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Reena sighed. “Kaye, we’re kind of busy here; you need to go.” Kaye’s smile slipped from her face as her gaze darted from person to person. “Something’s happened. What is it?”
Finn took a deep breath, turned to his youngest daughter, and spilled the beans.
Her mouth fell open. “Oh my God.” She eyed Devon. “You look okay, but you must be a little shook up. I don’t get why they took you. I don’t mean it in a bitchy way. It’s just that, well, you’re not a big part of Dad’s life. Shouldn’t they have gone after me or Reena or Spencer?”
Reena shot her sister a look that called her an idiot. “We’re better protected than Devon. She made an easier target.”
“I don’t think it was that,” said Jolene. “I think they thought there was more chance of Finn agreeing to free Asa if he had pressure coming at him from other people to make the trade.” She looked at Finn. “Knox and I would have demanded you take whatever action necessary to see that Devon was returned safely—I think someone was counting on that.”
Finn rubbed at the back of his head. “Devon, I …” Exhaling heavily, he dropped his arm. “You’re welcome to stay here until all this is over.”
Reena’s spine snapped straight.
“I’ll be fine, but thanks,” Devon said to him.
Finn’s lips thinned but he inclined his head. “I can take things from here, Jolene. I’ll find out who—”
“That’s not how this is going to work, Finn,” said Jolene. “I’ve already had this conversation with Harper. I don’t feel like having it again with you.”
“Harper’s merely her friend. I’m her father.”
“But not her Prime.”
“Only because she refuses to join our lair,” Reena chipped in.
Jolene slowly arched a brow. “It’s never bothered any of you before that Devon isn’t your responsibility. I don’t see why it should bother you now.”
“Ouch,” said Kaye, her lips quirking. “She makes a good point, though.”
Reena’s upper lip curled. “Kaye.”
Leticia silenced her daughters with a dark look.
“If you really want to help, talk more with Asa,” Jolene told Finn. “Do whatever you have to do to find whatever names he’s been hiding from you. We intend to talk with Maddox Quentin later tonight. It seems most likely to us that he brokered the deal. I’ll call you after I’ve spoken with him and we can compare notes.”
Finn gave a curt nod. “You’d better not hold back any information from me, Jolene.”
The imp smiled. “I was just about to say the same to you.”
Turning back to Devon, he swallowed. “You’re sure you wouldn’t rather stay here for a while?”
“I’m positive.” Devon pushed to her feet. “But I do appreciate the offer.”
He inclined his head again. “Call if you need me.”
Devon nodded, but he gave her a look that said he didn’t believe her. He was right not to. This man might have played a part in her conception, but he wasn’t the man who’d helped her with her homework, taught her to ride a bike, or shot at any teenage boys who upset her. Russell was her dad, and he was the only man she trusted with her fears and vulnerabilities.
Reena stepped close to Finn’s side and lifted her chin, staring hard at Devon. Her mind nudged Devon’s. This wouldn’t have happened to you if you’d just moved to our lair where you’d have had better protection. She didn’t add, “You have no one to blame but yourself,” but Devon heard it in the female’s tone.
You say that as if I’d have been warmly welcomed into it, said Devon. But we both know you never wanted me to move here—let’s not pretend differently.
A warm hand splayed on her back. “Time to go, kitten.”
Yes, it really was.
*
A short while later, Devon unclipped her seatbelt as Tanner pulled up outside one of Knox’s nightclubs. The place was highly popular with humans, who had no idea that the Underground was located beneath it. The club itself was closed to humans during daytime hours, but the Underground was a hub of activity twenty-four/seven.
“You weren’t kidding when you said your relationship with your half-siblings is complicated,” said Tanner as they walked toward the club.
Devon shrugged. “Plenty of people can say the same.”
“They could have at least expressed a bit of fucking concern about the issue of your safety. We practically had to drag information out of them.”
She blinked at the vehemence in his voice. “Blood relative or not, I’m an outsider; they’re not going to want to share lair business with outsiders.”
Tanner entered the club first and led her down the basement stairs and over to a door that was guarded by two powerfully built demons. With a respectful nod at Tanner, they parted and punched in the keycode for the elevator behind them. The metal doors instantly slid open.
Devon put her hand on the rail as the elevator began to smoothly descend. Already, the tension inside her started to ebb—heading for work always did that for her. She knew she was lucky to be able to claim that she adored her job. Although she specialized in piercings, she’d also been Raini’s apprentice for a while. Her apprenticeship had ended four months ago, and she was now a fully-fledged tattooist.
