Page 2 of Fallen

Nathan sat behind the wheel and glanced over at him. “Alex.”

He turned his head, hoping his expression was clear.

“Say the word, and you can sit this one out.”

Alex shook his head. “No, Cap, I’m fine. Like you said, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. It could be a coincidence.”

Nathan hummed noncommittally. “Maybe. But if you start feeling overwhelmed, you say the word.”

William and Aidan piled into the backseat, and Alex looked away, nodding.

“Of course. I just want to work the job.” That was what he was good at. It was what he’d trained for.

On the outside,the house looked like any other. It was on a quiet street, sheltered from the neighbors by trees and a privacy fence. The owners had enough money for a decent yard and professional landscaping. The street light in front of the house was out, and Aidan murmured about omens in the backseat as the SUV rolled past.

“We’ll park on the next block over,” Nathan said. “Don’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves.”

The SUVs parked together on the curb, and the men poured from the vehicles and into the darkness.

All paladins were issued a sword and two knives. Each blade was engraved with holy inscriptions and cleaned with holy oil. They were one of the few manmade weapons that could kill demons. However, because of the nature of this investigation, Nathan ordered them to leave the more obvious swords in the SUVs and take only the knives, which could be more easily concealed on their persons.

“You four,” he said to the ones who’d ridden in the other SUV, “fan out up and down the street and keep watch. Radio if you see any trouble. You three,” he added to Alex, Aidan, and William, “with me. We’ll go inside the house. Aidan, you’re in charge of the camera. Let’s move out.”

The street was deserted when they turned the corner. Alex didn’t know for sure whether civilians noticed demonic activity, but he suspected they subconsciously recognized the inherent danger and avoided areas like this where demons had visited. He could feel it himself, like a cold spot in the air as they approached the house.

Two cars were parked under the awning, and all the lights were off. There were no signs of movement inside, and they skirted around to the back of the house, peering in the windows.

“Shit,” Nathan grunted near the back door. “I see a body. Stand back.” He turned and busted out the window glass with the hilt of one knife.

He carefully reached through the broken glass and unlocked the door, glancing back as he did.

“Hawk, wait here. Emory, Hendricks, with me,” Nathan said, pushing the door open.

“Nate,” Alex protested, bracing his hands on his hips. He didn’t want to be the only one left waiting outside. He wasn’t an invalid.

“Not for the whole time. Just give me a minute to survey the scene,” Nathan said.

Alex huffed, folding his arms and tapping his foot impatiently as the other three went inside. Golden yellow light flooded the room beyond the doorway, and he glimpsed a crimson splash on one of the white walls. This room wasn’t a street-facing one, so there was little worry about someone from the road seeing the light and suspecting foul play.

“God, this is awful,” Aidan murmured.

What’s awful?Alex wondered.

“I know.” Nathan’s voice was barely audible to him. “Photograph everything. Let’s try to be quick.”

“And try not tobreathe,” William drawled. The man wasn’t big on tact.

Huffing in frustration, Alex strode to the door. Screw this, he wasn’t standing outside like a child any longer. He was twenty-two, and he’d been a paladin for four years. These wouldn’t be his first dead bodies.

The stench hit him first. Blood, like hot pennies that had been baking in the sun. Alex’s eyes widened, the scene burning like a brand into his mind. Crimson coated the cream-colored walls, soaked into the rug and left slick pools on the wood floor. Blood stained everything, even the furniture, like someone had taken buckets of it and splashed it on every conceivable surface.

“Alex! You shouldn’t be in here!”

“Oh come on, Cap, let him look,” William said drolly, “the rest of us have to.”

He spied the bodies—and froze.

Five bodies, arranged in the points of an inverted pentagram. Two adults, three children. Their bellies were ripped open, drying blood in sticky and viscous pools, and their entrails lay in a carefully arranged circle around them. Some flies had already found their way to the bodies, buzzing and crawling.

---