Chapter 4
Ashmedai
It wasn’t easy to follow his human from the guild to his home in the middle of the afternoon.
Ashmedai jumped from shadow to shadow, following his aura across the city until it came to a stop at the place where he laid his head at night.
The moment their eyes locked, his body had reacted, surging with the need to close the distance between them and claim him at last. But not yet.
The next time he touched his human, there would be no urgency. He would take his time.
The wards on his human’s abode left something to be desired.
They weren’t designed to keep out demons as strong as Ashmedai.
That was probably because the guild had never faced a demon like him before.
Some demons required stronger wards, but those demons rarely involved themselves in affairs on the surface.
He would fix that in time, make sure his human was truly safe.
He couldn’t resist a closer glimpse of the human, appearing in his living room as he opened his door.
The sound of his gasp reverberated in Ashmedai’s bones.
He disappeared just before the lights came on, regretfully returning to the Rink again.
The human had someone else with him right now.
Ashmedai would bide his time until nightfall, until he could be sure his human was alone and relaxed.
But when he arrived at the Rink, appearing in a dark storage closet and stepping out into the main room, he was greeted with chaos.
Nathan was pacing, one hand tearing at his hair and the other holding his phone up in front of him. Storm, Ira, Wolf, Luke, and Malachi were standing around him, all with varying degrees of worry and panic on their faces.
“We dropped them off at their house at midnight last night, just like always. I watched them go inside their house before Storm and I left. What could’ve happened between then and now? Did you talk to their dad?”
Alex’s voice filtered out into the air from the device. “Yeah. He was passed out at home, sleeping off a bender.”
“He smelled like In Extremis on Sunday morning,” Talon’s voice added.
“Gross,” Malachi said with a weak chuckle.
“He said they left for school like normal—after some posturing and threatening, because he had no idea who we were.”
“He doesn’t even know they changed their emergency contact info to us, does he?” Nathan asked, rolling his eyes.
“Nope. That didn’t come up. They didn’t change all of the info, anyway. Just told the office that your number was their dad’s new number.”
“Okay, so something happened when they left their house for school this morning,” Nathan said, stopping to stare at a distant point on the wall. “Where’s the bus stop?”
“We’re headed there now,” Alex replied. “It’s just up the block from their house, so whatever happened—wait, Talon, pull over there. What is that?”
“What is it?” Nathan asked, sounding strangled.
“Please don’t be a body, please don’t be a body,” Luke murmured, closing his eyes. Malachi put an arm around him.
“It’s not a body,” Alex said quickly. “It’s a backpack. It’s Angela’s.”
“I see another over there,” Talon said. “Further down the street.”
“Why would their backpacks be out there on the side of the road?” Ira asked, and the others shot him discomfiting looks.
“You haven’t seen anything about this?” Luke asked.
Ira’s throat bobbed. “No.”
“Oh, God,” Luke breathed. “If anything happens to those kids…”
“Are their phones in their backpacks?” Nathan asked. “We’ve tried calling them a dozen times and no one’s answered.”
“Hang on,” Alex said. “Angie’s is. Looks like Zach’s is missing.”
“Okay. You guys head back here. Zach’s phone is our link. Either he has it, or whoever took them has it.”
“Okay. We’re headed that way.”
Nathan hung up, scrubbing a hand over his face.
Ashmedai stepped closer. “What?” he asked, hoping that conveyed enough.
Nathan turned toward him and sighed, shoulders slumping. “The young recruits who come here, Angela and Zachary, have gone missing. We took them home last night, but their school called and said they didn’t show up for class. Their father has no idea where they are.”
“Enemies,” Ashmedai growled. Who else would target children connected to the Sentinels?
Nathan’s expression cleared as the realization hit, and he looked at the others. “The guild. Do you think they could have done this?”
Luke scratched the angry scars on the side of his face. “Ashmedai has been hitting them pretty hard. And since we delivered Wallace’s squad to their doorstep, they probably figure we’re involved. This could be payback.”
“But why take them?” Nathan asked. “What do they want?”
“They’d have to reach out and tell us that, I’m afraid,” Ira said.
“If they wanted payback, they would’ve attacked,” Storm said. The cheerful lights made his pale hair look shot through with color.
“Not necessarily. That hasn’t worked out so well for them the last few times they’ve tried it,” Malachi pointed out.
