Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 117510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Levi folded his arms. “Jonas said that Alethea claimed to have stolen it from a private collector. Knox, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Knox looked at him. “If you’re thinking that Dion Boughton could be the collector then, yes, I am.”
Keenan’s eyes lit up. “He collects the unique. Keeps them in his own personal museum at his home. If anyone would have an incorporeal in their possession, it would be him. Hell, he could even be the fourth Horseman. It’s worth considering that Dion may have partnered with Alethea.”
Tanner’s brows lowered. “I don’t recall ever hearing that he and Alethea spent time together.”
“Unless we speak to Dion, we won’t know anything for sure,” said Knox. “Unfortunately, that’s not something we can do straight away, since we can’t simply call him to arrange a visit to his island.”
“Ah, yes, he’s a technophobe,” Harper remembered. “Doesn’t use phones or computers.”
Knox nodded. “I still have his address somewhere. I’ll write a letter to him, saying I wish to speak with him. It shouldn’t take long for him to respond. Still, I don’t like that we’ll have to wait.” He wanted answers yesterday.
Larkin crossed one leg over the other. “I still think we should look more closely at Thatcher. He helped us get to Harper after she was kidnapped by Nora, sure, but what better way to shift suspicion from himself than that? And he and Alethea did look a little cozy in the Ice Bar.”
“But surely Thatcher wouldn’t have been seen in public with someone he knew he might have to later kill if she didn’t agree to go along with his plans,” said Levi. “Plus, Jonas said Alethea was being secretive about her new boyfriend. Parading around with Thatcher isn’t discreet. Not that I’m ruling him out as a suspect, I’m just saying it doesn’t add up.”
Knox felt his face harden. “As far as I’m concerned, while my mate and child are at risk, everyone’s a suspect.” He looked at Larkin. “Jonas says he had extreme difficulty tracking Alethea’s movements after she disappeared, but maybe you’ll have better luck with that. She’s the key to uncovering the identity of the Horseman—he made a grave error in killing her so publicly. He more or less shouted, ‘Just follow her past footsteps and you’ll find me.’”
“He must be very sure those footsteps were covered,” mused Levi.
Knox glanced at the reaper. “Let’s hope the fucker made a mistake.”
Harper sort of zoned out then. Conversation continued around her, but she couldn’t take it in. Her thoughts were centered on the simple fact that an incorporeal demon wanted to possess her son. Possess. Her. Son. What mother would ever take that on the chin and get the fuck on with her day?
Like Knox, she had always suspected that someone would one day come for Asher. She’d planned to capture said someone and make them pay in a way that discouraged anyone else from even daring to try such a thing. But how could you capture something that had no body? How could you hunt something that had no scent? How could you attack something you could only see if it wanted you to see it?
The simple answer to each question was … you couldn’t. Not without a fuck of a lot of power and a shitload of luck.
Harper wasn’t weak. Not by any means. And with her ability to call on the flames of hell, she could certainly destroy the incorporeal … if it revealed itself. If it wasn’t possessing another at the time. If it didn’t learn from the mistakes it made with her at Jolene’s house. She’d never been up against anything like it before, and it was easy to fear that she’d fail when the consequence of that failure would be the end of her son’s life.
Her self-doubt weighed on her chest and left a sour taste on her tongue. She was Asher’s mother; she was supposed to protect him. Right then, she didn’t feel fully equipped to do it, and that absolutely terrified her.
Leaving the others to continue the meeting, Harper excused herself and headed upstairs. She needed to be alone. Needed privacy. Needed time to assimilate everything and calm the fuck down.
On her way to her bedroom, she paused at the ajar door of the nursery. All was quiet inside. Still, she poked her head through the door. Asher was sprawled on his back in his crib, flat out, dark silky hair all mussed. Her heart squeezed.
Resisting the urge to go dab a kiss on his cheek for fear that she’d wake him, Harper headed into the lavish master bedroom, shed her clothes, and hopped into the walk-in shower of the opulent private bathroom.
She stood under the square rain shower head, arms crossed over her chest, head down, eyes closed as the hot spray pounded on her skin. Her muscles felt sore and cramped from the tension that had arrested her on hearing Knox’s news.