Eyes clouding with horror, Devon gasped.
“It gets worse. In total, my father had three other offspring as well as me. They were teenagers. The new Prime snapped their necks, but he didn’t kill me. Maybe he just found the act of killing infants distasteful, or maybe he knew no one in the lair would pledge loyalty to someone who’d kill a toddler—who knows?” But Tanner suspected it was the latter. “He dumped me at Ramsbrook House instead.”
She stroked his chest. “Do you remember any of it?”
“No. I don’t even remember my parents. The staff told me the story when I was old enough to understand.” His only childhood memories centered around Ramsbrook. In some ways, he figured that made his stay there easier than for those kids who’d come from a happy home or were grieving people they loved.
“Is the bastard alive now?” she asked, eyes hardening.
“What do you think?”
“I think you wiped him from the face of the Earth pretty soon after you left the home.” Her tone said she hoped he did.
Yeah, that was exactly what Tanner had done. “He got what he had coming to him.”
“I don’t disagree.” She sifted his hair through her fingers. “Is that part of why you’re reluctant to have kids? You don’t want them being hurt by people who seek to hurt you?”
Tanner blinked. “Maybe. I never really thought about it.” He wasn’t much into self-reflection. “You want kids?” Something flashed in her eyes—something dark and … sad? Whatever it was, it raised his hackles.
She swallowed hard. “Yeah.”
Fuck if the thought of her pregnant with another man’s kid didn’t make his stomach roll. “But you want a mate for that, huh?”
“Yep.”
“What triggered your demon’s want of a mate?”
“Seeing Harper and Knox so settled. It envies them. Wants to be important to someone. Wants that same loyalty, trust, and commitment.”
He gave a slow nod of understanding. It happened to all demons at some point. It had just happened to Devon’s feline a lot sooner than he’d banked on. “And that’s what you’re looking for as well?”
“Is that so bad?”
“No. But you’re already important to a lot of people, kitten.” Including him. “You have their trust and loyalty.”
“It’s not the same,” she said with a weak smile. “I’ll bet the loyalty and trust that exists between you, Knox, and the other sentinels has kept you all reasonably grounded. But I’ll bet it also doesn’t fulfill Knox in the same way that his relationship with Harper does.”
“It’s not the same,” he agreed, thinking of how much more balanced and whole Knox was with Harper in his life. The guy’s inner demon was no less cold and brutal, but its mental state had stabilized since it had taken her as its mate.
The mental state of Tanner’s own demon was going to take a downfall when they were forced to watch their hellcat mate with another. Honestly, it would even sting that her feline had formed an attachment to another male. He was finding that he was possessive of both woman and entity.
He stroked his hand down her spine. “I want you to do something for me.”
“What?”
“I want you to let out your feline.”
She did a slow blink. “What’s that now?”
“I’ve never met it in its true form. I want to see it.” He’d seen hellcats before; they were beautiful creatures. Each time he’d encountered one, every instinct he’d possessed had urged him to growl, chase, take it down. He was certain that wouldn’t happen with her demon.
Devon snickered. “Uh, no.”
“Why not?”
“Is that a trick question?”
“It won’t hurt me.” Well, probably not. “It considers me an ally, remember. Come on, I want to see it.”
She bit her lip. “I don’t know, Tanner.”
“Does it want out?”
“Well, now that you’ve put the idea in its head, yes.”
“Then let it out,” he coaxed.
She sighed. “This could be a real bad idea.”
“I’ll be fine, it won’t hurt me.” He sat up as she reluctantly edged out of bed and closed the bedroom door.
“You sure about this?” she asked when he’d pulled on his jeans.
“I’m sure,” he said, sitting on the floor in the center of the room.
She gave him a look that called him crazy. “All right.” And then it was like she got hit with a smoke bomb. The air misted with something thick and gray.
He’d never seen a hellcat shift before, but he’d known it happened differently with them than it did with hellhounds. There was no popping and reshaping of bones. The change was instant. Fast. Mostly painless.
The mist cleared, and now a hellcat stood a few feet away. He sucked in a breath. It was, in a word, magnificent. Red, amber, and yellow shimmered like flames in its eyes. And those eyes locked on him like nothing else existed. Having that laser-focus on him lifted the hairs on his nape.
In terms of animals, hellcats were close to black panthers. They had a broad head, sleek muscular body, and short soot-black fur patterned with charcoal rosettes so faint you’d only see them if you were looking for them. Its paws were shrouded in faint, dim flames … as if someone had set them alight.
Whereas hellhounds were born to guard the gates of hell, hellcats were born to defend those that dwelled within it—which was easy to see in the regal, predatory, dauntless air they possessed. This feline had that in spades.
They were also moody, territorial creatures that would attack in the blink of an eye so, yeah, he could see why Devon thought him insane for wanting to meet her demon.
Lithe and sure-footed, it padded toward him, its flaming paws leaving a trail of scorch marks behind them. It didn’t move, it flowed. All power and grace and spirit.
He thought it would come to him. It didn’t. It began to circle him. Didn’t snarl or hiss. Just eyed him. Not wary or distrustful. It was just being a typical feline—doling out attention on its own terms in its own time. That made his lips twitch.
His hound moved close to the surface, watched the feline. Tanner braced himself to fight the demon’s instinct to chase and subdue. But it didn’t demand that of him. It was just content to watch the she-demon, admiring how fluidly it moved. Admiring its grace. Its power. Its air of danger.
“Hey,” Tanner said simply.
It chuffed, whatever that meant. Then it gave him its back. Ho, ho, ho, this cat had guts. His hound made a rumbly sound of approval.
The hellcat took a turn about the room sniffing and chuffing and rubbing its body against things, scent-marking the space. But he knew it was aware of him. He also knew it was making him wait.
Yeah, he liked this feline.
He dug his phone out of his jeans’ pocket and skimmed through his messages and emails, feigning disinterest in the demon, knowing it wouldn’t like it. So, it wasn’t long before he sensed it padding his way. He didn’t look up, though. Just kept on staring at his phone.
A tail lightly flicked his head as the hellcat skirted around him and then settled on the floor nearby.