Chapter 16
Valac
The flames and smoke didn’t bother Valac.
He was immortal, and there were places in Hell worse than this, particularly around the Pit.
It wasn’t until Julian convulsed in his arms that he realized they needed to move.
Fire and smoke were deadly to humans. He teleported them out to the sidewalk, patting Julian’s back when he coughed violently.
The house was completely ablaze. Flames licked high into the sky, plumes of smoke rising into the air.
His neighbors were out on the street, but in the chaos, he doubted anyone noticed that they’d appeared as if from nowhere, cloaked in the darkness across the street and behind most of the crowd of horrified onlookers.
“Oh my God,” Julian gasped. He lunged toward the house, but Valac grabbed him.
“No, Julian! You can’t go back in there. The fire is too hot.”
“I have to do something! Everything I have is in there!”
“They are just things, my jewel,” Valac said, wrapping him in his arms. “Things can be replaced. You cannot.”
“Valac.” He gripped Valac’s forearms, sagging against him. “It’s my home.”
“I know. I know.” It was the safe space Julian always imagined around them in his dreams. He knew it so viscerally well that it felt like a real space.
None of it clipped in and out of sight. The textures all felt natural.
Valac had hoped to acquaint himself with it for real, build real memories with Julian inside those walls.
The guild had stolen that from them, and he banked his rising anger.
There would be time for retribution later.
A distant wail filled the air, like the blaring of an alarm.
“What is that?” he asked.
Julian wiped his face, his breath hitching in his chest. “Fire trucks. Somebody must have called 911. I don’t know how to explain this to the authorities.
It’ll probably look like arson. They’ll think I did this unless I tell them I’m being targeted, and then there’ll be an investigation…
” More tears leaked from his eyes, reflecting in the light of his burning home.
“Then we’ll leave.”
Julian pressed his lips together. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.” His voice broke.
Valac’s jaw wound tight. He would kill the humans who had done this. It would be slow, it would be painful, and it would be satisfying.
“You will come with me. I will take care of everything.” His tone brooked no argument—and as pleased as he was that Julian didn’t argue, he hoped he hadn’t let them douse his fire by lighting this one. He would need to find his anger if he wanted to survive.
Holding Julian tight, he took him to the address Ira had given him. The sudden absence of sound made his ears ring, and he glanced around the new location with interest.
It was a large living space. Chairs and long sofas were gathered in the main room, where they stood.
Light from the street outside filtered in through multiple floor-length windows on one wall.
There were curtains to keep out the sunlight during the day.
Appliances hummed softly in one corner, near a dining room table that sat shrouded in shadow.
Valac tugged Julian over to one of the sofas and pushed him down to sit, then knelt in front of him. “Julian?”
Julian shook his head, his face filled with misery before he curled forward, hiding behind his hands. “They—They already think I’m dead. Why would they bother burning my house down?”
No answer Valac could give him would suffice. He didn’t know, and it didn’t matter. They had stabbed him, and this just twisted the knife. It was like they wanted to erase him completely, and Valac ached for him. He’d never felt this kind of sympathetic pain before.
He laid a hand on the back of Julian’s bowed head. “What can I do, my jewel?”
Julian gently shook his head, careful not to dislodge Valac’s hand. “Nothing. There’s nothing anyone can do. Everything I have is gone. They probably—did the same thing to my car after they left me to die. I have nothing now.”
That wasn’t true. Possessive need reared its head in Valac’s mind. He took Julian’s face in both hands, guiding his tear-streaked face up to meet Valac’s eyes.
“You have me,” he said softly. “I will give you everything.”
Julian’s brow furrowed, but there was a small flicker of hope in his eyes. “I still don’t really know what this is between us.”
“I will show you. Just give me time.”
Julian sniffed. “Time seems to be about all I have these days.”
He needed to rest, and Valac needed to go and speak with the Sentinels again. He drew Julian to his feet and looked around.
“I’m sure there’s a bathroom here. Would you like to clean yourself, or just go to bed?”
Julian looked down at himself. “I should probably shower, but I don’t have any other clothes.”
Valac’s first order of business, then.
“I’d just like to sleep for now.”
He led Julian into the next room, where a neatly made bed sat against the far wall, bearing white sheets and a fluffy gray comforter. Big windows sat on one wall, and the wall facing the foot of the bed was lined with mirrors, reflecting their images back at them as they crossed to the bed.
Valac pushed Julian down and bent to tug his shoes off.
“You don’t have to—”
“Hush,” Valac admonished gently, setting the shoes aside and pushing Julian down.
He still wore his borrowed shirt and sweatpants, but those were soft enough to sleep in, even if they did smell like smoke now.
He didn’t protest again, and the moment his head hit the pillow, he went boneless.
