Chapter 17
Julian
Julian knew right away when he woke that he was in an unfamiliar location.
It was beginning to feel like a common theme.
He was in a sinfully comfortable bed, not his lumpy couch.
For the first time in weeks, he woke with no back pain.
The light hit his eyelids in a way that was decidedly different from his living room windows.
It was far dimmer here, and when he blinked his eyes open, he realized it was because the curtains on the floor-length windows were drawn.
He sat up, feeling muggy, and ran a hand through his hair.
His own reflection stared back at him from the mirrored wall opposite him, and he barely recognized himself.
His borrowed shirt was twisted around his middle, his hair was askew, and there was a hollowness to his eyes he’d never seen before.
His life was over.
It felt very melodramatic to think, but in a way, it was true.
He was still alive, but as far as the paladins were concerned, they’d killed him and erased all traces of his existence last night.
The life he’d just barely begun to carve out for himself was snuffed out in a matter of hours.
Everything he’d worked for was gone. It didn’t seem fair that anyone should have that kind of power over him.
It should take more than a well-placed knife and some accelerant to erase a person.
But he was still here. They hadn’t erased him completely, and the best revenge was a life well-lived. He would rebuild, one step at a time, and this time, he wouldn’t be alone. If they wanted to fight dirty, so be it.
Voices from the next room caught his attention, and he realized that was what woke him. Standing barefoot on the polished wood floor, he padded from the room to see what the day had in store. It couldn’t be worse than yesterday.
He found Valac directing men in brown polos to set stacks of thick cardboard boxes in the middle of the living room floor. The delivery guys barely paid him any attention—too busy side-eyeing Valac with his strange attire and black-lined body—but Valac turned toward him at once.
“Julian,” he greeted. “Did we wake you? I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. What’s all this?”
Valac glanced back at the boxes. “After you fell asleep last night, I went back to the Rink and asked them for help. Shadrach was kind enough to order us both some new clothes.” Valac frowned. “Among other things.”
“Other things?”
“He didn’t say what. The others seemed skeptical, so I suppose we’ll find out.”
It seemed nice of them on the surface, but it didn’t quite compute. “They just… bought us a new wardrobe? Both of us? Just like that?”
The delivery guys waved, filing out and closing the door behind them.
“And groceries, it appears,” Valac said, gesturing to the kitchen, where several smaller boxes and paper bags were waiting on the island to be put away.
Julian was a little overwhelmed. Demons were supposed to be evil. Why were they buying him things?
“I don’t understand. Why would they do all of this?”
Valac blinked. “Because I asked them to. Should I not have?”
“I…” He didn’t know how to respond to that. “Who spends this kind of money on a stranger?”
Valac blinked. “The leviathans alone have been on Earth for centuries. They have amassed great wealth during those years. Most demons who spend time on the surface have, in fact. They know I have not been on Earth since the time of the ancient Romans, so they are helping. In return, I will aid them against their enemies. Our enemies.”
Julian felt numb. “You mean the guild.”
“The guild, the demons. Anyone who wishes to do you or them harm.” Valac stepped closer, studying his face. “Does that bother you?”
Julian swallowed. “No. It bothers me that the guild are my enemies, but it’s not even that surprising.
They didn’t want to let me leave in the first place.
I should have known better than to think they’d let me go without retribution.
” He’d hoped, though. It would have been a sign that there was still a sliver of good in them.
Valac was close enough now that Julian had to look up at him, his body radiating heat. “The others tell me there are good people at the guild, mixed in with the bad. Do you believe this to be true?”
Did he still have hope? “Before I left, yes. There were people who didn’t agree with Sloan’s choices. They were just too afraid of punishment to speak up about it. Now… I don’t know. I want to say yes, but I also have no idea how things might have changed since I’ve been gone.”
“The infection needs to be cut from the wound before it can heal.”
“You’re saying you want to get rid of the bad ones and spare the good ones.”
“If there are good ones, yes.”
“How do we know who’s good?”
Valac smiled. “That is what we must decide. We have options, though I suspect we’ll need to discuss that with the others before we decide on a plan. For now, we should eat. You must be starving.”
