Page 12 of Forbidden (Dark Delights #3)

Wolf could barely focus on the work in front of him after Ira and Talon disappeared. He poured drinks and swiped cards, his mind upstairs and in the office where Ira was facing down a monster—to protect him . He shouldn’t have let him do this. It was too dangerous. And taking Talon would just piss her off even more. Maybe she wouldn’t hurt Ira right now, but there were plenty of ways she could get back at them for this. Why had he agreed to this at all? Ira wasn’t a fighter. He wasn’t meant to face down threats like this. Wolf was supposed to protect him. Instead he was standing down here and serving Lilith’s guests like a well-trained dog.

Alex slid onto the stool in front of him. “He’ll be okay. Talon’ll make sure of it.”

Wolf blew out a breath, bracing his hands on the bar and abandoning the mask he’d been wearing. He ducked his head and said, “I know. It doesn’t make waiting any easier, though. ”

One corner of Alex’s mouth quirked. “You really care about him, huh?”

An unfamiliar curl of embarrassment went through him. “I… do, yes. It feels like he was always meant to be by my side, I just didn’t know it until he suddenly arrived.”

“He’s a good guy. I’m glad you two found each other. And,” he laughed helplessly, “I’m really glad he joined us. We’d still be fumbling around blindly without his help. He’s given us direction.”

That much was true. They probably wouldn’t have found the Rink without his help. They wouldn’t have rescued those kids. Ira had blown into all their lives and changed things completely.

The front door banged open, audible even over the pulsing music, and a familiar white-haired figure tumbled down the stairs and into the room. The crowd parted around him, and Wolf made a move toward the edge of the bar to help. The pulsing music stopped abruptly, leaving the shouts of shock and alarm from the customers to echo off the high ceiling.

“No, wait!” Alex hissed, grabbing his wrist.

“He’s—”

Three men strolled in after Storm’s broken body. All of them wore swords strapped to their backs. Fuck, Storm wasn’t moving. Did they kill him?

The humans visiting the club reacted the way anyone with sense would. They screamed and ran for the door. The paladins let them go, leaving only halflings scattered around the club, clustering together near the bar and the dance floor. They outnumbered the paladins, but they were all afraid of those holy weapons. They were one of the few things that could permanently kill them .

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?” a brave halfling demanded as the last of the humans escaped. Wolf couldn’t remember his name, but he approached the paladins aggressively.

The man leading the trio barely glanced at him, pulling something from his pocket and flicking it at the halfling. He reacted instantly, screaming in pain as steam rose from the liquid dousing his face and neck.

Holy water.

Alex lurched to his feet. “Michael!”

The paladin turned his head, his expression cooling when he spotted Alex. “I should’ve known we’d find you here.”

Movement in his periphery caught his eye. Luke and Malachi were approaching slowly, telegraphing their movements as they stopped beside Alex, creating a united front.

Michael’s lip curled at Malachi. “I know you. I saw you on a surveillance recording at the guild’s front gate.”

“Just returning what you sent to us,” Malachi said cheekily.

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 the fuck do 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 kill them. 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 we do have 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.”

“You’re starting to sound like your prophet, Wolfman.”

“It’s not clairvoyance. Any idiot can see we’re heading toward a fight.”

The paladins strode from the VIP hall, Michael muttering, “Fucking disgusting.”

Malachi muffled his snort against Luke’s spine.

They went to the office door next. When the knob refused to turn, Michael whirled around and pointed at it. “Open it.”

“Can’t,” Wolf said calmly. “Only the boss has the key to that door, and she hasn’t been in tonight. Nobody’s been in there since yesterday.” He gestured to the storage room behind the bar. “Do you want to look in here, too?”

Michael drew his sword as he moved behind the bar, pointing it at Wolf, Xyra, and Shadrach. “Yes, as a matter of fact. I do. Move.”

They filed around the far side of the bar, staying well out of reach of the holy blade. Michael checked the storage room—and Wolf heard breaking bottles as he went. A nuisance, to be sure, but a far better alternative than getting into a fight.

“He’ s not here,” Michael said to the other paladins as he emerged.

“Just like we said,” Alex said.

“I don’t believe you know nothing,” Michael snapped. “But he’s not here, so we’ll go.”

Storm was on his feet now, hunched over and holding his stomach. He shuffled out of the way as the paladins strode to the stairs. When Michael pushed the door open—it slammed shut in his face, and he wobbled on the step as he struggled to keep his balance.

“What—”

Shadrach held one hand up as he prowled slowly toward them. Leviathans didn’t have to gesture like a magician to make their powers work, but the movement did let the paladins know who was responsible.

“Let me be clear.” Shadrach’s cold voice rang out, wholly unaffected by the way the paladins drew their blades and took defensive positions on the staircase. Even the other halflings in the room scurried to get away from the angry leviathan. “If you ever come back here and threaten us again, you won’t be walking back out. I will coat this fucking dance floor with your blood and hang your entrails from your guild’s holy gates. Even God wouldn’t dare to come back here a second time and piss me off.” With a flick of his fingers, the door opened loudly. “Get the fuck out of my goddamn sight.”

