didn’t rush to her fingertips. There was the briefest spark inside her, but nothing more.
Something was interfering with her abilities – possibly the same “something” that seemed to be blocking her attempts to contact Knox.
Well, it looked like she’d just have to get out of there the old-fashioned way. Her back protested the idea of walking, but it didn’t take a genius to work out that Nora didn’t have good things in mind for Harper; she couldn’t afford to hang around. There was no dirt path, so it was highly likely that she’d get lost in the mist. Knowing her luck, she might even fall into a bog or something, but she’d be damned if she’d stay put.
Harper quickly chose a random direction and started to walk, every step brisk and —
With a gasp, she stumbled back and put a hand on the cold, rough boulder to steady herself as vines suddenly spouted from the earth and began to slither menacingly along the ground. She watched as they twisted around each of the boulders, forming one big foliage fence.
Okay, so she was trapped. Good to know.
Her demon hissed loudly, wanting out so it could attack the vines. Harper fought the entity. It wasn’t the first time she’d been a prisoner, but it was the first time that she’d had someone else’s safety outside her own to consider. If she hadn’t been pregnant, she would have taken her chances with the enchanted vines, but she wasn’t sure if they’d retaliate or something weird like that.
She froze as static energy suddenly filled the air. Her hair seemed to lift, and a low droning sound split through the unnatural quiet. Harper turned toward the sound, and that was when a familiar swirl of red and black smoke appeared beyond the boulders. Well, shit.
Mere moments later, Nora stepped out of it, dressed in a black robe, her hands joined as if in prayer. Worse, the old bitch was followed by a group of hooded figures. What. The. Fuck?
Given that Nora had opened a portal, there was one thing Harper knew for sure. “You’re an incantor,” she clipped.
Nora bowed her head with a smile, like she’d been delivered a compliment. “That is correct. I suppose you mistakenly assumed I was the same breed as my grandson. No. But if you had known I was an incantor, would you have suspected me as you suspected Thatcher of being involved in the attacks on you?”
“Yes,” said Harper truthfully. “I don’t trust many people.”
“Sensible.”
Yeah, but it hadn’t fucking helped her much in this case. Harper flicked a look at the hooded figures and asked, “Fellow incantors?”
“Most, but not all,” one of them said, sidling up to Nora and lowering the hood. Linda. She spared Harper a dispassionate glance before looking at Nora. “When do I join her in the circle?”
Nora held up a hand. “Not yet.”
Linda glanced around. “Where’s McCauley?”
“I didn’t see him anywhere, so I left without him.”
Linda’s mouth tightened. “Did you even look?”
“Forget about the boy. You can deal with him another time.”
Harper glared at Nora as she said with a distaste her demon shared, “I’m guessing you’re one of the Horsemen.” It would explain how she’d known so much about them.
“In the flesh,” said Nora proudly.
Yeah, flesh that her raging demon would love to peel off like an onion. Harper could sort of see the attraction in that idea. “Where are we?”
“Someplace special,” Nora replied with a dreamy smile that was kind of creepy. She spread out her arms and inhaled deeply. “You feel it, don’t you? This place is an energy vortex.”
An energy vortex… Okay, so Harper had heard of those. Put simply, they were swirling centers of energy that were said to be uplifting, spiritual, and able to heighten people’s own inner positive or negative energy. That would have given her hope, since she could work with energy; could potentially use it to boost her abilities. But this particular vortex… there was something very wrong about it. The energy wasn’t simply negative, it was dark. Ominous. Almost malevolent.
Her demon didn’t discriminate when it came to power. Good, bad – the entity didn’t care. Power was power, as far as it was concerned. But even the demon was wary of the vortex, and that said a lot.
“It was here where I had my vision,” Nora told her.
Harper frowned. “You have knowings, not visions.”
“Ah, but this place can strengthen a person’s abilities. It can also weaken their abilities – it all depends.”
“On what?”
“On what the vortex is asked to do.”
“And you’ve asked it to keep me weak and contained,” Harper accused.
Knox’s mind breezed over hers – the touch was faint, but there. I hear you, baby. Where are you?
Relief flooded Harper in a heavy rush, despite that the telepathic voice was weak. Working to keep her face blank, she responded, I don’t know exactly, but I’m stood on some kind of energy vortex, thanks to fucking Nora. It’s stopping me from using my abilities. And Harper needed to keep Nora talking until he got here. “You hired the hunters? Why?”
