“Does the guild’s church have a confessional booth?” Shadrach asked.
All four humans shook their heads.
Shadrach found Talon’s eyes and pointed at the humans. “See? There’s something weird about Isaac’s history with the guild. They treated him differently than the others. That human in there was nearly good enough, after over twenty-four hours restrained and without food or water, to take down a leviathan and escape this place, but they have him so terrified of retribution that he’s willing to go through this torture to avoid angering them.”
Nathan looked stricken. “You’re saying they… hurt him?”
He sighed, bracing his hands on his hips. “I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I only saw flashes in his dream.”
“Then maybe you should wait until tonight and go back in,” Talon suggested, folding his arms. “That might be the easiest way to find out what we want.”
Shadrach bobbed his head noncommittally. Isaac hadjustasked him not to invade his dreams again. Was he willing to damage his human’s already nonexistent trust in him to sate Talon’s curiosity?
“Do you even think he knows anything?” Alex asked, and Shadrach blinked at him, surprised no one else had thought of it yet.
“That’s a good point,” he agreed. “If Isaac has been treated like…” his mouth twisted, seeking the right epithet, “like an attack dog, he wouldn’t know what the master has planned, would he?”
“He’s not an attack dog,” Luke said, sounding defensive. “He’s a paladin.”
“By all rights, paladins are the lowest men on the ladder,” Shadrach said. “They train you up and throw you at the monsters. They protect the children, they protect the prophets, but the paladins themselves? The field agents? They’re expendable, aren’t they?”
The humans withered before his eyes, and Talon, seeing the slump of Alex’s shoulders, shot Shadrach a glare. “That’s enough.”
“No, he’s right,” Alex said reluctantly. “Wewereexpendable. We all knew it. It’s part of the reason why we were all tempted away from the guild. Sloan never would’ve toldmehis plans for the future of the guild. What makes us think Isaac knows? He’s not a member of the council. As far as I know, he’s never even sat in as a witness on one of their meetings. Nate has, because he was a captain, but wasn’t Isaac deemed unfit to be a leader?”
Luke hummed. “Yeah. Something about his medical records, I think. He didn’t tell me much, just that he was denied the promotion. He didn’t seem to want to talk about it, so I let it go.”
“Fine, maybe he doesn’t know anything, but we can’t just let him go,” Talon said. “There’s nothing stopping him from running back to Sloan.”
Ira sighed, pushing himself to his feet. “Let Shadrach talk to him. Pain doesn’t work with Isaac, but maybe Shadrach can get through to him. We’ll make sure he doesn’t know anything and then let him go.”
Shadrach’s brows twitched downward at that. He didn’t want Isaac going back to the guild that hurt him and treatedhim like he was expendable. He wanted to sink his claws into Isaac and never let him go. The need to possess, to own, toclaimroared within him, rising up so fast he felt like he was drowning in it.
He turned away as Ira passed in front of him to go to the fridge, withdrawing a sandwich wrapped in white paper and a bottle of water.
“Here, give these to Isaac,” he said, carrying them over and pushing them into Shadrach’s hands.
Wolf stepped inside, blowing out a breath as he strode to Ira’s side. “What’d I miss?”
Ira waved him over and filled him in quietly. Shadrach tried not to listen, turning away with the intention of returning to Isaac. Talon’s eyes tracked him across the room, and for the very first time, Shadrach felt uncomfortable under the other leviathan’s gaze.
“Hang on a second,” Wolf said before Shadrach could flee. “I’ve got some news you need to hear.”
“What now?” Alex asked.
Wolf sat down beside Ira, smoothing a hand across the human’s back with absentminded fondness. “I got a phone call from Magda on my way here. She’s one of the new bartenders at In Extremis, and a friend. She said Lilith’s opened In Extremis back up to the public. The repairs are officially complete.”
“Good for her,” Malachi muttered dryly.
“She also said Lilith sent out a text message after the announcement. She forwarded it to me. None of us got it, for obvious reasons.”
Wolf handed his phone over to Talon, who took it and frowned down at the screen. His brows rose slowly, then hecleared his throat and read aloud, “First to bring Talon’s head to me, one mil.”
Oh shit. Shadrach forgot about the food and water in his hands as adrenaline prickled down his spine.
“No fucking way,” Malachi said.
Alex looked between them. “Tell me that doesn’t mean what I think it does. Tell me that’s not a bounty on my demon’s literal head.”
