Page 5 of Forbidden (Dark Delights #3)

Ira had never personally been to a club like In Extremis. Though he’d had visions of the club during typical work hours, with Wolf tending the bar and the crowd undulating to the music in the background, he’d never seen it so empty before. A handful of figures sat at the bar, which was the only source of light in the wide, open room. Chairs were stacked upside-down on tables. The dance floor gleamed.

The door slammed shut behind them, echoing through the cavernous room, and Wolf threaded their fingers together as he led him over to the bar. He’d texted everyone on the drive over, asking them to meet here, and now here they all were. Everyone turned to look at them, and Ira saw, for the first time, faces that he’d only ever seen in visions. He knew Alex and Luke already, of course. They sat on barstools side by side. Behind them, like sentinels, were their demonic partners, Talon and Malachi, and Storm, with his shock of white-blond hair.

“Who’s this?” Talon asked. There was a barely concealed threat in his tone, and Ira shuddered under the attention of those black eyes.

“Ira,” Alex blurted, and Luke turned on his stool to get a better look as Wolf tugged him behind the bar to stand in front of them.

“Ira?” Talon repeated, his fingers curling around the back of Alex’s neck and ruffling the base of his chestnut brown hair.

“The prophet who helped me find the mozgoran demon that killed my family,” Alex explained, leaning into the touch.

Luke’s eyes lightened with understanding. “You came to me, too, not long before the guild tried to kill me.”

Guilt churned in Ira’s gut. “Yes, I’d like to apologize about that. I swear I would’ve warned you, but I didn’t see the attack before it?—”

Luke waved him off. “It all worked out in the end. You’re not at fault for what they did. Why are you here now, though?”

Ira glanced at Wolf, who gave him an encouraging nod. “I’ve left the guild,” he said. “Quite abruptly, really. They don’t even know about it yet. For the last six months, I’ve been having visions of… us. All of us. And then tonight—last night?” He frowned, realizing he had no idea what time it was. The sun would be rising soon, surely. “I saw Wolf being attacked by paladins outside the club, so I came here to help. But now I can’t go back. If they find out I helped a demon, I don’t know what they’d do. Kill me, maybe. Yesterday morning, Sloan announced that he’d finally convinced the council to raise the threat level of the halflings to a category A. Halflings will now be attacked on sight by any paladin who sees them. ”

Alex balked. “What? All halflings?”

Ira nodded miserably.

“What do we do?” Alex asked, looking from face to face. “The guild knows about the club here. What’s to stop them from coming here and killing everyone?”

“They may do that,” Ira said grimly. “Sloan told them to avoid the club for now until he comes up with a plan. But yes, I’d say it’s likely they’ll make a move on it eventually. They know it’s where many of you spend your nights.”

“Then we should be spending our nights elsewhere,” Talon said. With a heavy sigh, he said, “I should let Shadrach know. He hasn’t been coming around as much, but I wouldn’t want him to be caught unawares.”

“No offense to the paladins, but if they catch Shadrach by surprise, I’ll eat my hat,” Storm said.

“You’re not wearing a hat,” Wolf drawled.

“I’ll buy a hat,” Storm amended.

“Who is Shadrach?” Luke asked, glancing between Talon and Malachi.

“He’s another leviathan like me,” Talon said, smiling wolfishly. “He doesn’t play as nice with others.”

The demons all shared a laugh that had Alex and Luke sharing a look of confusion, and Ira felt compelled to say, “For now.”

That drew them all up short.

“What?” Talon asked.

“You heard me.”

Talon leaned in, as though eager for gossip. “Are you telling me Shadrach is going to find a human?”

Ira sank his teeth into his bottom lip. “I’m saying it’s a possibility.”

Wolf hummed lowly, and Ira recalled their conversation in the elevator.

“Just out of curiosity, have you ever had a vision that didn’t come to pass?”

“No.”

Talon didn’t miss it, his dark eyes darting between them shrewdly.

“Anyway,” Ira said pointedly. “We’re getting off-topic. We just wanted to warn you all that the paladins are going to be more aggressive. You’ll need to be extra careful until further notice.”

“Should we warn Lilith?” Storm asked reluctantly, his chin propped up on his fist.

Beside Ira, Wolf rumbled out a groan.

“No,” Talon decided. “If we’re the ones who warn her, she’ll blame us for the uptick in attacks. I’d like to avoid that.”

