Chapter 23
Julian
After Julian and Valac decided on a course of action, Valac threw himself into learning about the world.
They went to the Rink together every night, and Valac often brought the laptop with them.
Now that he knew how to search for things on the browser, Valac got the hang of it surprisingly quickly.
Julian didn’t always know what types of things he read about, but he often looked over to find Valac engrossed in the screen while the Sentinels trained and talked.
He peeled himself away from it long enough to go on patrols with Julian—which, entertainingly enough, usually meant Julian saw no demons at all on his patrols, because he suspected they were all smart enough to avoid crossing the behemoth.
Isaac outright refused to patrol with them, calling it ‘boring,’ but Julian didn’t mind.
He had more kisses and orgasms on patrol than demon kills these days.
Not a bad trade-off, all things considered.
To his surprise, when he asked Alex to come with him to smooth things over with the local police about his disappearance, Talon tagged along, too.
Talon’s expensive clothes and domineering personality helped steamroll over the cops’ questions and sell the story that Julian was the victim of a senseless, violent attack, and that he’d hidden in the apartment below their own because he feared for his life.
He said he didn’t want to press any charges, just move on with his life, and by the time they were done, the cops were probably just relieved to see them go and close another open case.
After that, he was able to contact his insurance company to get the ball rolling on his claim.
That would take a few weeks to process, and in the meantime, he was doing what he loved again.
Working with people he genuinely liked, protecting the innocent, and now, he had a partner by his side for all of it. He was happier than he’d ever been.
He should’ve known it wouldn’t last.
Almost a month after the attack outside the restaurant that upended his entire life for the second time, Julian was ‘patrolling’ with Valac, which really meant they were wandering the darkened streets, hand in hand.
He wore a sword on his back and a pair of knives on his belt, but no demons had dared to show themselves all night.
Fluffy clouds obscured the stars from view as they strolled through a quiet cemetery.
Julian idly read the names on the headstones as they passed between them, noting the dates.
It was an older cemetery, with most of the deaths being before 1950.
Craggy weeds grew up around some of the headstones, and the wrought iron gate they’d entered through was rusted.
He wondered who was in charge of maintaining it.
“I don’t want you to be alarmed,” Valac said calmly, “but someone has been following us for quite some time.”
Julian’s head swiveled to look up at him. “Oh? How long?”
“About an hour.”
“An hour?” he hissed. “Why are you just now mentioning it?”
“Because it’s a single human, alone, and they’ve made no moves. My shadows are circling them, keeping track of them. I wanted to see what they would do.”
Julian itched to turn around and look. “Do you think it’s a paladin?”
“Who else would be following us for so long? A sentinel would have called out to us or called your phone.”
He hummed. A paladin was following them. Why would they follow for so long without attacking or drawing attention to themselves? Maybe they didn’t want to fight. Only one way to find out.
Julian stopped, turning around and calling out, “We know you’re there! Show yourself or lose your head!”
For a moment, nothing but the quiet rustle of the wind broke the silence.
Valac pointed toward wherever the paladin was hiding, and then the figure came into view from around a headstone pillar.
The broad set of his shoulders and the careful sway of his gait looked familiar, and Julian’s heart seized.
“Nic?” he asked, taking a step closer.
Nicolas raised both hands in surrender. His short, dark curls ruffled in the lazy wind. “Hi, Jules. I come in peace. No weapons, see?” He half-turned, letting Julian see that there was no sword on his back or knives on his belt.
“What are you doing here? You’ve been following us?”
Nicolas grimaced. “Yeah. I needed to make sure no one else was following. Word’s gotten around that you’re not quite as dead as expected, and the guild’s pretty pissed.”
Julian scowled, hugging his elbows. “Sorry to disappoint.”
Valac growled, low and dangerous.
Nicolas looked stricken. “No, not me! God, Julian. I never wanted you to die. Danny and I were devastated when we heard what Wallace and his squad had done. I’m—” He broke off, his breath hitching. “I’m really glad you’re okay. Truly.”
Julian’s mouth twisted as he struggled not to give in to his emotions. “You never… I resigned, and then I never heard from you guys again. I thought you just didn’t want to see me.”
“No.” Nicolas stepped closer, his expression furious, and halted when Valac growled again.
“No, that wasn’t true at all. They told us that if we went near you, we’d be punished.
