Julius cracked his knuckles. This wouldn’t take long.

Duncan had spent the last five years training Harrison. He was a good fighter. Still, Julius had the advantage of almost a millennium of experience . . . and the fact that Harrison wouldn’t risk meeting his gaze. Landing a punch was damn difficult when you couldn’t look at what you were hitting.

Harrison seemed to have come to a similar conclusion. His pace slowed, his expression turned thoughtful.

“What’s the matter, pup? Did you leave your backbone in the little-kid suit?”

Harrison’s cheeks flushed. Yeah, he was still sensitive about looking like a youth for so long. Hell, who wouldn’t? Thing was, Julius had no qualms about using that against him.

George growled, pacing off to the side. His hackles were up, his gaze locked on Julius.

Damn, Kat would never forgive him if he had to kill the thing. “Better keep him back.”

“George, protect D.” Harrison swept his arm to the side. The minion obeyed, trotting off to pace in front of Duncan.

“I see they didn’t trust you with a Guardian blade.”

He feigned forward. Harrison darted back, lifting his blade. Yeah, the kid was trained, had good reflexes, but he didn’t have the kind of practical experience necessary to take on a daemon who’d been around as long as him. He’d have to be careful not to ash the little shit.

“Oh, I have some, but I don’t want to risk ashing you. Might put us in a bind with the humans.”

Julius chuckled. Hell, in a different life, he might have liked the kid. He lunged forward, slashed the back of one of his hands.

Harrison dropped the blade. Stumbled back. Yeah, if the kid hadn’t realized his disadvantage before, he did now. Fighters always watched their opponent’s eyes to see where their next attack would land. “What’s that? Ten points to me?” He bounced on the pads of his feet. “We playing to fifteen? Twenty?”

“This isn’t a game.”

Julius gave Harrison some space to pick up his blade, but he didn’t. Instead, he stepped to the side, leaving a copy in his wake. He split again. And again.

Three copies. Three copies he couldn’t ash or mesmerize. Shit.

Copy Three picked up the blade.

“No.” Kat darted into the center of everything, getting between him and the copies. “Don’t do this, Jules. Just come with us. Everything will be fine.”

Us? She and Harrison were an ‘us’ now? He jerked her behind him. “Stay out of this.”

The copies spread out.

She came around his side, ran straight for Harrison, her war cry raising the hair on his nape.

Christ, she was going to get herself ashed.

Julius took one step forward, intending to protect her, but the copies chose that moment to attack.

He slammed his fist into Copy One’s face, dropping him. Copy Two he stabbed in the shoulder. Leaving his blade hilt deep, he swung that copy into Copy Three.

Copy One was already up. Grabbed Julius from behind.

Julius rammed his elbow back, bent and flipped Copy One over his back into Copy Three.

Hell, he couldn’t keep this up forever and he couldn’t take his gaze off them long enough to check on his mate. He could hear noises that suggested they were scuffling. “Kat?”

Copy Three came at him, blade raised. He smacked his arm away and cold-cocked him.

“What?”

“You okay?” Grabbed the blade still in Copy Two’s shoulder. Wrenched it free and kicked him into Copy One.

“I’m furious.” The sound of a palm on flesh rang loud and clear on the night air. “You bastard.”

A grumbled curse followed. “Damn it, Kat. I’m following orders.”

“You touch her, you die, pup.” He punched Copy Two. Head-butted Copy One.

“Notice how she’s . . . sticking closer to . . . me? I think she likes me . . . better, Crowley.” Grunts interspersed his taunts, negating what he said.

Julius swung around. Where the hell was—? Fire lanced through his back as Kat’s scream echoed in his ears. —Copy Three. The blade pulled free and Julius staggered. Shit. Shit! Yeah, he was done fucking about.

He turned. Slammed his fist into Copy Three’s face and hauled ass for Harrison. “Kat!”

She was on Harrison’s back, covering his face with her hands. When she saw him coming, her eyes widened. She jumped free at the last moment.

Julius tackled Harrison. They hit the ground hard, the impact jarring through his body.

Behind him, the copies ran toward them, their feet thudding on the ground.

Julius cocked his arm back and paused . . . Harrison was staring straight at him.

“You cannot use your talent.” You don’t need your talent, not with us. It’s broken. Useless.

The pounding footfalls of the copies vanished.

He pushed himself off the kid. Had no desire to hurt him.

Harrison stood. Shook his head. His gaze narrowed, but he didn’t meet his gaze again. Poor little shit must be worried about what suggestions he’d put in his head.

They were still linked. He could continue. Make him leave. Make him drag his cohorts back to wherever they’d come from.

