Storm shrugged one large shoulder. “I’m sizing you up. That’s why Talon sent me.”
Nathan flushed. Right. He was only here because he had to be. He didn’t really care what Nathan thought—not on a personal level, anyway. “Okay. Well, I…” He paused, taking another sip of his cooling coffee to gather his thoughts. “I can’t say I understand why they made the choices they did, but like I said, there’s no law against leaving the guild. As long as they don’t try to harm us, I see no reason to cast any judgment on what they’ve done. If they’ve sinned in some way, that’s between them and God, not them and me.”
Storm leaned forward, putting his chin in his hands and his elbows on the table, looking gleeful. “Do you think it’s a sin to be with a demon, holy man?”
Nathan opened his mouth, but nothing came out. “Um.”
Eloquent.He’d never been so caught off-guard by anyone before.
Didhe think it was a sin to be with a demon? He’d never really thought about it before. He didn’t think sitting here talking to one was a sin. Was it really so bad to find happiness with one? As long as they weren’t hurting anyone, he hoped it didn’t matter. The important thing, always, was that no one was being hurt. He’d always thought true sin was that which maliciously hurt another living thing.
His face flushed at the thought of admitting that, though. It felt a little too much like setting himself apart from the guild, and that wasn’t what he was meant to do here. He was meant to be an ambassador for the guild.
“I really couldn’t say,” he finally said, deciding it was a safe non-answer. “And it’s not up to me.”
Storm hummed, as though he found that curious.
Before he could decide what to say next, Storm spoke again. “Talon had a good point last night.”
“Oh?” Talon was the demon Alex had faced banishment for. Against his better judgment, Nathan was curious to hear more about the demon who’d gained the young man’s trust.
“Yeah. If you really disagree with some of the things your guild has been doing, why do you stay? Does the good really outweigh the bad at this point? They tried to murder Luke. Hell, if you count the attack on In Extremis, they’ve tried to kill Luke twice and Alex once. They kidnapped Ira and held him captive in a goddamn dungeon.”
He spoke with such protective anger. It just further proved what Nathan already suspected. Halflings were much more similar to humans than the guild wanted to believe. It sounded like Storm genuinely cared about Alex, Luke, and Ira. His gut twisted with some indescribable emotion. Definitely not jealousy. That would be madness.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Storm asked, pulling Nathan from his thoughts.
He smiled, shaking his head. “I’m just really glad they have people like you in their corner. I’m glad they aren’t alone.”
Storm hesitantly accepted that answer. “So?”
“Right, your question. I suppose I stay because I believe we’re doing more good than bad. There are no other groups like the guild who fight demons in such an organized fashion. And if I want to make a lasting change, I think it’s better to do that from within. Sure, I could leave and become a rogue hunter like Alex and Luke have, but the guild needs people like me who disagree with their more radical actions. They need a voice of reason to keep things from going to extremes. If everyone who disagrees just leaves, only the extremists remain.”
“There have been many cases in history where the extremists turned on the naysayers within their own organization,” Storm said, looking thoughtful. “How do you know that won’t happen with your guild?”
Nathan shook his head. “I don’t. But I have to believe. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? Faith?”
Storm snorted. “You’d know better than me, holy man.”
Nathan leaned forward. “Alex and Luke, are they doing okay? I know they were there for the fight at the club. Did they make it out all right?”
Something in Storm’s expression shuttered. “They made it out fine.”
Nathan got the impression he was missing something. He sat back, frowning. “Good. That’s good.” He wanted to say more, but he wasn’t sure what he’d said wrong.
Storm relaxed, and it looked like it took conscious effort. “And yeah, they’re doing good. They’re working as private investigators during the day, and they’ve had a pretty steady stream of clients lately. Most of them are people who have no idea about the supernatural, but they seem fine with that. It pays the bills. And their base is… something.” He snorted, and Nathan found himself far more endeared by the dimple beside his mouth than he should be.
“Their base?”
“Yeah. It’s an old skating rink.”
Nathan blinked in surprise. “Really? How does that work?”
“Better than you’d think. They use the skating floor for training and sparring. The old arcade section is their meeting area. They’ve got snacks and drinks at the concession stand.” His white teeth gleamed in the sunshine as he smiled gleefully. “They even remodeled the bathroom so there are showers in there, and they’ve put cots in one of the back rooms if people need to rest or use first-aid.”
Nathan laughed brightly, sitting back and stretching. He curled a leg under him, and his other foot bumped Storm’s again, sending heat blooming under his skin. “That would be interesting to see. What made them decide to go with a skating rink?”
“A lack of funds, as I understand it,” Storm said bluntly. “They’ve refused to let Talon and the other demons help them pay for anything, so they had to take something cheap.”
