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)
Jonas snickered at Knox. “Why are you here? Come to gloat? No doubt you’re glad my sister’s dead. She can’t cause your mate any more upset now, can she?”
Knox wasn’t going to even credit that snipe with a response. He’d expected Jonas to lash out in such a way, which was why he was tremendously glad that Harper hadn’t insisted on coming.
He wouldn’t lie to Jonas and claim to be grieving Alethea’s death. They both knew that, since she’d made a point of insulting his mate every chance she got, he’d felt nothing but distaste for Alethea near the end. His demon, who had never liked her, didn’t feel even so much as an ounce of pity for her.
With a shaky hand, Jonas grabbed a crystal tumbler from the table and slurped the brandy. “I’ll bet Harper’s throwing a celebratory party. She probably plans to play the clip of Alethea’s death in HD in your fucking home theater. Oh yes, she’ll be loving this.”
With an inner sigh, Knox arched a brow. “Are you done?”
Jonas glared at him. “God, you’re cold. You took Alethea to bed countless times, yet you feel no grief at all, do you?”
“You’re going to spew shit at me for not caring for her as you did? I would have thought you’d be more interested in seeing your sister’s killer pay.”
Jonas stilled, eyes sharpening. “You know who he is? Give me his name.”
“I don’t have his name. Yet. But I intend to ID him. I need your help to do that.”
Sagging into the chair, Jonas glanced at the fireplace. “If I knew who he was, he’d be in my dungeon right now.”
He has a dungeon? asked Levi.
Apparently so, said Knox.
Huh. Didn’t expect that.
“What about the humans she spent time with?” Knox asked. “Have you interviewed them?”
“I already spoke to them after she first disappeared. None knew where she was. Since I couldn’t have them reporting her disappearance to the human authorities, I had to tell them all that she moved away. None of them have contacted me recently, so I’m assuming they didn’t see the video clip before I had my contact at YouTube take it down.”
“I’m assuming you asked your contact if he had any information on the person who uploaded the clip,” Knox prompted.
“All they had on the person was an email address. I had a technology expert from my lair try to track it. They said they couldn’t. A proxy was used.” Jonas stared hard at Knox, face twisting in resentment. “But maybe you already know that.”
“Excuse me?”
“Maybe it was you on that clip. Maybe you’re the fourth Horseman. Maybe you talked of being the next victim to draw suspicion from yourself.”
“Maybe you’re the fourth Horseman,” Knox countered. “I saw her face at the meeting when she heard you wanted to make a pact with Lucifer—she was shocked. Anxious. Maybe she discovered what you wanted from Lucifer. Maybe she didn’t like it. Maybe you then killed her to preserve your secret.”
Eyes wide, Jonas snarled. “I would never have harmed my sister.”
“And I would never have hidden behind a camera.”
Sneering, Jonas slugged back more brandy. “I suppose you wouldn’t have. You’re so sure none of us can defeat you that—”
“You want to know who her killer is. I want to know who he is. Playing this game doesn’t help.”
“Just go.” Jonas flicked a dismissive hand his way, but the move lacked strength. “I can’t tell you anything that would lead you to the fourth Horseman because I don’t know anything.”
“He was no stranger to her, Jonas. They knew each other. Who was she spending her time with?”
He closed his eyes, replying, “I don’t know. She disappeared, remember.”
“Before that, who was she with?”
“I don’t know.”
Trying a different tack, Knox said, “She was well-aware of what you wanted from Lucifer, wasn’t she?”
“No, but she suspected why I wanted his aid.”
“Aid with what?”
Jonas didn’t respond. Just stared into the fire.
Patience thin, Knox bared his teeth. “Jonas, do not fuck with me right now. It’s not the time to test just how much tolerance I possess. Someone recently posed as Harper to get to my son. We suspect they wanted to take him, and we’re betting they were sent by the Horseman.”
Jonas’s face went slack. “Posed as Harper?”
“Took on her physical form. They left no scent or blood behind, and I don’t have to point out that such a thing isn’t at all common.” Jonas went so deathly pale that Knox’s muscles bunched with tension. “What do you know?”
Closing his eyes, Jonas shook his head. “Oh, Alethea, what did you do?” he muttered.
Knox took an aggressive step toward him. “Tell me what you know.”
Jonas pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a hard sigh. “Alethea. She … ”
“She, what?”
“She had an incorporeal demon in her possession.”
Everything in Knox stilled. Even his demon stiffened. Fisting his hands, Knox echoed, “An incorporeal demon? She had an incorporeal demon?” A demon without a body. A demon that could possess others. A demon that, if extremely powerful, could also temporarily maintain the physical form of anyone it chose. A demon that was as near to indestructible as anything in their world could get. Mostly intangible, it had no bones for you to break, no blood for you to spill, no heart for you to stop, no brain for you to damage. Very little could kill it … making it the perfect weapon, and one of the worst opponents imaginable.