But what was the point?

Even Kat stood back now. Her eyes wide on Harrison. “What did you do?”

Her accusation hurt. Worse than taking the knife in his back. They attacked him, goddamn it. Why was he still the villain?

He rubbed his palm over a spot on his ribs where the spiders had congregated under his skin. A moment ago, while fighting the copies, they’d gone silent. Now the fuckers were back.

Christ, he deserved it. All of it. Maybe he hadn’t done anything wrong today, but he had done everything wrong before meeting Kat. He’d killed all those people. Created the Nephilim. Brought about Armageddon, if the headlines were to be believed. He was the Harbinger.

And the Harbinger deserved all this and more.

He couldn’t take any more. What the hell was he even doing? If he didn’t go with Harrison and the others, he’d be fucking over daemon kind. If he did . . . . God knew what would happen if he did.

He glanced at Kat. She shook her head. Took a step closer. He held up his hand, warning her to stay back.

Harrison’s respiration ratcheted up a notch. He still hadn’t moved. Maybe he was taking inventory of his thoughts and making sure they were his own. He seemed like a decent guy. Stand-up. Solid. He almost hated to use him like this.

Thing was, he couldn’t stand being in his own skin right now. He didn’t want to think about his mistakes. The people who’d suffered because of him. The people who’d died. He didn’t want to think about how much better off Kat would be with someone like Harry.

And dear God, he didn’t want to feel any more. Not the fucking spiders parading around under his skin. Not the anxiety. The regret. The all-encompassing shame. He just needed a little pain to mask the turmoil inside. He wanted oblivion, and Harrison could give him that in exchange for his surrender.

“Hit me.” Make the pain stop. Hit us.

The kid was in his grasp and knew it now. Fought it. Even as he pushed his suggestions, Harrison’s muscles contracted. “What did you do?”

Nothing more than what he’d needed to do to get through tonight.

“Jules.” Kat took another step back, her gaze shifting between Harrison and him. “Don’t.”

His gaze returned to Harrison. “Fight me.” Hit us hard. We saw what Adia did. We know what happened. What if we tell everyone? Hit us.

Harrison lunged forward, catching himself at the last minute. Eyes wide. Whole body shaking as he fought the urge to pummel him. He shook his head. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Maybe I made it so you could get a stiffy around pretty girls.”

The kid quit resisting his suggestion. His roar filled the night. His shoulder caught him right in the ribs and then he was flat on his back. The air whooshing out of him, the wound under his shoulder blade throbbing. He opened his eyes to find Harrison staring down at him, eyes blazing. He spoke softly. No one but Harrison heard. “Go ahead, kid. Let me have it.” Let it out. Hit us. Make the pain stop. You’ll feel so much better when you hit us.

Harrison hauled back his arm and his fist came down on Julius’ cheek like a hammer blow.

Yeah. This he deserved. The spiders disappeared, his nerves all focused on the blows to his face.

Kat jumped on Harrison, her fiery curls flying around his face as she put her arm around his throat and squeezed. Harrison looked more confused than concerned.

It was the funniest goddamned thing he’d ever seen. His little butterfly trying to play a vicious harpy. At least he knew who’s side she was on.

Harrison shook her off and stood. “You’re fighting for him? Still?” He pressed his fingers to his eyes. “Is he in your head, too?”

"Of course not!”

Julius got to his feet. “Don’t say another word, Kat.”

“We’ve been fighting the Nephilim. We’ve been searching for you.” Harrison waved his hand in Julius’ direction. “All the while, you’ve been holed up here with him? You’re not like that, Kat.”

Kat lifted her chin. “He needed me more than the coven did.”

Fuck. He glanced at Kat. At Duncan and Scott who were still frozen from his suggestion but hearing all of this. Shit. Trina knew the truth, but after reading what he had online, he couldn’t rely on her to set the mob straight. And there would be a mob.

Jesus. If word got out that Kat helped him. Hid him. “I mesmerized her.”

“Julius!”

He met her gaze. Willed her to keep her mouth shut. “She’s still mesmerized.” We forced her to keep us here against her will. We forced her to love us.

Harrison’s gaze narrowed. “Bastard. How could you do that to Kat?” Yeah, Harrison had no problem believing him. He doubted anyone else would, either.

He forced himself to grin. “Are you kidding? She’s beautiful. A great fuck. She had the magic I needed to heal.”

Harrison’s curse almost drowned out Kat’s gasp. Almost, but not quite. It was a dick thing to say. One that hurt him, he had no doubt, as much as it hurt her. But he had to make her stay away from him for her own safety.

“So come on, then.” Defend her from us. Hit us.

