His stomach roiled as the squad gathered by the training yard, James’s designated meeting spot. Each squad generally met up for patrols in a different area around HQ, something innocuous that became a unique routine for each squad. Most met somewhere in or around the administrative building,but since it was just across the quad from the training yard, it wasn’t a big change.
A firm hand landed on his shoulder, interrupting his desperate prayers.
“Hey, Garcia. You ready for tonight?” Patrick was a burly man, almost forty and without two brain cells to rub together. He did what he was told and didn’t have a thought beyond it. He was perfect for Sloan’s obedient army.
“I am.” He infused his voice with false cheer, plastering an eager grin on his face. “It feels great to have found my path again, y’know?”
Patrick’s cheeks wrinkled with a grin. “Absolutely. God bless. I can’t wait to bury my sword in some evil bastard.”
As the others gathered around them, Nicolas wondered what Ashmedai would say about their souls. Were they all black like his last squad? Were any of them good? Ashmedai spared the souls he called bright. Nicolas had a little trouble believing that included his own. He certainly didn’t feel verygoodthese days.
“I’m not even fussed if that winds up being a demon or a traitor,” Casey added from Nicolas’s other side. He crossed his lanky arms, a cold glimmer in his eyes.
“They gave up their right to live when they started spreading their legs for the beasts,” Tony added, his lip curling.
Nicolas’s mouth was bone-dry, and suddenly all he could think about was Ashmedai curling around him in the middle of the night, the press of his strange, wet cock between Nicolas’s cheeks, his long and wicked tongue sweeping inside Nicolas’s mouth like he could taste his moans if he sank deep enough.
He wanted to be there now, in Ashmedai’s arms, theirbodies linked in the most intimate of ways. Wanted to be in the dark where it was safe. It had once been filled with horrors, but now the darkness was his haven.
James was the sixth man to arrive, nodding as he surveyed them all. “All right, we’re all here. Let’s get moving.”
“Wait, what? We’re missing Kyle and Ashton,” Nicolas pointed out.
“Kyle and Ashton are on another mission tonight,” James said coolly. “They won’t be joining us.”
Curious. “Another mission?”
“Sloan has another job for them, and that’s all you need to know. Let’s go.”
His mind raced as he fell into step with the others toward the SUVs waiting for them in the parking lot. Could Kyle and Ashton be on the roster for guarding the Alvarez kids? He needed to find out. Maybe he could ask some of the demons to follow them for a few days.
No one spoke as the SUV followed behind the other. The inside of the car smelled like coffee, and Nicolas wished he’d thought to bring some of his own. It was going to be a long night. Seven more hours until three AM. Then he could see Ashmedai again.
His stomach tied itself into a knot as they parked in the back of a half-empty grocery store parking lot. The swords were conspicuous, but the parking lot was empty enough that no one paid them any attention as they geared up and prepared to go.
“Sloan doesn’t want us splitting into pairs tonight,” James said. “So, we stick together.”
“It’ll take longer to cover the sector that way,” Sam said.
James nodded, his steely eyes looking from one to thenext, like he wanted to be sure they all heard him. “It will. So be it. We follow Sloan’s orders, always.”
“Always,” the rest of them intoned.
“Always,” Nicolas murmured. He wondered why Sloan had ordered them to stick together when the threat of Ashmedai was supposedly gone. Was it because they wanted to be sure he wouldn’t let any of the Sentinels go, if they came across them?
They fell into step together, walking two by two down the sidewalk and into the darkness. Nicolas lingered in the back, hoping it was an uneventful night.
He should have known better.
His watch told him it was near midnight when James, at the front of the group, stopped and shushed them all. They all stopped, hands going to their blades, but when Jameschuckled, Nicolas’s stomach curdled with fear.
He straightened, gesturing for them all to follow, and stepped around the building beside them.
Alex, Daniel, and Julian stopped on the sidewalk in front of them, their eyes widening as they looked from face to face. Nicolas’s heart pounded so loudly in his ears that he missed whatever James said, but it made Julian’s eyes narrow.
“We don’t want any trouble,” Alex said, raising a hand out. “We’re patrolling just like you. There’s no reason we can’t just go our separate ways. Plenty of monsters to kill.”
“I see three right here in front of me,” Casey said.
