Chapter 21 #2
Talon placed them on the coffee table. “I want all of you, starting with you,” he pointed at Nicolas, “to write the names and numbers of everyone you remember from the guild. For some of you like Alex who have been out longer, you may not have much to contribute. That’s fine.
Nic will have the most, because he still has his guild phone, which is why I want him to start.
If any of you remember anyone else, old friends or colleagues or captains, add them. ”
“Why?” Nicolas asked curiously.
“Because after we have Angie and Zach back, I’m sending a message to everyone I can reach behind that wall.
Not just to the leaders, who would suppress the news to avoid inciting a panic.
Panic is exactly what I want to incite. I’m going to tell them that we’re coming for them.
I’m going to tell them what he’s done, kidnapping children and using them against us.
I’m going to give them all a chance to do the right thing and walk away from the guild.
They can join us or leave entirely, I don’t care.
But anyone who stands with Sloan will receive no mercy. ”
Nicolas nodded slowly. He had to believe there were others in the guild like him who didn’t like what was happening but didn’t know how to get off the runaway train. If given a chance to run and the promise of mercy and allies if they did, surely some of them would choose peace over war.
He knelt beside the coffee table and turned the notebook toward himself.
Laying his phone beside it, he went through his contacts one by one.
Commander Sloan, Doctor Maxwell, Cyrus, Aidan, everyone who was left from his current and old squads, teachers, Father Conroy.
His hand was cramping by the time he reached the bottom of the list. It wasn’t everyone in the guild, not by a long shot, but gossip spread like wildfire there.
He had no doubt many of these people would receive a text from a demon and forward it to everyone they knew so they could discuss it in scandalized, hushed tones.
Did you see the text from that demon? What do you think?
The others added a few more names between them. Nathan added the most, as a former captain who had several numbers memorized in case of emergency. Ira also added a couple of prophets’ names he hadn’t forgotten, his supervisor, and Diviner Rousseau, the head of the prophets’ division.
This was it, Nicolas thought, watching them kneel down and write, one by one. This was the beginning of the war. The war machine would power on the moment the Alvarez kids were out of the line of fire, and with Ira’s confirmation that they would find them, the gears were already starting to turn.
“What…” He stopped, not sure what he wanted to say or how, but everyone turned to him expectantly. Searching for the right words, he ventured, “What happens… if we win?”
“If?” Talon repeated coolly.
“I don’t want to jinx anything by making assumptions this early in the game,” Nicolas replied.
“I just mean… what happens to the guild itself once Sloan and his people are gone? HQ? That library filled with information? All the holy weapons? What do we do with it all? Abandon it?” It didn’t seem right, somehow, to leave it all to rot.
Paladins were buried there. His mom and dad.
Countless men and women who died for the cause in one way or another, people who believed they were doing the right thing.
And maybe at one time, they were. Sloan hadn’t always been around to poison the well.
They all looked around at each other until Nathan hesitantly said, “We could… repurpose it? I agree, I don’t think we should tear it all down and forget it existed.
We know now that the paladins’ information wasn’t always accurate.
They were wrong about the black-eyed halflings, for example.
” He gestured to Talon, who inclined his head.
“So, we could tear down the wall. Change things. Make it something that’s a part of the world instead of shielded and separate from it. ”
“And the church?” Isaac asked carefully, his face unreadable. He perched on the armrest of the sofa farthest from Nathan.
Nathan sighed. “I’m fine with tearing that one down.
I wouldn’t mind having a place to worship, though.
Just because I love a demon doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned my faith.
It would be nice to have somewhere new, untainted, to give thanks.
” He smiled lopsidedly. “I wholeheartedly believe it’s God who put us on the path that led us here, after all.
Our circumstances may have changed drastically, but we still have a lot to be thankful for. ”
Nicolas looked up at Ashmedai, who met his gaze wordlessly. Yeah, he thought, there were a few things he was thankful for, too.
As the night waned, so did Nicolas’s energy.
A little after midnight, he found himself in the upstairs bathroom—Daniel had beaten him in the race for the one downstairs, so Julian directed him there—stifling a yawn as he washed his hands.