He’d done something to Harrison, she was sure of it. What exactly he’d done, she wasn’t sure, but the male attacking her mate wasn’t acting quite right. He was too angry. Too determined to hurt Julius.

Harrison tackled Julius and the two tumbled into a heap at her feet.

Gaia, what was he thinking? “Jules stop it, don’t make this worse.”

“Worse than what?” He hauled back his arm and punched Harrison in the face. Rolled until he was on top and punched him again. “I’m the most wanted man on the planet—can’t get much worse than that.”

“You’re not remembering everything. You’ve got to trust me.”

“Been there, done that.” He stood and hauled Harrison up by the collar of his shirt.

Harrison came up swinging.

Julius released him, bouncing out of range. “How ’bout you, pup?” He tilted his head toward her. “You been there done that, too?”

Harrison’s eyes blazed as he lashed out with his blade.

Julius side-stepped but not quick enough to stay out of range. Harrison’s blade sliced across his chest. His shirt ripped. The cut was deep enough to see the darkness beneath his skin and muscle. She needed to go get her medicine satchel. Those wounds needed to be treated.

“That’s right.” Sarcasm edged into Julius’ tone. “You prefer older, more domineering women.”

What the heck was he talking about now?

“Gotcha.” Julius grinned as Harrison’s gaze locked with his.

“Jules, leave him alone.” Yeah, he was mesmerizing Harrison, but to what end? Was he making Harrison attack, or was Harrison attacking in an effort to avoid some other command?

“Come on. Hit me.”

Harrison’s shoulder rammed Julius in the chest, picking him up before both slammed into the ground, Harrison on top. He started punching Julius in the face.

He wasn’t stopping this time.

Julius laughed, which only seemed to enrage Harry more. A full-blooded belly laugh that made the hair on her neck stand at attention.

“Stop!”

Harrison seemed determined to beat him to death even though Julius wasn’t fighting back. The sound of flesh pounding flesh tore through her. She leapt onto Harrison’s back, covering his face with her hands and pulling back, trying to wrest him off Julius.

Harrison shrugged her off.

She lunged at him again, the force of the impact reverberating through her body, but not budging him. “He’s not fighting!”

Either he didn’t hear her or he didn’t care. His gaze stayed focused on Julius. She tackled him again, sinking her hands into his hair and yanking with all of her might. “He’s mesmerized you!”

“Fuck’s sake, Kat.” Harrison tumbled off Julius with her in a tangle of limbs. He removed her hands from his hair. “Wait. What the fuck?” He pressed his hands to his eyes.

“He doesn’t deserve that and you know it.” She pushed off him.

Behind them, Julius dragged himself to his feet, still laughing like a loon. Gaia, please make him keep his mouth shut.

“Did you tell big D about Adia’s predisposition to babysitting?”

They both turned to stare at Julius.

“You’re a slow-learner, aren’t you, pup?” He grinned. “Hit me.”

Harry shoved her aside and it all started over again. She could hardly see the two of them past her tears. What was he doing? Kat got to her feet again and took a running leap at Harrison. She caught him as he lifted up and they tumbled to the ground away from Julius. He rolled away from her and by the time she regained her feet, Harrison had straddled Julius, who was now face down on the floor. He wrestled his arms behind his back. Julius’ shirt rode up, the scars on his back were clearly visible.

“What the hell is this? Who’s Vince?”

“Fuck off. Least I’m not scared of a little pussy.”

Harrison pulled Julius’ arms back and up with enough force to lift his torso before slamming him back down. “Bet you like this position, don’t you? Getting all hot and bothered?”

“Sorry, pup. You’re not quite big enough to get me hot and bothered. Tell me, how many boys under your protection died?”

She shook her head. Julius wasn’t making any sense, but Harrison was getting rougher with him, his expression turning darker. Julius hadn’t met Harrison before tonight, had he? Or was he remembering things the Watcher had seen? Dearest Gaia, if he remembered everything he’d seen over the years, everyone’s secrets . . . .

They’d never let him live.

Harrison paused in securing Julius’ hands behind his back to punch him again. Caught between the ground and Harrison’s fist, the thud of Harry’s fist to his head echoed through her own flesh.

She ran over and dropped to the floor, putting her face next to Julius’. “Please stop.” They’d fed only a few hours ago and as a result, his face was blackening, his lip was split in two places and several lumps were swelling on the side of his face. “Don’t say anything else.”

His face blurred as a fresh swell of tears fell. She reached over and stroked her hand down his cheek, like she’d done a thousand times in the last week, but this time there was no Magic there to heal or comfort him.

