Chapter 17
Nicolas
It was the sector where the Rink was located.
It was no coincidence. He wasn’t stupid. They were taking him there on purpose to see how he reacted. They might even provoke a fight with some of the Sentinels, if they found any, and then what would happen? Nicolas would have to fight alongside the paladins or risk exposing himself as a fraud.
God, he hoped they didn’t see Julian or Daniel. Please, God, anybody but them. He could fight Nathan or Isaac or even Alex and keep his game face on. If he had to hurt one of his brothers, though, he’d never forgive himself. He would break. And he couldn’t afford to break.
His stomach roiled as the squad gathered by the training yard, James’s designated meeting spot.
Each squad generally met up for patrols in a different area around HQ, something innocuous that became a unique routine for each squad.
Most met somewhere in or around the administrative building, but since it was just across the quad from the training yard, it wasn’t a big change.
A firm hand landed on his shoulder, interrupting his desperate prayers.
“Hey, Garcia. You ready for tonight?” Patrick was a burly man, almost forty and without two brain cells to rub together. He did what he was told and didn’t have a thought beyond it. He was perfect for Sloan’s obedient army.
“I am.” He infused his voice with false cheer, plastering an eager grin on his face. “It feels great to have found my path again, y’know?”
Patrick’s cheeks wrinkled with a grin. “Absolutely. God bless. I can’t wait to bury my sword in some evil bastard.”
As the others gathered around them, Nicolas wondered what Ashmedai would say about their souls.
Were they all black like his last squad?
Were any of them good? Ashmedai spared the souls he called bright.
Nicolas had a little trouble believing that included his own.
He certainly didn’t feel very good these days.
“I’m not even fussed if that winds up being a demon or a traitor,” Casey added from Nicolas’s other side. He crossed his lanky arms, a cold glimmer in his eyes.
“They gave up their right to live when they started spreading their legs for the beasts,” Tony added, his lip curling.
Nicolas’s mouth was bone-dry, and suddenly all he could think about was Ashmedai curling around him in the middle of the night, the press of his strange, wet cock between Nicolas’s cheeks, his long and wicked tongue sweeping inside Nicolas’s mouth like he could taste his moans if he sank deep enough.
He wanted to be there now, in Ashmedai’s arms, their bodies linked in the most intimate of ways. Wanted to be in the dark where it was safe. It had once been filled with horrors, but now the darkness was his haven.
James was the sixth man to arrive, nodding as he surveyed them all. “All right, we’re all here. Let’s get moving.”
“Wait, what? We’re missing Kyle and Ashton,” Nicolas pointed out.
“Kyle and Ashton are on another mission tonight,” James said coolly. “They won’t be joining us.”
Curious. “Another mission?”
“Sloan has another job for them, and that’s all you need to know. Let’s go.”
His mind raced as he fell into step with the others toward the SUVs waiting for them in the parking lot. Could Kyle and Ashton be on the roster for guarding the Alvarez kids? He needed to find out. Maybe he could ask some of the demons to follow them for a few days.
No one spoke as the SUV followed behind the other. The inside of the car smelled like coffee, and Nicolas wished he’d thought to bring some of his own. It was going to be a long night. Seven more hours until three AM. Then he could see Ashmedai again.
His stomach tied itself into a knot as they parked in the back of a half-empty grocery store parking lot. The swords were conspicuous, but the parking lot was empty enough that no one paid them any attention as they geared up and prepared to go.
“Sloan doesn’t want us splitting into pairs tonight,” James said. “So, we stick together.”
“It’ll take longer to cover the sector that way,” Sam said.
James nodded, his steely eyes looking from one to the next, like he wanted to be sure they all heard him. “It will. So be it. We follow Sloan’s orders, always.”
“Always,” the rest of them intoned.
“Always,” Nicolas murmured. He wondered why Sloan had ordered them to stick together when the threat of Ashmedai was supposedly gone. Was it because they wanted to be sure he wouldn’t let any of the Sentinels go, if they came across them?
They fell into step together, walking two by two down the sidewalk and into the darkness. Nicolas lingered in the back, hoping it was an uneventful night.
He should have known better.
His watch told him it was near midnight when James, at the front of the group, stopped and shushed them all. They all stopped, hands going to their blades, but when James chuckled, Nicolas’s stomach curdled with fear.
He straightened, gesturing for them all to follow, and stepped around the building beside them.
