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As if it finally registered just how badly she’d messed up, the bluster bled from her system. “I-I was drunk.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’ll still pay. For all of it, Celeste. Not just what happened at the bar or what you did to the cell, but for what you said to Piper.”
“I made mistakes—”
“Understatement.”
“—but I don’t deserve to be held here.” She licked her lips. “I’ll apologize to Piper, Knox, and the bouncers. I’ll pay for the damage at the bar.”
“Yes, you’ll do both those things. Once Knox has decided and exacted your punishment.”
Her face drained of color. “I want to talk to my father, I—”
“You can talk to him all you want once you’ve been released from here. Which, I’m happy to say, won’t be for a while.”
“You can’t keep me here!” she yelled, panic edging her voice.
“Hmm, looks like we’re managing it just fine.” Levi’s demon surged to the surface and took over. “You did not listen to his warnings,” it said. “Perhaps you will listen to mine. If you do not wish to befriend Piper, that is your choice. But you will not provoke her. You will not play mind games with her. You will not attempt to hurt her. And if you have any sense, you will also cease trying to get his attention. If you do it again, it will not be he who comes to you. It will be me. I can—and will—hurt you in ways you cannot imagine. I will think nothing of it. Are we clear on that?”
Her eyes wide, she gave a jerky nod.
The demon withdrew, and Levi cast her one last look of warning. He and Keenan then walked away.
Once they were on the other side of the sliding mechanical door, Keenan asked, “Do you think Piper will ask us to free Celeste?”
“No,” replied Levi, nodding at Omar as they passed the security desk. “I already explained that Celeste would be facing punishment. Piper’s got a big heart, but even she sees that the woman needs a wake-up call.”
“I hope you’re right,” began Keenan, “because I wouldn’t want something like this to cause friction between you and Piper. We can’t let this shit slide.”
“She won’t try appealing for leniency on Celeste’s behalf. Joe might, and I wouldn’t blame him. Celeste is his daughter. But I don’t think he’d expect his pleas to get him anywhere.”
“It’s got to be hard to watch your kid mess up their life. You’d blame yourself, wouldn’t you? You’d feel like you went wrong somewhere and that the fault lies with you. I think that’s part of why Joe defends her so much. It’s like …” Keenan trailed off as Omar began humming behind them.
Recognizing that tune, Levi tensed. Both he and Keenan slowly turned to face Omar, who was staring down at his phone. The man was definitely not their killer, considering Levi had never had a problem recalling his name or appearance. But the guard had heard that song somewhere, and just maybe he’d heard it recently.
Keenan exchanged a look with Levi, and they then casually made their way toward the guard. “Hey, Omar,” said the incubus. “What’s that song you’re humming?”
Omar’s brows met. “Don’t actually know what it’s called. The tune got stuck in my head.”
“Yeah?” asked Keenan. “Where’d you hear it?”
“Janelle is always either singing or humming it.”
“Janelle?” Levi echoed.
“Yeah, she said her man often sings it. It’s one of his favorite tunes.” Omar’s frown deepened. “Can’t for the life of me remember his name.”
Neither could Levi. He remembered seeing the man with Janelle in her front yard when Levi went to Diem’s place after she was murdered. He even remembered speaking to the guy. But Levi couldn’t recall his name or picture his face.
His heartbeat kicking up, he looked at Keenan, who was staring at him with his lips parted. “Fuck,” they both said at once.
“We have to get to Janelle’s place now,” added Levi.
Her heart still thumping hard and fast in her chest, Piper had no choice but to walk ahead of Clyde as they made their way into the living room. Everything in her bristled, balked, and recoiled at her actions, but there seemed to be no way to take back control of herself.
It was like she was a prisoner inside her own mind. A mere presence that had been forced into a corner, where it had no say or influence. She couldn’t crawl out of that corner … as if a large weight held her there. Her demon couldn’t help, because it was trapped inside her.
No matter how much Piper psychically shoved at that weight, she couldn’t get it to budge. No matter how hard her demon fought her supremacy, it couldn’t surface. Even its scream of rage was trapped, much like the multiple curses that Piper wanted to sling at this sicko. Again, she tried telepathically reaching out for aid. Again, she failed.
