“No, Bray,” she complained. “It seems like months since I felt the sun on my skin.”
He ignored her. “It’s hot. You’ll burn.”
She turned to Knox with a weak smile. The small she-demon didn’t look like Harper at all, apart from the dark hair and slightly pointed chin. “Bray hasn’t stopped fussing since I woke up. He’d keep me in bed if he could. I needed air. I don’t like having to stay in one place too long.”
“You look better than I thought you would.” Pale and exhausted, but otherwise fine. Knox took the empty seat opposite her. With the exception of the rickety-looking tree house, the backyard was well-tended. The rose bushes were neatly trimmed, the lawn was freshly-mown, and the pool was clean. The lantern patio lights weren’t unlike the ones in Jolene’s yard. He wondered how both women would feel, knowing they had similar tastes in… well, anything. “How do you feel?”
“Lucky to be alive.” She sighed. “Crow’s far from well.”
“I’m still surprised he let you live,” said Bray, standing protectively at her side.
“He said killing me wasn’t part of his mission.” Carla licked her bottom lip as she told Knox. “He doesn’t want to kill anyone except you. He’s utterly paranoid and his thought processes are all messed up. He’s convinced you’ll have a powerful child that’s pure evil. A child of flames, he kept calling it. He said he saw it in a vision.”
“He told Delia something similar,” said Knox.
“Nothing I said could convince him that it was all in his head. Nothing.” She sipped at her drink. “I wish I could tell you something that would help you find him, but I have no idea where he could be.”
“How did he stop you from telepathically calling for help?” Knox asked.
“He did something. It was the strangest feeling. Like he inhaled my psychic energy – not sips of it to drain me, but one huge gulp that made my vision go black and my head pound. I passed out after that. When I woke up, I had this awful pain in my head. Whenever I tried to call for help, the pain got worse. He kept me low on psi-energy so I couldn’t recover from it. The worst part was that I could hear Bray and the boys call for me, and I knew how worried they were, but I couldn’t answer them.”
Bray put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s all right. You’re home now. You’re safe.”
Carla took a steadying breath and patted his hand. “I know.” She looked at Knox and awkwardly asked, “How is Harper?”
“She’s fine,” replied Knox. “She was going to come with me to see you, but she believes she won’t be welcome here.”
“I don’t blame her for what happened,” said Carla, brow furrowing. “I know Roan does, and I heard what he did. He was just angry and looking for someone to blame. That doesn’t make it right, I know.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Which was exactly why he’d been punished for it. “I assume you’ve noticed your protection detail?”
Carla licked her lips. “You think he’ll come back for me?” Her voice shook.
“No. The security measure is more for your peace of mind than anything else.”
She swallowed. “I appreciate that.”
“You will catch Crow, won’t you?” said Bray.
Knox nodded. “Of course.”
“And you will punish him?” pressed Bray.
“What I do or don’t do will depend on several things.” But Knox wasn’t going to get into that here and now. He rose to his feet. “I’ll leave you to rest, Carla. Take care.” He retraced his steps, taking him back inside the house. He’d just reached the front door when he heard shuffling. Turning, he saw Kellen sitting on the stairs.
The teen rubbed the back of his head. “How’s Harper?”
Knox raised a brow. “Why not find that out for yourself?”
Kellen lowered his eyes. “She won’t want to speak to me.”
“Why would you think that?” Knox asked, but Kellen just shook his head and disappeared up the stairs. All right then.
Outside, Knox strolled down the path to the Bentley only to find a nervous-looking Delia standing with Levi.
She offered Knox a quick, half-hearted smile. “I saw your car parked outside. I just wanted to ask if you’d had any luck finding Lawrence.”
“It’s only a matter of time before we have him, Delia,” said Knox. “He can’t run forever.”
“He’s not running, he’s hunting,” she reminded him.
“True, but I’m nobody’s prey.”
She nervously rubbed at her thigh. “When you do catch him, you won’t hurt him, will you? I know lots of people think he should be killed for what he did to Carla, and I share their anger at what he did. But he’s not well. He can be helped, I’m sure he can.”
“We won’t know what needs to be done until we have him in custody.”
“Let’s all hope that happens sometime soon.” She turned away and headed back to her house.
In the car, Levi switched on the engine. “What time is your business meeting in New York?”
“Soon, so we need to head for the jet.” As they drove out of the cul-de-sac, Knox spoke again. “Has the lair been giving Delia a hard time?”
“Yes,” replied Levi. “She’s been vocal, though not insensitive, about the fact that she thinks Crow’s entitled to the same help as other near-rogues get. Not many agree with her.”