“Pirate skirmishes?” Isaac asked, grinning.
“Pirates?” Malachi repeated. “You were a fuckingpirate?”
“No, not at all. No idea what he’s referring to,” Shadrach deadpanned.
“I don’t want to know what the two of you roleplay in the bedroom,” Storm drawled.
“Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum,” Shadrach teased. “But the bottle of rum is my?—”
Talon’s phone vibrated, and everyone stopped to stare at it.
“I didn’t really expect a response,” Talon said, nonplussed.
“Well, what’s it say?” Malachi asked.
Talon unlocked his phone with a swipe of his finger. “‘Is this for real?’” He rolled his eyes. “I don’t think that deserves a response.”
But then his phone vibrated again. And again. And again.
Too curious to resist, Nicolas leaned over to read the messages as they appeared. His hair brushed Alex’s, who shot him a conspiratorial half-smile.
You can’t be serious.
Reporting this now.
What do we do?
Forwarding to my captain.
God help us.
God help THEM. We’ll crush them.
They have POWERS.
Remember people, even if this is true, it’s coming from a demon. You can’t trust anything they say.
“Congratulations,” Alex said, kissing Talon’s cheek, “you’ve created a giant group chat with a bunch of paladins.”
Talon’s lip curled in disgust, but it faded when he chased Alex’s lips as though helpless to resist.
Nicolas glanced back at Ashmedai, a silent, comforting presence at his back. His hooded head tilted at the attention, and a clawed hand flattened on his stomach, drawing him back against Ashmedai’s chest.
Julian cleared his throat then, looking cagey. He looked up at Valac, gave him a nudge, and said, “Tell them now.”
Valac looked uncertain. “Are you sure? There has been so much going on…”
“Yeah. I think they need to know.”
“Need to know what?” Nathan asked, sounding tired.
Valac sighed, glowing violet eyes finding Nicolas’s. “Last night, I attempted to enter Purgatory. It’s not unheard of for a good soul to wander there if they had unfinished business on Earth. Julian told me a little about the relationship Daniel shared with you, and I thought there was a chance that he might consider his time here unfinished, because he’d left you behind.”
Nicolas’s throat clogged.
“You attempted,” Ashmedai repeated. “You were unsuccessful?”
Valac inclined his head. “Yes. I was unable to open a gate to Purgatory at all. It was impassable.”
