Chapter 14
Ashmedai
Ashmedai’s nights were no longer filled with death and misery.
As promised, he waited in the shadows until the sun fell, biding his time until the light waned each day and Nicolas climbed into bed.
And then he joined him, waking him with soft kisses and hungry touches, their bodies rocking together until they were sated.
Sometimes they talked; other times Nicolas dropped right off to sleep when they were done, wrapped in Ashmedai’s arms.
He couldn’t deny that he wanted more. He wanted to see Nicolas smile.
Wanted to be there when he was awake. But for now, this was enough.
There was enough separation that Nicolas could do his job and neither of them had to be miserable.
If this was what Nicolas needed to do to stay focused, so be it. Ashmedai could wait.
During the day, for lack of anything better to do, he often found himself at the Rink.
The best time to find others there was in the afternoon.
Early mornings usually saw the place empty, since most of them kept late hours.
They arrived in the afternoon to work their day jobs and then patrolled after dark.
A week after this new arrangement with Nicolas, he appeared in the Rink, and several of them did a double-take at the sight of him.
“Nice threads,” Shadrach remarked. “I was starting to wonder if you’d ever open that box. You’re welcome.”
Ashmedai glanced down at himself. Yes, he’d finally returned to the apartment and opened the box that had been left for him.
He appreciated that it was all black, but he wasn’t sure how it was better than his old cloak.
The trousers and shirt were more restrictive.
The hooded coat he now wore didn’t sweep the floor like his cloak but hung around his knees.
The material was supple and soft, the hood deep like he preferred, allowing him to mask his face with shadows like he did with the cloak.
“That coat’s nice,” Daniel said, approaching to give it a closer look. “Custom made?”
He still reminded Ashmedai of Nicolas, but looking at him no longer hurt.
“Of course,” Shadrach replied. “What do you think, Ashmedai?”
He passed a hand down his front. “It’s fine.”
“You’ve done well this week,” Talon said. “Nathan is going to reach out to Sloan, tell him we took care of their sin eater problem. If he’s honorable, he’ll release the kids.”
“And if he isn’t?” Ashmedai asked, because Talon looked doubtful.
“That’s where your human comes in,” Talon said in a surprisingly gentle tone. “If Sloan doesn’t honor his end of the agreement, we’ll need another way to find the kids. I don’t suppose any of you have heard from Nicolas lately?” His gaze swept to Daniel, the most likely choice.
Daniel shook his head, cracking open a soda can and taking a sip. “He texts to let me know he’s doing okay, but he hasn’t given me any details about how the… infiltration is going.” He scrunched his nose at the word.
“James,” Ashmedai said, and all eyes turned toward him.
“What?” Daniel asked.
“They put him in someone’s squad. Named James. They work him hard. He patrols and trains with them.” A growl made his voice rattle. “Bruised and sore each day. They like to make him hurt. Says he’ll earn their trust if he sticks it out.”
“Jesus,” Daniel muttered.
“How do you know that?” Talon asked, dark eyes sharp. “I thought you two weren’t speaking right now.”
Ashmedai ducked his head. “See him at night, in the dark.”
Daniel raised his hands to interrupt him. “Please, no more. I don’t want to hear what goes on between you two in the dark.”
“Sometimes we talk,” Ashmedai said, feeling strangely defensive.
Talon chuckled. “Sometimes,” he repeated with a knowing look at Daniel, who groaned. “So I guess he didn’t send you away permanently after all.”
“No. Felt my absence as I did his.” Strange heat—embarrassment—crawled through him at the memory of the way he’d behaved after Nicolas sent him away.
How he’d raged and tore up the apartment they’d graciously given him, like a child throwing a tantrum.
He’d gone back on his word and continued to kill despite his promise to do otherwise.
Compelled to say something to make up for those shameful actions, he blurted, “I’m sorry.”
Daniel turned to face him, and Talon straightened, dark brows lifting slightly as though in surprise.
“I behaved rashly. I was hurt. I lashed out. You were all right; he didn’t push me away forever.”
Daniel beamed at him, and Talon’s mouth curled at the corners.
“We’ve all been there,” Talon said, waving a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry about it.”
Daniel said, “I’m glad you two worked things out. How did it happen? Did you go see him?”
“Yes. Followed him on patrol one night. Caught him alone. I only wanted to see him. Wasn’t sure how he would react to me.” He shuffled in place. “He hugged me.”
With a sigh, Daniel flopped down so hard on the sofa he bounced Alex and nearly upended the laptop from his legs. “It would be romantic if it wasn’t about my brother.”