Us, specifically, because they knew we were friends.
They told us you were a traitor, and associating with you would label us the same.
I didn’t want them to hurt Daniel again, so I told him we had to stay away. ”
It was hard to hear, but Julian understood. “What changed, then? Why are you here now?”
“You came back out of the woodwork. I couldn’t let them take you by surprise again. I’m here to warn you. They know you’re still alive, and they want to correct their error. They’ll come for you.”
“Let them,” Valac snarled.
Nicolas eyed Valac warily, but when he looked at Julian again, he smiled. “I’m glad you joined the… traitors?” He winced at the word.
“Sentinels,” Julian said. “They—we call ourselves the Sentinels.”
Nic grinned. “I like it. I hope they have your back.”
“They do.”
“Good. Because the paladins are coming. I don’t know what the exact plan is, or I’d tell you. I’m not exactly in the inner circle these days. They moved Daniel out of my squad, said we weren’t a good influence on each other.”
“Bullshit,” Julian said.
Nicolas’s mouth quirked. “I agree. The others, they all toe the party line pretty hard. I’ve been having some trouble keeping them in line.
I try to be the voice of reason, but they don’t want to hear it.
I can’t believe some of the things they say about you and the Sentinels.
We’re supposed to hunt the monsters. We aren’t supposed to be them. ” His voice shook with emotion.
Julian closed the distance between them, hauling Nicolas in for a hug. It was pretty unfair that everyone was taller than him, because he couldn’t adequately wrap Nicolas up the way he wanted, but Nicolas curled around him anyway, sniffing loudly in his ear.
“I’m so sorry,” Nicolas rasped. “We shouldn’t have stayed away.”
“Yes, you should,” Julian said, ignoring the pain that stabbed his heart.
“It wasn’t safe. It’s still not. You…” He pulled away, taking Nic by the shoulders and meeting his mournful brown eyes.
“You should leave the guild. Don’t announce it like I did.
That was stupid. Just disappear. The Sentinels can help. ”
Nicolas shook his head. “We can’t.”
“You can.”
“You need someone on the inside.”
Julian froze. “What?”
“You need people on the inside who can tell you what the guild is doing. This is going to get worse before it gets better, I can tell.” His eyes moved between Julian and Valac, who’d come closer and hovered by Julian’s side.
“They’ve started checking people’s rooms. Not just phone and bag checks, but looking in closets and drawers.
Everything. It’s a witch hunt, Jules. Anyone who has said anything Sloan doesn’t approve of, they’re punished. ”
“So leave,” Julian begged. “Please just leave. Get Danny and get the hell out of there. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“We fight monsters,” Nicolas said, sighing hard.
“Now, the monsters aren’t the demons.” He looked at Valac as he said it.
“They’re us. They’re masquerading as white knights.
But I have to believe there’s still some good there.
It’s all I’ve ever known, and I’m not willing to give up on it just yet. ”
“But if it gets worse…” Julian started, then stopped. Fear lodged itself like a block of ice in his stomach, but he had to trust that his former captain knew what he was doing. Nicolas was smart, and he and Daniel could watch each other’s backs.
Nicolas patted his forearms. “I know. I promise, I’ll reach out if we need to make our escape. Be safe, little brother. They’ll come for you, so be ready.”
“If they come for me again, we’ll kill them,” Julian promised.
Nicolas nodded, bleak but resigned. “Good. I think that might be for the best.”
“You be safe,” Julian said. “You and Danny, look out for each other. If things get bad, please promise me you’ll both come to the Rink. We’ll help you, I swear.”
“We will. If we have to.” Turning toward Valac, Nicolas stuck out his hand. “We haven’t met, but if Julian has placed his trust in you, you must be a good man. I’m Nicolas Garcia, Julian’s old squad captain.”
Cocking his head curiously, Valac shook his hand. “Thank you. I’m Valac, behemoth of the underworld.”
Nicolas’s eyes widened ever so slightly, but that was the only sign of his recognition. “Keep him safe, okay?”
“I intend to,” Valac swore solemnly.
To Julian, Nicolas said, “So, it’s true, huh? The demons aren’t as bad as the guild wants us to believe?”
“Some aren’t,” Julian said. “We still hunt the monsters who hurt people. But Valac and the others, yeah, they’re not so different from us, where it counts.”