“Because I had a vision of you giving birth, of Linda and I being close by, and of you releasing beautiful wings and escaping us. I needed those wings taken from you. Sadly, that didn’t work. I tried hexing you to weaken your abilities – that didn’t work either. But using the vortex to contain and weaken you is probably best in any case.”
What would be “best” would be for Nora and her pals to be sliced and diced by a real-life Hannibal Lecter. “Why try to kidnap Heidi?”
“Ah, I didn’t. I’m not sure who did. Perhaps it was the last of the Horsemen.”
Harper frowned. If Nora wasn’t sure whether or not her only remaining partner in crime was responsible, then that would suggest that… “You’re not working together anymore, are you?”
“Let’s just say I didn’t agree with their belief that we should lie low for a while.” Her face hardened. “I’m old. I’ve waited long enough for the Primes to fall. I was once a Prime, you know. Now I answer to my grandson because a Prime will be challenged by others if it isn’t fit to hold its position. Because I aged, I was deemed unfit.” The latter word dripped with venom. “And now I’m nothing more than a demon within a lair. If there were no Primes, if there were equal rights for all demons, I wouldn’t be thought of as an antique,” she added bitterly.
Harper shook her head. “Our kind craves power too much to ever simply exist alongside each other and be content as equals. The hierarchies within each lair exist for that reason, and they work.” But Nora wasn’t listening. She was gazing around her, wearing a serene expression, like she was in a freaking meadow or something.
Nora clasped her hands. “This truly is a fascinating place. Time is different here.”
Not liking the sound of that, Harper warily asked, “Different how?”
“An hour in the vortex is a minute in places beyond it. Think of what that means. You’ve been here for, say, an hour. To anyone away from this place, you’ve only been here a minute.”
As the implications of that sank in, Harper’s stomach dropped and panic fluttered through her. Even if Knox was able to get her at a pace that was supremely fast to him, enough time would have passed here for Nora to end Harper’s life first.
“In other words, don’t be counting on a rescue, Harper. Call out to Knox all you like – he won’t hear you. Not while you’re trapped in the vortex.”
Huh. Well, that wasn’t actually correct, but Nora didn’t need to know that. “He’ll find a way to get to me.”
“Oh, I doubt that.”
“You shouldn’t. People have hurt and taken me before – he’s always come for me.” And both Harper and her demon trusted that he’d come for her again.
“He won’t come, Harper. As I said, time is different here. Let’s say that Larkin goes into the restrooms and finds you gone – she’ll sense the leftover magickal energy, but she won’t understand it was from a portal. Of course, she’ll run to Knox. He’ll feel the magick too, but it’s highly unlikely that he’ll sense there was a portal. Still, he’s smart enough to know he’ll need an incantor to ‘read’ the magick.”
He’d be aware that there was a portal for the simple reason that Harper had told him – that was yet another thing that Nora didn’t need to know.
“I’m sure he’ll find one, and I’m sure they will be willing to reopen the portal for him. However, that process takes up to fifteen minutes to complete. Now add all that time together and, for Knox, that will be – at the very least – twenty minutes before he even steps through the portal. That’s twenty hours to us, sweetheart. By then, you’ll be dead, and we’ll all be gone.”
Okay, that was bad. Really bad. Dammit, she had to get the fuck out of there.
Nora’s expression turned sober as she spoke to her companions. “Get into position.”
While Linda stayed still, each of the others copied Nora in moving to stand near a boulder so that they surrounded Harper.
Another shot of adrenaline pumped through Harper, and she flexed her fingers. “I suppose you intend to kill me now before Knox has the chance to get here.” And, heartbreakingly, there wasn’t a single thing that she could do to stop it.
“Not just yet,” said Nora as she and the others sat cross-legged. “I want you dead, but I want the baby first. If we can’t destroy Knox, we can at least control him. What better way than through his child?”
Harper’s heart slammed against her ribs, and her knees almost buckled. She put a protective hand to her stomach. “You can’t have the baby.”
“Oh, but I can. You have to understand, Harper, that there’s no real way for demons to exist as equals while someone so powerful lives. Knox could take complete control at any time. Trying to kill him hasn’t worked. Holding the baby’s safety over his head, though… yes, that would keep him under my thumb.”
Nora raised her hands and began to chant under her breath. The others joined in, and the stale air suddenly turned heavy and oppressive. The clouds thickened and darkened, making the sky look almost bruised.
“What are you doing?”
It was Linda who spoke. “Inducing labor, of course.”
