Page 27 of Demons In My Head: Exposing the Exiled
Fischer shifted in his chair slightly, and Kai glanced at him from the corner of his eye. I grinned darkly, hiding my delight behind my mask that he clearly knew who we were.
“You might have heard of us,” Rhodes stated with absolutely no emotion as he tapped his fingertips against the table.
“Youprobably haveheard of us,” Talon practically sang as his body vibrated with excitement. With no effort whatsoever, he swung his axe up and dropped it on the table.
Laughter pierced the air as Kai finally figured it out. Poor fucker was cracking under all of this bullshit. Whatever. Talon joined him in his laughter right away, followed by Felix and Ashland. If laughing was something I did, I'm sure I would have too, but I was content watching the show. Kai wiped his now tear-streaked face and got a hold of himself. "I know who you are…"
“Say it then,” Felix taunted, leaning toward Kai from across the table. “Say our name.”
“The Exiled,” he replied, with a grin dark enough to rival Ashland's.
As Kai sat there smiling, I could practically hear their leader thinking. He was undoubtedly running through scenarios andsituations in his head about how best to utilize our crew in this war. He appeared to be about to voice some of these thoughts when Fischer spoke.
“I thought they called you The Exiled because, you know, you’ve been exiled.” His delivery was flat and bored. I could hear the shifting of Talon and Felix’s bodies in their seats, and I knew they weren’t impressed with Fischer’s comment. Neither was I.
An unsettling quiet fell upon the room as we all contemplated one another from across the table. Ashland leaned back in his chair and silently studied their leader, Cam, even though he wasn't the one who had spoken. I knew he was the one who he would be sizing up because that's just Ash. Leader to leader, mage to demon, he needed to know more about who he was dealing with.
“Well,” he finally said, crossing his arms in front of him and leaning forward on the table. “That’s a long story. One that, unfortunately, we just don’t have time for right now. Let’s just say our isolation has now ended. That’s all that matters.”
Cam slowly ran his fingers through his beard. “Actually,” he started, “what matters here—theonlything that matters here—is our mate. That’s number one.”
I shook my head, and a grumble left my mouth. “It always comes down to girls, doesn’t it?” I didn't want to be reminded of her, not at this exact moment. Not when I didn't have the time to really figure out what this new information about mates might mean…
“Not just a girl,” Fischer snapped, and I tracked the way his hands formed fists. I found myself gripping the hilt of a blade that was tucked in nicely against my leg… just in case anyone wanted to try something stupid.
“That’s fine.” Rhodes shrugged. Of course he’d have no interest in talking about women. Talk about emotionally unavailable.
“We’re here because our interests align with yours. We want to see Asrael destroyed today, and I think that all of our goals will lead us to the same destination,” Ashland explained.
Cam was certainly going to hurt himself if he thought any harder, and I wasn't the only one who noticed.
“What are you thinking about so hard over there, big man?” Felix asked, taunting him.
He clicked his tongue and sighed, not rising to the bait. “Look, we need your help. This entire fucking realm needs your help. We need to come up with a plan that gets everybody what they want, and we need to stick to it.”
Ashland straightened up in his chair. “Is this the same kind of plan as the one last year, where you and your team snuck into our city to spy on us?” His head tilted, studying their reactions as the air grew thick with tension.
“No, it’s not,” Kai growled. All five of us turned our attention, in perfect unison, from Cam to Kai. “That was for our job. This is for our lives. There is absolutely nothing similar. Every man has his limits, how far he’s willing to go in the name of his work. I can tell you honestly that for me and the other five men who are bound to our beautiful mate, there is no limit on how far we’re willing to go.”
Their mate.
There was that fucking word again. I hadn’t even realized the low-pitched growl that had started building from my chest.
Balor’s chair scraped against the floor as he suddenly stood. “Alright, everyone needs to get a hold of themselves. Everyone in this room is on the same side. You wouldn’t be here right now if that wasn’t the case. We don’t have time for this.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at us, and gods damn it all if I didn't feel the slightest twinge of discomfort at his disapproving tone and expression.
Balor had been like a mentor to all of us. He was one of the demons we held the highest respect for, and it seemed that the bastard knew it.
“Alright then. Balor’s right,” Rhodes agreed with little reluctance, and I knew he felt the same way I did. “We have more important things to discuss than your less-than-professional ability to sneak around without being detected.” His eyes glinted; he just couldn't not have the last word.
Nobody got a chance to fire back before Fischer held up a hand, his head angled slightly, as though he was listening to something only he could hear. “It’s Saige,” he said quickly. I glanced around but didn't see a woman. I did watch as Fischer held a hand to his forehead as he stood and walked over to a quiet corner of the room. This must've been a normal occurrence for their group because nobody reacted aside from a slight nod.
“Why the masks?” Kai asked curiously. “You didn’t have them last year.”
Felix chuckled. “Because they’re cool as shit.” He held his hands up as though this was common fucking sense. Kai didn't hold in his laugh at Felix's answer, and I felt the tension evaporate.
“So, everyone here is aware that Asrael has dragons that he either captured or created, locked in enclosures around the outskirts of the city?” Cam asked.
I could practically hear the eye roll from Ashland as he said, “Oh, we’re aware.” Cam didn't hide his surprise at that information, and Ash continued, “That’s right. We’ve known about this for a while, and in addition to keeping tabs on our city, we’ve been working on our own little project.” He looked over, giving a sharp nod to Talon.
