How can you be smug? YOU’RE TIED TO A TABLE LIKE A DAMN SACRIFICE!

I don’t appreciate your tone.

“Alton, when do you want me to get a message to someone in his lair?” asked another male voice.

“Soon, Ezra. I need to be sure everything is ready before we give an anonymous tip with her location,” said Alton.

“Can I make her scream a little first?” ‘Kendra’ practically purred.

“Still sore that he chose her over you?” Jacques teased.

“It’s not about him. She should die for the agony she caused my soul.”

“Be honest, Jeanna, Knox choosing her was an ego blow. You treasure that ego.”

She huffed. “I’d already walked away from him by the time he met her, remember?”

“Yeah, but you thought he’d chase you. Instead, he pursued her. That has to have pissed you off, since you literally have the gift of seduction. Tell me honestly, did you try to seduce her, too?”

“Her?”

He chuckled. “Don’t give me that horrified look, Jeanna. Whenever a mated guy turns you down, you seduce his mate out of spite.”

“I don’t seduce them, I just make them want me so much that they beg for me to touch them…then I walk away.”

Wasn’t she just a precious little thing? Her inner demon wanted to crush her skull.

“Like that’s any better,” snorted Jacques. “Come on, tell me, did you try it on her?”

“Once. It didn’t work. She’s an awkward bitch.”

That could explain the warmth that had briefly bloomed through Harper when Jeanna grabbed her arm in the restrooms.

“Do you really think you can trap Knox Thorne?” Jacques asked.

“Any predator can be trapped with the right bait,” replied Alton.

“But can you keep the predator trapped? That’s the question.”

“Your part here is over, demons,” said Alton. “You’ve been paid, and you’ve been paid well.”

“I want to see it through,” said Jeanna.

Alton huffed. “I fail to understand why you believe you have any authority here. Ezra, please escort the demons to their vehicle while I check everything is in place.”

Someone in your lair will get a call with an anonymous tip on where I am, Harper told Knox as the voices gradually faded. It’s a trap—

I know it’s a fucking trap. His tone said he couldn’t give a shit. I’ll be there soon.

That meant she needed to get outside before the dumb motherfucker walked inside.

Once she was absolutely certain she was alone again, Harper opened her eyes and called hellfire to her hand. Then she twisted her hands enough to grip the table, infusing the hellfire into the wood. The flames burned away the rope, enabling her to free herself. Thankfully, she was impervious to any hellfire she conjured or she’d be in absolute agony right now.

Honestly, she was insulted that anyone thought rope was enough to secure her. No self-respecting Wallis would be unable to escape ties of any kind.

Harper smoothly slipped off the table. She stood still for a moment, testing the strength of her legs. Maybe it was the adrenalin or maybe it was that being anchored to Knox made her stronger, but her body was no longer physically weak. She knew that she still hadn’t psychically recovered from Isla’s bite, though.

With the stealth she’d learned at an early age, she silently hurried to the other end of the room. She quickly dashed up the wooden steps, wincing when one of the boards creaked ever so slightly. The sound was like a bomb in the silence of the room, but it didn’t appear to have alerted anyone.

When she almost reached the top step, she blinked, totally baffled. Where the fuck was the door? There was barely even a wall. The roof here in the corner of the basement was sloped. There was only a two foot gap between the top stair and the bottom of the slope. There was literally no door. She might have thought the door had been moved underneath the stairs during renovations or something, but she had clearly heard the others descend the rickety steps.

That was when she recalled the whirring sound she’d heard earlier. Okay, if she was an electronic door, where would she be?

Harper skimmed her fingers along the wall, searching for some kind of switch. Her index finger brushed over something hard and circular. Hopeful, Harper pressed it…and the small sloped roof above the steps started to lift. She listened hard for any signs of people approaching, but there was nothing.

Finally, the slope came to an abrupt stop, revealing a doorway. It was only when Harper hurried through the opening that she realized the sloped roof was actually part of a staircase that led to upper floors. The clever bastards had hidden their little temple very well. Clicking another switch, Harper then watched as the small portion of the staircase moved back into position. To look at the staircase as a whole, no one would ever imagine that the bottom section lifted. She couldn’t help but begrudgingly admire the design.

Voices in the distance snapped her out of her musings.

Crap. Strongly suspecting that the front and back entrances to what was clearly a massive house were being guarded, she headed silently up the winding staircase. Reaching the top floor, she listened carefully for signs of company. Satisfied she was still alone, she crossed the landing to a smaller winding staircase that no doubt led to the attic. Hopefully it wasn’t another damn sacrificial chamber.

Thankfully, it turned out to be a storage room. Quietly, she wound her way through the boxes and pieces of furniture, heading for the side window, which was disappointingly small. Not that a little thing like that would stop her. Hey, she’d once gotten in and out of a bank vault – she had this.




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