“Demons,” he said, pointing. “Traitors!”
Alex, drifting toward Talon, raised his hands in surrender. “We came to help.”
“You came with the scourge!” Sloan shouted. The paladins shifted around him, wary and confused. “You did this! You helped them get here!”
“We just killed the demon responsible for this attack!” Talon said, gesturing to the quickly decaying body at his feet.
“Lies! Deceit meant to trick us! Paladins, kill them!” Sloan ordered.
Malachi and Wolf raised their guns in warning. Sloan and the rest of the paladins went still, and the rest of the Rink group converged behind Malachi and Wolf.
“Ira,” Wolf called.
“Here, here,” Ira said, darting toward them.
“Storm,” Talon said, gesturing for them to come.
“He’s hurt,” Storm said.
Sloan looked at Storm and Nathan. “Captain Accardi, you need to see Doctor Maxwell.”
“No, we’ll take care of him,” Storm said.
Sloan looked thunderous. “He’s one of us.”
Storm growled.
Nathan’s head lolled. It was a struggle to keep his eyes open. “Don’t. Just take me… Get me…” He didn’t want to stay here. Whatever happened next, he wanted to be with Storm.
“I am,” Storm said under his breath, all but dragging him toward the others. “We’re going.”
“No, you can’t take him!” Sloan shouted. “He needs medical attention!”
“And he’ll get it,” Alex said.
Storm stopped beside Talon and Alex. Nathan tugged his arm from Storm’s grip and reached down, sliding his ring from his finger. There were two of Sloan when he looked over, but that didn’t matter. He could tell Sloan was watching him. He tossed his signet ring to the rubble.
“I quit,” he rasped. The guild was safe. There was nothing left here for him. They could rebuild without him, and he could start his life with Storm.
Storm’s arm tightened around his back. “Let’s go.”
“No,” Sloan called after them. “I don’t accept this! Captain Accardi, if you leave now, you are theenemy! We will hunt you all down!”
“I’d say you’ve got enough problems of your own right now,” Malachi sneered.
“Go, go,” Talon said, ushering the others away.
Malachi and Wolf backed away, keeping their guns trained on the surviving paladins while the rest of them piled into the cars. Nathan grunted in pain as he climbed up into the cab of the truck and collapsed in the middle seat.
His eyes fluttered shut, and time juddered forward without him. He came to with hands shaking him.
“Wake up, baby. Stay with me.”
“Mm,” he managed to say.
“Give him your blood,” another voice said from his other side. Ira?
“What about the bullet?” someone asked.
