Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 117510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
“That’s all your son needs to cause utter mayhem,” said Tanner. “Basically, he decided it would be funny to pyroport stuff from the shelves into his little hands, and then he pyroported them in random places around the room. Once he got bored of that game, he started pyroporting our stuff right out of our pockets and adding them to his little collection over there on the rug.”
“When I tried to get them back,” Larkin cut in, “Asher playfully hurled a ball of hellfire at me. I dodged it, but it set the lampshade on fire. Of course, Asher thinks the whole thing is one big game, so he found it rather funny and saw no harm in throwing more balls of hellfire around the room. Levi’s been catching them mid-air with his telekinesis and putting them out, which Asher also found funny.”
Stifling a smile, Harper gave her son a stern look. “Asher.”
He smiled. “Ma!” And then he was engulfed in flames that pyroported him right into her arms. She caught him with an oof. Since mastering that skill, he disappeared frequently—freaking her the fuck out—and then she’d have to run around the house searching for him, totally frantic. She often found him in the strangest places, including on top of the fridge. Her heart would be in her throat every time. Thankfully, he couldn’t travel further than a few rooms away or he’d be off the estate every five minutes.
Harper gave the sentinels an apologetic look. “Sorry, guys, but it’s hard to be mad at something this cute.” Especially while he was wearing his little hobo suit, complete with the fake beard-scruff that Larkin had drawn on his chubby cheeks and chin.
Keenan inclined his head. “It is hard.”
Harper was relieved that none of the sentinels were at all put-off by Asher being an Anubis. Agreeing with her that the sentinels would protect Asher best if they knew what he was, Knox had chosen to let them keep their memory of it. Harper and Knox had also decided not to tell anyone else about Asher being an Anubis—not even Jolene or the girls, who they trusted to still accept him. The fewer people who knew, the better, since most people were no fonder of his kind than they were of archdemons.
Harper’s only worry was that they couldn’t count on Asher’s demon to cloak itself at all times. Since the battle at the rainforest, the demon had occasionally dropped the cloak when Asher was at home—maybe because it trusted that its parents wouldn’t reject it. As Asher’s kind was so rare, it was unlikely that anyone would easily sense what he was even if they were exposed to his real psychic scent, so that was a little comforting.
Just then, Knox stalked into the room, fiddling with the collar of his deliberately haphazard suit. “You ready to leave, baby? You don’t want to be late for Khloë’s—what the fuck happened here?”
“I’ll tell you in the car,” said Harper, thinking it unfair that he looked just as sexy all rumpled as he did when stylishly suited.
Asher pyroported to the floor, toddled over to the rug, grabbed his Hound teddy, and then pyroported back to her.
“His balance is getting better,” said Knox.
“I remember a time when he struggled to lift his head,” said Harper. “Now he’s walking. Walking. He’ll be a whiny teenager before we know it.”
Knox frowned. “No child of mine will be whiny.”
“Think again.”
Digging his flask out of his jacket, Keenan asked, “We going now?” He sounded about as excited as if she were taking him for a root canal.
“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” Harper told him. “I know my cousin drives you crazy. Not that it’s anything you should take personally. Khloë does it to everybody.”
Grunting, Keenan took a long swig from his flask. “The sooner she meets her anchor and has someone who can keep an eye on her and protect her from herself, the better.” As Harper burst out laughing, the incubus frowned. “What’s so funny?”
“It’s just that she already met her anchor, and he’s as unstable as she is.”
Eyes flaring, Keenan turned rigid. “Who?”
“He’ll be at the party—he’d never miss her birthday.”
“Well, then, I’m definitely going.” Keenan put his flask back in his pocket. “Someone needs to speak with him and make it clear that he’s not protecting her as he should.”
“Actually, Teague is a good anchor,” said Harper. “You’d be surprised how much more shit she’d have gotten herself into over the years if it weren’t for him. And he adores her.”
“So, he’s involved with her,” Keenan assumed, voice flat.
“I didn’t say that,” said Harper.
Knox curled an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, let’s go or we’re going to be late.”
They weren’t late, but the party was in full swing when they arrived, which told Harper that her family had probably started it early just for themselves. People stood all around the extensive pretty garden, wearing old and raggedy clothes. The garden was amazingly vivid and serene with its colorful flowers, ice sculptures, rose bushes, lanterns hanging from the trees, and—at Khloë’s request—the mermaid fountain.