“Jesus, don’t cry,” he spoke through his teeth. He sucked in a strained breath as Harrison dug his knee into the small of his back to keep him still. “You are not allowed to cry.” He hissed as Harrison jerked his arms back harder and secured a zip-tie around his wrists.

“Jules, please.” A sob burst out of her. “No more. It hurts me to see you hurting.”

His face twisted and then he was back. The Julius she knew was back. “All right, butterfly. Don’t cry no more. I’ll stop.”

Harrison pulled something out of his pocket, shook out some black material and reached with it over Julius’ head.

A hood. “No!”

Julius bucked against Harrison’s weight, his terrified gaze locking with hers for a split second before Harrison lowered the leather hood and tightened the string around his neck.

“We don’t need that,” she shouted. “Take it off him.” She fought with Harry, trying to pull the hood off.

Julius bucked them both off.

Harrison scrambled around her in time to grab Julius’ hands as he broke free from his restraints. He knelt on Julius’ arms, cocked his arm back and punched him in the back. The head. He grabbed Julius’ head in his hands and rammed his skull into the ground.

“Hey!”

Pounding footsteps made her look up. Duncan, with George perched on his shoulder, and the older human ran toward them. Ah, Gaia. Julius must’ve lost consciousness.

“Shit.” Harrison staggered to his feet, staring down at Julius. “Shit. I didn’t. . . . I wouldn’t. . . .”

Duncan pushed her out of the way and hauled Harrison back. “Take a walk! Did ya go dead from the neck up?” George hopped from Duncan to Harrison.

The older man pulled out another set of Plasticuffs and secured Julius’ hands.

She loosened the hood from where it was tied around his neck. “Jules? Jules, can you hear me?” He wasn’t responding. His body remained still. She pulled the hood up.

Strong hands took hold of hers and she looked up into bright green eyes. “If we walk him into Machon with his face uncovered, he’ll never make it to jail, much less the DDC Court. Everybody is looking for this guy.”

This must be the guy Harrison told her about, Scott-something. What he said was true, but there had to be another way. “Call someone in the coven. They can disguise him with Magic.”

“And we’re supposed to trust that he won’t use his talent?” Scott’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Either Trina or Lilith will show up soon. They’ll take us back to Machon.” He shook his head. He stood and walked over to where Duncan and Harrison stood.

She couldn’t hear what Duncan said, but his tone was all business and Harrison didn’t look pleased. She hoped to hell Duncan was lecturing him to within an inch of his life.

Julius’ body jerked and he let out a low moan.

Kat pressed her face to Julius’. “Shh. Be still. I’m so sorry.” He seemed to calm under her touch. “Settle down, baby. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” She winced. What a stupid thing to say under the circumstances.

She stroked his face, feeling the wetness on the cloth. “Say something.” She leaned closer, but he didn’t make a sound. His whole body thrummed with restrained energy.

Over and over she tried to reassure him. But she wasn’t sure she could protect him. She couldn’t switch him with Julian, not now. Not without Magic. If Trina or Lilith saw him acting this way . . . His muscles twitched under her hands. “I need you to be still.”

Harrison walked over and cursed. “Hey, Scott, he’s breaking through the goddamn Plasticuffs again. I told you we should have used daemon-grade cuffs.”

She sat up. Deep lacerations cut into Julius wrists where he fought against the Plasticuffs. Though the rest of his body remained still, the muscles in his arms bulged and flexed and the plastic that secured the tie began to whiten as the Plasticuffs weakened.

“They’re supposed to be military grade.” Scott shook his head. “The DDC isn’t going to be effective if they’re going to keep giving us subpar equipment.”

“Keep him calm, Kat.” Duncan pulled his phone out. “Trina should be finishing up down at the court in Seattle. I’ll call and see what’s taking our ride so long.”

Harrison rolled Julius to his back, knocked him out with a punch to his face, and sat on his chest, making it harder for him to break free when he woke.

“You’re going to hurt him.”

He met her gaze, his face twisted, as if he’d smelled something rotten. “This is your mate? The one you told me about? You’ve been holed up here with him?”

She maintained steady, soothing strokes on Julius’ face, but her gaze narrowed on Harry. “You beat a male who wasn’t fighting back. You let words anger you to the point you couldn’t stop.”

“No, I didn’t. I fucked up. I looked him in the eye.” He had the grace to look away as his face colored. “But that beating he took, that wasn’t me. He got to me.” Harrison’s gaze shifted to Julius. He glanced back to the other two males, then lowered his voice. “In my head, he kept pushing me to hit him so the pain would stop.”

She closed her eyes. Proving her mate’s sanity wasn’t going to be easy.