They heeded the warning, rushing from the room and out into the night. Wolf waited just a handful of seconds and then ran toward Storm.

“I’ve got to check on Storm. Alex, let them know it’s safe to come out! Xyra, guard the door. Let’s make sure they don’t try to come back for round two. ”

He hauled one of Storm’s arms around his shoulders and helped him over to the bar as Xyra darted up the stairs to watch the door. Ira and Talon were there now, standing with the others. Storm staggered, and Wolf helped him sit on the floor, leaning up against the bar. His shirt was sticky with black blood, and Alex knelt beside them, peeling the fabric back to look at the wound.

“He’s been stabbed,” Alex said. “Tal, would you go get the first-aid kit out of the trunk of our car? I think he’ll be okay if we can clean the holy oil out of the wound and stop the bleeding.”

The humans probably knew more about first-aid and wound care than any of the demons, who normally healed too quickly to worry about such things, so Wolf stepped back to let Alex and Luke work.

Ira launched himself at Wolf, knocking the breath from both of them upon impact. “I’m glad you’re okay. Talon said there were paladins out here and I thought—I didn’t see anything about this, and I didn’t know what was going to happen and?—”

“Shh,” Wolf murmured, drawing him up for a kiss. “It’s okay. We’re all okay. They were here looking for you. I’m just glad they didn’t find you. They would’ve tried to take you away from me, and then there really would’ve been bloodshed.”

“What the fuck is going on out here?” a shrill voice interrupted, and Ira drew back to look up at Wolf with wide eyes.

Out of the pan and into the fire. Lilith had emerged from her office.

“I hear the music stop, my bouncer is bleeding, and there are no human customers left in the building.” Her heels clicked on the concrete floor, her generous, leather-clad hips swaying. “Do I have you to thank for this?” she asked Talon, who was carrying the first-aid suitcase toward them.

“Me?” he repeated. “I was up there with you. How could this be my fault?”

“It was paladins,” one of the halflings out on the dance floor said. “They showed up and made some threats. They were looking for this one.” She pointed at Ira.

Lilith arched a brow at Ira. “You told me I had nothing to worry about.”

“I told you we wouldn’t harm your business. We’re not paladins, remember? I have no idea what they’re doing anymore. I didn’t know this was going to happen, or I would’ve warned you all, I swear. I didn’t want to see Storm or anyone else get hurt because of me.”

There was no warmth in her crimson gaze, and Wolf wanted to snarl at her.

“Yes,” she said coolly, “because of you.”

“They wouldn’t have left as quickly as they did if not for us,” Wolf said, trying to keep his voice calm. “They would’ve busted their way into your office. Shadrach was a bigger deterrent than any of the halflings here. If you’re implying Ira and the humans shouldn’t come around anymore, neither will I. Neither will Malachi or Talon or Shadrach, and we’re the ones who stopped this from turning into a bloodbath.”

Shadrach turned his head toward Wolf at the mention of his name, and Wolf hoped he wouldn’t dispute what he’d said. Shadrach wasn’t like the rest of them. He wouldn’t go where the humans went, because he had no attachment to them. But Shadrach wouldn’t have been there at all if Wolf hadn’t texted him, so he hadn’t exactly told a lie. Shadrach might be more inclined to go where Talon went, and Wolf was willing to bet Ira’s visions intrigued him enough for him to play along.

Lilith’s lip curled, her gaze roaming the group. Alex and Luke were ignoring her in favor of cleaning Storm up. Lilith wouldn’t be bothered to do such a thing. Storm was more likely to bleed out and die under her watch. Wolf was certain that if she pressed the matter, she wouldn’t only lose the demons who’d taken human partners. She might lose Storm, too. Maybe even others like Xyra. Was that a loss she was willing to accept?

“Get this music turned back on,” she snarled. “Get the mess cleaned up, open the club back up, and somebody needs to go out and mind the door.”

“I’ll do that,” Xyra offered, one hand already on the door.

“No,” Lilith snapped, turning away from her to address Wolf. “Xyra can tend the bar alone tonight. Since all of this mess was caused by your human, you can stand outside and guard the door, Wolf.”

Ira took a breath to speak, but Wolf gave his hand a tug to silence him.

“Fine,” he agreed. “I’ll go outside and keep watch.”

“I’ll come with you,” Ira said.

Wolf drew up short. “No, seidhr. If someone’s watching the club, we can’t risk exposing you. We can’t let them know you’re here.”

Ira deflated. “But…”

“Don’t let what happened here be for nothing. Stay with the other humans for now. I’ll be fine.”

Ira reluctantly let him go, and he slipped outside into the cool, quiet night. There was no sign of paladins, no unfamiliar SUVs or other suspicious vehicles. The parking lot across the street was emptier than he’d ever seen it at this hour, but maybe a fresh wave of humans would arrive before the night’s end. He doubted any of the ones who’d fled earlier had bothered calling the cops. Most people at least knew better than that, even if they didn’t know exactly what type of club In Extremis actually was.