Alex patted his shoulder and then went back to typing.
“I take it James is one of Sloan’s people?” Shadrach asked. He brushed his fingers through his hair only to have a stubborn black lock fall right back across his forehead. Beside him, Isaac watched the motion with a hunger Ashmedai recognized.
“Yes,” Daniel said firmly. “Very much so. His squad have been one of the main groups grabbing people for any little infraction to be cleansed. If Nic can get their approval, that’ll be a big step toward earning Sloan’s trust.”
Alex shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t wrap my head around how much things have changed there.”
The glass front door swung open to admit Nathan, Storm, Malachi, and Luke.
“Is everyone here?” Nathan asked, scanning the room. “We should probably get this over with.” His stormy blue eyes brightened when they landed on Ashmedai. “Oh, welcome back, Ashmedai. I like the new look.”
Ashmedai’s head tilted. All of these humans treated him like… one of them. Like a person. They spoke to him the same way they spoke to each other. He could only guess that was another reason why their souls were all so bright. They were good.
They gathered around the table, and Nathan dialed Sloan’s number.
Ashmedai stood apart from them until Daniel sidled over and glanced back at him, gesturing for him to come closer and stand beside him.
He did so hesitantly, something fragile and sweet taking root in him at Daniel’s quick smile.
He didn’t seem put off by Ashmedai’s presence or appearance at all.
The human souls in the Pit quivered and shrieked in fear when they saw him.
He’d never seen a human smile until he’d come to the surface. He hadn’t known they could.
The phone rang and rang. The longer it went on, the heavier the weight seemed to be on the group’s collective shoulders.
And finally, there was an answer.
“Mister Accardi, I take it,” Sloan drawled from the speaker.
“We did it, Commander Sloan,” Nathan said, his lip curling at the respectful title. He was trying to avoid angering him. Ashmedai hoped the tactic worked. “The demon is dead.”
“Is it?”
“Yes. I assume you haven’t had any more deaths.”
“When did you kill it?”
Nathan’s gaze flicked toward Luke. “Tuesday,” he answered. “We wanted to give you a few days to see for yourself that the killing had stopped.”
“What did the demon look like?”
Nathan’s stormy blue eyes found Ashmedai next. His throat bobbed, and then he said, “It wore a black cloak. Had orange, glowing eyes.”
“And how did you kill it?”
“With a sword, of course.” He looked at Valac. “It was very powerful, but we managed to bring it down with some help from our friends.”
Ashmedai smiled to himself. Yes, they would most likely require Valac’s help if they actually wanted to kill him.
Sloan made a noise of disgust.
“We had a deal,” Nathan prompted when the silence extended. “You said you’d release the kids. Their father is missing them. Their absence has been noted at school.”
“This kind of leverage doesn’t come around often,” Sloan mused. “I’m not sure it would be wise of me to give up something so useful.”
Ashmedai stiffened. No, he couldn’t do this. Nicolas wouldn’t be able to get away until the kids were safe.
Nathan paled. “What? You can’t be serious. They’re human beings, Sloan, not leverage.”
“They chose their side.”
Across the table, Luke brought his clenched fists to his mouth, and Malachi wrapped his arms around him.
“They’re children!”
“Children who play with demons are no better than demons themselves.”
“That isn’t true!”
“I think I’ll hold on to them for a while. I might find some other uses for them. Maybe I could change their names, enroll them in the school here. The boy might make a good paladin, and I’m sure the girl could find a place, once we teach her to accept our ways.”
“They’ll never willingly go along with that,” Nathan said.
“They will if they think their cooperation would keep you safe. ‘The Sentinels are our friends,’ they tell us. ‘Don’t hurt them,’ they say. I wonder what they would be willing to promise us in exchange for your safety.”
“You can’t just adopt them into the guild, Sloan,” Nathan said, his voice breaking with desperation. “They have a father who’s looking for them!”
“And how long before he drinks himself into a stupor and forgets they exist? We’ve been keeping an eye on him. He won’t be a problem.”
Nathan gaped. “This is wrong.”
“Bold words coming from a man who lays with a monster.”
Nathan’s face flushed, and Storm gravitated closer, curling a big hand around the back of his neck. Nathan leaned into the touch as he scowled at the phone.
“Sloan, think about this. Really think. You cannot do this. It’s not right.”
“Everything I do is for the good of the guild, so everything I do is right.”
Across the table, Talon’s brows rose, and Alex’s face twisted with disgust.