The church.Shadrach should’ve known he would find him here. It seemed to feature in a lot of Isaac’s unhappy dreams. He’dhoped Isaac was having pleasant dreams tonight, now that they were finally together and on equal footing.
But Isaac wasn’t on his knees and breathing through lashes and lectures this time. Instead, he had a strip of leather—a belt—wrapped around Hawley’s throat. Shadrach had missed the lead-up to this moment, but given what Isaac had told him, that was probably just as well. He didn’t want to see Isaac on his knees for this man ever again, not even in a revisited memory.
As he watched, Isaac’s powerful body swung, unbalancing Hawley and tipping him over. His head crashed against the armrest of the oak pew beside them. Crumpled to his knees, it was easy for Isaac to haul him back and slam his head into it a second time. And a third. And a fourth.
After the fifth time, Hawley’s face was unrecognizable. Isaac was a strong man, and it was obvious in the way Hawley’s head and face had caved in against the sturdy wood. He let the body fall, his freckled skin dappled in fresh, bright blood.
Isaac laughed, a high-pitched little giggle that brought a smile to Shadrach’s face.
“That’s too fast for him.”
Isaac blinked over at him, his gaze dreamy and distant. While he was lucid in his dreams more often than most, he wasn’t always. Shadrach’s presence would help, but they would need to be touching for him to fully understand where they were.
“It should’ve been slower,” Shadrach said. “Messier. He deserved a hell of a lot worse than that.”
Isaac drifted closer, reaching for him. As soon as their hands connected, Isaac blinked as though coming awake.
“Haven’t I told you not to come into my dreams?” Isaac chided, though he was smiling.
“That was when you didn’t like me. I assumed it didn’t stillapply.” He drew Isaac into his arms. “Are you dreaming about killing your demons?”
“Killing my demons,” Isaac repeated, chuckling. “Yes. I was too panicked when it happened to properly savor it.”
“What would you have done differently, if you could redo it?”
Isaac tilted his head back, and Shadrach’s eyes tracked the pale column of his throat. “What was it you said when you appeared? Messier. I would’ve done something messier.”
Shadrach draped an arm around the back of Isaac’s neck. “I once filleted the skin from a man. That seems like a fitting end for the asshole priest.”
“Did he deserve it?”
Shadrach blinked. The concept of anyone ‘deserving’ anything was foreign. Slowly, he said, “In my opinion, he did.”
Isaac raised his brows curiously, so Shadrach went on.
“He stole ten grand from me. It was the nineteen-twenties. That was a lot of money.”
“That’s still a lot of money, Shad.”
“Ah, then you agree it was enough to kill over.” He grinned, and Isaac rolled his eyes, fighting a smile. “You don’t have to stop at Hawley, you know. The wards are still down at HQ. I could go and get you the doctor who diagnosed you. I could get Sloan. We could keep them alive for days and have all the bloody fun we want.”
One corner of Isaac’s mouth rose, but there was resignation in his eyes. “They never enjoyed hurting me the way Hawley did. And pain isn’t that much of an issue, really.”
“It’s not about the pain, killer. I know you didn’t care about the physical pain. They made you believe something was wrong with you. They made you believe you were lacking in some way.”
“Aren’t I?” Isaac asked. “Do other humans dream about killing people?”
“I honestly don’t care whether they do or not,” Shadrach said bluntly. “You are the only one that matters to me. And the fact that they,” a snarl rattled out of him, “tried to break your spirit, tried to make you likethem, makes me want to rip their tongues from their mouths and shove them up their own asses.”
“Ew,” Isaac declared. He blew out a breath, twining his arms around Shadrach’s neck as though having a snarling demon in his face was reassuring rather than worrisome.
“You said he never tried anything like that before, right? He never touched you like that before? I’ll find a gate to Hell and rip his soul to shreds myself if he did.”
Isaac’s eyes were wide, but Shadrach saw no fear. It was awe. “No, he didn’t. I think he wanted to. He always seemed so eager for our sessions. I don’t know if it was the whipping or having me on my knees. Maybe he was a sadist who liked to dominate?—”
“Hey now, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Shadrach interrupted with a teasing nip to Isaac’s jaw.
Isaac chuckled. “Dominatelittle boys.”
