Page 20 of Viper

Ella felt her lips curve as she looked from the sphinx to Tanner. “Hi, guys, good to see you. How’re things?”

“Fine, thanks,” replied Harper brightly.

Tanner merely grunted, though it wasn’t an expression of rudeness. He was just busy keeping an eye out, protective of his female co-Prime. The hellhound’s wolf-gold gaze repeatedly scanned their surroundings, slow and thorough.

Harper tilted her head. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look kind of tired.”

Ella shrugged. “Story of my life lately. How’s little Asher?”

A glowing smile split Harper’s mouth at the mention of her son. “Still the embodiment of trouble.”

Ella could believe it, given that his personality was very imp-like. An unsurprising fact, since most of his maternal relatives were imps.

It was claimed that, like his mother, Asher was a sphinx. But Ella had been near him a few times, and he didn’tfeellike a sphinx. He was something else. Something powerful. She just didn’t know what. Her inner demon very much agreed with Ella’s suspicion.

“I’m hoping you’re not here to ask Luka to have mercy on some of your imp-relatives or something,” said Ella. “He didn’t hurt any, did he?”

“No, nothing like that,” Harper assured her with a flick of a hand.

Well, that was good. Because the majority of those imp relatives belonged to a lair that was run by Harper’s grandmother, Jolene Wallis—a shrewd, batshit, unpredictable she-demon who made abadenemy.

“He and Knox are having a quick meeting,” Harper explained. “I don’t actually know what it’s about, only that it’s nothing bad.I came with him because I’ve heard so much about Infernal and wanted to check it out.”

“Your mate sure has a lot of contacts.” Ella angled her body ever so slightly as she subtly slid a look at the Black Saints. “Case in point.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting Knox to consent to them having access to the Underground. But he seems to like Viper. So does Maddox, and he generally isn’t a fan of people outside his lair.”

Maddox Quentin’s breed of demon generally kept to themselves. He was a descendant, part of a race who came into being after some of the first fallen angels mated with demons. Those offspring then mated with demons as well, and so on and so on until descendants became a species in their own right. Still, they were often thought of as mutts.

Maddoxdidmingle a little outside his lair now that he was mated to Harper’s friend and business partner, Raini. He was also, if the rumors were true, allied with Viper.

“Ah, it appears the meeting is finished,” said Harper, pulling Ella from her thoughts.

She glanced over her shoulder to see both Knox and Levi approaching.

“Ella,” Knox politely greeted with an incline of his head.

His aura of power unnerved her demon slightly, so it watched him warily. “Your mate was just kindly keeping me company while I waited for you and Luka to round up your conversation.” She looked at her friend. “Hi, Levi, how are you?”

Gunmetal gray eyes landed on her, and his lips tipped up. “Good, what about you?” His brows dipped. “You look tired.”

She was getting a little fed up of hearing that. “I’m fine. How’s Piper?”

His smile widened and took on a proud tilt, just as it always did when he spoke of his mate. He wassogone for her it was cute. “She’s fine, she—”

“Why are you all hogging my anchor?” complained Luka as he came up behind them.

Mirth lighting his gaze, Knox said, “I wouldn’t call it hogging, but be assured we’re leaving now so you can have her all to yourself.” He gave her a quick nod, amusement still dancing in his eyes, and then ushered his mate away.

Ella said her goodbyes to the group and then turned to face Luka, who crossed to her with a small but genuine smile. “Hey.” She kissed his cheek. “Kill anyone today?” she joked … though, yes, he might have done.

“He’s not yet dead, but he’ll have bled out before the night is over.”

What a cheerful prospect.

“Drink?” he offered with an arch of his brow.

“Just water, thanks. I’m driving.”

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