Ira glanced around the dark club’s ceiling. “There aren’t any cameras in here, are there?”

Storm smirked. “Nah. Too many illegal activities go on here for Lilith to want cameras inside. She’d implicate herself more than anyone else. That’s one of the reasons we met here.”

“ Is it our fault the paladins are getting more aggressive?” Alex asked. “I mean, I get why you don’t want to tell Lilith, because that kind of news coming from us would make us seem responsible. But… are we?” He looked at Ira, his blue eyes big.

Ira winced. “I don’t know. That would be my guess, though. You and Luke leaving the guild is the only thing that could’ve changed their opinions of the halflings recently.”

Alex’s shoulders hunched. “I… I didn’t mean for th is to happen. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt—anyone but the mozgoran, I mean.”

“This isn’t your fault, little bird,” Talon said softly, carding his fingers into the back of Alex’s hair.

“He’s right, Alex,” Ira agreed. “You did what was right for you. How Sloan is reacting now is on him, no one else.”

Talon’s eyes met his, warmer now than they’d been when he arrived, and Ira thought he might’ve managed to win some points with the leviathan.

“And for what it’s worth, there are a few who don’t agree with the new orders. Your old captain, for one,” he said to Alex, whose expression twisted. “Actually.” He pulled the paper from his pocket and laid it on the bar between them. “You two should program those names into your phones. Just in case.”

He appreciated that being a prophet gave him a certain amount of authority with Alex and Luke. Neither of them questioned him, just pulled their phones out and started copying the names.

“I’m going to call Nathan tomorrow,” Ira said, glancing at Wolf. “Somebody from the guild needs to know why I disappeared, and I trust him.”

Wolf rumbled. “Fine, if you’re sure he can be trusted. You can use my phone until we can get you a new one.”

Ira smiled softly. “Thanks. And yeah, I’m sure. He’s one of the good ones.”

Luke tapped the paper, pocketing his phone once more. “A couple of these names are surprising.”

Isaac and Cyrus, most likely. Ira nodded. “I was surprised, as well, but they seemed genuinely bothered by what’s happening. I was with all of them right after Sloan’s announcement. They all expressed disappointment in the new orders.”

“I wouldn’t call many paladins bloodthirsty, but if anyone is, Isaac would fit the bill,” Alex said.

“Of course paladins are bloodthirsty,” Talon said with a grin, “just not like we are.”

“I didn’t interact with him much, beyond some vigorous sparring matches, but I’d heard he wasn’t well-liked among a lot of the paladins. I always found him intimidating,” Alex admitted. It was a sentiment Ira agreed with. Watching Isaac spar had always made him grateful he never had drills like the paladins. He valued keeping all his teeth in his head.

“Oh, Isaac isn’t so bad,” Luke said. “He’s blunt about how much he enjoys killing things, but he’s a good man. I’ve sparred with him many times.”

“Yeah, that’s because you’re as scary as he is,” Ira said before he could think better of it.

Luke sputtered, and Malachi barked out a laugh, kissing his muscled shoulder.

“Yes, very scary,” Malachi murmured.

“I am not!” Luke protested.

Alex chuckled. “You don’t wax poetic about how much you like stabbing things, so I’d say you’re not quite as bad.”

“Right, that’s true,” Ira agreed. “I meant in the training yard, you’re just as intimidating. Watching you guys out there always made me glad I didn’t have to run drills with you.”

The three of them laughed, and Ira was bolstered by the camaraderie. It was nice to know he wasn’t alone. There were others who’d given up everything for their demon companions, just like him.

Ira pocketed the slip of paper and sighed. “That’s it, I guess. Watch your backs. They tried to kill Wolf already. Sloan told them to avoid the club for now, but obviously some of them are too overzealous to listen. I wouldn’t go anywhere alone if I were you. And you two,” he said to Alex and Luke, “I’m pretty sure the guild will treat you the way they treat the halflings. Be careful out there.”

“You, too,” Luke said, drawing Malachi’s arm around his broad shoulders. “You’re like us now, too, aren’t you? You left the guild for Wolf.”

Ira’s stomach tossed with anxiety. “Yeah, I did.”

“Really?” Malachi asked curiously. “Just like that?” He shot a teasing grin at Luke. “It took you longer to warm up to me than that.”

Luke chortled, leaning into Malachi’s side. “Don’t pretend you didn’t like the challenge.”

