Valac pushed Julian down and bent to tug his shoes off.
“You don’t have to?—”
“Hush,” Valac admonished gently, setting the shoes aside and pushing Julian down. He still wore his borrowed shirt and sweatpants, but those were soft enough to sleep in, even if they did smell like smoke now. He didn’t protest again, and the moment his head hit the pillow, he went boneless. By the time Valac had covered him with the blankets, he was snoring softly.
For just a moment, Valac couldn’t resist touching. His fingertips grazed Julian’s cheek, and he wished for nothing more than the chance to crawl under the blankets and curl around him. But he needed to speak to the others first.
Reluctantly, he stood and teleported back to the Rink.
It had been only minutes since he and Julian had left, and everyone was still there, though the teenagers appeared to be packing their books away.
“You’re back,” Nathan said, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Is Julian resting?”
“Yes. At the apartment. The paladins burned his house to the ground. It was on fire when we arrived. By the time it goes out, there will be nothing left.”
“Jesus,” Luke muttered.
“He has nothing. All of his worldly possessions are gone. I need to help him.” But to help Julian,heneeded help. Where did one go to get clothing in this modern world?
“He’s about my size,” Alex said, looking at Talon. “We can order some stuff for him and have it delivered to the loft.”
“You know what?” Shadrach said. “Poor Talon’s taken on enough responsibility tonight. Isaac and I will do that.”
Alex narrowed his eyes at him. “You will?”
“Yes, of course. Just tell me his sizes, and I’ll have an express order delivered there tomorrow.”
Even Talon was looking at Shadrach like he’d grown a second head. “Since when are you helpful?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?” Shadrach said innocently. “I can be helpful. And if I happen to throw in a couple of personal touches, they’re only for Valac’s benefit.”
“There it is,” Talon muttered, and Alex nodded.
“It’s fine,” Ira said, not looking up from the book he was reading. “He won’t do anything bad.” And then he muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, “…hate that Iknowthat.”
Shadrach extended both hands with a grin that said,‘see?’
Talon shrugged. “Fine.” He gestured to the laptops sitting on the strange table. “Start shopping. The sooner you place the order, the sooner it’ll be processed and delivered.”
While Shadrach moved to do that—with Isaac hovering over his shoulder to watch—Luke jerked his chin at Nathan, who was hovering by the teens. “Do you think the cops will be looking for Julian? If somebody reports him missing and his house burned down, they’ll have questions if he turns up again.”
“If the squad who attacked him and set fire to the house are operating under Sloan’s orders, he’ll be fielding any questions from the police. He won’t want anyone pointing a finger at his people, and he knows some of the local cops. A quick story about how it was for the greater good, and the police will sweep it under the rug.”
Valac growled. “They cannot be allowed to get away with this.”
“They won’t,” Malachi said, his crimson eyes blazing. “Trust me, I know what it’s like to see those assholes hurt someone you care about.” He laid a possessive hand on Luke’s shoulder.
“Then what is being done to stop them?” Valac demanded.
“We’d love nothing more than to wipe them out,” Talon said, but he gestured at Alex’s uncertain frown. “The humans here find things a little more nuanced, though.”
“What nuance is there?” Valac pressed. “This guild hurts people. Hurtsyou. Why should they be allowed to live?”
“Those people have been indoctrinated to believe what they do,” Nathan said slowly, as though testing each word before he spoke. “We were all once blinded by the same mindset. And there are genuinely good people there who aren’t harming anyone. People like Julian, and his friends Nicolas and Daniel?—”
“We think,” Luke interrupted. “We don’t really know where some of them stand.”
“We can’t know unless we approach them,” Alex said, “which is also dangerous.”