Harper shook her head, stomach plummeting. “The baby isn’t ready yet. They’ll kill it.”
“No,” said Nora. “I have a team of people on standby who can give it whatever care it needs to ensure it survives.”
“And I’ll be there to care for the baby,” declared Linda, chin up.
Nora’s smile faltered. “Yes, and you’ll be there.” She went back to chanting, and the wind picked up, whipping the snarled trees and making dirt swirl in the air.
A gust of wind sailed at Harper, making her dress flap against her legs. Panicking, she called to her wings again, and yet more pain wracked her. The baby’s mind touched hers. She felt its fear, and that almost broke her. “No, you don’t get to take my —”
She cut off as what looked like black drops of rain sprung from Nora’s fingertips and, quick as lightning, hit Harper right in the chest. She tried to wipe them off, but they sank into her skin. She felt the magick inside her, then. Felt it slither around her bones, snake around her organs, and settle over her womb like an oily blanket. “What the fuck did you just do?”
Pain blasted through her abdomen, and her womb contracted so hard that she dropped to her knees. It hurt like holy hell. She’d never felt pain like it – not when Knox’s power poured into her mind, not when the hunters sawed at her wings, not even when her body spent hours fighting the hex.
The wind rushed at her again, stealing her breath and knocking her right on her ass. Vines sprouted out of the earth and shackled her wrists, pinning her hands. She managed to fight their hold just enough to stay sitting upright, but she couldn’t free herself. She tried infusing hellfire into the grass, hoping the vines might catch fire, but only smoke left her palms. Motherfucking vortex. She could feel its sinister, repelling energy slithering between her fingers.
Another spasm wracked her womb, making her spine arch like a brow. All the breathing exercises she’d read about went completely out of her head. She gritted her teeth against the pain, clenching her trapped hands and unintentionally scraping the soil. Her shoulders slouched as the pain finally faded. Her heart thudded in her tightening chest, her breaths burst in and out of her. “I’ll kill you all, I swear to God, I will!”
“No, you won’t,” said Nora calmly. “You won’t even get the chance. Once the child is born, that magick you absorbed will attack every cell in your body – you’ll be dead within moments.”
A ghostly finger of fear trailed over Harper’s nape, but she didn’t let that fear show. Her demon leaped to the surface and said, “You will die tonight. Do not doubt it.”
Nora’s eyes flickered. “Linda,” she said, her voice a whip, “get in the circle.”
The vines bordering the boulders parted to let Linda pass, and then the bitch crouched in front of her. “Don’t touch me,” Harper spat.
“You’re safe from me until that baby is out.” It wasn’t a reassurance, it was a statement of fact that lacked any compassion. She put her hands on Harper’s rounded stomach. “The baby’s in position, head down.”
Harper felt a blazing heat briefly flare from her stomach – it was the oddest fucking thing and had an almost vengeful feel to it.
Linda yanked her hands back, as if burned. “Damn vortex,” she grumbled.
But that hadn’t been the vortex. Nor had it been Harper or her demon. She snarled at Linda. “You’ll never take my baby from me. Never.”
Linda’s mouth curled into a cruel smile. “Of course I will. And there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop me.”
Knox took another swig of his gin and tonic, watching for signs of Harper approaching. She’d been gone for a good five minutes now, and he was guessing that she’d been waylaid by nosy demons who were both congratulating and quizzing her at the same time.
He’d take her home as soon as she returned to him, he decided. They’d been there for a courteous amount of time and wouldn’t look rude leaving at this point.
“Shit,” muttered Levi, going on high alert.
Knox put down his glass, tension mounting inside him. “What?” But then he saw Larkin and Devon fast approaching… without Harper. Anxiety flared through him. He stood, meeting Larkin’s anxious stare. “Where is she?”
“I” – Larkin swallowed – “I don’t know.” She spoke in a rush. “She went into the restrooms while Devon and I dealt with Carla, and then she just disappeared.”
The words rocked him, slamming into him so hard his breath caught in his throat. On the outside, he didn’t move a muscle. On the inside, he fumbled, scrambling to absorb the words. His demon let out a guttural roar. Harper had been right there with him mere minutes ago. How the fuck could she be gone?
Harper? Harper? He reached out to stroke her mind, but he barely managed to touch it – as if there was something trying to get between her mind and his. Harper, baby, tell me you’re okay.
She was alive; he knew that much, and he clung to it like it was a lifeline… because it was a lifeline. He needed her, wouldn’t be able to exist without her.
