“You definitely will. Come on, don’t talk like that. Give it a week, and then you’ll be out of there, right? As soon as they can convince Sloan they got rid of him, he’ll have to let the kids go. And then you can come join us.”
Us. “Have you met him?”
“Yeah, I was here when they talked to him last night. He can be pretty intimidating, but I…”
“What?” He was desperate to hear every detail.
“I don’t know if it’s weird, but I didn’t feel afraid. He was kind of snarly and aggressive, but not with me. I could tell he was hurting, that’s all.”
Nicolas’s heart squeezed. “What do you think of him? Besides ‘snarly and aggressive’?”
Daniel laughed. “It’s hard to say, really. He didn’t stick around long. But I like him.”
“You like him?”
“Yeah. You need the strong silent type who doesn’t take any shit.”
Nicolas sputtered out a laugh. “Danny!”
“It’s true. You know I’m right.”
Nicolas let out a gusty sigh. “You really think so? You don’t think it’scrazyto even consider the idea of me being with a demon like that?”
“You should see these guys with their demons, Nic. Julian and Valac seem strange on the surface, but I swear to God, I’ve never seen him happier. He’s like a totally different person. And Valac is abehemoth, but he just follows Julian around like the world’s largest puppy. He looks at him like he wants to bottle his smiles and live off them. They justfittogether so well. If that’s the way things are supposed to be with you and Ashmedai, how can that be a bad thing?”
Nicolas didn’t know what to say. He wiped the wetness from his cheeks and sighed.
“Just get this crap with the guild over with, and then make things right with him, okay? You both deserve it.”
Giving up on hiding it, Nicolas sniffled hard and cleared his throat. “Yeah, okay. You think he’ll forgive me?”
“I think your chances are good, yeah.”
That was something to look forward to, then. All he had to do was finish this job. Leaving the guild and giving this thing with Ashmedai a shot couldn’t be worse than what he was being forced to do as a paladin. And there had to be a reason why he couldn’t stop thinking about the demon.
Chapter 12
Ashmedai
Ashmedai’s worldhad narrowed to a boring sliver. He couldn’t hunt, which had been a poor pastime after Nicolas left, anyway. Without his human and with no one to kill, he had nothing. He stood immobile in his ransacked apartment for an indeterminate amount of time, listening to the quiet hum of the building around him, before reminding himself that he’d come to the surface with the intention ofobservingit. He’d wanted to see the place where so many delectable souls marinated in the sins that flavored them. And yet, all he’d done since arriving was feed, just as he had in the Pit.
He hadn’t expected to find anything more to the surface than that. Sin was his world. But when he’d met Nicolas, something shifted. There wasgoodon the surface. He’d seen it not just in Nicolas but the Sentinels as well. Their souls shined so bright they hurt his eyes. What else was here that he was missing out on? What other wonders were there? He wanted to know more about the world Nicolas belonged to. Then maybe he would understandNicolas, as well.
Turning on his heel, he teleported through the shadowsand arrived inside one of the darkened storage rooms of the Rink.
He hadn’t thought to check the time. Sunlight streamed in through the glass front door. Ashmedai cast it a sulking glare. The Sentinels were largely nocturnal, due to the demons in their company, but he still hadn’t expected the place to be empty.
It took him a moment to realize it wasn’t—not entirely. Most of the lights were off, which he appreciated, and a pair of lights across the room provided the only illumination, situated directly over the sitting area. There, Daniel was reclined on the sofa with a laptop resting on his thighs. His bare feet were propped up on the coffee table, and quiet voices filtered out of the computer’s speakers, followed by the sound of audience laughter.
When his amber eyes landed on Ashmedai standing in the shadows, he startled, sending the laptop flying and barely catching it with his hands before it crashed to the floor.
“Oh, Jesus,” he gasped, sitting back with a hand over his heart. “Please don’t do that. My heart can’t take it.”
“Sorry,” Ashmedai offered, stepping closer.
“It’s okay. I think. Can you just say hi or something next time?”
“Yes. I will.”
