Chapter 26 Julian #2
Talon disappeared, and Julian took his place, parrying the sword and kicking Wallace back. Wallace’s next attack went wide, allowing Julian to duck under it and come up inside his defenses, slashing open a deep gash across his abdomen. Wallace cried out, staggering back.
This was why Wallace hadn’t wanted to face him one-on-one. Julian wasn’t weak, so they’d tried to heighten his fear by terrorizing him and ganging up on him. In a fair fight, Wallace didn’t stand a chance.
Wallace snarled at his comrades, “Don’t just stand there. Kill them!”
The paladins exploded into action, and the Sentinels met them with furor.
Julian’s focus narrowed to Wallace. He couldn’t afford to worry about everyone else.
They all knew how to defend themselves, and they had their demons with them, too.
They would look out for each other. He had some justice to dispense.
“You’re a monster,” Wallace roared as their blades clashed in the air. Julian leaned away from a punch and brought his sword down again, teeth gnashing when Wallace managed to block it at the last moment.
“The only monster here is you,” Julian retorted. “You tried to kill me!” He shoved Wallace away.
“You deserved that and worse!” Wallace swung—it was sloppy. Julian parried and cut open his thigh, taking bitter pleasure in Wallace’s stumble. “You abandoned the cause.”
“I left because of people like you,” Julian said, advancing on him. “I wasn’t sleeping with a demon. I just didn’t want to hunt down human beings. I was tired of listening to the hate.”
“Because you’re weak!”
Julian parried again and slammed his foot into Wallace’s knee. He went down with a grunt.
“I’m not the weak one.” Julian let his gaze scan his surroundings for just a moment. The others were all okay. Nearby, Shadrach twisted the sword arm of a paladin, and Isaac’s blade sank into his gut, cutting off his scream.
A familiar cry of pain caught his attention, and his head whipped the other direction. Luke had a hand pressed to his side, and it came away bloody. The wound healed before his eyes, and Wallace gasped.
“It can’t be,” Wallace muttered. “How is that possible?”
Julian smiled. “Demon blood is a miracle cure. Who knew?”
Wallace’s flat mouth twisted in disgust. “You lie!”
“I really don’t.”
Malachi grabbed the paladin who’d stabbed Luke, wrenching his head back by his hair, and Luke slit the man’s throat.
“No!” Wallace rushed to his feet, swinging his sword. Julian raised his own, panic zinging through him.
A strong hand caught Wallace’s wrist and twisted. The bone snapped, and when Wallace bowed backward in pain, Julian’s eyes met Valac’s.
“Hello, my jewel.” His violet eyes burned with anger, and Julian’s heart soared. The black lines on his pale skin writhed, but he didn’t need to unleash them for this.
Julian met Wallace’s shocked eyes. “May God have mercy on your soul. Mine’s taken care of.”
He drove his sword through Wallace’s chest. The man choked, and Valac released him, letting him slide off the blade and to the floor.
And then darkness descended. Shadows wrapped around the paladins, ripping their swords from their hands and twisting their limbs until they cracked. Around the room, the demons pulled their humans out of the way. A big hand cradled Julian’s jaw, and he looked up to find Valac gazing down at him.
“You’re here,” he croaked.
“I’m here.”
Julian blinked, and then they were hugging.
Valac’s arms were so tight he couldn’t inhale properly, but it didn’t matter.
Feeling Valac’s body, warm and real against his own, was everything he’d wanted.
He went up on tiptoes, tucking his nose in Valac’s neck and inhaling brimstone and, beneath that, his usual spice.
“I missed you so much,” he murmured against Valac’s collar. “I—”
A blood-curdling scream cut him off, and he raised his head in alarm.
The paladins laid in a heap in the middle of the dance floor, and a tall figure in a black robe, like Death itself, was working its way from one to the next.
When it leaned over Eric—who trembled like a leaf, his face waxen and dappled with sweat—long black fingers gripped his head and lifted him forcibly.
Eric gurgled, and something like black smoke rose from his face, billowing up and disappearing under the shadowed hood.
