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“I’m sure,” she said.
He liked that she’d be in the building, where she’d be safe, but … “I don’t like that you’ll be alone.”
“If you’re worried that I’ll get lonely or bored and decide to go out, don’t. I’m not stupid. Venturing out alone while I have danger lurking isn’t on my list of things to do. I’m not going to make it easy for the fucker to get to me.”
Finally dressed, he crossed to the bed and planted a fist on the mattress either side of her. “If for some reason you do need to go somewhere, call Ciaran and ask him to teleport you wherever you need to go. Also tell him to give me a telepathic shout-out so I know exactly where you are. Okay?”
She turned her face upward and rolled her eyes. “If it’ll make you feel better, okay.”
He dropped a kiss on her mouth. “Thank you.”
Knuckles rapped on the front door and then a familiar mind slid against his. It’s me, said Antonio. You ready?
Yeah, replied Tanner. “That’s Antonio,” he told her, straightening. “I have to leave now.” His hound rumbled a dark growl, not wanting to go, even as it knew its Prime needed it. “I might be a few hours,” Tanner warned her.
She crossed her eyes. “Yeah, pooch, I get that. I’ll be fine.” She flapped her hand toward the door. “Now go. Shoo. Good dog.”
Lips twitching, he narrowed his eyes. “You’ll pay for that later, kitten.”
She smirked. “Sure I will.”
Shooting her a mock glare, Tanner spun on his heel and left the apartment.
*
A short time later, he and Levi flanked Knox as they stalked through the lavish hotel lobby that was all gleaming marble tile, domed stained glass ceilings, and designer rugs. Some people were in a line near the front desk, hauling luggage. Others were relaxing on the designer couches in the sprawling seating area beyond the bank of elevators.
The uniformed staff had a habit of rushing to Knox with queries the moment he stepped into the building, but not today. Probably because he was exuding a “You really don’t want to fuck with me right now” vibe.
Knox made a beeline for the head of the security team, who was unobtrusively leaning against a marble column near the water fountain, taking in everything.
The male straightened as they approached. “Mr. Thorne.”
“Derek,” Knox greeted. “Is Muriel still contained?”
“Yes, sir.” Derek fell into step beside the Prime as Knox immediately headed in the direction of the security office, since it was the only room that provided access to the detention room—a space specially designed to hold demons. Like both Knox’s home and their lair’s prison, it was safeguarded by a myriad of spells that kept the prisoner contained and stopped anyone from teleporting inside. In addition, each of those spells were covered with protective wards to prevent them from unraveling.
“Did she give you much trouble?” Knox asked Derek as they all turned down a long, carpeted hallway.
“A little, but nothing we couldn’t handle,” replied Derek.
“Is anyone with her now?”
“No, but we’ve been monitoring her from the office through the camera.” Derek grimaced. “We noticed something.”
“What?”
“Well, she was sobbing for a while, rocking forward and backward while sitting in the corner with her legs tucked up to her body. Then, at one point, she stopped. Went completely still. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, said she was ‘done.’ And then her demon surfaced. It has been driving the wheel ever since, so to speak.”
Entering the security office, they crossed straight to the monitor that was linked to the camera in the detention room. Muriel was standing near the rear wall, her back straight, her chin high … and her eyes pure black.
“Thank you for your assistance, Derek. We’ll take it from here.” There was no bloodthirst in Knox’s voice, and Tanner knew the Prime hated that he’d have to kill this person who’d been through more than anyone should ever have to endure.
Levi opened the door, and all three of them filed inside. Knox stood directly opposite Muriel while Tanner and Levi flanked him. And it was right then, as Tanner stared the demon in the eye and saw the malicious gleam there, that his instincts went on high alert and his hound let out a snarl.
Tanner froze. So did the others, which meant they’d obviously sensed what he and his hound had: Muriel hadn’t just retreated to allow her demon to surface temporarily. No, Muriel had given her demon full-control. She’d turned rogue.
Fuck.
This wasn’t good. Not at all. The entities were all essentially cold, unfeeling psychopaths. But sharing their soul with an actual person gave them a sense of balance. Without that balance, without an element of goodness touching their souls, they were as close to pure evil as anything could get.
Rogue demons weren’t insane in the literal sense, but they didn’t behave rationally … purely because they didn’t want to. They would kill without thought or discrimination. Would just as easily slaughter or torture an infant as they would an adult, and they wouldn’t even need a motive to do so.
