Oh, my God, you actually called Ciaran to you just so that you could show up here and figuratively mark your territory? She tried to sound outraged but failed. Honestly, it was just far too dumb for her to be annoyed by it.
Not quite, replied Knox. He was at Jolene’s house when I paid her a visit.
Her brow furrowed. Why were you at her place?
Long story. I’ll tell you later. If Knox wasn’t so pissed with Clarke, he’d be amused that the hellcat was doing his best to keep his mind clear right then—even to the point that he was internally humming a tune. Knox’s demon found no amusement in it either. All it wanted to do was launch itself at Clarke and rip him to shreds.
It was incredibly tempting to do exactly that. But as Knox took in the way Devon smiled adoringly at his son and he recalled all the times she’d been there for Harper, he knew he couldn’t. His mate and Devon had a solid friendship that had lasted a long time. For Harper, he’d give Jolene the chance to deal with it.
Levi crossed to Harper. “I’m curious about your brand-new cuff.”
Drew’s brows snapped together. “Cuff? What cuff?”
“It’s a temporary gift from Asher,” said Harper as she lifted her arm so that Knox and Levi could study the cuff. “Asher has an identical one on his own wrist.”
Touching her psychic cuff and feeling the hum of power, Knox pursed his lips. “Hmm. It’s strong.” His demon was quite proud of Asher’s show of power. It was also completely unsurprised. “Very strong, actually.”
She frowned. “You can’t take it off?”
“I could,” said Knox. “But I’d much rather see how long the link lasts without interference. If the cuffs aren’t gone by tonight, I’ll take them off. Unless you’re absolutely desperate to have them gone …?”
Harper chewed on the inside of her cheek. “I’ll wait till later. It would be handy to know how long they last, just in case he does it again.”
“Wait a minute, your kid bound you to him?” asked Drew, casting Asher a wary look.
Before Harper could answer, Knox interlinked their fingers and squeezed her hand. “You done here, baby?”
“Yep.”
“Good.” Knox tugged her to her feet. “I’ll walk you outside to the Audi before I head to my next meeting.” Because there was no fucking way he was leaving her with Drew. Not after what Knox had discovered.
Slinging Asher’s bag over her shoulder, Harper said her goodbyes to everyone, adding, “Take care, and be alert.”
“Be alert about what?” asked Drew, brow creased.
“I’ll explain in a minute,” Devon told him.
Drew waved at Asher, who frowned at him, expression once again sober.
Asher doesn’t like him much, apparently, Harper told Knox, unable to hide her amusement.
Knox shrugged. Kids can sense evil.
Snorting, Harper let Knox lead her out of the studio. Tanner, Keenan, Levi, and Ciaran surrounded them protectively as they walked down the strip. Still in Knox’s arms, Asher babbled to himself.
“I take it you fully warned the girls,” Knox said to Harper.
She nodded. “I don’t think the incorporeal will turn its attention their way, but it’s best that they’re warned just in case.” The rest of demonkind would be warned after the Primes met and discussed the issue. Her demon’s upper lip curled at the thought of the meeting. It had no time or patience for politics. Imps didn’t take politics whatsoever seriously, but Jolene never missed a meeting.
On the subject of her grandmother … “I should probably give Grams a call and check she’s okay,” said Harper. “She was pretty mad when I first told her about the incorporeal. I’m worried she’ll do something dumb.”
“She seemed fine when I visited her just now.”
Harper glanced at him. “Are you going to tell me just why you went to see her?”
“We’ll talk about it later. We don’t have enough time to cover it right now.”
“Ma!” Asher pointed toward the rodeo, where a guy was struggling to hold tight to a wild bucking bull.