“At least you’re not denying that you love him.”
“Now that you have your answers, can we move on to another – and much more casual – subject?”
Khloë gave her an apologetic smile. “I just want you to be happy.”
“I am, doofus.”
Harper? Knox’s velvety voice slid over her skin.
Yeah?
I need you to go with Tanner. He’ll bring you to me. A vibe of frustration accompanied the words.
What’s wrong?
Carla’s secret…it’s out.
Well, shit.
A short while later, she and Tanner were entering Knox’s Underground office above the combat circle. He stood near the window while Keenan and Levi lounged on the sofa.
“What’s happened exactly? Who blabbed?” She wondered if it was Kellen, but—
“We actually don’t know.” Knox came to her, every muscle in his body tense, as if he was coiled to spring. As usual, he looked totally calm, despite the anger pulsing in the air. “Like with the whisper campaigns, the news seemed to come out of nowhere. It has spread around the Underground like wildfire.”
Harper cursed. She’d known it was highly likely that the truth would one day come out. She just hadn’t expected it to be so soon. As Tanner had led her to the office, people had stared and whispered. The fact that everyone knew…she hated that.
Tanner leaned against the wall. “There’s a great deal of anger brewing down there.”
“A lot of people aren’t happy,” said Levi.
Harper frowned. “Why? I mean, I know she did wrong, but my family already knows about it. Who else would care?”
“Our entire lair cares,” replied Levi. “You’re Knox’s anchor and his mate, which automatically makes them protective of you. People see you at his side, supporting him at meetings and gatherings. To support him is to support all of us. Larkin had to pull Carla out of a mob of pissed-off demons ready to kick her ass.”
He had to be kidding. “Mob?”
Knox, twining her hair around his finger like he was apt to do when pissed or in deep thought, said, “Mona was leading it.”
Harper snorted a laugh, which appeared to further anger him. “Come on, you don’t find it funny that a she-demon who once dueled with me down there is now my biggest supporter?”
Keenan pursed his lips. “There is an amusing quality to the situation.”
“Nothing about this situation is humorous,” countered Knox. Moving closer to her, he placed his hands on her forearms. “I can’t cut this rumor off. It’s already spread too far, too fast. That means we have to ride it out.”
“Has Carla denied the truth to everyone?” Harper asked him.
“Oddly enough, no.”
She’d have thought the woman would have maintained her innocence, given that she’d have to know full well that Harper would just as happily deny the rumor was true. “Does her mate know yet?”
“Yes. He called me earlier, asking where Carla was.”
Levi cocked his head. “He didn’t ask you if there was any truth in the whispers?”
“No.”
“Maybe he wants to hear it from her,” suggested Harper. Hearing her cell ring, she dug it out of her pocket. “It’s Jolene.”
As Harper moved to the other side of his office to take the call, Knox turned to his sentinels. “Whoever released this information did it practically anonymously. That tells me they’re adept at this sort of thing…maybe as adept as those who have been part of the whisper campaigns.”
“Like Isla, you mean,” concluded Keenan.
For Knox, it was becoming more and more likely that Isla was the culprit.
“Someone went through the trouble of digging deep into Harper’s life,” said Keenan. “Why? What’s the point?”
“It’ll distract people from the election,” Levi pointed out. “But I don’t think that was the motivation. Releasing the secret has hurt Harper, hasn’t it?”
Knox glanced at her. She was trying to talk Jolene down from turning Carla’s home to rubble. Harper didn’t look at all like she was hurting, but he knew she was, and he hated it. Although he didn’t like that his mate was, in her words, ‘Carla’s dirty little secret’ and he didn’t believe it was fair that she was kept as one, he also knew that Harper was a private person who wouldn’t want her personal business up for public consumption. It infuriated him that he couldn’t protect her from this.
“Whoever’s been trying to hurt her hasn’t been successful,” continued Levi. “Maybe they’ve accepted that and they’re settling for making her suffer in other ways.”
Keenan shrugged. “What do we do?”
“The only thing we can do: damage control.” At the knock on the door, Knox called out, “Come in.”
Larkin walked inside, dragging a reluctant Carla with her. His inner demon snarled. Knox prided himself on being good at reading people, but he’d never been able to discern Carla’s true feelings about Harper. He’d known one thing, though: Carla’s part in every conversation about or with Harper had always been an act. As he stared at Carla now, he could see that her façade was gone. Maybe it was the shock of the situation, but the mask had finally fallen. There was none of her usual graciousness or timidity. She looked terrified and devastated. And it was real.