“Besides, they can’t get into the Rink anymore, and they don’t know where the club is now.
The only time they might try to hit us is out on patrol, and that wouldn’t take care of all of us at once. ”
They had no answers and no way to get any. They trailed off into fretful silence until Alex and Talon arrived.
“I called the others,” Talon said as they strode inside. “They’re on their way. Have you tried calling Zach’s number?”
“No, we were waiting for you.”
Alex went to one of the computers on the strangely inlaid, white-topped table.
“Good. Let’s do it. Alex is checking to see if his location sharing is turned on.”
“Oh my God, that’s a good idea,” Luke said wildly.
“Treasure, you need to breathe,” Malachi murmured, patting his chest. Luke nodded and leaned against him.
Ashmedai watched them, wondering what it would be like to share that kind of easy familiarity with his own human.
To touch and be touched. He was familiar with desperate, grasping fingers hooking into his cloak down in the Pit, but soft, intimate touches were a novelty.
Even his human had gripped his cloak in desperation.
What would his soft hands feel like on Ashmedai’s bare hide?
He wanted to see him again, but it was still too early.
That other dark-haired man would probably still be there, and his human had made it clear no one could know about their connection.
Shadrach and Isaac appeared by the snack bar. “We’re here. Anything yet?”
“No, not yet,” Talon said. “We’re about to call Zach’s number.”
“Calling now,” Nathan said. “It’s on speaker, but I should probably do the talking.” He shot Talon a pointed look, and the leviathan pursed his lips before relenting with a bob of his head.
Julian and Valac appeared in the empty training area just as the phone began to ring, silently joining the others around the table. The behemoth offered Ashmedai a quick nod of greeting before focusing on the phone in Nathan’s hand.
It rang. And rang. And just when the hope was fading from the group, it clicked. Ashmedai tilted his head, and everyone took a collective breath, waiting.
“Zach?” Nathan asked. “Can you hear me?”
“I can hear you, but this is not the boy,” an unfamiliar voice said. Deep and masculine, it sounded older than the young teenager Ashmedai had seen hanging around the Rink.
The reaction in the group was immediate. Tension shifted through the air. Nathan’s jaw clenched, and Luke covered his face with his hands. Malachi’s hands clenched into fists, and Talon hissed, quiet and dangerous. Nathan shot him a warning look.
“Commander Sloan,” Nathan greeted, and Ashmedai understood.
They were right. The guild took their young recruits.
“What have you done? Why do you have Zachary’s phone?” Nathan asked, taking deep breaths as though to keep himself calm.
“He and his spunky little sister are in a safe, secure location until you and the rest of those traitors stop the demon that has been killing my men.”
The group turned toward Ashmedai. Looking right at him, Nathan said, “What demon?”
Ashmedai chuffed in amusement.
“Don’t play coy with me, Accardi. I know you all have something to do with the demon that’s attacking my paladins.”
“How’s that?”
“I’m supposed to believe it was a coincidence the first mummified bodies were Wallace and his squad, left outside our front gate?”
“It sounds like they might’ve been doing something they shouldn’t have been.
I don’t see what that has to do with us.
And I’d like to remind you that those two are children who have done nothing wrong.
You took them from outside their home, Sloan.
You kidnapped two children. Their father is distraught. ”
“Then I suggest you call off your new attack dog.”
“We can’t control some random demon who’s targeting paladins!” He was a convincing liar. Ashmedai wouldn’t have expected that from someone with a soul so bright. Humans were nuanced creatures, to be sure.
“Then hunt it down and kill it! I don’t care how you stop it, but if you ever want to see these two again, you’ll find a way.”
“Why can’t you hunt it yourself? You have more resources, more manpower. There’s only a handful of us.”
“My men have been trying. You’re expendable to me. They’re not.”
“Bullshit,” Malachi said softly.
“I don’t care how long it takes. I’m not releasing the kids until the demon is gone.”
“You can’t just hold them indefinitely. Their family is looking for them. They have school. Their father will report them missing, and then you’ll have bigger problems than one elusive demon.”
Sloan’s dark chuckle filled the air. “The police would never think to look here, and even if they did, they wouldn’t find them.”
“What… What does that mean?” Nathan asked, sounding wrong-footed for the first time since the conversation began.
“I said they were in a safe, secure location. They aren’t on the grounds. I’m not that stupid.”