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You can’t blame him for being so disturbed by the idea of the incorporeal coming for him, said Knox. They’re not forgiving creatures, and I would imagine they would be eager to make their captor pay for a very long time.
After Armand teleported Knox and the sentinels to Knox’s office within the Underground, the teleporter left the room. Knox sank into his leather chair behind his desk and brought Larkin up to speed on all that Dion had said. “Well, now we know for sure where Alethea got the incorporeal,” Knox added. “By all appearances, it does seem that she stole it right from under Dion’s nose.”
“For a minute, I did wonder if maybe he gave the incorporeal to her and then fed us a load of shit to cover his ass,” began Levi, “but he could have just denied ever owning an incorporeal—we would never have been able to prove that he had. He could have also denied that Alethea had spent a lot of time with him before her disappearance—again, we wouldn’t have been able to prove it was a lie on our part.”
Perched on the sofa near the window that overlooked the combat circle beneath them, Larkin spoke, “I agree that it’s unlikely he was in cahoots with Alethea. It seems extreme that he’d have gone to the trouble of having a replica of the display case made purely on the off-chance that our investigation would have led us to him.”
“We don’t know that it is a replica,” said Knox. “We never saw the original case. Only Jonas knows what it looks like. Dion could have shown us any damn case.”
Larkin bit her lip. “Shit, I never thought of that. I guess we could ask Jonas to describe the case he saw at Alethea’s home.”
“He won’t do us any favors,” said Knox. “He won’t even take my calls anymore. Despite that I can’t be sure the case truly was a replica, I’m no longer inclined to consider Dion a suspect. If he were the Horseman and needed Alethea’s help in freeing the incorporeal, it seems highly unlikely that he wouldn’t have given it to her. They could have just worked together in secret on his island.”
Levi nodded. “Letting her take the case off the island risked someone else, like Jonas, seeing it. Plus, I doubt Dion would have wanted it so far out of his sight and reach.”
“I don’t think Dion’s the fourth Horseman either, but that’s not to say that he isn’t one of the bastard’s minions,” said Larkin. “Honestly, though, my suspicions lean more toward Jonas. Maybe it’s just because I’ve never liked him and something about him rubs me up the wrong way. And it still bugs me that he wanted an archdemon.”
“He said he wanted one so that he could use it to kill the incorporeal,” Levi pointed out.
“But I can’t help wondering if maybe what he really wanted was an archdemon for a minion, so that he had extra power against Knox,” said Larkin. “Jonas did seem to put a lot of effort into looking for Alethea, but that could have been for show. You said he was adamant that she wouldn’t have known she was working with the Horseman, but that’s exactly what you’d expect him to say. You’d be suspicious if her own brother did anything but defend her.”
Levi tilted his head, allowing that. “True. But if you ask me, Dario is the most obvious suspect, since he had a connection to both Nora and Isla. He campaigned to be Monarch of the US like Isla, but it’s possible that they weren’t really competing for the position. Maybe they both did it in the hope that at least one of them would be elected.”
Knox twisted his mouth. “Dario does seem to be the most logical suspect. He also had a connection to Alethea. In Malden’s words, Dario’s ‘ancient history’ with Alethea hadn’t ended well, but that’s not to say that she and Dario hadn’t recently rekindled what they once had.” Alethea had never been difficult to seduce, which was partly why his demon hadn’t found her in the least bit interesting.
“And, if the rumors are right, Dario’s no stranger to rituals,” Levi added. “It’s alleged that he regularly engage
s in voodoo sex rituals with his harem.”
Larkin’s brow puckered. “Was his concubine part of the harem? The one who died?”
“Most likely,” replied Knox. Many Primes had harems consisting of several concubines. Personally, he’d never seen the appeal in having a harem.
“Maybe he replaced her with Alethea. I heard she was pretty adventurous in bed.” Larkin’s gaze turned inward. “I wonder how the concubine died.”
Levi shrugged. “No idea.”
Touching Harper’s mind, loving the way it rang with her fire, iron will, innate sensuality, and the soft streak she did her best to hide, Knox said, Hey, baby, how are you and our boy doing?
We’re fine, she replied. He seems very pleased with himself after peeing in the air while I was changing his diaper. Honestly, it was like a fountain.
Knox’s mouth twitched, able to imagine the impish grin on his son’s face. I’d say it was the Wallis part of his nature at work. They were mischievous to their core.
Yeah, probably. How did it go with Dion?
Alethea got the incorporeal from him. It seems that she stole it and replaced his display case with a replica, which suggests she was either prepared and went there specifically to take the incorporeal or she had someone teleport a replica to her.
Harper was quiet for a moment. I’m more inclined to think that she already knew he had an incorporeal. The Horseman probably knew and sent her to get it, allowing her to take the risks. She’d have gotten a kick out of the danger. But we can’t be sure, can we? She sighed. At least we know where the incorporeal came from. Are you going to tell the other Primes about it?
Yes, I’ll hold a teleconference later today to bring them up to speed. I don’t want them wasting resources on trying to find out where she got it from.
“So,” began Larkin, “you no longer think that Thatcher’s a possible suspect?”
Knox gave Harper’s mind a soft stroke with his own before breaking the connection and responding to Larkin. “I didn’t say that. They could have chosen to continue their relationship in secret for one reason or another. Whatever way you look at it, Dario is the most likely suspect. But it bothers me that it seems so obvious.”
“Just because something is obvious doesn’t mean it isn’t the right answer,” said Larkin. “If you’re leaning so much toward Dario, why haven’t you paid him a visit?”
“I feel as if I’m missing something. Something important.” But damn if Knox could figure out what.