Eric’s body shriveled, turning dark gray. His skin pulled tight over his bones, his eyes dried out, and his mouth gaped open. In moments, he looked like a mummy, a husk of leathery flesh, limbs locked into place.
The sin eater moved to the next paladin, who was trying to crawl away, whimpering.
One by one, it worked through the group.
Across the room, Nathan turned away, hiding his face in Storm’s neck so he didn’t have to watch, and he wasn’t alone.
Isaac was the only one who didn’t look like he was going to be sick.
Julian’s stomach tossed like a ship at sea, but he forced himself to watch.
It was their decision to bring a sin eater to the surface, to unleash this fate on the paladins.
What kind of person would he be if he couldn’t take responsibility for it?
These paladins would have killed them all, and he wouldn’t let himself feel guilty.
When he finished, Ashmedai straightened with a low, rumbling sound that reminded Julian of a satisfied sigh. That shadowed hood turned toward them, and twin points of orange glowing from within trained on him.
“Thank you for your aid, Ashmedai,” Valac said.
“Ashmedai,” Shadrach whispered giddily.
The sin eater turned at the sound of his name.
Shadrach waved. “Big fan.”
It was impossible to tell much about Ashmedai, thanks to the hooded cloak that obscured his features and body. He was as tall as Wolf but maybe not as muscular. The skin of his bare hands was solid black, like coal, and his burning orange eyes were like distant flames in the dead of night.
“Dim the lights,” Valac said. “He is unaccustomed to it.”
“Right, right.” Storm, nearest to the switches, turned almost all of the lights off, save for the ones in the far corner.
“He’ll need time to adjust to the surface,” Valac said. “I told him he can stay at the Rink when he isn’t hunting.”
“Yes, that’s fine,” Talon said. “If he’d… like something other than the cloak, we can find him new clothes.”
Ashmedai lifted long, claw-tipped fingers to his hood and brushed the hem, like removing it had never occurred to him.
“Or not,” Talon said. “You just look like a Halloween decoration right now.”
Ashmedai’s head tilted.
“He doesn’t talk much,” Valac said.
“You don’t say,” Isaac remarked.
“Thank you for coming,” Julian blurted, and Ashmedai turned to look at him. “These guys like to make jokes, but… thank you. I know coming to the surface was a big deal, and I appreciate your help.”
One clawed finger lifted, pointing at him. “Good.” Ashmedai’s deep voice rattled, like two rusted pipes rubbing together. His orange eyes darted to Valac. “Good,” he said again.
Valac smiled. “Yes.” He patted Julian’s head. “He’s very good.”
“Bright,” Ashmedai added, and it took Julian a moment to realize he was still talking about him.
“Holy shit,” Talon murmured.
“What? What is it?” Julian asked, looking down at himself like he might see whatever Ashmedai was talking about.
Ashmedai slowly turned, looking at each of the humans, as though fascinated, his head tilting back and forth.
“He’s never seen a good soul before,” Talon breathed. “He’s never been to Earth. He’s only ever seen damned souls, guilty ones.”
On the other side of the loose circle they’d formed around the sin eater, Nathan looked teary-eyed, and Storm hugged him from behind, murmuring something in his ear that made Nathan nod and squeeze his eyes shut.
Julian’s gaze fell to the bodies at Ashmedai’s feet. He’d killed all of them but Wallace, who was already dead, and left empty husks of their bodies. Wallace had bled out, his eyes staring up at nothing, and Julian’s stomach twisted.
“But I killed him,” he whispered. “Isn’t murder one of the worst sins?”
Ashmedai looked at him again. “Justice,” he rattled out.
“Sometimes dark things must be done for the good of all,” Valac said.
“It is important that the weight of those things aren’t dismissed.
It isn’t in your nature to revel in the suffering of others, even those who have done you wrong.
That’s why his death hasn’t tarnished your soul.
You respect the gravity of what you’ve done. ”
Ashmedai inclined his hooded head in agreement.
Alex looked at the bodies. “What do we do about them?”
“We’ll dispose of them,” Talon said after a moment’s thought.