He wanted to move, to act, to do something, but he felt rooted to the spot.
“Harper’s gone?” Jolene bit out. The ground and walls began to tremor, and that snapped Knox out of his zone.
He advanced on Larkin. “How can she just disappear?” His voice was a low rumble that vibrated with rage, but she didn’t cower.
“The only person who was in the restrooms when I walked in looking for her was him,” said the harpy. “He claims to know who took her.”
It was only then that Knox noticed McCauley at her side. A dark suspicion whispered in his mind. Could the child have harmed her? Dario had warned them that he may need to be killed. Knox crouched in front of the boy. “You know who has Harper?”
McCauley nodded, eyes blank. “An old woman.”
Not an answer Knox would have expected to hear. “An old woman?”
“Harper called her ‘Nora’.”
Knox didn’t show his surprise, but Jolene did by letting out a string of foul curses that made him think of Harper – and thinking of his mate, missing and possibly hurt, made his stomach churn.
“Nora passed us to go into the restrooms,” said Devon, eyes damp. “She was gone too.”
Which meant that either the boy was telling the truth or that Nora had been taken too. Leaning towards the first explanation, Knox asked, “Where did she take Harper, McCauley?”
“There was smoke,” said the boy. “It was red and black, and it swirled.”
“A portal,” said Levi.
“Nora took Harper through a portal?” asked Raini, voice shaky.
“Then it vanished,” McCauley added.
Knox stormed out the VIP area, crossing to the restrooms with purposeful strides. He shoved the door open, hoping he’d find Harper standing there smiling; hoping it was all one big sick joke that he’d spank her ass for later. But there was no Harper. There was, however, the energy residue from a portal – it was like static electricity in the air.
He whispered his fingers over the lingering energy. “I can feel it,” he said through gritted teeth, knowing the others had followed him inside. “The portal was right here.”
“There’s no telling where it led,” growled Tanner, voice hard as stone, muscles stiff. “They could be anywhere.”
Knox? Knox, please say you can hear me.
His eyes closed at the sound of Harper’s voice, even though their telepathic link seemed weak and almost distant. I hear you, baby. Where are you?
I don’t know exactly, but I’m stood on some kind of energy vortex, thanks to fucking Nora. It’s stopping me from using my abilities.
“Harper says she’s stood on an energy vortex,” said Knox, curling his hands into fists. The back of his throat hurt, and it was difficult to swallow. “It’s preventing her from using her abilities.” Leaving her defenseless, just as she’d been once before not so long ago.
“You can hear her?” asked Jolene, brows drawn together. “I keep calling out to her, but she’s not answering me.” The sentinels and she-demons nodded, claiming the same.
“Maybe it’s because they’re anchored or something,” Raini suggested, hands jammed under her armpits.
“I warned Harper to run,” said McCauley, tone flat. “She didn’t run.”
Knox frowned. “To run from Nora?”
He shook his head. “Linda,” he said simply, none of the urgency or fear in his voice that Knox was feeling.
Bastard though he was, Knox itched to shake the boy and drag everything he knew out of him.
Maybe he sensed that, because McCauley took a step forward and said, “Read my mind.”
Because Knox’s touch was invited, it didn’t cause McCauley any pain when Knox thrust his mind into his. Knox delved into his memories, saw the boy watching the parade. Saw Linda slap a hand over his mouth and drag him into an alley. Heard her speak over the phone that then began to ring.
“What?” Linda snapped at her caller. “Not yet. I’ll meet you once I’ve killed the brat… Of course this is important to me – I want that baby even more than you do, but this kid will pay first. It’s not like you need me to grab Harper for you or induce labor; you might be old, but there’s nothing weak about you… Fine.” Linda then ended the call and turned her attention to the boy in her arms. “All you had to do was love me. But no, you wouldn’t do it. You left me. No one leaves me.”
Knox watched as McCauley bit her hand and then ran as she screamed, “Ow! Get back here you little bastard!”
Knox then sped forward through the memories, watching a fast-forward version of McCauley fleeing from Linda, hiding in the restrooms, and finally getting to Harper. “You need to run,” he said.
Heart in his throat, Knox then watched as Nora talked with Harper before forcing her into a portal. Swallowing hard, Knox withdrew his mind from the boy’s. “Thank you for trying to help Harper, McCauley. You can tell your demon that she and I will keep you safe from Linda.” Standing, Knox gave the others a rundown of what happened.
