Page 50 of Forbidden

Very carefully, Wolf tugged his phone from his pocket. Talon and Ira were upstairs. He had to assume they would be safer there than out here, but they needed backup. He went into his contacts and found Shadrach.

911 at club

He tucked his phone away again just as quickly. When he raised his gaze again, he found Malachi watching him. He gave him a short nod, and Malachi returned it.

“You murdered good men.”

“I murdered assholes who tried to take what’s mine,” Malachi replied.

Michael scoffed, looking at Luke. “You’re just property to this thing, Morgan. I can’t believe you were stupid enough to fall for its lies.”

Luke stiffened, gripping Malachi’s hand tightly.

Alex cut a hand through the air before Luke could respond. “Why are you here? To cast judgments and piss us off?”

Michael looked between them all as though he couldn’t decide which of them was the least revolting to look at. Finally, he said, “No. We’re looking for someone. A prophet named Ira Faer. He’s gone missing. No other avenues have been fruitful, so we came here. Have you seen him?”

“No,” Alex said immediately, with such passion that even Wolf believed him. “We haven’t seen anyone from the guild until you assholes walked in, much less a prophet, and I think I speak for everyone when I say we preferred it that way.”

A handful of halflings around the room nodded in agreement, and Wolf felt a distant, muted sort of amusement.

Michael sneered. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe the demon fuckers who abandoned their oath.”

Alex’s neck turned red, though with anger or embarrassment, Wolf didn’t know.

Shadrach appeared beside him behind the bar, and the paladins startled at his sudden appearance. He braced both hands on the bar, leaning toward them with a hungry gleam in his eyes, and said, “What thefuckdo you think you’re doing here, holy men?”

Michael turned his head toward his men and muttered, “Black eyes.”

It was a warning. They knew black eyes meant the demon was stronger than a halfling, but they didn’t know what a leviathan was.

Wolf’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and glanced down.

It was from Talon

Door locked. Safe.

Wolf tucked his phone away quickly, trying not to look visibly relieved.

“We’re not leaving until we search the premises for our missing person,” Michael said, tipping his chin up stubbornly.

Shadrach took a sharp breath to speak, but Wolf tapped his arm, and he paused.

“Fine,” Wolf said. “Go look down the back hall. Look in every room if you want. He’s not here.”

“What?” Shadrach asked.

“We have nothing to hide,” Wolf told him, loud enough for the paladins to hear. “The sooner they see that, the sooner they’ll go. Right?”

Michael looked smug, like he thought Wolf’s agreement meant he was scared of them. They strode across the room to the VIP hall. Alex, Luke, and Malachi turned to keep them in sight as they went. Luke stepped none-too-subtly in front of Malachi, who fisted the back of his shirt like he would haul him out of the way at the first sign of an attack.

“The fuck are you doing?” Shadrach asked quietly. “Your man’s upstairs, isn’t he?”

“Talon’s with him. He texted me. They’ve locked the door. If the paladins kick the door in, you and Talon can killthem. But if we can convince them only the boss has the key and that she’s not here tonight, maybe we can make them leave without the guild finding out where Ira is. If wedohave to kill them, that’s as good as an admission of guilt that Ira’s with us. They’ll send more to the club. I’d rather avoid that if we can.” He didn’t know what the guild would do if they found out Ira was with the halflings. Would they try to take him back by force? Wolf desperately didn’t want to find out.

“Thought you brought me here so I could have some fun,” Shadrach pouted.

“You’ll have plenty of fun when the time comes.”

---