The heavy door opened beside him. Pulsing music escaped for a couple of beats before it fell shut behind Storm, who dropped a black chair beside Wolf and sat down with a grunt.

“Man, fuck her,” Storm hissed.

Wolf snorted out a laugh. “How’s the wound?”

“Whatever. I’ve had worse. The humans didn’t want me out here, but I’d rather be out here than in there under her fucking thumb.”

Wolf hummed. For a bartender, he wasn’t fond of the club scene, either. It was more peaceful out here.

Storm pulled a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket, only slightly bloodstained, and offered one to Wolf. He took one with a sigh. There was nothing better to do out here.

“Word has it the humans have some sort of base of operations,” he said, eyeing Wolf curiously.

“Word might be right, depending on why you’re asking.”

“They need a doorman? I might be in the market for a job that isn’t here.”

Wolf laughed, smoke curling into the air in front of him. “I don’t think they have the money to match your pay.”

“Shit, I don’t care about that. I’ve been working for her for a hundred years. I don’t need the money. I’m just too bored to sit around doing nothing.”

“Would she let you quit?”

Storm went quiet. “I don’t even know. I could just stop showing up. What’s the worst she could do? ”

“Send a hitman to take your fingers. Or your dick.”

“Fuck, she would, too, wouldn’t she?”

They both laughed, but Wolf supposed there wasn’t really much funny about it.

“She’s done that and worse to others.”

Storm sucked hard on the cigarette, turning the end bright orange. “She’s got us all on strings, man. I don’t know how to get out.”

“You’ll get out. We all will.”

“How do you know?”

“Prophet, remember?”

Storm’s eyes widened. “No shit? He know something?”

“He knows… a lot of things. I don’t know details, but… he’s told me things will be better one day.”

Storm blew out a smoky breath. “Man, I hope you’re right. I don’t even know what an LA without Lilith would look like. But I’m real fucking curious to find out.”

It was a sentiment Wolf understood far too well.

It was near dawn when Wolf’s shift finally ended. The club didn’t recover its usual crowd, but some humans did show up after midnight, unaware of the drama that took place earlier. When the last of the customers left—human and halfling alike—Wolf and Storm returned inside to close up for the day.

Behind the bar, Xyra had shed her usual red leather jacket, and her midnight blue hair was frizzing around the crown of her head. She cast Wolf a weary nod as she wiped down the bar. There was no sign of Shadrach. Luke and Malachi were sitting on a pair of stools, wrapped up in each other and talking quietly.

In the booth across from Alex and Talon, resting his head on his arms with his eyes closed, Ira snoozed. His mouth was open slightly, his body lax with sleep, and Wolf snorted out a quiet laugh at the sight. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen someone comfortable enough to sleep here before.

“How long has he been like this?” he asked.

“About an hour,” Alex said. “I’m surprised the music didn’t keep him awake.”

Wolf leaned over him, threading his fingers through Ira’s soft curls and combing them away from his face.

“Seidhr? It’s time to go home.”

Ira inhaled, stretching languidly and sitting up with a yawn. “It is?” He tipped his head onto the back of the booth, casting a sleepy smile up at him. Wolf couldn’t resist, covering his exposed neck with his hand and kissing him softly.

“Yes. Come on. You should sleep in a bed, not on the table.”

“If you insist.” He let Wolf pull him to his feet, wincing when his back popped. “Okay, yeah, bed sounds good.”

“We’re going, too,” Talon said, ushering Alex to his feet. “Call if you need anything.”

“Same to you,” Wolf replied, tucking Ira under his arm as Talon swept Alex away with his powers.

Xyra and Storm waved them away.

“We’ll handle the clean-up,” Xyra said. “ This time.”

Wolf grinned. If Storm was feeling well enough not to protest, Wolf wouldn’t either. “Noted. I owe you both one.”

Malachi and Luke fell into step with them. Outside, the sun hadn’t yet risen above the horizon, and the sky was a pale, golden gray. The others peeled away from them in the parking lot, going to Malachi’s cherry red Mustang and waving as they drove off.

“I might not be made for all-nighters,” Ira said, flopping over the middle console and resting his head on Wolf’s shoulder as he put the car in drive and steered out onto the street.

“Well, you’ve been under a bit of stress lately, too.”

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “Do you think the paladins will come back to the club again?”

He smiled at the road. Ira would know that better than him, wouldn’t he? “Do you?”

“I don’t know everything , you know,” he said, casting an arch look up at him.

“Just most things?”

Ira snorted. “Not even that. A few things, I think.”

“I think you underestimate yourself.”

“Or maybe you overestimate me.”

Wolf shook his head confidently. “Not possible.”

Ira gave him a playful shove. “Flattery will get you nowhere.”

“I don’t think that’s true, either,” he replied smartly.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Flattery will at least get your dick sucked.”

Wolf barked out a laugh. “Promises, promises.”