They would probably have to go soon anyway, because Ashmedai’s shift would start, and he’d have to take Nicolas home before he left to keep an eye on Kyle.
Tired as he was, he was also loath to leave.
He hadn’t had a night of carefree fun like this in a long time.
Julian had always made hosting look effortless, inviting people into his home and making them feel like they belonged right away.
Drinks flowed amongst the humans, and the demons sipped hard liquors that would’ve had Nicolas on his ass after a handful of shots.
A small part of him—the part that sounded like his father—still had trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that humans and demons could mingle like this without bloodshed.
That there were demons in existence that didn’t want to mindlessly kill and destroy.
It gave him hope for the future Nathan had described, where they could live in harmony and protect the world together.
Smiling to himself, he dried his hands and turned toward the door. He switched the light off as his other hand closed around the doorknob—
In the darkness, a strong hand grabbed his wrist and pulled it away from the doorknob.
He gasped sharply, and another hand covered his mouth.
His back pressed tightly against a familiar chest, and that strong body turned them, allowing Nicolas to see glowing orange eyes over his shoulder in the mirror’s reflection.
The scent of cool mist and ancient stone filled his lungs as his body relaxed.
His hands reached behind him, sinking into the fabric of Ashmedai’s long coat and settling on his hips.
He wanted to ask what Ashmedai was doing, but the hand over his mouth didn’t move away even when he tried to shake it off.
Lips grazed his ear. “Be very quiet,” Ashmedai whispered wickedly. “The humans can’t hear you from here, but the demons might.”
Heat blazed under Nicolas’s skin. The only sound in the room was his heavy breathing as Ashmedai’s free hand slipped under his shirt.
His cock hardened rapidly, and Ashmedai was barely doing anything yet.
The knowledge that someone could hear him if he made a sound was thrilling.
Ashmedai could easily teleport them home, but this felt enticingly taboo.
Ashmedai rolled one nipple between his fingers, teasing it to a hardened nub, and then flicked it with a claw, making Nicolas jerk.
He gave the other one the same treatment, until Nicolas was panting through his nose, fingers digging into Ashmedai’s hips.
He resisted the urge to moan, his throat bobbing soundlessly.
Begging would only get them discovered, and Ashmedai still had a hand over his mouth anyway.
A barely audible rumble left Ashmedai, vibrating like a purr against his back.
The hand under his shirt slid south, thumbing open his jeans and tugging the zipper down.
Nicolas closed his eyes and let his head fall back against Ashmedai’s shoulder as those long fingers slipped inside his boxers, carelessly pushing the fabric out of the way far enough to free his length and take him in a firm grip.
“I love being here with you,” Ashmedai said in his ear, as soft as possible. He didn’t stroke Nicolas’s cock yet, gripping the base as he spoke. “I love seeing you in the light. The way it highlights the contours of your face. Reflects in your eyes.”
Yes, being together out in the open was nice, but this was what Nicolas liked best. Here in the dark, where Ashmedai belonged, Nicolas felt safe. Unseen by his enemies and cherished by his demon. If they were really made for each other, then Nicolas belonged to the dark as surely as Ashmedai did.
He writhed, and his breath caught in his throat when the movement slid his cock through Ashmedai’s grip.
He rocked forward, tunneling his cock through Ashmedai’s fist, and his eyes rolled back in his head.
Fumbling blindly with one hand, he found Ashmedai’s corded forearm and held on as he did it again, fucking into the demon’s fist.
“Yes, like that,” Ashmedai praised. “I’ve wanted to touch you all night. The light highlights your beauty, but it is also a barrier. I cannot have you like this whenever I want you.”
God, yes he could. Ashmedai could have him whenever and however he wanted. Nicolas wasn’t sure he’d ever tell him no.
The hand on his mouth shifted. He sucked down one mouthful of cool air and then two fingers thrust into his mouth.
Claws pricked the back of his tongue, and he clamped down hard on Ashmedai’s fingers to keep from making a sound, sucking and kneading with his teeth as he chased his pleasure.
He wanted more, needed it, but when he reached back for Ashmedai’s pants, his growl deepened.