Devon put a hand to her mouth. “Oh, God, no. The baby’s not ready to be born yet.”
Jolene rubbed the hellcat’s back, her eyes hard. “It would seem that they don’t care about that.” There was a wealth of lethal intent in her tone.
“Linda’s a midwife,” said Keenan. “Nora probably recruited her to help with the birth.”
The door burst open, and Thatcher barged in with his sentinel-slash-bodyguard behind him. His gaze ran over everyone. “My sentinel saw you all rush inside like you were being chased by a pack of wild hellhounds. What has happened?”
Knox would have sent him out, only he wanted to see Thatcher’s reaction to the news. “Someone kidnapped Harper. They took her through a portal.”
Shock flashed across Thatcher’s face, and it seemed genuine. “You’re sure?”
“Does it look like I’m fucking kidding?”
Thatcher weaved his way through the others and held up his hand, no doubt reading the magick in the air. “You are right. I could reopen the portal for you. Do you trust me?”
“No.”
Thatcher let out a short sigh. “Will you allow me to reopen it for you?”
Knox narrowed his eyes. “Why would you?”
“No one likes living under a cloud of suspicion. Maybe if I help you, you’ll no longer suspect me of meaning your mate any harm.”
Knox, said Harper, voice still faint. I’m scared.
Her fear pierced his soul and almost knocked him back a step. It’s going to be fine, baby. I’m right here with you. I’m going to find some way to get to you, I swear. Just hold on for me, okay? Hold on. Knox nodded at Thatcher. “How long will it take?”
“Ordinarily, the process would take fifteen minutes. I’m a strong incantor. I should be able to do it in ten.”
It was too long, Knox thought. But so far, it was the fastest way to get to her. He stepped aside, giving the other Prime room. “I need it done fast.”
With his sentinel now at his side, Thatcher immediately got to work.
“Do you think Dario’s working with Nora?” Jolene asked Knox.
“My gut says no, but that doesn’t mean he can’t know something.” Knox turned to Tanner. “Bring him here, but don’t let him know there’s a problem – I don’t want his sentinel interfering.”
The hellhound nodded and then disappeared from the restrooms.
Muscles tight, Knox remained in position. He wanted to pace and curse and punch a hole through the stall door. Instead, he held himself completely still, even though he felt twitchy, restless, and dangerously on edge. His chest was so tight, he was surprised he could breathe without wheezing.
As the she-demons began to talk, expressing their worries for Harper, Knox blocked out their conversation. He couldn’t allow himself to think of what could be happening to Harper – if he did, he’d lose his ability to focus. But despite his best efforts, images of what Nora could be doing to her kept flickering through his mind, slicing at his frayed control.
There wasn’t just fury flooding his veins; there was guilt. He should have protected her better. He should never have let her leave his side for a single moment. In being careful not to make her feel suffocated, he’d put her and their child in danger. And he knew he’d never forgive himself for it.
His demon’s cold rage echoed through him. Oddly, the demon wasn’t ranting and raving. It wasn’t demanding vengeance or pushing for control. If the entity was capable of feeling guilt, Knox would have wondered if it blamed itself the same way that Knox blamed himself. He didn’t know why the entity was so unnaturally quiet and still – it wasn’t inclined to communicate with him right then.
There had only been one other time that the demon had been so silent despite its rage… the very day it had taken it upon itself to destroy the cult in which Knox had been raised as a child. Usually, the demon didn’t plan or strategize – it acted on emotion alone, and it didn’t care to maintain its composure. The fact that it seemed to be silently strategizing now didn’t relieve Knox. Harper had told him that it spooked her when Knox was so deceptively and unnaturally calm. Just the same, his demon’s unnatural calm worried him.
“Knox,” said Larkin, voice sheepish, “I’m so sorry. I should have come in here with her. This is all my fucking fault.”
Khloë shook her head. “No, harpy, it’s not. The fault lies with Nutty Nora and whoever might be helping her. Harper would tell you the same thing if she could.”
Jolene nodded. “Nobody blames you, Larkin. You were told to protect Harper and that was exactly what you did by keeping Carla away from her. You couldn’t have known that Nora would mean her any harm, especially since the woman defended Harper against Carla in the coffeehouse not so long ago.”
Larkin looked at Knox, eyes still clouded with guilt. “I understand if you want to execute me for failing Harper, but please allow me to help you find and save her first.”
