“I’m okay,” he said again.
“You’re okay,” Valac repeated.
“Yeah.” He smiled, leaning in and tipping his face back. Valac met his mouth with a reverence that made his heart squeeze in his chest. “See? Perfectly fine. But thanks for punching him for me. I appreciate the gesture.”
“Hey,” Talon protested, but he subsided when Valac growled, violet eyes flickering toward him over Julian’s shoulder.
Julian glanced back at him. Black blood was smeared on his chin, but there was no visible wound. It had already healed.
Beside them, the sin eater watched it all with a curious head tilt, orange eyes bouncing from person to person.
“For the record,” Talon said, straightening his leather jacket, “I didn’t enjoy doing that to Julian, Valac. He told us earlier that you were getting close, and I thought you might make it in time for the fight when I got Shadrach’s text about the paladins following them. I was confident that your blood would keep him safe. It was a calculated risk, and not one I took lightly. I actuallylikeJulian.”
Julian couldn’t hide his surprise. He was under the impression Talon only tolerated everyone but Alex.
“Don’t look so surprised,” Talon told him. “You actually left the paladins before you were ever involved with us. You have convictions, and you stand by them. I respect that.”
“I… Thank you.” That meant a lot more than he was actually willing to let on. There was a time, not so long ago, when he couldn’t have imagined caring so much what a demon thought of him.
He was glad he wasn’t that person anymore.
Epilogue
JULIAN
Today was the day.After weeks of handling insurance stuff, looking at houses and apartments, and agonizing over what would suit them best, Julian and Valac had finally found a house. It was an old two-story farmhouse outside the city that had seen better days. A couple of the shutters were hanging loose. The front porch’s once white paint flaked from the aged wood. Most of the screens on the windows were broken. A family of raccoons lived in the crawlspace under the house. The realtor hadn’t even wanted to show it to them.
It was perfect, because it was theirs.
The first thing Julian did when they got the keys was open all of the windows to air the staleness out of the old place. And together with the rest of their friends, they loaded up what few belongings they’d amassed in the penthouse above In Extremis and carted it all to their new home.
Now, Julian stood in the living room, fighting a grin. They’d left a lot of the old furniture from the apartment—although Talon had insisted they take the bed, which suited them just fine. The furniture they did have was bought from secondhand stores nearby. It was all worn and mismatched, and Julian loved each and every piece.
Talon appeared in front of him, holding a cardboard box labeled ‘kitchen.’ “Are you sure about this?” His dark eyes trailed around the room, and his lip curled. “This place is kind of a hole.”
“It needs some sprucing,” Julian admitted. “That’s the point. My last place needed a lot of updates, too. Ilikedoing that stuff. It makes it feel more like mine.”
“The deed does that already,” Talon said with a smirk, then disappeared again.
“Besides,” Julian called, knowing he was still within earshot in the kitchen, “now Ashmedai can stay in that apartment over the bar instead of at the Rink.”
Valac came down the stairs, shirtless and mouthwateringly hot, and replied, “Ashmedai rarely sleeps, doesn’t eat human food, and has no need for bathroom facilities. He eats sin, not food or water.”
“He might like a hot shower, though,” Julian rejoined. His lips pulled up into a helpless smile as Valac approached him. “Everybody likes a hot shower.”
Valac smiled patiently. “I doubt it.”
“Well, he’s going to findsomethinghe likes about the surface soon. Ira said he’s going to find someone, right?”
“We have no idea when. Or who. Or how.” Valac frowned. “I find it hard to believe a sin eater is even capable of feeling half of what I feel for you.”
Julian’s knees wobbled, and he melted into Valac’s arms. “You say the sweetest things.”
Their lips brushed just before the front door banged open.
“No kissing!” Storm declared, carrying two boxes stacked on top of each other and leading a parade of the others, all with boxes of varying sizes. “It was your idea to move, so grab some boxes and help.”
“We have been!” Julian protested.
