Page 37 of Forbidden

Angela laid down at his head, and after a moment, Zachary joined them, laying with their heads together and their feet out like spokes on a wheel.

“Fine, ten minute break,” Alex said begrudgingly. “But then we’re putting a sword in your hands and teaching you to swing it.”

“Torture,” Ira declared, staring up at his own reflection on the ceiling. They’d replaced the broken lightbulbs and taken out a loan to cover the costs of the remodel, despite the protests from the demons that a loan wasn’t necessary. Knowing they were beholden to a bank made the whole thing feel more legitimate.

Zachary and Angela’s uncle and cousins were hard atwork during the day on the bigger parts of the remodel that they didn’t know how to do themselves, and at night, they trained. Alex and Luke often patrolled in the evenings after training, assuring the trainees each time that eventually they would join them for actual field work. The kids were eager to get started. Ira, not so much.

In the last two weeks, they’d fallen into a routine. Wolf would drop Ira off at the Rink at sundown and go to work at In Extremis. Ira would hang out at the Rink and help with cleaning or organizing. If they weren’t working, they were training. It was harder, more physical work than Ira had ever done in his life, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything. For the first time in his life, he felt truly good. He didn’t force himself to endure long fasts anymore. If he had a vision, so be it, but the pressure to provide them regularly was gone. For the first time in his life, he was in charge of his own body and mind. After Wolf’s shift, he’d join them at the Rink until sometime after dawn, when they would all shuffle home. Even the humans kept to a more nocturnal schedule these days, thanks to their demonic companions. He fell asleep each morning in Wolf’s arms.

“So, is it true?” Angela asked, bumping his head with hers. “You get messages from God?”

“I receive visions,” Ira corrected. “I don’t know where they come from. The guild says they’re from Him, but I can’t say for sure.”

“I’m not convinced,” Talon said, strolling across the padded floor to join them.

The padded floor was another recent addition. They’d covered the skating floor with interlocking mats for their training. The Rink was starting to look the way it was meantto. The knowledge filled him with satisfaction. He’d made the right choices.

“Well, of courseyou’renot,” Ira replied, and Talon grinned wolfishly, sliding an arm around Alex’s shoulders.

“What do you think, then?” Angela asked him, rolling onto her stomach and kicking her feet in the air like this was gossip at a sleepover.

“I believe he sees the future,” Talon said. “There are stories from all cultures of people with clairvoyance. It doesn’t mean the visions come from any god, though. I don’t think they’re religious visions at all. I think he just sees things.”

“Why does the guild have so many prophets, then?” Alex asked.

“Because they have a lot of money and resources to help them find people who have that particular talent. They find them from a young age, indoctrinate them, tell them they’re receiving special messages from a god who cares, and voilà.” He gestured to Ira. “Their modus operandi continues, because they have people who see the future telling them what their next move should be.”

That… was an uncomfortable thought. Was that really what they were doing? Was it intentional or subconscious? Was it not really about protecting people but maintaining the status quo? Did they care more about their power and their position of authority in the supernatural realm? It would explain why they were so willing to let Luke go back into the field alone after his squad was killed, and why they’d fixated on the pair of paladins who’d left and found happiness elsewhere. As large and powerful as they were, going up against them would be no mean feat. If they truly wanted, there was nothing stopping them from coming out indroves for their little group of misfits and ending them once and for all. The fact that the guild wasn’t unified about how to deal with them seemed to be the only reason Sloan hadn’t ordered such a move.

“Ouch,” Alex remarked to Ira, who nodded forlornly. Their minds had obviously gone down a similar path.

Luke kicked the bottom of Ira’s shoe. “Come on. Up, you three. Let’s get started.”

They trained into the night, practicing steps and swings with the sword and then moving on to strength-training. They’d found some old weights at a secondhand store and put them on the far side of the training floor.

Ira was grateful that they cared enough to train him, but he wasn’t sure he was cut out for this physical lifestyle. Swords wereheavy. That wasn’t something he’d ever really thought about before. The paladins made it look so easy. They swung them around on the training yard like they were extensions of their arms. Ira knew, logically, that they were solid metal, but he’d never even lifted one until they stormed the Rink.

When Wolf joined them at dawn, he was sprawled on the padded floor again, glistening unattractively with sweat and panting for breath. Zachary and Angela were in similar shape, so at least he wasn’t alone in his misery.

Wolf strode over with a low chuckle and came to a stop with a foot on either side of his head, peering down at him with an amused tilt to his mouth. “Did they kill you?”

“Yes,” Ira croaked. His arms were so sore he doubted he’d be able to push himself upright.

“Should I avenge you?”

“Please.”

“I brought food.”

“Yes, food,” Zachary said, rolling to his feet. Angela followed with a groan, leaving Ira alone. He wasn’t sure where they found the energy to stand.

“You have an addiction,” Ira said.

Wolf frowned, his eyes glittering with mirth. “To what?”

“To feeding me.”

“Oh.” Wolf barked out a laugh. “A cross I’m willing to bear—religious puns aside.”

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