“I have no intention of executing you, Larkin. You’re not at fault.” That was the most reassurance that Knox could offer her while rage and terror were pumping through him. He rolled his neck and shoulders, trying to ease the tension in his muscles, but it didn’t work. Nothing short of having Harper in front of him would calm him.
He’d worried enough about how smoothly the birth would go, though he’d hid those concerns from her. He’d sworn to her that he’d be with her the entire time. The thought that she’d be facing it alone, even if only for the short time it would take for him to get to her, flayed him.
His gaze snapped to the door as it swung open and Tanner entered with Dario.
The Prime looked around, seeming both curious and confused. “Tanner said you needed my help, but he didn’t say what was wrong.”
Knox pinned him with an unblinking stare. “Do you know what she’s done? Are you part of this?”
Dario blinked. “What are you —?”
Knox lunged and fisted his shirt. “Do not fuck with me right now.”
“I swear to you, I do not know what you mean.” Dario looked to his sentinel for help, but the male was being held back by Tanner and Keenan.
“Nora took Harper,” Knox rumbled.
Dario’s eyes snapped back to him and he stilled, brows drawing together. “No. No, she wouldn’t do that.”
“Oh, but she did. I have an eyewitness that says she took her through a portal.” Knox released him with a shove. “Harper herself has telepathically informed me that Nora is with her and wants the baby. She’s inducing labor as we speak.”
Righting his shirt, Dario frantically shook his head. “No, my grandmother would never do something like that. She has no reason to do it. She could not possibly gain anything from it.”
Levi spoke, “There are plenty of reasons why someone would want Knox’s child, and you know it.”
“She’s old —”
“Just because somebody’s old doesn’t mean they’re frail or harmless,” said Jolene. “She also has help. She’s not working alone.”
Dario’s mouth fell open. “Don’t tell me you think she’s one of the Horsemen,” he scoffed.
“It’s possible,” said Levi. “She knew plenty about them. Maybe this was why.”
Dario shot him an impatient look. “If she was one of them, why would she ever make you aware of them?”
“For the same reasons that serial killers tip off the police,” said Levi. “For attention. To create fear. If people aren’t aware that something or someone exists, it doesn’t have any power over them.”
“Face it,” Knox snapped, “your grandmother kidnapped Harper. She wants my child. Make me believe you’re not part of this plot and tell me where Nora would take her.”
Scrubbing a hand down his face, Dario said, “I just can’t believe that she would —”
“Believe it, because she has. Convince me you had no part in this, or I swear I’ll end you right now.”
Dario stood tall, looking ready to challenge Knox. Wisely, he didn’t. “I have played no part in whatever has happened to your mate.”
Knox, where are you? I don’t want to do this alone.
He almost flinched. The pain in those words gutted him. “How much longer is this going to fucking take?”
“The process is slow-going, I know,” said Thatcher, “but I’m going as fast as I can.”
Knox softly brushed his mind against hers. You’re not alone, he soothed. I’m right here, and I’ll be physically with you very soon.
“Is there a limit to how many people can step through the portal?” asked Levi. When Thatcher shook his head, Levi turned to Knox and said, “I’m going with you.”
“All four of us are going,” said Tanner, referring to each of the sentinels.
Knox looked at Jolene. “I need you to stay here.”
“You need me to guard the portal and ensure that Thatcher doesn’t attempt to trap you there,” said Jolene in understanding.
Yes, because Knox couldn’t rely on his ability to pyroport if the place where Harper was being held would weaken him.
“I’ll kill him on the spot if he does,” Jolene vowed.
“And I’ll help,” said Khloë.
“The portal will remain open,” Thatcher assured Knox. “No one else will get in or out of it, and you need not worry that I will try to trap you.”
“I hope that’s the case, Thatcher,” said Jolene, “because I’d rather not kill you.”
Biting her lip, Raini came forward. “Do you think the baby’s coming tonight?”
Knox nodded. “I’ll need to arrange for Rodgers to be waiting at the mansion, ready for Harper. There’s nowhere else she’ll be completely safe while she gives birth.”
“I’ll arrange all that,” Jolene told him, pulling out her cell phone. “Everything will be ready. Ciaran can teleport the doctor and whatever he needs to your home. You just concentrate on getting to Harper.”
Knox might have protested, but he sensed that Jolene needed to be proactive, needed to feel that she was doing something. She might look calm, but she’d undoubtedly be far from it.
He reached out to Harper. We’re almost done reopening the portal, baby, just hold on for me.