“Quiet. Sin eaters don’t speak much. I’ve told him our plan, and he seems eager to help. He said he likes hypocrites. They tastesweet.”
Julian shuddered. “He sounds horrifying.”
“To a human, he is. He’s meant to be.”
Julian thought back to the conversation they’d had about sin eaters before Valac left. Ira indicated that the sin eater would meet and fall for a human. Julian couldn’t imagine who would fall for something like that.
Valac’s gentle fingers trailing up and down his spine drew him back to the present. “Have you been safe? Have there been any signs of the paladins?”
“Safe, yes. Paladins, no. We’ve all been training hard and keeping our patrols short. One of the demons have been tagging along on patrols each night, too, so we have more backup than usual.”
“Good.” Valac’s fingers curled through his hair, and Julian melted against his broad, hot body. “I miss you.”
Julian nuzzled closer. “I miss you, too. You’ll be back soon, right?”
“Yes. Not much longer, and I’ll have you in my arms once again.”
“I can’t wait.” He’d thought losing his friends from the guild was the worst feeling ever, but being apart from Valac was worse. His heart was detached from his body, his blood stagnant in his veins. He was in stasis, and the only thing that would bring him back to life was Valac.
“I should go,” Valac said regretfully. “Sleep well, my jewel. I’ll be back with you soon.”
“Okay.” Emotion clogged his throat, but he swallowed it down. He tugged Valac in for a deep kiss, tasting brimstone on his tongue.
And then he faded away with a regretful sigh, leaving Julian to float in darkness.
Chapter 26
Julian
Long before Julianfinally left the guild, he’d felt removed from it. Sloan’s choices had moved the guild in a direction he couldn’t follow, and as a result, he’d felt isolated amongst his own people. He never thought he’d experience that kind of easy camaraderie again—he certainly never expected to find it with the Sentinels. The first night he’d stepped inside the Rink, Shadrach had threatened to kill him. Now, he regularly patrolled with him and Isaac, spending long hours alone with them. They’d been in his apartment that morning when he woke, and he’d shared coffee, bacon, and eggs with them.
It was a brotherhood, and he hadn’t realized how much he missed it until he found it again.
They were on their way back to their car—Isaac’s car, actually, an extended cab pickup truck—when Shadrach slipped between them.
“Don’t look around, don’t make any sudden moves,” he said lowly. “We’re being followed.”
Awareness prickled down Julian’s spine. He resisted the urge to reach for the sword on his back.
“By who?” Isaac asked, his tone as light and carefree as always. Julian envied him.
“Humans,” Shadrach said. “I’d sense if they were demonic. Probably paladins. We’re near the old location of In Extremis. I can text Talon, have him teleport everyone there ahead of us. We could lead them into a trap.”
“What about Valac and the sin eater?” Julian asked. The last time they’d spoken, they were on their way to the surface, but he had no idea how long that would actually take.
“We can’t ask the paladins to wait and try again later,” Shadrach said, taking his phone from his pocket. Louder, he said, “You like pepperoni, right?”
“Yeah, just no black olives on mine,” Isaac replied.
“Get one with bacon, too,” Julian added, watching the screen as Shadrach typed out a quick message to Talon. Meanwhile, his heart pounded like a drum.
“Do you think they’ll realize it’s a trap if we divert down a different path?” Isaac asked softly.
“Depends on if they know where we parked the truck,” Shadrach said.
“We’d have to take a right up here to get to the old club, right?” Julian asked. The truck was in the parking lot straight ahead.
“That’s right.”
