“Idon’t,” Shadrach said, stepping closer, and Isaac’s gaze fell to the knife again. “But you see, the humans in our little group consider those people allies. You’ve put them in danger and jeopardized the Sentinels in the process.”
“The Sentinels?”
Shadrach shrugged one shoulder. “That’s what they call themselves. Protectors.”
“Sloan never said he would harm the—the rebels. The ones in the meetings.”
“And you trust him?” Perhaps this human wasn’t as clever and interesting as he seemed, if he was so gullible.
Isaac scowled.
“What about the Sentinels? Alex, Luke, Ira, Nathan? They were your friends, weren’t they?”
His mossy-gold eyes fell away. “They made their choices.”
“And they should die for it, is that right?”
“It’s not up to me.”
“You’re certainly not helping things by ratting out your friends.”
“They’re not myfriends,” he snapped. “I don’t have—” He stopped suddenly, turning away once more. It was a telling motion. When he wanted to hide, he turned away to shield his expression. He was more worried about hiding his true thoughts than he was about having a demon in his blindspot.
Shadrach studied the stubborn set to his jaw. Time to switch gears. “What’s Sloan planning for us?”
Isaac didn’t move. Impatience cut through Shadrach, and he closed the distance between them, grabbing Isaac’s jaw and forcing him to meet his eyes. They could do this the hard way, of course.
“What’s he planning?” he snarled.
Isaac spat in his face. A bolt of heat he didn’t want to identify went through him even as he reared back. Angry that Isaac managed to take him by surprise and at his own body’s traitorous reaction, he punched him hard. Isaac rocked to one side, but thesoundthat left him—it was laughter. He tongued the inside of his cheek as he straightened,and Shadrach caught a glimpse of blood inside his mouth. The sweet buzz of it filled the air, carried on his breathless exhales. It was dizzying, and for a moment Shadrach forgot himself, breathing deep to fill his lungs with that intoxicating scent.
He was begrudgingly impressed. This human wouldn’t bend easily.
In the silence of their exchange, they stared at one another, each assessing in their own way.
Chapter 5
Isaac
This demon wantedhim to answer questions he didn’t have the answers to. He wasn’t privy to the inner workings of Sloan’s mind. Sloan would never trust him with his plans for the guild. Hell, he wouldn’t trust him with his plans forlunch. He only knew what he was told, and that wasn’t much. Isaac wasn’t a leader or a thinker. His was a much baser purpose.
He’d been toying with the rope around his wrists while he and this demon talked, searching for a weak spot he might exploit, but so far he’d had no luck. Honestly, it was so tight he was lucky he could still feel his fingers. His wrists were starting to feel raw, fuzzy pain burning in the back of his mind. He was too worried about self-preservation to enjoy it. There was a time for good pain, and this wasn’t it.
The copper taste of his own blood filled his mouth now. Nathan’s punch had cut the inside of his cheek on his molars, and the demon’s punch reopened it. He wiped Isaac’s spittle from his handsome face. Everything about him seemed uniquely designed to appeal to Isaac, from hisdebonair hairstyle to the sharp angle of his jaw to the expensive clothes. He looked like the kind of man Isaac would want toruffleunder any other circumstances. But this was a demon—a black-eyed one, at that. And one the traitors had tasked with torturing him.
“Cute,” Black Eyes sneered. He lunged forward so fast that Isaac’s eyes couldn’t follow, ripping the collar of Isaac’s shirt open and pressing the knife against his skin.
Isaac laughed again, tipping his head back and waiting for the pain to light up his nerve endings.
“Why are youlaughing?” Black Eyes demanded, and fingers curled around his exposed throat.
“You’ll have to try a lot harder than this,” Isaac said. “Go ahead, cut me.”
Black Eyes smiled toothily, and the blade dug into Isaac’s chest. Pain bloomed like fireworks behind his eyes. An alarm rang like a gong in his mind, an automatic warning that his body was being harmed, but he kept himself lax. It grew to a mind-numbing shriek as the knife sank deeper, and his lips parted on a wet gasp.
“Too deep and I’ll bleed out,” he warned breathlessly, his wrists twisting in the rope. “There’ll be no answers for you in my corpse.”
With a snarl, Black Eyes pulled the knife out and straightened. Sweat prickled on Isaac’s skin, and his blood trickled freely down his chest.
