“For the last time,” Alex said, “wekilledthem. Our injuries are already healed. We’re fine. Look.” He pulled the hem of his jeans up his leg as far as he could, giving Talon a view of his normal-looking knee, no swelling or discoloration to be found.
Talon curled forward and kissed his knee, and Shadrach turned away, the intimacy of it like a thorn in his side.
“Good,” Talon said. “But they won’t stop until we find Lilith.”
“We’llfind her,” Alex said confidently. “We just have to?—”
“Quiet!” Malachi barked suddenly, and everyone in the room obeyed.
No one moved, their eyes darting from one to the other. And then, somewhere out in the parking lot, gravel crunched quietly. Malachi raised his finger to his ear, and Shadrach caught his eye and nodded. He’d heard it, too.
“What is it?” Luke whispered, staring at Malachi.
“Get weapons,” Malachi said, gesturing to the others. Luke still wore his sword on his back, and he drew it gravely. “Someone’s outside.”
The rest of the demons converged near the door while the humans armed themselves.
“I don’t sense a demonic presence,” Talon said. “They’re not halflings.”
Oh shit, Shadrach thought. If they weren’t demonic, they could be paladins.
It could be Isaac. Maybe he came back.
He took a step toward the door, hope seizing his breath, but the figure that appeared on the other side of the glass wasn’t his elusive human. Wearing black tactical gear, human after human swarmed into the room, each wielding a holy blade.
“Fuck!” Talon snarled. With a wave of his hand, he sent one hurtling into the wall.
Shadrach took aim lower, using his power to sweep two of their legs out from under them.
After that, it was chaos. The Sentinels dove into the fray. The nearest paladin aimed for Shadrach, and he dodged the arcing sword with smooth movements. He grabbed the human’s wrist, twisting until he screamed. Another oneturned toward the sound, rushing toward him. Shadrach kicked him away with a snarl.
“Do it!” one of the paladins shouted. “Do it now!”
Near the door, one of the paladins dropped his sword and hastily pulled what looked like two palm-sized stones from a pouch on his pocket.
“The fuck is that?” Storm shouted, with a paladin in a headlock.
The paladin struck the stones together, and Shadrach caught a glimpse of white-gold sigils glowing with ethereal power on the stones’ surface. Raising his hands out to his sides, the stones began to glow, brighter and brighter. A high-pitched noise filled the air, like a deafening train whistle. Shadrach abandoned his grip on the paladin’s wrist to clamp his hands over his ears, and he wasn’t alone. Around him, the others were doing the same, shrinking away from the light, leaving the humans standing around them, unaffected.
“What is that?” Alex shouted. “It’s hurting them! Stop it!”
He and the others lunged, but there were too many paladins in the way.
Shadrach’s hands did nothing to shield him from the light and the sound. Distantly, he felt someone knock into him, but it barely registered. This was worse than Hell, worse than any pain he’d ever felt. He opened his mouth andscreamed.
Chapter 14
Isaac
Isaac drove like a madman,and he was lucky he didn’t run into any cops on his way back to the Rink. He couldn’t remember exactly where it was, and panic had its hooks in him as he drove in circles in the area until he finally spied it down the street. There were cars in the parking lot, and he passed two familiar, black SUVs on his way to the building.
They were already there. He hoped he wasn’t too late.
He skidded tires behind the various expensive cars parked in the craggy parking lot and threw himself from the sedan, grabbing his knives and barreling toward the door.
He saw the bright light through the glass before he opened the door, and an anguished sound left him. Was he too late? Was it already happening? Did he arrive just in time to watch Shadrach die?
The paladin with the Enochian stones, Ryan, was standing with his back to the door, and the demons were cowering on the floor from the light. Black blood trickled from their eyes, ears, and noses. They were screaming in pain, and the paladins were holding off the Sentinels fromhelping. It was too bright for Isaac to see Shadrach clearly, but he caught a glimpse of black slacks and a white dress shirt through squinting, watering eyes.
