“No,” replied Knox, rising to his feet. He spoke to Jonas. “Again, I thank you for your offer of aid.”

One of Alethea’s blonde brows arched. “Are you sure you don’t need it?”

“Positive,” said Knox as he began a slow walk around the desk. All he wanted to do now was find his mate. “Crow will be caught and given what medical help he needs.”

“You intend to help him?” asked Alethea.

“Demons can be brought back from the edge,” Knox pointed out.

“They can also do awful things while they’re on that edge.”

Knox couldn’t argue with that. Absentmindedly, he ran his gaze along the security monitors. And he froze. No, he could not be seeing this. But he was. Unfuckingreal.

“Knox, what is it?”

Ignoring Jonas’s question, Knox took a deep breath. It didn’t help. He strode out of his office, sure that his mate wanted to drive him insane. It was really the only explanation he could think of that would explain why the hell she would put her safety on the line this way.

Levi fell into step behind him. Knox, what’s wrong?

I’ll kill her. He would. He’d ring her pretty little neck.

“Knox, wait!” shouted Alethea from somewhere behind him.

Knox didn’t wait. He kept moving. Something about his expression must have given away his anger, because people scrambled to avoid him as he prowled down the strip. Finally, he reached the small rodeo showground, where he was immediately assaulted by the scents of dust, hay, rodeo fare, and animal dung. The loud audience was avidly watching a tall male trying to mount a huge bull.

Knox caught sight of Keenan, Larkin, and Harper’s friends near the seven-foot high fence guarding the arena… and they were all looking through the fence right at Harper, who was standing with Khloë near the bull pen. Slipping on a leather, protective glove, Harper patted her protective vest. She’d obviously borrowed both, along with the spurs and the cowboy boots.

“Not good,” muttered Levi.

Charging at his sentinels, Knox growled. He’d trusted them with her safety. This wasn’t safe. This was fucking crazy.

Keenan’s head whipped around and his eyes widened. “Knox…”

“Why is my mate in there?” Knox ground out, fisting his hands against the urge to grab the incubus by his shirt and shove him against the fence. Losing control would be a mistake that could get a whole lot of people hurt. His demon wasn’t so pissed; it liked a thrill just as much as the next demon and it respected her wish to pursue one.

Keenan scratched the back of his head. “Well, she wanted to ride a bull —”

“And you didn’t think to stop her?”

“I would have done, but she snuck off!”

Not a surprise. “And you didn’t save her from herself because…?”

“The event is safer than it looks.” Keenan winced as a demon bashed his face on the bucking bull’s horns just before he hit the ground hard.

“If it makes you feel any better, it’s not her first rodeo,” said Devon. “No pun intended.”

Levi turned to the hellcat. “She’s done this before?”

“Imps love bull riding,” said Devon. “Especially when they’re drunk.”

“When they’re drunk?” repeated Knox. “They take part in this undeniably dangerous sport when they’re drunk?”

Devon raised a brow. “You’re really that surprised?”

Having spent a lot of time around imps recently… “Actually, no.” Knox looked to see his mate being led toward the chute, where a white stomping bull waited. Harper, do not get on that damn bull.

Her head shot up, her eyes found his, and she waved with a huge smile. She. Waved.

Harper, I’m serious, he clipped.

Relax, I’ll be fine, she assured him, like he was being melodramatic and this was merely a pony ride.

I will not allow you to put your safety at risk, Harper. They didn’t call bull riding “the most dangerous eight seconds in sport” for nothing.

No one “allows” me to do anything, Knox.

His blood boiled. He wanted to yell at her, demand she come to him, forbid her from doing this… but the reality was that he could order her around all he liked and it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference. In fact, it would make her even more determined to go through with this just to be contrary.

He’d known when he took her as his mate that he would never control her; that she had a mind of her own – a mind that didn’t always operate the way he’d like it to. He’d known and accepted this. But bull riding… yeah, he had a major fucking issue with that.

Trying a different approach, he softened his voice and said, Baby, don’t do this.

Her shoulders stiffened and she looked at him, conflicted.

Come over here to me, he coaxed.

Alethea sidled up to him and put a hand on his arm. “She’s really going to ride that bull?”

Harper’s eyes cut to the female and narrowed slightly; then a blank mask settled over her face.

Fuck it all. He moved away from Alethea, but it was too late. Harper, she’s no one to me.

Nothing.

“Look, all she has to do is hang on tight for eight seconds or more,” said Devon.

Knox ground his teeth. “Yes, but she has to hold on to a two-thousand-pound bull.” And as his mate looked the monstrously big, huffing, pissed-off bull right in the eye, Knox couldn’t understand why she hadn’t thought that, hey, maybe this wasn’t the best idea.