Page 142 of The Devil's Trials

I press my lips together. It’s not funny, but I don’t know how else to respond. “I’m sorry, Harper. Can we reschedule?”

She frowns, shaking her head. “Non-refundable trip.”

The pit in my gut doubles in size, snuffing out every ounce of excitement from a minute ago. “You should find someone else to go with.”

“Nah, that doesn’t sound fun.”

“Would you go by yourself? It could be a good distraction while I’m…away.”

“I thought you wanted me to keep an eye on your parents?”

“I do, but I’d rather you do something for yourself. I can get Noah to check in on my dad when he goes back to Seattle, and I’m sure Mom has people within the organization that’ll make sure she’s okay.”

Her brows nudge closer. “Are you absolutely sure?”

I grab her shoulders, squeezing gently. “Yes. Go on the trip. Enjoy yourself. Maybe meet a cute guy and have a fling for the week.”

Harper laughs. “Right.” Pulling me into a hug, she says, “I’m going to hold you to a makeup trip, though.”

“Of course,” I say, hugging her back. “I love you.”

“Love you more, babe.” She pulls back and plants a loud kiss on my cheek. “Now if I remember correctly, Xander told me this place has a hot tub? I think we need to get some wine and have some much needed girl time before everything quite literally goes to hell.”

THIRTY-FIVEXANDER

The following day, my council gathers at the house. We meet in the dining room, and just as I’m about to close the oak double doors, Harper pushes inside.

“I hope you didn’t start the meeting without me.”

I blink at her. She hasn’t officially accepted the council position, so her presence is a bit surprising, especially considering we discussed keeping her away from any meetings unless absolutely necessary. But here she is, dressed in hunter attire, all the way down to the obsidian dagger strapped to her thigh—which likely won’t go over well with our present company.

“You couldn’t have left the dagger upstairs?” I say under my breath. “While we’re at it,what are you doing?”

“You wanted a hunter, did you not?” she throws back at me.

I arch a brow. “I thought we talked about this.”

“Have you even graduated yet?” Blake taunts behind me before Harper can respond. “Maybe your skills aren’t up to par.”

Her eyes narrow, no longer focused on me but on the blue-haired demon at the table across the room. “Why not come here and find out?”

With a sigh, I interject, “All right, that’s enough.” I snare Harper’s gaze. “You’re sure you want to be here?”

She nods. “I decided the others should know who I am, because if shit goes sideways, I want more than just you to back me up. And I wasn’t about to bring it up earlier and give you the opportunity to keep me out of the meeting.”

A laugh slips out of me, and I shake my head. “Might I remind you thesedemonsare loyal tome?”

Harper moves past me into the room, patting my chest. “We’ll see about that,brother.” The challenge in her voice is unmistakable. Shethinks she can win over my council. Make them like her more than me, as if this is some kind of game.

We’re more alike than she cares to admit.

I stare after her, somehow caught up in the ‘brother’ comment despite it sounding nothing like a term of endearment. Shaking it off, I follow Harper across the room. “Let’s get started.”

I take my seat at the head of the table, while Harper drops into the chair next to Greer and across from Francesca, who sits beside Blake. Rain hits the windows on the other side of the room. Despite it being midday, the sky is dark and gray, only adding to the lethargy clinging to me.

“Would you like to introduce yourself?” I ask Harper, leaving it up to her how much she wants shared with the others. I trust them with our arrangement, but I understand she likely doesn’t at this point.

Harper’s false bravado slips a little, and there’s a faint tinge of pink in her cheeks when she says, “Uh, okay.” Glancing around the table, she gives an awkward wave. “I’m Harper. If you’re wondering why I’m here, don’t worry, I keep asking myself the same thing. Anyway, Xander and I recently discovered that we’re half-siblings, and he decided his council of demons wasn’t dramatic enough—hard to believe when Blake is here, I know—so he wanted to add a hunter to the mix.”

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