Storm shrugged one shoulder. “I came over here in the… eighteen-hundreds. I guess it just faded after a while. I’ve been in the States for two hundred years now.”
Nathan hummed. “So what happened when you first came back to Earth? Did you know what had happened to you? Did you remember?”
“No, it was all pretty hazy. Hell, those first few years on Earth are hazy, too. Demons can sense each other, so somebody found me pretty quickly after I got out and explained what was happening. We do that much for each other, at least.”
“And the white hair?” Nathan asked, eyeing it cheekily.
“Maybe I was older when I died.” Storm chuckled. “I don’t really know. You’ll notice most halflings look relatively young. That’s because our healing factor keeps our bodies in peak shape. I assume that means that if one of us died elderly, we still come back looking like we did in our prime of life, because our cells regenerate to their healthiest point. As for the hair, most people think it’s colored, but this is exactly what I looked like when I came back. I actually colored it brown for a few decades in the early nineteen-hundreds, just so I blended in better. By the seventies, it didn’t matter so much anymore.”
Nathan boggled a bit at the realization Storm had been on Earth for so long. He was hundreds of years old. A part of him wondered what Storm had done to warrant going to Hell, but it didn’t sound like he remembered.
“What’s Hell like?” he asked, his voice small.
Storm smiled, nudged his head back, and kissed him soundly. “It’s Hell, sunshine. It’s probably not the fire and brimstone you think it is, but it’s not much fun. And we’re given a choice to become halflings. Don’t get me wrong, it hurts like—well, hell,” he snorted, as though the concept of damnation and eternal torture were amusing, “but it was worth it, because I got to come back to Earth. I got to meet you.”
Sparks of shock went down Nathan’s spine. “Meetingmewas worth the pain of literal Hell?”
“Definitely. Don’t let it go to your head.” He kissed Nathan on the forehead, chuckling at his own joke, and Nathan smiled, hugging him tight.
Halflings weren’t evil. This one was proof that there was more to them than the paladins thought.
Chapter14
Storm
Nathan dozed for a while longer,and later that morning, Storm was already awake when Nathan stirred, curling toward Storm’s body heat and burying his face in his neck. Midmorning light streamed in through the curtains they hadn’t bothered to shut last night, making the room uncomfortably bright, but none of the beams actually hit Storm or the bed itself. Even if he’d been directly in the sun’s path, he wouldn’t have moved. Holding Nathan through the night was a dream come true, and he wanted to kick his past self for sneaking off before morning last time when he could’ve had this that much sooner. Ira was right, hewasan idiot. But he was an idiot who’d learned his lesson, at least in this regard.
“Morning,” Nathan rasped, angling his head back to blink up at him. His hair was mussed, and there was a pillow crease on the side of his face. “For real this time. I have to get up.”
“If you must,” Storm replied. He’d much rather continue laying here with a naked Nathan in his arms.
“I must,” Nathan said regretfully. “I have to go to HQ and give my report about last night.”
A low growl rattled out of Storm at the reminder.
Nathan raised his head, smiling at him. “Don’t worry. HQ is perfectly safe.”
That was also debatable, but he didn’t want to remind Nathan of the precarious nature of their secret relationship right now. Not when things were finally so good between them.
“I also need to check in with Doctor Maxwell. The sooner we find out what that pill was, the better.”
Storm grumbled under his breath. He supposed that was true, but he was loath to let Nathan leave his sight. He’d been in bad shape last night. Storm didn’t even want to think about what might’ve happened to him if he hadn’t been lurking outside his house. A demon with far less affection for him might’ve stumbled across him, sobbing and vulnerable, and seized an opportunity.
“I have a job for you, anyway,” Nathan said, sitting up and yawning.
“What’s that?” Storm asked, following him upright.
“Go to the Rink and tell the others about what happened. And—I know Sloan technically took me off this case, but he can’t stop you guys from investigating it.” He hesitated, eyes narrowing, and then added, “And he can’t stop me from helping you. I’d like to go to the demon club and ask around about the drug. There’s got to be some kind of plan, right? Multiple possessors are trying to do this. It has to be for a reason.”
Storm nodded slowly. Going back to In Extremis after their time away might make the halflings a little more tight-lipped than usual, because Lilith still blamed them for the attack on the club. No one would want to help them and risk getting on Lilith’s bad side. But if they asked Talon to come along, too, maybe they could talk to Lilith herself.
“We can make it work,” Storm said. “You come by the Rink tonight, and we’ll take you to the club. Surely somebody knows something. Lilith may not like it, but she probably won’t like knowing people are dying, either. Anything that points the paladins in her direction pisses her off. We can warn her they’re coming to question her, too. Maybe that’ll make her more cooperative.”
Nathan studied him with a soft frown. “Are things bad there? I don’t want you to come if it’ll put any of you in danger.”
“Not so bad that I’m willing to let you go alone,” Storm said seriously. He never thought he’d find anything that was worth facing down an angry Lilith. But he’d do anything for Nathan.Anything.“She’s pissed that the paladins attacked her club. If we warn her that the paladins are planning to come back over this pill situation, maybe she’ll let bygones be bygones.”
“You think so?”
