Chapter 19 #3
Then he stood, pocketing his keys, and focused on taking calm breaths as he walked toward the administrative building.
It was done. With any luck, the burner would stay put until Kyle left HQ—at least long enough for the Sentinels to get someone to tail him.
They had no idea how often he was going to the Alvarez kids or if he was even going to their location at all. But it was the only lead they had.
Inside the newly rebuilt foyer of the administrative building, James was waiting by the stairs. His cool gaze gave nothing away, but he greeted Nicolas just like always.
“The others are already upstairs with Sloan. We’re just waiting for Ashton and Patrick now.”
“Oh, okay, good. How, uh—how are you doing?” Losing a squad member was never an easy thing.
Nicolas hadn’t been with this team for very long, but the rest of them had been together for years.
No matter how cruel they were to the undeserving Sentinels, they were still human.
Losing Casey couldn’t have been easy for any of them, and it cost him nothing to feel sympathy for them.
James shook his head curtly. “I never wanted to lose a man, but losing one like that… to those traitors.” His jaw pulsed, and he pinned Nicolas with a hard stare. “I hope you don’t harbor any leftover fondness for that brother of yours, Garcia, because he’s going to pay for this.”
And just like that, the sympathy vanished.
James couldn’t see how his own choices had assisted in Casey’s death.
If they’d been hunting monsters like they were meant to, they never would’ve confronted those three that night.
Daniel never would’ve thrown himself into the fight and stabbed Casey to protect Alex.
It was never the guild’s fault for attacking first. It was always the Sentinels’ fault for defending themselves.
Nicolas straightened, steeling his spine and funneling every ounce of hatred he felt for these people to the surface. “Don’t worry, sir. I’ll do what needs to be done.”
James nodded, clapping him on the shoulder. “Good man.”
Ashton and Patrick arrived together, and the four of them trooped upstairs to join the others.
They filed into Sloan’s office, which wasn’t exactly designed for a full squad.
Sloan stood as they entered. James, Patrick, and Ashton stood closer to the desk, and Nicolas seized the opportunity to stand in the second row with the others, his shoulder brushing Tony’s.
Sloan looked from face to face before settling on James. “Thank you all for coming. I wanted to extend my condolences for the loss of Casey Harlan. He was a good man, and he’ll be missed.”
Nicolas nodded robotically with the others, bowing his head.
“I read James’s report about what happened, and I want you all to know that I am as appalled and outraged as the rest of you. It was one thing for those traitors to flaunt their sins in our faces. But now? To attack our people while we’re on patrol, protecting the city?”
Was that what James had said?
“We’ve let them get away with this for too long. We’ve lost too many good men to those monsters, but now we know for a fact that it’s not just their demons killing our people. Daniel Garcia raised his blade against us, and that will not go unpunished.”
Oh God, oh God.
“We know where their home base is. It’s time for a major strike. We will outnumber them three to one when we attack, and they’ll stand no chance. By the time we’re done, they will be nothing but ash.”
Nicolas had to hope the demons were as powerful as they claimed. Three to one was bad odds.
“Paladin Garcia.”
He looked up, startled. “Yes, sir?”
“Give me your phone.”
Prickling with unease, he obediently drew his phone from his pocket and handed it to James, who passed it to Sloan.
They weren’t allowed to use passcodes anymore, so Sloan had no problem unlocking it.
He spent some time looking through it, and Nicolas’s face burned as the silence extended.
They still didn’t trust him—and they were right not to.
He’d been religiously deleting everything off his phone that could incriminate him.
Daniel’s number wasn’t there anymore. He had it memorized, but he hadn’t dared to text or call for exactly this reason.
After a few moments, Sloan nodded and handed the phone back to him.
“I understand that you’ve been a model soldier these past few weeks, Garcia, and I’m pleased to see there’s been no activity between you and your brother.
I expect it to stay that way. For security purposes, someone will be following you until we can set our plan into motion, just to make sure you don’t have a crisis of faith and try to warn your brother. ”
Nicolas forced his face to twist in disgust. “I wouldn’t, sir. I’m appalled by what he’s done. He’s a monster, and I want nothing to do with him.”
Sloan’s mouth curled into a slight smile. “I’m glad to hear that, but surely you understand why I’m taking these precautions.”
