Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 111986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
“Okay.”
Carla blinked. “Okay?”
“There’s nothing at all that I could say that would appease you. If you wish to believe he wasn’t part of it, who am I to interfere with that?” Harper had no intention of giving the woman the argument she was looking for.
“But you don’t agree with me,” Carla pushed.
“It’s possible that he was lying, but I don’t see why he would have.”
“But maybe you’re the one who’s lying.”
Harper’s demon snarled. “And would I?”
“Maybe you’re jealous that I kept him but I gave you away.”
Harper couldn’t help it; she laughed. But it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “Oh yeah, Carla, you got me there,” she said dryly. There were a few snickers.
Carla’s expression was hard as stone. “Doesn’t it bother you that you killed your own brother?”
Did it bother Harper that she’d been in a position where she’d had to kill him or be killed by him? Yes. Did it bother her that he was dead? No. Roan had conspired against the US Primes. Worse, he’d wanted Knox dead. That was something Harper would never forgive or excuse.
“You might not have liked him, but I loved him. I —”
Harper took a single step toward her, eating up her personal space. “Do you know what he did while I was tied to a table? He took a pair of scissors, and he cut into my earlobe… claiming you’d once done the same thing to him.”
Carla’s eyes flickered. The twisted bitch had done it.
“From what he told me, that wasn’t an isolated incident. You’d hurt him before that and you hurt him again afterward. Play the devastated, crumbling mother if you want, Carla, but don’t expect me to buy it.”
There was a huff, and then another voice spoke. “You never could resist causing a scene, could you, Carla?”
Harper peered over Carla’s shoulder to see a small old woman in a gypsy dress. It was Nora, the grandmother of one of the Primes, Dario. Harper had only met her once before, when they learned that Nora had premonitions. To be specific, she knew and felt events that would soon occur.
It was through Nora that Harper and Knox had learned about the Four Horsemen. Nora hadn’t seen Roan’s face, but she’d known through her ability what his motivations were. She’d warned them that the person pulling Crow’s strings was cold and power-hungry with a void that would always leave him unsatisfied with life.
Frowning at Carla in both disappointment and impatience, Nora added, “Do you not think you’ve done enough to this girl?”
Looking like she was sucking on a lemon, Carla said, “She killed —”
“A son you mistreated and controlled, from what I heard,” Nora finished. “A son you didn’t see as a person in his own right – he was only ever an extension of you. It was little wonder he grew to be greedy for power. He spent so many years under your rule that he needed the greatest power possible to feel in control. Or, at least, that is what everyone is speculating.”
Cheeks reddening, Carla hissed, “He was not one of the Horsemen, if the Horsemen even exist.”
“Oh, they exist. And he was one of them – never doubt it. The only person at fault for his death is Roan. He made his choices. They were bad choices that could only ever have resulted in his own demise.”
Before Carla could say another word in her son’s defense, Tanner forced her to step aside and said, “You’ve said your piece. Now it’s over. Get the fuck out of our way.”
Once Carla shuffled to the side, Nora gestured for Harper to move forward and then linked her arm through hers. Instead of escorting Harper to the bistro table, Nora headed straight out the door with Tanner close behind them.
Outside, Nora said, “There. Now take a breath.”
Harper settled her hands on her hips as she inhaled deeply, urging her pissed-the-fuck-off demon to calm down. The entity despised Carla and always would.
Nora patted her back. “You were right to believe there’s nothing you can say that will appease her. She’ll never accept that Roan was virtually responsible for his own death.”
“Yeah, I know,” said Harper. “I can understand why she wouldn’t want to acknowledge what he did.”
“It doesn’t make it okay that she just confronted you in there,” Tanner clipped.
No, it didn’t, which was why her demon wanted Harper to go back inside the coffeehouse and bitch slap her. Instead, Harper spoke to Nora. “I hope you’re not here because you’ve had some kind of bad premonition.”
The woman cackled, sounding just like Jolene. “No premonition. I heard you were attacked by hunters, so when I saw you inside the coffeehouse I took the opportunity to check that you’re healed.”
“I’m fine,” Harper told her. “Pissed, of course, but otherwise okay.”
Nora opened her mouth to speak again, but then the bell chimed as the coffeehouse door opened. The girls all filed out, carrying their mugs. Technically, they weren’t supposed to take the mugs, but Harper doubted the baristas would give them a hard time about it as long as they returned them.