Page 41 of Unholy

“Where’d you come from?” Talon asked Malachi. “We didn’t see you come in.”

“Side entrance,” Malachi said.

Talon’s black eyes sharpened dangerously. “You brought apaladinthrough one of our secret entrances?”

Luke glanced at Malachi, who fought to keep his expression calm. He’d rather bite his own tongue off than show fear. If he did, Luke might react, and they couldn’t afford to get on Talon’s bad side. He was laid-back, as far as demons went, but Malachi had a feeling that patience wore especially thin around anything that might pose a threat to his human. It was a feeling Malachi understood.

“If anyone knew I was here, they’d probably kill me,” Luke said calmly. “Your secret’s safe with me. Admitting I knew where it was would mean admitting I’d been spending time with Malachi. Mutually assured destruction.”

Alex turned his head, whispering in Talon’s ear. Talon’s gaze fell to their interlocked fingers, and Malachi’s grip tightened.

“Wolf said you had news for us,” Talon said, apparently appeased. He gestured to the seat across the table from them. “Sit, let’s talk.”

Malachi slid across the booth and pulled Luke down after him, putting him across from Talon and Luke across from Alex. Talon flicked his fingers toward the bar, and a moment later Wolf appeared with a black bottle, two crystal glasses, and two bottles of water. It was a rare thing for Talon to share a drink with anyone who wasn’t his human.

Alex beamed. “Thanks, Wolf.”

Wolf studied Luke intently for a moment, from the scarson his jaw to the ring on his finger. His unblinking gaze lingered for long enough that Luke faltered, his spine twitching like he wasn’t sure whether to stiffen or curl inward, and fury swept through Malachi.

“Wolf,” he barked.

Wolf met his eyes, unflinching. He was even bigger than Luke. There wasn’t much that got a reaction from him, but Malachi would get one when he came across the table at him if he didn’t stop looking at Luke like that.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Wolf said.

“I know exactly what I’m doing,” Malachi replied, resting his hand on Luke’s thigh. “Did you say that to Talon when he set his eye on this one?” He jerked his head at Alex without looking. It probably wasn’t smart, but he wouldn’t let anyone make Luke feel self-conscious.

To his relief, Talon huffed out a laugh, exchanging an amused look with Wolf. “So feisty, even after they become demons.”

“Hey!” Malachi banged his fist on the table.

“Mal,” Luke said, grabbing his fist and dragging it under the table to unfurl his fingers. “Relax. It’s fine. Don’t get us kicked out before I’ve said what I came here to say.”

“With all the shit that goes down here, it’d take more than this one’s hot head to get you kicked out. And yes,” Wolf said to Malachi, unruffled, “I did say the same thing to Talon. I believe he gave me a similar response.” He inclined his head. “I’ll leave you to it.”

He left without another word, and Malachi relaxed, studying Luke’s profile until he was sure the man was okay.

“What’s going on, Malachi?” Talon asked, looking bored. He uncorked the bottle and poured the dark liquid into each glass. He slid one to Malachi and took the other for himself.

“Luke,” Malachi said, nudging his thigh under the table.

Luke glanced over at him, then at Talon, and finally settled on Alex, who straightened under the attention. “I was at HQ today. Things have been… tense there for a while.”

“Because of me?” Alex guessed, looking torn.

“Ah,” Luke hesitated, “frankly, yes. There’s been a lot of indecision about how to move forward with everything that happened. Many people have felt betrayed. There’s a lot of suspicion regarding the halflings now. And I heard a rumor today that Sloan is trying to get council approval to go after the halflings here.”

Talon’s expression didn’t change.

Alex gaped. “What? Why?”

Malachi said, “He thinks we have some grand plan to tempt their people away from the guild and sabotage them from within.”

Talon’s dark eyes flicked between them. “Do you?”

Malachi bristled. “Do I what?”

“Have some plan to sabotage them?”

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