Alex, Daniel, and Julian stopped on the sidewalk in front of them, their eyes widening as they looked from face to face. Nicolas’s heart pounded so loudly in his ears that he missed whatever James said, but it made Julian’s eyes narrow.
“We don’t want any trouble,” Alex said, raising a hand out. “We’re patrolling just like you. There’s no reason we can’t just go our separate ways. Plenty of monsters to kill.”
“I see three right here in front of me,” Casey said.
Run, Nicolas screamed internally. Run, run now, you idiots.
Daniel scowled, caramel brown eyes flashing with anger. “We’re not monsters. Since when are paladins okay with killing human beings?”
“Since those human beings chose the enemy,” James sneered. “You know, Danny boy, it’s really a shame that you didn’t turn out more like your brother.” He turned, gesturing toward Nicolas, and the brothers’ eyes met.
Daniel licked his lips, and Nicolas alone recognized the calculating look in his eye. Nicolas hadn’t told him the lies he’d fed Sloan about their falling out. He needed to say something now, before Daniel unraveled the careful web he’d woven.
“Dad would be so disappointed in you.” He curled his lip in disgust.
Daniel gaped, real pain crossing his face. “Excuse me? Me? You turned your back on me—”
“No, you turned your back on me! On the guild! On everything we were supposed to stand for!” He pushed his way through the squad, who watched eagerly like wolves waiting for the blood to spill.
James caught his arm, stopping him from going too far from them, but it was exactly as far as he needed. With his back to the squad, he mouthed, “Run.”
Alex grabbed Daniel’s shoulder, his face grim.
Daniel set his jaw. “I shouldn’t have left you alone. I should’ve made you leave with me.”
Adrenaline pounded like a drumbeat through Nicolas’s veins.
He scoffed loudly. “Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t have left with you.
My place is here with the guild, fighting the monsters.
Not fucking them.” His face burned, and he’d never been so grateful for the shadows.
“Is that what it is? Have you found a demon to take you to bed?”
Daniel’s nostrils flared. “That’s not—It’s not like that, Nic. You know me better than that.”
“Do I? I thought we were the same, you and I. Instead, you left. The rest of these guys,” he shot a withering look at Julian and Alex, on either side of Daniel, “are screwing monsters. Why not you?”
He didn’t expect Daniel to shove him. He didn’t expect Casey to lunge past him, slamming his fist into Alex’s face.
Nicolas tripped over someone’s foot and hit the concrete as chaos exploded around him, everyone rushing into the fight at once.
By the time he got back to his feet, Alex was on the ground, surrounded by the squad, who were hitting and kicking him.
Casey drew his sword, and panic zinged through Nicolas. He rushed forward, ready to abandon his ploy if it meant saving Alex, but before he could get close enough, Daniel shoved his way into the fray, holding a sword of his own. With a battle cry, he ran Casey through.
Daniel hauled Alex to his feet and shoved him toward Julian. Around him, the others were drawing their blades as Casey fell, cradled in James’s arms.
“Kill him! Kill them all!” James screamed, pressing his hands to the wound in Casey’s abdomen.
Oh God, no.
Nicolas threw himself forward before any of the others could get there first, grabbing Daniel by the shirt and punching him hard. He staggered—away—and his arms pinwheeled as he stumbled into Julian and Alex.
“You’re dead to me!” Nicolas screamed, landing another hit to Daniel’s stomach. “You hear me? You’re a monster!” One last hit landed on his cheekbone, whipping his head to one side, and then Julian was there, grabbing Daniel and twisting, putting himself between them and giving Daniel a shove.
“Run, run!” Julian shouted.
Nicolas gave chase with no intention of catching them. “Get back here!” he shouted. “Cowards! Traitors!”
When they turned the corner up ahead, he slowed to a stop, breathing hard, and fought the tangle of emotion that clogged his throat. They were fine. Alex would heal, and no one had stabbed Daniel, despite what they’d intended. It would all be okay.
“Garcia! Come back!” James shouted. “We’ve got to get Casey back to HQ!”
He closed his eyes, burying the emotion as he turned around. There would be time to wallow in guilt later. For now, he had more lies to sell.
Casey didn’t make it. Nicolas and the rest of the squad waited in the medical wing waiting room for the news.
Maxwell worked on him for the better part of an hour, trying to coax his heart to keep pumping.
It was customary for squads to wait together for news when one of their own was injured.
Nicolas had no choice but to wait with them.
He was supposed to be one of them. He was supposed to care.