Nicolas’s jaw tightened. “It’s getting dangerous. I don’t want to see Danny or anyone else get hurt.”
“Neither do I,” Nathan agreed. “But staying complacent is what’s gotten us into this mess, I think. No one was willing to be the voice of reason.”
“That voice of reason doesn’t need to include my little brother, Nate,” Nicolas said.
“Nic, I chose to go to that meeting. I know what I’m doing,” Daniel said.
“You’re my little brother and a member of my squad. It’s my job to take care of you.”
Daniel sighed, softening. “But I’m not a little kid anymore.”
An uncertain frown lined Nicolas’s face. “I know that.”
Julian leaned in, breaking the tension. “You guys should probably get a move on if you don’t want to be late for the meeting, right?”
Nathan straightened. “Right, we should. Lead the way, Nic. Julian, Daniel, it was good to see you both.”
“You too, Captain Accardi,” Daniel replied, stepping aside so they could go up the stairs.
Julian waved them away with a hum of agreement, and Nathan fell into step with Nicolas.
“I’m sorry you feel I’ve endangered Daniel—or anyone else, for that matter,” Nathan offered quietly.
Nicolas’s mouth twisted. “He’s right. He’s not a kid anymore. Doesn’t mean I won’t always worry.”
“Of course. He’s family. As far as I know, that meeting is still a well-kept secret. I’m not surprised Daniel told you about it, but it seems everyone else has been keeping it quiet.”
“That’s good,” Nicolas said. “Maybe you’re right that someone should’ve spoken up sooner. But they didn’t, and now we’re headed down an uncertain path.”
Nathan steeled his spine as they approached the conference room. Nicolas was worried that whoever spoke up would be punished, and it was understandable he wanted to protect his brother. Nathan didn’t have any family of his own to worry about. If anyone should speak up about the insidious tension going on in the guild, shouldn’t it be someone like him? He’d called that first meeting. It was his responsibility to stand up for the people who felt the same way as he did.
There were many conference rooms and offices and meeting spaces in the administrative building, so they found their way to the one on the agenda for today, a conference room with a long table in the center. A darkened projector hung overhead, and a white board gleamed on the far wall. Rain trickled down the windows. Several other captains were already waiting in the rolling leather chairs around the table. Nathan knew all of them at least by sight, but he only knew a handful by name.
“Morning, Nate, Nic,” Mark said coolly. His buzzed hair was peppered with gray, and he bore deep scars on one forearm from a demon’s claws.
Eyes followed Nathan as he sat down near the end of the table. Nicolas sat between him and the others, looking unbothered, but Nathan caught his pointed glance. He sensed the tension, too.
Nathan already didn’t like the way this meeting was going, and Sloan wasn’t even here yet. “How’s it going?”
“Well enough. We were just discussing what the meeting is going to be about.”
“I think we all know that already, don’t we?” Nathan asked, glancing from face to face. This wasn’t like the daily check-ins. Sloan wanted their input about the so-called traitors. Or at least, that was what Nathan assumed. He hoped there was no news about it, that they weren’t planning to move against them. Nathan wouldn’t be comfortable hunting humans, even ones Sloan and his loyalists wanted to condemn.
Mark shrugged lightly. “Probably. I was just curious where everyone stood on the issue at hand. I don’t think it’s right that the traitors are still out there. They abandoned the cause, abandoned their duty, and they should be punished for it.”
Nathan wished everyone would stop trying to draw lines in the sand. The only ‘us’ and ‘them’ they should be worried about were humans and monsters. The halflings were a gray area—but not the real enemies they should be concerning themselves with. Halflings were human souls that had gone to Hell and become demonic. They weren’t like the monsters that the paladins hunted. They didn’t kill people. Mostly, they just indulged in Earthly pleasures and enticed humans who wandered into their club, In Extremis, to do the same. Questionable, maybe, but they didn’t exactly strike him as evil masterminds.
Samson, sitting beside Mark, was looking at the table, hiding his smirk behind a curled finger. The others all watched the exchange with interest, expressions varying between intrigue and boredom.
“I don’t think it’s our place to pass judgment on humans, even those who have made choices we don’t agree with,” Nathan said.
Mark hummed, as though Nathan had failed to pass some sort of test, and his murky brown eyes slid to Nicolas. “What about you, Captain Garcia?”
Nicolas passed an unreadable look toward Nathan and then met Mark’s eyes. “I think it’s probably best to wait for Commander Sloan, don’t you?” he replied.
“Commander Sloan feels the same as we do,” Samson said, sitting back in his chair. “Why else would we be here?”
“Todiscussit,” Nathan said firmly.