Now that it was brought to his attention, yeah, he could definitely eat. The wardrobe boxes were too daunting to look at right now, anyway.
Since he doubted Valac knew how to put groceries away in a modern kitchen, he gestured for the demon to take a seat on one of the stools at the island while he put things away and figured out what to make.
Whoever ordered their groceries—Shadrach, he assumed, if he’d ordered everything else—was a fan of organic ingredients.
There wasn’t a frozen dinner in sight, but he had his pick of fruits, vegetables, and various meats.
He found a skillet and a carton of eggs and decided to keep things simple for today.
“Humans have made things so easy for themselves,” Valac remarked as he watched Julian crack the eggs. “Their food comes right to their door. They can store it in their private homes and cook without an open flame. No wonder so many demons like to return to the surface these days.”
Julian hummed. “Yeah, I guess it is a lot different than Ancient Rome.”
He made three eggs for himself, with cheddar and cubed ham, and six for Valac.
There was a brand new, gleaming coffeemaker with more buttons than Julian had ever seen.
Shadrach had ordered whole coffee beans, but as it turned out, the machine could automatically grind them.
Julian marveled at it for a moment, and soon he sat down beside Valac with a steaming cup of fresh coffee. It all felt a little surreal.
“What’s wrong?” Valac asked, tilting his head.
Julian didn’t know how to put any of it into words.
Was this his life now? Waking up with a demon?
Living in this luxurious apartment? Sentinels and demons and wanting for nothing?
It all seemed too easy. It was exactly the kind of luxury he’d been warned not to fall for. Demons were tempters. Weren’t they?
“Yesterday I woke up in my house, alone,” Julian said.
“Today I’m here, and nothing in my life is the same.
I guess I’m just trying to catch up. Is this how things are going to be?
Am I going to live here, or should I be looking for a new place?
New jobs? I don’t know how well it pays to be a sentinel.
Don’t I have bills to pay? Who owns this place?
Do we have to pay rent or utilities? I’m just… a little overwhelmed, I guess.”
Valac was quiet for a handful of heartbeats, and then he softly said, “Do you trust me?”
Julian met his eyes. That violet glow was a constant reminder of his inhumanity, but the sight of it calmed his anxiety. Did he trust Valac? With his life. Whatever was left of it, at least.
“Yes,” he breathed.
“Then eat. I won’t let any harm come to you. You will never be homeless, you will never be lonely, you will never want for anything as long as I’m here.”
“Why?” Julian demanded, his fork clattering to his plate, forgotten. “Why me? Why do you care? I’m nothing. I’m nobody! I don’t understand why you would—”
Valac stood, looking thunderous, and the rest of Julian’s words died in his throat. Big hands gripped the sides of his face, and the black lines on Valac’s pale skin roiled like a living thing seeking freedom.
“You are not nothing,” Valac growled. “You are not nobody. You are mine. The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were made for me. I will protect you and shelter you and nurture you, no matter what. Tell me you believe that.”
Emotion clogged Julian’s throat. “I do,” he croaked. “I do believe it. I just don’t understand.”
“All that matters is that we’re together, my jewel,” Valac breathed, bestowing a soft, sweet kiss to his lips. “Are you confused about why the other demons are with their humans? Why they claimed them?”
No, he’d never even thought about why those demons chose their humans. Was it like Valac said? Had they all known the moment they looked at their human that they were the one?
“Eat,” Valac said, sitting back down on the stool. “You’ll need your energy when I ravish you later.”
Julian nearly toppled off his stool, and Valac shot him a mischievous smirk. It made him look surprisingly boyish.
Valac devoured his food, but Julian barely managed half of his own. Anxiety kept knotting his stomach, despite the fact that he did trust Valac. There was just so much uncertainty right now, and he didn’t function well without a plan.
So, he thought as he pushed his scrambled eggs around, he would come up with a plan.
He’d unbox his new clothes and put them away.
He didn’t have any money to take a bus, so he’d just ask Valac to teleport him to a store where he could get another prepaid phone.
Then they would go to the Rink so he could throw himself into a new training routine.
If he was picking up the sword again, he’d need to whip himself back into shape.