Chapter 15 #3
Julian looked up the long length of his muscular body.
“Oh?” Talon prompted. “How so?”
“I come bearing a decree from Astaroth himself,” Valac said. “Because of the part you played in eradicating Lilith, he wants you to take her place as the mouthpiece of Hell for the halflings here on the surface.”
As one, the Sentinels turned to stare at Talon, whose jaw loosened in shock. “What?”
“They need someone to lead them, to give them cohesion and direction. Lilith provided that for centuries.”
“I’m not a halfling,” Talon said firmly. “That isn’t my responsibility.”
“But you are the reason she’s gone,” Valac said. “Therefore Astaroth thinks it is your responsibility to take her place until a worthy halfling successor becomes apparent.”
Talon shook his head. “No. Absolutely not. No fucking way.”
“You cannot fight this,” Valac said sternly. “This is decreed from Hell itself.”
“Find someone else,” Talon snarled. “We’re dealing with enough as it is. You can’t make me do this.”
Valac drew himself up to his full, impressive height. “Do not fight me on this, leviathan, or you’ll find that I can.”
An inhuman growl rattled out of Talon. He snagged Alex’s hand and turned toward the door. “I’m not doing this. We’re leaving.”
They didn’t get far. Whip-like shadows bloomed in the air around Valac, rising up like snakes preparing to strike. In the blink of an eye, they launched toward Talon. He turned just before they made contact, cutting a hand through the air and severing them before they touched him.
“Leviathan, don’t make me do this,” Valac said.
Talon’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not making you do anything, behemoth.”
Valac shook his head. The other demons grabbed their humans and pulled them out of the way as the behemoth and leviathan squared off.
Julian gripped the edges of his seat, uncertain whether he should move away or stay where he was.
Ira, he noticed, sat down on the sofa beside Zachary with a sigh, looking unconcerned.
Wolf perched on the armrest beside him, both of them seeming content to watch this unfold.
The shadows rushed forward a second time, and this time when Talon cut them down, new ones snapped right into place, wrapping around him and lifting him off the ground.
Alex exclaimed in horror, and Talon was thrown through the air.
He slammed into the drink fridge, shattering the glass door.
The fridge sparked dangerously, and the light on the inside went out.
“No, not the fridge,” Malachi lamented.
Talon stood, brushing broken glass from his shoulders, and shot Valac a withering glare. He held a hand out toward Valac, and Valac grunted, his body winding tight with tension. Julian didn’t understand what was happening, but he knew Talon was using some kind of power against Valac.
“Your power is no match for mine,” Valac said. He shook himself, and Talon grunted with effort, like the movement had displaced whatever power he’d been using.
With the lackadaisical wave of his hand, Valac slammed Talon into the fridge once again. Alex shouted for him to stop, and Shadrach took a step toward Valac as though to intervene.
“No, Shadrach,” Talon growled as he stood for the second time. “I can handle this.”
“It doesn’t look like you’re doing much handling,” Shadrach drawled.
Julian had to agree. Talon might be a powerful demon, but he was no match for a behemoth like Valac.
How long would this go on if no one intervened?
They didn’t seem to be doing any real damage to each other, but the property damage might start to add up.
Talon had been ordered by Hell to do something he didn’t want to do.
Julian understood what that was like, but it sounded like following these orders would solve one of their problems. Talon was just too stubborn to admit it.
Julian stood. It took far more effort than he would prefer. With Talon and Valac facing off, Julian stepped between them, looking up at Valac.
“That’s enough,” he entreated.
Valac’s steely expression softened as he met Julian’s eyes. “This is a battle that must be fought,” he said. “He must accept his orders.”
“Is kicking his ass really the way to do that?” Julian asked.
“He wasn’t kicking my—”
Someone shushed him. Probably Alex.
“What do you propose?” Valac asked.
Julian looked at Ira. He had been sitting calmly on the sofa since the fighting began. The others followed his gaze, and Ira looked from face to face with surprise. Julian half-turned, looking at Talon as he gestured to Ira.
“Your prophet is acting like this is yesterday’s news,” Julian pointed out.
Talon sighed in defeat, his shoulders slumping, and Alex drifted over to him, rubbing a hand up and down his back.
“It was always going to be you, Talon,” Alex said.
Talon blinked at him, then looked at Ira with a question in his eyes.
Alex shook his head. “He didn’t tell me anything. He didn’t have to. You’ve said before that the halflings would listen to a leviathan like you, and you just didn’t want the job.”
“I still don’t,” he said mulishly.
“It has to be you,” Alex said gently. “You’re always saying this is your town. Now it really will be. No one else can handle it. Shadrach is a psychopath.”
“Hey!” Shadrach protested.
Alex ignored him. “He and Wolf have given the halflings their club back, but they still need a leader to fill the space Lilith left behind. You don’t have to do all that she did.
You don’t have to run the drugs or the guns or deal with the club.
Delegate that crap to somebody else. They just need someone to look to. ”
Talon’s dark eyes filled with desperate emotion as he tugged Alex closer. “Little bird,” he whispered.
Julian ducked his head, feeling as though he was intruding on an intimate moment. He got the impression Talon didn’t reveal his emotions to just anyone. The depths below his prickly surface were hidden to all but Alex, and watching that veneer peel away felt like seeing something he shouldn’t.
Alex half-turned to look at Valac over his shoulder. “Give us a few minutes. We won’t go far.”
Valac inclined his head, and Alex led Talon outside.
For a moment, Julian let himself wonder what it would be like to share that kind of intimacy with another.
Holding hands. Slipping close and providing the solid foundation when their world felt like it was falling away.
Being the person someone leaned on when things got hard.
Having someone to lean on when things got hard.
