“Oh, she knows,” Raini replied. “But she sees that as him simply giving the impression that he cares.”
Harper’s brow creased. “Maddox isn’t interested in people’s impressions of him.”
“Well either she hasn’t heard about that or just prefers to believe what brings her joy.” Raini shrugged. “Whatever the case, she’s pleased that he doesn’t want to bond with me.”
Devon shook her head. “You know, with any luck, she won’t come back from her upcoming cruise. Maybe the sea will take her.”
“It’s more likely to spit her back out.” Khloë twisted her mouth, her gaze locked on Raini. “I was sure Maddox wouldn’t hold out long; that he’d choose to form the anchor bond at some point. But then you made your little deal with him, so now he’s getting the best of both worlds and has zero motivation to give in. Don’t you know better than to make deals with shady dudes like Maddox Quentin?”
“I wasn’t going to let you die.” Raini raised a hand. “No, don’t start giving me grief again, Wallis. I made a choice, and I don’t regret it. You’d have made the same choice if the situation was reversed. You can’t say you wouldn’t have.”
“Actually, I can, because I don’t know exactly what you promised him,” said Khloë. “Without all the info, I can’t make an educated guess as to whether or not I’d truly have agreed to it in your shoes.”
“I told you the conditions of the agreement.” Mostly.
“No, you told us some of them, not all.”
Raini had held back the final condition. Why? Because they’d be furious that he’d request such a thing when he wouldn’t even bond with her. More, they’d tell Jolene for sure, who’d be equally furious. And when someone was bat-shit crazy right down to the bone and liked to demolish entire buildings when their temper was running high, it was not a good idea for them to be in a fury about anything.
Oh, Jolene would understand Maddox’s reasoning. She just wouldn’t care. And Raini would really rather not be stuck in the middle of a dispute between her anchor and her Prime.
Besides, what would be the point in bemoaning the situation or having anyone take him to task over exploiting her desperation that night? Raini would never try to renege on a deal, so it wasn’t like anything would change.
Khloë sighed. “Look, if you’re keeping the rest from me because you worry I’ll feel bad that you agreed to this deal to save me from dying, then don’t.”
Raini rested a hand on the imp’s shoulder. “If there’s one thing I’ll never do, Khloë, it’s worry that you’ll ‘feel bad’ about, well, anything. Guilt has never quite been your thing.”
“It’s a wasteful emotion.”
Raini’s inner demon happened to agree with that.
Khloë sighed. “I worry about you, that’s all. I felt his power flow through me and … it was just so cold, Raini. Cold, but it burned and prickled. A little like chilblains. And now you … Look, don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to be alive, I’m grateful he helped. But he’s mega powerful. Like scary, mega powerful.”
“But,” Harper cut in, “fate wouldn’t have paired Raini with him if it didn’t feel she could handle him.”
Raini inwardly snorted. Maddox wouldn’t be easy to deal with unless he was in the mood to be. Which seemed to be never, from what she’d so far observed.
The bell above the door rang as it swung open. Knox entered with three of his sentinels—Tanner, Keenan, and Levi. Naturally, each of the first three males made a beeline for their prospective mate and delivered a few soft, lingering kisses.
“You ready to go home, kitten?” asked Tanner.
Devon smiled at the hellhound. “Almost, pooch.”
“I’ll just lock the back door,” said Harper, who then headed to the rear of the shop.
“I gotta set my desk to rights,” Khloë told Keenan, who frowned … probably because, to anyone else, the desk looked the epitome of organized.
Watching as Knox and Keenan moved to the side and began talking quietly, Raini felt her mouth tip up. After Khloë almost died, there’d been a short period of time during which the two males hadn’t spoken to each other. Raini hadn’t understood why. Well, not until she overheard Harper and Keenan talking in the sphinx’s office here at Urban Ink a few months ago …
“He could have saved her, Harper,” Keenan insisted. “He could have stopped her from being hit by the death orb, but he didn’t. Aren’t you pissed? She’s your cousin.”
Harper sighed. “Keenan—”
“Hey, I get it, okay. Knox is so good to you and Asher that it can be easy to forget that he’s not good. I know he doesn’t have a basic reflex to help others. I know that you and Asher are his priorities and that he’d never help someone—not even himself—if it negatively affected his mate or son. And exposing to everyone that he could call on the flames of hell would sure as shit not be good for the family you three have built.”