Nothing could quelltheitchbelow Shadrach’s skin. He’d reluctantly texted the others and informed them that Isaac was gone, and one by one they’d returned to the Rink in various sleep attire. Talon and Alex arrived moments after he sent the text, taking advantage of the leviathan’s ability to teleport, and Shadrach had been enduring a lecture ever since.
But he could barely focus on Talon’s furious, pacing rant. He wanted to know if Isaac was okay. Did he make it back to the guild already? Did they blame him for being gone? Were they suspicious of him or blame him? They treated him like he was subhuman, something to be used and put away when it suited them. Would they punish him for getting captured? He longed to know, but he couldn’t reach out. The guild’s walls had holy enchantments to prevent any demon from crossing. He couldn’t even slip into Isaac’s dreams while he was at HQ.
“…extremelyirresponsible,” Talon was saying, and not for the first time. “I should’ve known better than to leave you alone with him. The minute I found out he was supposed to be your human, I should’ve sent you away.”
“I wouldn’t have gone,” Shadrach murmured wearily. “Try again.”
“I hope the sex was fucking worth it,” Talon snapped. “He knows where we are now. None of the paladins have found this place before now.”
Nathan, the only one who’d ever come to the Rink while still a paladin, nodded in confirmation.
“We didn’t get around to sex,” Shadrach sighed, absentmindedly rubbing his hands on his thighs as he sat back on the sofa. He’d at least had the sense to change clothes before he texted them. His wet ones were in a ruined pile in his bathroom. The dry-cleaner would probably be able to fix them. If not, it wasn’t like he couldn’t afford more.
“That’s not the point!” Talon cut a hand through the air as he turned to pace in the opposite direction. “This whole place is compromised now. Don’t you get it? If he’s as fucked in the head as you say he is, how long do you think it’ll take him to give this place away for a pat on the head?”
Annoyance flashed through him. “Don’t talk about him like that.” It came out weak—far weaker than he’d like to admit. Talon wasn’t actually wrong about any of it. Isaac probablywouldinform the guild of exactly where they were. Maybe the Sentinels would have to sell this place and start over somewhere else. But something about Talon’s scathing tone made him want to bare his teeth. So what if Isaac betrayed them? Shadrach would protect him anyway.
He blinked, shocked by the realization. It didn’t matter what Isaac did. He belonged to Shadrach, even if he didn’t know it, and Shadrach protected what was his. Or—he did now. He’d never had anything worth protecting before.
“Oh, give me a break,” Talon sneered. “You’ve known this asshole for a day.”
“How long did you know Alex before you knew he was yours?” Shadrach asked. He kept his voice calm. Letting his temper rise to match Talon’s would only result in another fight, and this time he didn’t have an injured Isaac to refocus his attention. They might bring thecompromised buildingdown on them all if they started fighting again now.
“That’s irrelevant,” Talon replied.
“Why?”
“Because Alex hasn’t threatened to run back to the guild and tell them how to find us!”
“Talon,” Ira said.
“No,” Talon pointed an accusing finger first at Ira and then Shadrach. “Fuck this, fuck Isaac, and fuck you—” the last one was said to Shadrach— “if you think having some sort of surprise feelings for him is enough to absolve you of all the ways you’ve fucked this up.”
Enough of this.
“Me?” Shadrach stood, and in his periphery, he saw Wolfgently pull Ira away from the quarreling leviathans. “I fucked this up? You’re the one who brought him here in the first goddamn place! You think I wanted this? You think I wanted to feel this way about someone who hates me? Goddammit, I wish I’d never met him! Things would be simpler! Now all I can think about is what he’s going through right now and how he feels and if they’re mistreating him. I can’t reach out, I can’t go to him, I can’t even enter his dreams because of those fucking enchantments on the walls.” He turned away, screaming, “Fuck!”
Carding his fingers into his hair, he tugged until it hurt, just to feel something besides this agony in his chest. He didn’t know what to do about this gnawingneedin his gut. His skin crawled with it. He had to see Isaac. Had to make sure he was okay. The fact that he couldn’t was going to drive him mad.
Someone behind him cleared their throat. “Actually…”
Shadrach turned. Everyone was looking at Ira, who grimaced, folding his arms tight across his chest.
“Actuallywhat?” Shadrach prompted.
“It’ll take quite some time for them to repair that wall. The wards are probably not back up yet. If I know the guild, they’ve increased patrols, so I wouldn’t risk sneaking in physically unless you’re prepared to blow up Isaac’s life there and risk alienating him forever. But slipping into his dreams… That might be possible.”
Hope made the stone in his gut feel a little smaller. “Oh?” He’d forgotten that the wall was broken. Talon had been able to slip inside HQ to kill Weston and grabbed Isaac in the first place. Maybe Shadrach could reach him after all.
Ira nodded. “I’m sure they’re working on it, so you maynot have access to him for long. But maybe you can at least enter his dreams and make sure he’s okay.”
“What dowedo, then?” Luke asked. “If there’s a chance he’s going to tell them how to find us, we aren’t safe here.”
“We should avoid the Rink for a few days,” Nathan said. “It’s probably wise, anyway, given that Lilith is sending people after Talon.”
Talon rolled his eyes. “I’m not worried. Just annoyed.”
“Surprising no one,” Malachi muttered under his breath, hiding his smile against Luke’s shoulder and ignoring Talon’s poisonous glare.
