But first, hardware.
When he got home, he painstakingly replaced the glass on his window. Then, he removed the half-inch screws holding his front and back door hinges to the wall and replaced them with six-inch ones instead. He also replaced the screws holding his doorknobs, strike plates, and deadbolts in place. It wasn’t impenetrable, but it would make breaking the door down muchmore difficult. He added heavy duty deadbolts beneath his regular ones and even a steel security bar that was designed to brace under the doorknob.
Julian didn’t like the idea of leaving his house unguarded, but he couldn’t afford to miss work. With great reluctance, he left for the restaurant, already exhausted from the night’s sleeplessness and the morning’s errands. He guzzled coffee on his breaks in between waiting tables, and in the shopping center’s break room at his second job, he kept the coffeemaker full for his whole shift.
Before he called it a night, he circled the block, keeping an eye out for any dark SUVs that didn’t belong. When he finally pulled into the driveway, he cut the engine and waited, staring out at the darkness around the car. The street light at the road was on. He’d never found it lacking in any way, but now, it seemed to barely penetrate the night around his car. Even though he’d cleaned up the blood, there was a chance demons still hovered in the area, drawn by last night’s excitement.
When he saw nothing, he gathered his stuff and readied his house key. He didn’t want to be outside a moment longer than absolutely necessary. He surged from the car and booked it across the walkway and up the porch steps. Finding the lock and turning the key with muscle memory alone, he opened the door just as he heard a low growl over by his car.
“Crap, crap, crap,” he murmured, kicking the door shut behind him. He slid the deadbolt into place and sighed, leaning against the cool wood while he caught his breath and let the adrenaline fade.
With the blinds down and the curtains drawn, Julian paced restlessly through his house, checking and rechecking the new reinforcements and putting a line of salt on all the doors and windows. He didn’t risk turning on any lights and giving away his position in the house. He found himself peering out thewindows, searching for any sign of movement in the gathering darkness. The deep shadows seemed to dance menacingly across his walls, and every creak of the old house made him flinch. His home felt more like a prison than a safe haven, and he hated them for it.
His nerves outweighed his exhaustion. No matter how much hardware he put on his doors, he still felt vulnerable. He imagined the paladins returning, their faces twisted with righteous fury, wielding not just accelerants but something far worse. The thought of demons slipping through his defenses sent a chill down his spine. They’d splashed blood on his house for a reason. It was the most chilling thing they’d done so far. They wanted him to know they could use the demons against him, and without one of their holy blades, he stood no chance.
When he could stand it no longer, he brewed a cup of chamomile tea and carried it upstairs. If his house was breached, it would most likely be the ground floor. If he had to make a stand or barricade himself in, it would be here. He’d reinforced his bedroom door, stockpiled canned food and gallons of water in his closet. There was also a bottle of holy water and oil he’d prayed over. They might not be enough to kill a demon, but they could deter them.
He sipped his tea in the darkness of his bedroom, sitting on a sleeping bag in the corner with his legs crossed. This house had once been his sanctuary, and they’d defiled it. More than anything, he hoped it wasn’t his own squad coming after him now. He would never be able to forgive them for this.
When he finished his tea, he set the mug aside and laid down on top of the sleeping bag, facing the door with the crowbar laying beside him. He pressed his face to the pillow and sighed.
“Go to sleep,” he told himself, squeezing his eyes shut. “Just go to sleep. It won’t seem so bad there.”
The minutes ticked by, and he told himself the only reason his eyes burned was because he was so tired. He wouldn’t let them bring him to tears. He wouldn’t give them that kind of power, even in his own mind.
It was a long time before he finally drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 10
Valac
Valac did not leaveJulian’s mind after he was unceremoniously kicked from the human’s previous dream. He waited, his body stagnant, for the moment when Julian’s consciousness finally sank back into sleep. He couldn’t sense anything from Julian’s mind while he was awake, but he held fast to the connection between them anyway, too uneasy to let go when something was so obviously wrong. He’d felt it in Julian’s dreamscape, wrapped around him like barbed vines. Whatever had caused Julian to wake was dangerous. Valac could feel it. If he resurfaced back into his own mind, he might miss Julian’s next sleep, and he couldn’t let that happen. He needed to know that his human was okay.
And finally, here he was, sinking into the comforting depths once more.
He found Julian in his house, just as he had been last night, but this time, all was not well. The windows were shattered, the doors in splinters, and slick blood coated the floor. Julian, who had fallen in a pool of it just inside his front door, was trying to push the broken door shut, fighting against an unseen force on the other side.
“No, no, please!” he was screaming when Valac stepped into the room.
Outside on the front lawn, a giant cross burned, its flames licking up into the air and highlighting the silhouettes of many men, their forms appearing and disappearing as the dreamscape struggled to maintain the image. Was this what had happened last night? Was that burning cross the source of the strange light he’d seen? Had they attacked his home?
Ugly animal snarls filled the air, and Julian whimpered. “Please, please, they’re coming. I don’t know what?—”
Valac snagged his arm, dragging him up and wrapping his arms around him. “It’s okay, my jewel,” he rumbled, and the dream around them froze. The flames outside were no longer flickering. The silhouettes weren’t moving. Behind them, the demons sneaking in through the kitchen were as still as statues.
Julian shuddered, and then he turned his face into Valac’s chest and sobbed.
“Tell me what’s happened. Is this what woke you last night? Were you under siege?”
Julian struggled to get his emotions under control, his breaths hitching in his chest. Valac hated it. He reached down, hooking his forearms under Julian’s rear and lifting him. Julian hissed in surprise, grabbing Valac’s shoulders as his legs automatically wrapped around Valac’s waist. Eye to eye now, Valac drank in the sight of Julian’s pretty pink blush. His gemstone blue eyes glittered in the low light, still wet with tears.
Valac pressed him against the door—thesoliddoor. While Julian was distracted, he fixed it all. The windows and doors were restored. The burning cross and shadowed enemies were gone. The demons blinked away into nothingness. The furniture was all back where it was supposed to be. The bloodon Julian’s clothes and the floor was no more. The house was theirs once again, just as it should be.
“Tell me,” Valac said again.
Julian’s throat bobbed. “Put me down.”
Now that he finally had him where he wanted him? “No,” Valac growled. “You’re perfectly safe with me. I will do nothing you don’t want. Let me hold you, and tell me what happened.”