By the time Valac had covered him with the blankets, he was snoring softly.
For just a moment, Valac couldn’t resist touching. His fingertips grazed Julian’s cheek, and he wished for nothing more than the chance to crawl under the blankets and curl around him. But he needed to speak to the others first.
Reluctantly, he stood and teleported back to the Rink.
It had been only minutes since he and Julian had left, and everyone was still there, though the teenagers appeared to be packing their books away.
“You’re back,” Nathan said, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Is Julian resting?”
“Yes. At the apartment. The paladins burned his house to the ground. It was on fire when we arrived. By the time it goes out, there will be nothing left.”
“Jesus,” Luke muttered.
“He has nothing. All of his worldly possessions are gone. I need to help him.” But to help Julian, he needed help. Where did one go to get clothing in this modern world?
“He’s about my size,” Alex said, looking at Talon. “We can order some stuff for him and have it delivered to the loft.”
“You know what?” Shadrach said. “Poor Talon’s taken on enough responsibility tonight. Isaac and I will do that.”
Alex narrowed his eyes at him. “You will?”
“Yes, of course. Just tell me his sizes, and I’ll have an express order delivered there tomorrow.”
Even Talon was looking at Shadrach like he’d grown a second head. “Since when are you helpful?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?” Shadrach said innocently. “I can be helpful. And if I happen to throw in a couple of personal touches, they’re only for Valac’s benefit.”
“There it is,” Talon muttered, and Alex nodded.
“It’s fine,” Ira said, not looking up from the book he was reading. “He won’t do anything bad.” And then he muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, “…hate that I know that.”
Shadrach extended both hands with a grin that said, ‘see?’
Talon shrugged. “Fine.” He gestured to the laptops sitting on the strange table. “Start shopping. The sooner you place the order, the sooner it’ll be processed and delivered.”
While Shadrach moved to do that—with Isaac hovering over his shoulder to watch—Luke jerked his chin at Nathan, who was hovering by the teens. “Do you think the cops will be looking for Julian? If somebody reports him missing and his house burned down, they’ll have questions if he turns up again.”
“If the squad who attacked him and set fire to the house are operating under Sloan’s orders, he’ll be fielding any questions from the police.
He won’t want anyone pointing a finger at his people, and he knows some of the local cops.
A quick story about how it was for the greater good, and the police will sweep it under the rug. ”
Valac growled. “They cannot be allowed to get away with this.”
“They won’t,” Malachi said, his crimson eyes blazing. “Trust me, I know what it’s like to see those assholes hurt someone you care about.” He laid a possessive hand on Luke’s shoulder.
“Then what is being done to stop them?” Valac demanded.
“We’d love nothing more than to wipe them out,” Talon said, but he gestured at Alex’s uncertain frown. “The humans here find things a little more nuanced, though.”
“What nuance is there?” Valac pressed. “This guild hurts people. Hurts you. Why should they be allowed to live?”
“Those people have been indoctrinated to believe what they do,” Nathan said slowly, as though testing each word before he spoke.
“We were all once blinded by the same mindset. And there are genuinely good people there who aren’t harming anyone.
People like Julian, and his friends Nicolas and Daniel—”
“We think,” Luke interrupted. “We don’t really know where some of them stand.”
“We can’t know unless we approach them,” Alex said, “which is also dangerous.”
“And they have children there,” Ira added. “Other prophets like me who aren’t trained in combat. Administrative staff, teachers, and nannies for the young kids. Not everyone behind those walls deserves to die. How do you determine who dies and who lives?”
Valac didn’t know, and that frustrated him. He wasn’t a judge or executioner, but he couldn’t let their treatment of Julian go unpunished.
“Therein lies the problem,” Talon told Valac. “We’ve had this conversation many times, and it always ends at the same place. Our humans will only agree to kill the bad guys, and they want to be sure no innocents are caught in the crossfire.”
They had options, but Valac wouldn’t suggest any of them yet. Not now, when Julian was in such a precarious state. He was Valac’s priority.
“I would like to discuss this more after Julian is settled,” he said. “He needs me right now.”
“Agreed,” Nathan said. “He’s been through a lot.”
“His new clothes will be there in the morning,” Shadrach said.
“It’ll be several boxes’ worth, because I placed an order for you, too.
If you’re sticking around for a while, you’ll need modern clothing to help you blend in.
Just let the delivery guys in when they get there.
I threw in a few extra things, too. Let me know if any of it is not to his or your liking.
” He grinned in a way that made Isaac snort indelicately.
Valac nodded. “Thank you for your help. I want to provide for him, but the world is very different than I remember.”
“You’ll get the hang of it,” Ira said, “and in the meantime, we’re here for each other. That’s kind of the point.”