“It’s to her credit that she’s not willing to give up on him,” said Knox. He’d never give up on Harper, no matter what. Nor would his demon, who was currently sulking about the upcoming business meeting; it found them boring and mundane. The sulking would no doubt continue during the meeting itself. The entity wanted Harper. Wanted to be with her, touch her, breathe her in. It wasn’t placated by the knowledge that Knox intended to collect her for dinner.
“We’re being followed,” announced Levi a few minutes later.
Knox tensed. “Crow?”
“It’s not his Corolla; it’s an SUV. But he could have stolen another vehicle easily enough.”
Knox twisted in his seat to glance out of the blackened rear window, knowing Crow would be unable to see him. The metallic silver SUV was two car spaces behind them. It was hard to get a good look at the driver, especially since he was wearing sunglasses and his cap was pulled low. “Let him get a little closer.” He wasn’t worried about Crow shooting at them. The windows were bulletproof.
“What are you going to do?” asked Levi.
He wasn’t yet sure. His choices were limited while so many humans were around. To take out Crow in the middle of busy traffic would cause a number of accidents, not to mention that Knox would be restricted as to what gifts he could use. Calling on the flames of hell was definitely a no-go.
“We need to lead him away from the main traffic,” said Levi.
“I don’t think he’ll follow. So far, all his attacks have happened in plain view of humans. He did that knowing our demons wouldn’t be able to use their most powerful gifts to take him down.”
“If he believes he’s safer in public, it’s likely that he’ll conjure a gun any minute now.”
“Yes,” Knox agreed. Up to now, Crow hadn’t used hellfire, just weapons. Each time he’d conjured a gun, humans simply figured he’d had one tucked into his waist. “But it won’t do him much good against bulletproof windows. If we try leading him into a less populated area, it’s unlikely that he’ll follow. Our best chance of grabbing him is if we head to a public place.”
“Like where?”
“The very hotel where he’s already tried to reach me twice.” Knox then telepathed both Keenan and Larkin to inform them of the situation. Having ordered them to linger outside the hotel, ready to take Crow down, he turned to look out the rear window. “He’s still with us.”
Each time Levi took a turning, Knox checked to be sure that Crow was still following them. At no point did the psi-demon slow down or hesitate as he followed them to the strip.
“The moment I pull up outside the hotel and you step out of the Bentley, he’s going to conjure a gun, lower the window, and take a shot at you,” said Levi.
“I know. But Keenan positioned snipers on the roof, and Larkin and some of the Force are close. They’ll apprehend him.”
“Yeah, but will that be before or after he starts shooting?”
“We’ll find out soon enough.”
Turning the car up the winding road leading to the entrance of the hotel, Levi warned, “Harper will be pissed if you get shot.”
Yes, she would. “But she’ll be happy that it’s over.” The Bentley slowed as it reached the entrance.
Suddenly there was a horrible screech of tires.
Knox twisted in his seat to see Crow doing a sharp U-turn and speeding away.
“Fuck, he must have noticed the others or spotted one of the snipers,” said Levi.
Jumping out of the Bentley, Knox ordered, Keenan, Larkin – pursue. Through his teeth, he cursed, “Dammit. We almost fucking had him.”
“It’s always that we ‘almost’ had him, and I’m getting real tired of that,” said Levi.
Yeah, so was Knox.
The sentinels and most of the Force spent the rest of the day tracking Crow, but he managed to evade them once again; clearly pre-empting their moves. As such, Knox was pissed and beyond exasperated, especially since he hadn’t been able to take his mate to dinner.
Coming home to Harper later on went a long way to improving his mood. Strolling into the living area, he found that she wasn’t alone. Jolene and Ciaran were on one sofa while Harper was on the other, legs crossed yoga-style. She was also “revamping” her designer jeans again. The box at her side was filled with lots of appliqués, such as gems, sequins, rhinestones, crystals, beads, sash, and lace – things she often sewed on her clothes.
She’d once told him that it was something she began doing when traveling the world with Lucian, since they were occasionally strapped for money and unable to afford new clothes. It was something she had continued to do because she found enjoyment in personalizing things. He’d noticed that it also seemed to relax her.
She smiled at him. “You’re home earlier than I expected.”
Yeah, well, he hadn’t been able to focus on his work while the Crow incident replayed in his mind over and over.
A furrow appeared between her brows. “Everything okay?”
Holding her by her ponytail, Knox said, “It is now.” He bent and gave her a hard kiss.
He got away again, didn’t he? she asked.
Yes. Knox had told her about the incident earlier, keeping his promise to contact her immediately if Crow made another move. Standing upright, he nodded at the imps relaxing on the other sofa. “Jolene, Ciaran.”