Martina grinned. “Maybe.”
“Did you find out anything that may help us work out who hired the hunters?” asked Tanner, who was sprawled on the recliner.
“No, none of the people we know who work on the black market seem to have any idea of who it could be,” said Jolene. “But you can be sure that no others will come for you, Harper. The word has been spread among the black market that you survived the attack and that Knox killed both hunters.”
Many imps obtained and sold things on the black market, so her family had some contacts there. The imps didn’t sell people or wings or anything like that, but they sold rare objects and antiques. Mostly, they sold information. Imps were great at acquiring information.
“Where is Knox anyway?” asked Jolene.
“On his way back from paying Dion Boughton a visit,” said Harper. She’d already told Jolene about his meeting with Francisco and that Knox had written to Dion. “He received a letter from Dion yesterday with an invite to his island.”
Martina picked up her cup of coffee. “Dion’s the one with the museum inside his home, right?”
“That’s right. He likes to collect the unique – objects, people, animals.”
“You’re unique in many ways,” said Martina. “That makes him a likely suspect.”
“And a convenient person to pin the blame on,” Jolene pointed out.
Martina nodded. “That too.” She looked about to say something else, but then the front door burst open and a group of kids entered.
“Hi, Grams!” they shouted in unison. They ran down the hallway and into the kitchen. Moments later, they were dashing back down the hallway with cookies in hand, shouting, “Bye, Grams!”
Martina chuckled at their antics and then turned back to Harper, smile fading. “I heard that Carla caused a fuss at the coffeehouse.”
Harper shrugged, going for blasé. “Doesn’t matter. She’ll be gone soon.”
“It does fucking matter,” insisted Tanner. “The sooner she leaves, the better.”
Jolene made an “I’ll second that” humph. “Harper, you should know that Lucian’s coming to visit next month.”
Harper carefully placed her mug on a square coaster. “Yeah, he told me.”
“Have you told Knox?” asked Jolene.
“No. I’m not looking forward to them being in the same room again.” To say that there was tension between Knox and Lucian would be the understatement of the century. Knox despised Lucian for not being a real father to her, and Lucian wanted “that psychopathic bastard” completely gone from her life. “Maybe one day they’ll —” Harper cut off as the front door once again burst open.
Robbie came dashing into the living room with a spooked-looking Heidi in his arms. He was breathing hard, his eyes wild. Like that, everyone was on their feet.
“What happened?” Jolene demanded.
Robbie growled, “Some creep just tried to snatch Heidi.”
Harper gaped. “You are shitting me.”
“I wish I was.”
Martina took Heidi into her arms and cuddled her. “It’s okay, sweetie.”
Jolene clenched her fists. “Who?” The word was like a whip. “Who tried to take her?”
Shrugging, Robbie shook his head. “I don’t know, Grams, I wasn’t watching her properly. I’m sorry.” He looked miserably at his sister. “Sorry, H.”
Martina sighed. “Your mom and dad are gonna freak, especially your dad.”
Yep, thought Harper, Richie would indeed lose his shit. Harper stroked a hand over Heidi’s hair. “Did the man say anything to you?”
“He said that you told him about me,” she said in her tinkle-like voice.
Bastard. Harper kept her tone soft and calm. “Yeah? What else did he say?”
“That he was Knox’s new sentinel, and that he was supposed to bring me here because hunters had tried to hurt you again.”
The hairs on Harper’s nape rose as a menacing growl rattled out of Tanner. “Did he say anything else?”
“He tried to get me to go with him, but I didn’t want to.” Heidi looked at Jolene. “I screamed at him, and I shouted all those things you told me to shout if any stranger tried to hurt me, like ‘gun’ and ‘fire’ because you said it makes people listen. But he still grabbed me, so I… I used the scream. I know I’m not supposed to, and I didn’t mean to scare the other kids, but —”
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” Jolene kissed her forehead. “You did what you had to do. You did exactly what you should have done.”
Harper nodded. “Nobody is upset with you, Heidi. We’re all very proud of you.”
“You definitely deserve some cookies.” Martina carried Heidi into the kitchen, talking softly to her.
Harper shoved a hand through her hair. “I can’t fucking believe this,” she hissed quietly.
Seeing Robbie stick a finger in his ear, Jolene asked, “Does it hurt?”
“I can still hear the ringing a little,” said Robbie. “But it’s not bad. She screamed right at the guy, so it only hurt him. Don’t get me wrong, it was still loud, but it was directed at him so no one else was hurt.”
Well, that was good. Hearing a knock on the front door, Harper said, “That’ll be Knox.” And, shit, she had to tell him before he came inside or his anger would spook Heidi. “Don’t shout for him to come straight in, Grams. I need a minute to talk with him.”
“Good idea,” said Tanner.
Harper walked out of the room and down the hallway with Tanner close behind. She opened the front door, and they both stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind them. At Knox’s frown, she held up her hands. “I need you to stay calm.”
Knox stilled. “I hate it when you start a conversation with that sentence.”
“Me, too. It’s about Heidi.” She told him and Levi everything that Heidi and Robbie had said.
Knox’s face turned into a mask of savage fury. “Someone tried to take a five-year-old child, posing as my sentinel?”
She slowly smoothed her hands up and down his chest. “I need you to stay completely calm, Knox. Calmer than you’ve ever been. She’s a little shaken. You don’t want to make it worse, so please suck your rage in.”
He inhaled deeply, adopting that unnatural calm that she’d never be able to perfect. If she hadn’t been able to feel his anger brushing against the edges of her consciousness, she’d have thought he truly had his shit together.
“Let me in,” he said. “I need to talk to her a little. Not interrogate or upset her, just talk to her.”
Harper nodded, trusting that he wouldn’t do anything to frighten Heidi. She opened the door and led the way to the kitchen, where the four imps had gathered.
Knox smiled at Heidi, who was sitting on the countertop, munching on a cookie. “I heard you had a bit of an adventure today. You must have been very scary to make a bad person run away.”
“My scream hurt his ears.”
Sensing Knox’s confusion, Harper said, She has a sonic scream.
Ah, I see. “From what Harper tells me, you were very brave. I will find the person who did this, okay? They’ll never bother you again. I just need you to tell me whatever you remember about him so that I can find him.”