After getting some food in the buffet line, he found a sun-warmed seat near the stained-glass windows and took his phone from his pocket, creating a new group chat with all the phone numbers he had for the defectors and their demons. Ira, Wolf, Alex, Luke, and Storm.
Hey, this is Nathan. Added all of you I had numbers for to tell you we’ve seen two more cases of possessed humans, and we lost a paladin last night to one of them. It looks like the first one wasn’t the only.
Luke
Who?
Zeke. Young guy. Sloan said one of the possessed used his own knife against him.
Alex
He was just 19.
Nathan scrubbed a hand through his hair, his stomach twisting. Alex wasn’t much older than Zeke. They’d probably crossed paths during their training years. It hadn’t been a full year yet since he joined Shiloh’s squad.
For some reason, he longed for a response from Storm.
Ira
Do you think the squad was targeted, or was it a random attack?
We don’t know, and that’s the problem.
Luke
What’s Sloan’s plan?
Sloan took me off the case. Doesn’t like the pill idea. He’s putting a different team on the investigation of the footage I showed you.
Wolf
Why not you?
He thinks I’m ‘spread too thin.’ A punishment for involving you all, I think.
Storm
Fucker.
Nathan bit back a startled laugh. Storm’s only contribution so far was indignation on Nathan’s behalf. A kernel of warmth settled near his heart at the realization.
It’s better this way. I have leave to handle the relationship with you all as I see fit. For now, at least.
He didn’t know what would happen in a week when he still had no base of operations to give Sloan—because hewouldn’tbe revealing the Rink’s location to anyone in the guild.
He’s going to send paladins to In Extremis at some point, but I’d like to go there and question some people myself.
Alex
An unsanctioned club visit? Naughty Nate.
Nathan snorted out a quiet laugh, muffled behind his hand so he didn’t draw any attention to himself.
Sloan doesn’t want to pursue the pill theory. Who better to question about demonic pills than the demonic club scene?
Wolf
That’s a pretty good point.