He sighed. “Yes, sir.” He straightened, giving Sloan an easy smile. “Time will show you the kind of man I am. I’m not worried.”
“Good. I’ll dismiss you all for now, then. Casey had no living family, so we’ll be cremating him in the morning and placing him in the vault with the other fallen soldiers. The ceremony will take place at nine AM, if you’d all like to attend.”
“Yes, we’ll be there,” James said.
They saluted and filed out of the room one by one. Nicolas’s mind raced as he lingered in the hallway with the others. Would they become suspicious if he left immediately? He needed them to think he didn’t care about being followed, that he had nothing to hide.
As eager as he was to leave and get a warning to the Sentinels right away, he needed to hang around and act business-as-usual, so he followed the rest of them down to the cafeteria for breakfast while they waited for the nine AM ceremony. Maybe after that he would be able to slip away.
The ceremony for Casey involved a twenty minute sermon about the good works he’d done during his life.
His remains, in a silver urn, were prayed over and placed within the mausoleum below the church.
When it was over, they all hovered together outside the church.
Nicolas prayed that someone else would be the first to leave, but luck wasn’t on his side.
“I don’t know about you all, but I’ve got some energy to burn,” Tony said. “Anybody up for a spar?”
Dammit, he thought. He couldn’t be the first to go without arousing suspicion, so he said, “Yeah, I could use a spar.”
The rest of the squad agreed, so they made their way out to the training yard.
His mind continued to work overtime as he picked out a practice sword and took position facing Tony.
He’d told Ashmedai to stay in his apartment.
It didn’t matter if someone followed him home.
He wouldn’t invite them inside. They just wanted to make sure he didn’t go anywhere else.
They had no idea he had a demon in his apartment who could teleport him wherever he wanted to go.
He’d calmly go home, lock himself inside, and then ask Ashmedai to take him straight to the Rink.
He’d warn them about the incoming attack.
They used a spell to keep uninvited humans from getting in, so the paladins would have to attack a different way.
Maybe by increasing their presence in the area and waiting for the Sentinels to poke their heads out.
Maybe it was a good thing they’d had a confrontation, then.
It made Talon put his foot down on their patrols for a while.
That would make it harder to find them. He’d need to make sure their homes weren’t being watched.
At one time, the guild had known where all of them lived.
That was especially dangerous now that they were planning some kind of strike.
The urge to rush home didn’t abate, but he forced himself to train for three hours with the squad. After that he was able to get away without joining them in the locker room for a shower, because he hadn’t brought any extra clothes with him.
On his way to his car, he inadvertently found himself walking side by side with Kyle, who offered him a sideways look that didn’t look entirely offended by his presence. That was a win in this squad.
“How’d you and Daniel wind up so different?” Kyle asked.
Lie, lie, lie.
“Danny was the youngest. Mom spoiled him. Dad did his best, but some of the lessons just didn’t stick, I guess.”
Kyle hummed. “Your father was a good man. A good paladin. I met him a few times when I was kid. It was like watching superheroes, y’know? Real life warriors fighting real life monsters.”
The words rang true. Nicolas had always looked up to the paladins he’d watched as a kid, his own father included.
Their role in the world, in theory, was a good one.
They were meant to fight evil. It was only recently, in Sloan’s era, that that had begun to shift into something insidious and toxic.
They’d stopped focusing on the true monsters and started jumping at shadows, seeing evil in human choices.
Could humans be evil? Absolutely. But it wasn’t the guild’s job to play judge, jury, and executioner.
That wasn’t the evil he’d signed up to fight.
They separated when they reached their cars.
Nicolas didn’t look directly at Kyle as they both unlocked their cars and got in.
Kyle pulled away first, and Nicolas glanced at the empty parking spot.
The burner hadn’t fallen off. That was a good sign.
He’d taped it underneath the back passenger side, near the wheel well.
Kyle wouldn’t notice it unless he stuck his head under that side of the car.
When he pulled out into the long driveway, another car fell in behind him. They weren’t making a secret of the fact they were following him. He couldn’t tell who it was, but it didn’t matter. He took deep breaths to calm himself, keeping an eye on his speed.
Everything was fine.