Burn

“Oh come on, allow an old woman her fun.”

“Your ideas of ‘fun’ tend to attract the attention of humans.”

A huff. “I don’t know why you have to be so judgmental.”

Harper shook her head. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Thank you.” She sounded genuinely pleased with the comment.

Amused despite herself, Harper chuckled. “I gotta go, I’ll see you soon.”

“I’ll hold you to that, sweetheart. Remember, stand your ground with Knox.”

She would. Because Harper never folded. Not even to a guy who could scramble her brain and play her body without even touching her.

“Either you’ve got your tampon in too far or something’s bugging you. Which is it?”

Looking up from where she was cleaning her tattoo station, Harper sighed at her fellow lair-member. “Like I already told you a hundred times, I’m fine.”

Devon gave her a reassuring smile. “Of course you’re fine.” There was no sarcasm there, only total faith in Harper. “But that doesn’t mean something isn’t playing on your mind. Share it. You’ve been like this all day, and I can’t take the suspense anymore.” That was the thing about hellcats, they were unbelievably and annoyingly curious. “I even waited for Khloë to leave in case it was something you didn’t want to discuss with your family. I know they’re meddlers.”

It was true that there were no worse meddlers than Wallis imps.

“Your sour mood isn’t because of Royce, is it?” asked Devon, her cat-green eyes wary. “I mean, honestly, you can do a lot better.”

“No, it’s not Royce. Although it’s definitely not fun working across the street from my ex.” Particularly since said ex was being an asshole, despite that he was the one who did the cheating.

Raini, another member of Harper’s lair, appeared. “What are we talking about?” Both she and Harper were not only senior tattooists but owned the business together. Devon was an apprentice and also specialized in piercings while Khloë worked as their receptionist.

The place had a rock/art/Harley Davidson vibe. The she-demons had treated the white walls that ran throughout the office and work area as one big canvas. The metal wall art on display were actually enlarged copies of tattoos – flames, swirls, animals, and Chinese dragons to name a few. Framed photographs of tattoos also decorated the walls.

The reception area had a large L-shaped sofa and coffee table on either side. There were also some glass display cabinets of various types of jewelry here and there. The chrome reception desk was almost a full circle, leaving plenty of workspace and was kept obsessively tidy by Khloë, who guarded her territory like a bulldog. Khloë was a total contradiction. She was obsessively tidy – everything had a place, and everything had to be kept in that place or she would totally lose her shit. And yet, Harper had never met anyone who dressed less neatly than her cousin.

“Harper was just about to tell me what crawled up her ass and died.”

“Ooh, spill, spill, spill,” encouraged Raini before taking a sip of her coffee. Somehow, she was able to make it look like a sensual experience. Like all succubae, she exuded sex. She was also celibate at the moment.

“Did I tell you I love this new look?” Harper asked Raini, admiring the soft pink highlights she had added to her white-blonde hair. It made Harper think of strawberries and cream.

Raini held up a hand. “I will not be distracted.”

With a resigned sigh, Harper told them, “I found my anchor.”

Devon’s face lit up with excitement, but then she frowned in confusion. “Why is this bad?” Raini seemed just as puzzled.

“Because even if I did want an anchor, this guy is the last person I would choose.”

The intrigue that flashed in Devon’s eyes was expected. “Ooh, why?”

“It’s Knox Thorne.”

Raini’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously? Huh. I sure didn’t see that coming. But I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want him as your anchor.”

“He’s a control freak. I’d make him crazy.”

Raini snorted. “You’d make any guy crazy. It’s a gift you have, and I envy you for it.” Probably because it would never matter how hard Raini tried to repel a male, they would be drawn in by her sinful curves, flawless skin, innate sensuality, and piercing amber eyes – all succubae had a body that screamed ‘sex’, it was part of the package. A package that Raini always covered with casual, non-revealing clothes, since she didn’t like attention much.

“This is a good thing,” insisted Devon. “Knox is incredibly powerful. Having him as your anchor would be like the ultimate form of protection. Given that the demon world can be brutal, protection is nothing to sniff at. And I seriously doubt anyone would even consider harming you if they know they’d have Knox to deal with.”

Raini’s brows drew together. “I have to say, it would be a heavy weight to carry the responsibility of keeping who’s potentially the most powerful demon alive mentally stable.”

“Thanks for pointing that out,” said Harper dryly.

The succubus smiled sweetly. “You’re welcome.”

Harper wanted to strangle both she-demons. “There’s one thing that you guys aren’t considering. Being his anchor would make most people hesitant to harm me. I stress most. He has a lot of enemies. I’ll bet some of them would be either stupid enough or angry enough to hurt me just to strike out at him.”