Valac shifted, and when Julian looked up, he found Valac’s gaze already on him, drinking him in. Julian looked away, heating at the attention.
While they waited for Talon and Alex to return, Wolf grabbed a broom with a withering look in Valac’s direction and started sweeping up the broken glass in front of the fridge.
It didn’t go unnoticed. Valac clasped his hands behind his back and offered, “I apologize for my part in breaking… whatever that is.”
“It’s a refrigerator,” Malachi said. “It keeps things cold. Or, kept.”
“Perhaps I can help replace it,” Valac said.
“You have no money, behemoth,” Wolf said, not unkindly. “You’re not even topside enough to know what this is.”
Valac frowned, uncertainty making him droop. “I would like to learn. I plan to stay on the surface for some time now, acting in part as a liaison to the leviathan.”
“Assuming he agrees,” Shadrach muttered.
“He’ll agree,” Ira said, and that seemed to settle the matter for everyone.
“Then maybe you can work it off,” Wolf said. “We could use bouncers at the club.”
“Hey!” the white-haired Storm protested.
“More bouncers,” Wolf amended. “With the paladins acting up, I don’t want to risk another attack on the club. Having a behemoth to help guard the place would be good.”
“Especially now that we have money tied into that place,” Shadrach agreed.
“There might be unrest among the halflings when Talon first takes over, too,” Malachi said. “Couldn’t hurt to have a behemoth hovering around to make sure no one misbehaves.”
Valac nodded. “I would be happy to help.”
“He can stay in one of the apartments above the bar,” Ira said. “The ninth floor penthouse, maybe, below Talon and Alex’s current place.”
Wolf wheeled around, the shattered glass forgotten. His crimson eyes went from Ira to Valac and back. “That’s why we furnished that second apartment so quickly?”
Ira smiled. “Maybe.”
Wolf shook his head, his mouth twitching. “Sometimes it’s hard to be around you.”
Ira laughed. “Yeah, I know. You love me anyway.”
“You know I do,” Wolf said, returning his attention to the broom and the broken glass. “Literally. You know I do.”
Julian melted back into the rocking chair, and Valac returned to his side.
It had taken the last of his energy to get between the brawling demons, and he was flagging by the time the front door opened again.
The room was relatively quiet, no one was paying him much attention, and it had been a monumentally long day.
He still needed to go back to his car and get home and check on his house.
He didn’t realize he was slouching, his head drifting to one side, until it came into contact with Valac’s hip.
He jerked upright, and Valac’s hand settled on his head, threading into the dirty strands of his hair in a way that made his eyes want to close even more.
It was a real struggle to listen to what Talon said next.
“All right, I’ve made my decision.” With his arms crossed over his chest, Talon looked as surly as ever. Beside him, Alex looked like he’d been running his fingers through his hair. Whatever they’d talked about outside seemed to have been intense.
“And?” Valac asked.
Talon nodded. “I’ll do it. For now. But not forever.”
Valac inclined his head. “Forever is a very long time.”
“Too long to commit to something like that.”
“I agree. But for now, Astaroth believes you can provide stability to the halflings quicker than an unestablished demon.”
“We’ve got an unused office at the club you can use,” Ira said. “Just show up about three nights a week for a few hours to hold court, so to speak.”
Talon jerked his chin toward Julian, who straightened at the attention. “What about that one?”
Julian knuckled one eye. “This one needs to go home.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Nathan asked. “They know where you live. If they find out you’re still alive, they’ll come for you again.”
“I can’t just hide away forever. And I don’t want to. I won’t let them run me out of my own life.”
“What about your job?” Luke asked. “They know where you work. There’s nothing stopping them from jumping you again. You can’t be on guard at every single moment.”
He sighed, tucking his hands under his thighs. “I don’t know. I didn’t show up for my second job tonight, so that one’s probably a loss already.”
“Come and work with us,” Alex said. “We can help watch your back.”
He was still resistant to the idea. It would be safer, yes, and he’d already accepted their help more than once. Would it still be considered breaking his word if he joined them? Maybe his promise to avoid the Sentinels was moot now that the guild had tried to kill him.
Valac’s hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked up into his glowing eyes. “This could be what you’ve been missing, couldn’t it?” He gestured toward the training area, where tables were lined with holy blades and bottles of holy water.
The Sentinels had a purpose. They protected the innocent.
If Julian joined them, maybe he wouldn’t feel like he was drifting aimlessly through his own life anymore.
The paladins would think him a liar and a traitor, but they already did, didn’t they?
He couldn’t change their minds about him, no matter what he did.
At least here, he would be a part of something bigger than himself.
“Okay,” he agreed. “Yeah. I’d be happy to come and work here.”
Nathan beamed at him. “Wonderful. We’d be lucky to have you.”
Valac gently drew him to his feet. “I will take you home.”
“My car… I left my car at the restaurant.”
“Get it tomorrow,” Nathan suggested. “You shouldn’t be driving right now anyway. Rest is more important.”
He’d have to go and give his notice at the restaurant, too, so he might as well wait until morning and do both things at once. It was probably safer for them all if he wasn’t bringing his problems into the restaurant around civilians.
“Hang on. Before you go, take this,” Ira said, writing something on a piece of notebook paper from Zachary.
He ripped it loose and handed it to Valac.
“That’s the location of the club. The ninth floor is all yours.
We can worry about getting you some personal items later. Clothing, toiletries, and such.”
“Thank you,” Valac said to Ira, his big hands closing around Julian’s upper arms. “Shall we go?”
Julian nodded. “Ready.”
The skating rink around them disappeared in a swirling blur, replaced by dark streaks of color. Julian gasped, reaching out for Valac and clinging to his trunk-like waist.
When it all came to a dizzying stop, he took a deep breath, and smoke filled his lungs.
His living room was on fire.