“Or…” Shadrach said, “we could let the paladins dispose of them. Leave them on their doorstep like a warning. I particularly like that that one—” he pointed at Wallace, “—was obviously killed by a blade, while the rest were disposed of like unwanted extras. I take it he’s the one who stabbed you? ” This last was directed at Julian.
He nodded. “Yeah. He was the captain of this squad.”
“I’m willing to bet he made sure everyone at HQ knew he was responsible for your alleged death,” Shadrach went on. “So it would be fitting that they should find him killed in the same manner.”
Talon looked thoughtful. “I don’t hate it. Jules?”
His closest friends had always called him Jules. It wasn’t the first time one of them had used it, and it sent a curl of warmth through him every single time.
“That’s fine with me, as long as I don’t have to help with delivery.”
“No, I don’t want any of you going anywhere near HQ,” Talon agreed.
“Even me?” Isaac quipped, smirking.
“Don’t push it.” But his eyes glittered with mirth.
Valac turned Julian’s face from the bodies. “Who hurt you, my jewel? Which one of them knocked you out? The one you stabbed?”
“What? No. Talon did it so I could get a message to you.”
Valac’s expression filled with rage. Beside them, Talon stiffened and whipped around to face them, raising one hand to ward him off as Valac turned bodily.
Excuses tumbled from Talon. “I didn’t hurt him, Valac. I cut off his airway for a few seconds just so he could slip under and get a message to you. I never would have caused him real harm.”
Julian had never seen Talon display real fear, even when he and Valac had faced off together over Astaroth’s decree, but he certainly showed it now. Hands raised, backing up, his eyes wide and pleading. Valac was stronger than him, and they both knew it.
Julian was the only one who could reassure Valac.
He reached for him, opening his mouth to promise that he was okay and that he’d consented for Talon to do it—sort of—when Valac lashed out.
His fist collided with Talon’s face, whipping his head so hard that he staggered.
Black blood sprayed from his mouth, and his arms pinwheeled to keep him upright.
“Talon!” Alex cried out.
“Valac!” Julian shouted, diving in front of Valac before he could go after him. His broad chest pushed against Julian’s outstretched hands. “I let him, okay? I let him!”
“He hurt you!”
“No, he didn’t!” He grabbed Valac’s hand, splattered with Talon’s blood, and placed it on his perfectly healed throat. “Look. It’s not like he hit me over the head with a brick to knock me out. He just choked me. It took seconds. There wasn’t even a bruise when I woke up.”
Valac’s fingers gently stroked the delicate skin of his neck. He was softening in increments, and Julian heard Alex behind him, cooing over Talon’s bleeding face.
“I’m okay,” he said again.
“You’re okay,” Valac repeated.
“Yeah.” He smiled, leaning in and tipping his face back. Valac met his mouth with a reverence that made his heart squeeze in his chest. “See? Perfectly fine. But thanks for punching him for me. I appreciate the gesture.”
“Hey,” Talon protested, but he subsided when Valac growled, violet eyes flickering toward him over Julian’s shoulder.
Julian glanced back at him. Black blood was smeared on his chin, but there was no visible wound. It had already healed.
Beside them, the sin eater watched it all with a curious head tilt, orange eyes bouncing from person to person.
“For the record,” Talon said, straightening his leather jacket, “I didn’t enjoy doing that to Julian, Valac.
He told us earlier that you were getting close, and I thought you might make it in time for the fight when I got Shadrach’s text about the paladins following them.
I was confident that your blood would keep him safe.
It was a calculated risk, and not one I took lightly. I actually like Julian.”
Julian couldn’t hide his surprise. He was under the impression Talon only tolerated everyone but Alex.
“Don’t look so surprised,” Talon told him. “You actually left the paladins before you were ever involved with us. You have convictions, and you stand by them. I respect that.”
“I… Thank you.” That meant a lot more than he was actually willing to let on. There was a time, not so long ago, when he couldn’t have imagined caring so much what a demon thought of him.
He was glad he wasn’t that person anymore.