Page 36 of Fallen

He was almost upon Talon before the demon turned. His dark eyes widened slightly, and he turned just in time for Alex to smack into him. He banged his knee against the wooden edge of the booth, but he didn’t care. Tucking his face into the warm curve of Talon’s neck, he relaxed for the first time in a week, going boneless in the demon’s strong arms.

“Little bird,” he groaned, his pleasure at this surprise audible to Alex and Alex alone. His arms tightened possessively, and Alex’s only thought wasyes. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Alex didn’t expect to come, but he didn’t know how to put that into words. Instead, he pressed closer, straddling Talon’s lap and fitting their bodies together like puzzle pieces. With their chests and bellies lined up, Talon’s thighs under him and his arms around him, his exhaustion hit him like a freight train. It didn’t matter that the music was loud and the club was smoky, the sticky air heavy with perspiration, blood, and alcohol. He finally felt like he couldsleep.

“Please,” Alex murmured, feeling the way Talon angled his head to hear him better. “Talon.” How did he put into words what he wanted? How could he explain how alone he’d felt all week? The nightmares were worse than ever. Talon was the only cure.

“Oh, little bird.” Strong fingers wrapped around the back of his neck, protective. “I had no idea keeping my distance was doing you such harm.”

“I—haven’t been able to sleep without you.” His face burned at the admission.

“And did you go after the mozgoran? I told you I would go with you, but that was a week ago.”

Alex nodded, mindful of the way Talon’s grip tightened on the back of his neck in response. Angry, or just worried?

“And?” Talon asked.

“I saw it. It got away.” His eyes burned. He was sotired. He felt like one raw nerve, everything hurting more than it should. Tears were perilously close to falling from his eyes, and he had no idea how to stop the quavering emotion from welling up within him.

“Okay. Hold on to me. I’m getting us out of here.”

Nothing happened for a moment, as Talon tucked his phone away and raised one arm. Alex tilted his head to see what he was doing. Gesturing with some bills toward the bartender—what was his name again?—and leaving the money on the table by his half-drunk bottle. Then both arms returned to Alex.

“Here we go.”

The cacophony of the club disappeared in an instant, leaving his ears ringing. There was pressure in his ears, too, and he stretched his jaw to pop them as he sat up in confusion, looking around.

They were no longer in the club. They were sitting at the foot of Alex’s bed.

“As much as I enjoy having you in my lap, little bird, I think you should do whatever you humans do to get ready for bed. It’s late, and you look exhausted.” One finger traced the dark curve under Alex’s eye.

Alex couldn’t stop the instinctive dread he felt at the prospect of going to sleep—or laying down and attempting it, at least—and the unhappy emotion was reflected in his gaze, because Talon tilted his head, studying his face intently.

“Have you been having nightmares?”

Alex swallowed hard. He tried to duck his head, but Talon’s strong hand caught him under the chin, guiding his gaze back up to his. “Of course. They’re worse now ever since I saw…” He thought about the moment his flashlight had shined across that sickly grinning face and shuddered.

“You should’ve called me, you stubborn thing,” Talon said, his hands divesting Alex of his shirt. “Do you know how often I checked my phone waiting for you? It’s become a compulsion, constantly tapping the screen to see if I have a message. Staying away like you wanted might’ve been the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” He twisted, throwing Alex down onto the mattress and kneeling between his legs to unlace his boots and yank them off.

“What are you doing?” Alex asked as Talon tossed one boot and then the other over his shoulder.

“Undressing you. You’re going to get in the bed and sleep for ten hours.” Talon grabbed his belt, opening the buckle and then his jeans. He didn’t tug them down immediately, though. First he unclipped something from Alex’s hip. “Do you see this?” He raised one of Alex’s holy knives.

They’d been sheathed on his belt the whole time? Alex could’ve sworn he removed them when he took his sword off. In Extremis didn’t allow weapons. Why would the bouncer have let him go inside with them?

“What? But—I didn’t…”

Talon took the second knife off his belt and dropped both over the edge of the bed. “You look horrible, little bird. Bad enough you swayed even the stoic Storm into letting you pass.”

Alex’s face twisted indignantly, and Talon softened.

“It also means,” he paused, hesitating, and then forged on, “that the demons of In Extremis trust you enough to let you walk among them with weapons that can kill them. You might be the only paladin they trust like that.”

Alex frowned. “What? They don’t know me. That’s just because of your influence, right? You opened a tab at the bar for me that time, had the bartender give me water.”

“I did that once,” he said. “Only once. Demons, they gossip. We’re old; we get bored. And it seems you’ve been the subject of the grapevine for a while. That you’ve somehow earned my trust is a big point in your favor. I’m a hard one to please. Everyone saw you go into the back room with me the night we met. They saw us kiss. And tonight, they saw you throw yourself into my arms.”

Alex felt fragile, a small thing threatening to shatter. “Meaning what?”

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