“So you can understand why he didn’t put her before me?”
Another heavy exhale from the incubus. “Yeah. And I get why his head was all kinds of messed up after seeing Asher there. I don’t think I could have thought straight either, in his shoes.”
“So then maybe you could stop hating him.”
Keenan softly snorted. “I don’t hate Knox. You can’t hate someone you walked through fire with for years to come out the other side. He’s saved my life more than once.”
“And mine. He’s almost lost me several times. It plays on his mind that there’ll be a ‘next time’ and I won’t survive it.”
Keenan sucked in a long breath. “I’ll talk to him. I can’t say things will get back to normal fast, but I’ll talk to him.”
“That’s all I’m asking.”
Raini had walked away after that, so she wasn’t sure what else had been said. The conversation between Knox and Keenan must have gone somewhere good, because they’d begun speaking again shortly after Harper spoke with the incubus. Things had seemed a little awkward at first, but not so much now.
She hadn’t told anyone what she’d overheard, and she never would. If it was well-known that Knox could truly destroy the world so easily, many demons would band together to kill him. She doubted it would get them anywhere, but they’d still try it. Others would get hurt and potentially die.
Some secrets just couldn’t be shared. Raini knew that better than anyone.
Ready to leave, she crossed to the coatrack near the vending machine and slipped on her jacket. “Hey, Levi,” she greeted the reaper.
The guy possessed that elusive badass quality that was all kinds of hot. There’d never been any chemistry between him and Raini, though.
He didn’t seem affected by her succubae allure, which was part of why she felt comfortable around him. She suspected he was good at treating it as background noise because one of his closest friends was also a sex demon.
He tipped his chin in greeting, his steely eyes sweeping the space. “Where’s your bodyguard?”
Raini flicked her hair out from under her collar. “You always ask me that, and you always seem so disappointed in me when I can’t give you the answer.”
“I’m not disappointed in you. I’m disappointed in Maddox. Why put a guard on you if they’re not going to do their job?”
“She watches from afar. Kind of like a guardian angel as opposed to personal security. Only she’s not an angel. She’s a demon. And I don’t think she likes me much. When I do see her, she’s always frowning at me.”
“Who keeps moving my stapler?” Khloë burst out.
Keenan slung one arm around the imp’s shoulders. “Maybe it was you.”
Khloë frowned and jabbed the desk with her finger. “It goes there.” She then pointed at a spot a few inches away. “Why would I put it all the way over there?”
The incubus opened and closed his mouth a few times. “Good point.”
Soon enough, they’d locked the place up and were beginning their walk toward the exit of the Las Vegas Underground. The subterranean, demonic paradise had everything from bars and casinos to racing stadiums and rodeos. There were also many small businesses like coffeehouses, bakeries, and delis. It basically had everything that would keep demons— who, by nature, were easily bored thrill-seekers—happy and entertained.
The Underground was owned by Knox … as were a lot of things, considering the guy was a billionaire. Being his mate, Harper co-owned most of those things.
Many CEOs were demons. Their kind tended to gravitate toward jobs that provided them with power, respect, and control.
Finally, their group reached the elevator that would take them to the basement of the nightclub that Knox had built above the Underground to conceal its entrance.
After a quick upward trip in the elevator, Levi took the lead as they all filed into the basement, briefly greeting the demons that guarded the elevator.
Heading toward the staircase, Raini looked at Harper. “So how’s my little dude, anyway?” she asked, referring to Harper and Knox’s son.
“He’s just as fine as when you last saw him, which was yesterday,” replied Harper. “You always ask as if you haven’t seen him in months.”
“I like to check. That’s what honorary aunts do.”
As they reached the staircase, a male shimmered into view on the middle step, a dagger in hand, his eyes filled with intent as he stared at Knox.
The sentinels exploded into action in an instant, surrounding Knox and the girls. Tanner accidentally knocked Raini, who stumbled and crashed into Knox … just as the blade hurtled through the air.
She doubled over as white-hot pain thrust into her stomach, shocking the breath out of her lungs and making her heart slam in her chest. Looking down, she frowned at the dagger buried in her stomach. The steel glowed white. The fuck?
She heaved in a breath as something … God, it was like a magnetic force of some kind was viciously pulling at her very being. Pulling and wrenching and demanding something from her. The force was so fucking strong, it sent her to her knees.
Orbs of hellfire crashed into the bastard who’d tossed the dagger. He didn’t cry out in pain. He just vanished. Mere milliseconds later, he reappeared a few feet away, completely unharmed—no burns, no damage to his clothing, nothing.
Astral projection, she thought. You couldn’t kill a projection. Even so, the people around her attacked him.
The power in her belly surged forward, wanting to protect and avenge her. And then that alien magnetic force pulled at her power, trying to suck it into the dagger like a fucking hoover. Oh the hell no.
She was distantly aware of the mayhem around her—of voices yelling, of hellfire hissing and spitting, of power rippling through the air—but she was mentally caught up in the frightening sensation of her own power leaving her system in small drips.
Raini closed her hand around the hilt of the dagger. Under any other circumstances, removing the blade wouldn’t be wise, considering it was currently staunching the flow of blood. But this dagger … it had to be removed. First, she wanted what it had fucking stolen from her.
Gritting her teeth, Raini fought the magnetic force, wrenching back dreg after dreg of her power. And, God, it hurt. She honestly worried the veins in her temples would pop from the strain.
Her head pounded. Her teeth chattered. Her vision began to blur and dim around the edges. But she didn’t stop. She kept fighting. Kept taking back what was hers.
And then she had it.
Raini yanked out the dagger, hissing at the white-hot slash of agony. Warm blood soaked her dress, and her world tilted. Oh, this wasn’t good.
Before she’d even thought about it, she reached out to the one demon that could help her. Maddox, she managed to say just as someone crouched at her side and grabbed her arm.
What is it? demanded Maddox, a snap in his voice.
Before Raini had the chance to respond, her belly rolled, and her surroundings flashed white. Then, suddenly, she was in his office.
I’m not gonna pass out, I’m not.
It was the last clear thought she had before it all went dark.
CHAPTER THREE