Ira bit back a smile. “When you can see the future, certain things feel kind of inevitable. Wolf and I… were inevitable, I guess.” He sighed. For better or worse, there was no arguing with the things he’d seen in his visions. They could be happy, yes, but their lives wouldn’t be without hardship. He wasn’t sure he was ready for everything that would follow, now that the events of his visions had been set into motion. He had to have faith, he supposed, that everything would work out the way it was meant to.

Talon’s dark eyes glittered knowingly. “You don’t sound entirely happy about that.”

Wolf’s big hand stroked his back, and Ira drifted into his space, leaning against him. “I haven’t slept in twenty-four hours, and I just left everything I’ve ever known behind. Give me time.” It hadn’t fully sunk in yet. It probably wouldn’t for a while. In the meantime, he’d enjoy Wolf’s closeness until the panic set in .

“Ah.” Talon looked at Alex. “Your fragile human brains need time to process traumatic information.”

Alex beamed at him like he was a student who’d finally answered a question correctly. “Exactly.”

Wolf’s fingers curled around Ira’s shoulder, his hold firm and possessive. “Are you ready for me to take you home?” he asked lowly.

Ira’s eyelids were heavy, and his body felt weighed down. He nodded wearily. “There’s more, but it can wait. Some of it’s just gonna take time.”

“Yes, we’ve got time,” he agreed. Louder, to the others, he said, “I’m taking him to my place. We’ll talk more later.” He tossed a car key to Storm. “This is the key to that gray sedan out in the parking lot. It’s Ira’s. The guild owns it, and I don’t want them to see it if they send more goons out here to watch the club. I don’t want to give them any idea where he can be found. Move it somewhere far away from here, okay?”

“Will do, Wolf.”

They said their goodbyes, and Wolf guided Ira to the door, tucked snugly under his muscular arm.

“Do I need to carry you to the car?” he asked with amusement.

Ira huffed out a laugh. “No. I think I can stay on my feet long enough to make it.”

And he did, although as soon as he was buckled into Wolf’s passenger seat, he curled his arm against the window and passed out.

Ira woke slowly, warm and sated. He couldn’t remember the last time he slept so hard. The sound of his alarm normally accompanied his waking, but this morning all was quiet. The low humming air conditioner sent cool air rolling over his exposed skin, and he pressed closer to the heat at his back, pulling the blanket up to his ear. A rumble vibrated against his spine, and it all came flooding back to him.

Right. He wasn’t at home. He was at Wolf’s. Or rather, Wolf’s was now his new home.

He dimly recalled getting back to the apartment last night, leaning heavily on the halfling as the elevator shot them up to the fifth floor and spat them out in the dimly lit hallway. He hadn’t asked if Wolf minded sharing a bed with him, just shed his clothes on his way to the bedroom and collapsed on the incredibly comfortable mattress. He didn’t even remember pulling the blankets back, just the sensation of softness on his cheek followed by darkness.

Clearly, Wolf didn’t mind sharing, as his body was curled around Ira’s, his arms wrapped around him like he was afraid Ira would try to run.

Ira didn’t want to run. Ira very much didn’t want to run.

Dark curtains hung over the only window, which was directly in front of Ira. Light crept around the edges of the thick fabric, barely penetrating the room. He’d never shared a bed with anyone before, and he was surprised by how comfortable he found it. The warmth of Wolf’s body and the rhythm of his breaths soothed Ira better than any of the meditative practices he’d tried over the years. There was no tension in his body, no worries on his mind, just the first day of forever. He couldn’t even recall why he’d been so resistant to this before. Nothing that felt this good could be a bad thing .

“How’d you sleep?” Wolf asked, his voice gravelly.

“Like the dead.” He arched, stretching his arms above his head and pointing his toes. “Your bed is extremely comfortable.”

Wolf chuckled. Big fingers slid up his chest, curling around his jaw and urging his head back as a mouth found the soft spot under his ear. Ira’s half-hard cock filled with blood so fast his head spun. He panted into the open air, one hand going to Wolf’s hand at his throat and the other falling to Wolf’s boxer-clad hip under the sheet.

“Wolf,” he moaned.

“Oh, good, that doesn’t sound like a no,” Wolf rumbled. “I could barely stand it—you walked into my apartment last night and started taking your clothes off on your way to my bedroom like you had no idea what the sight of you was doing to me.” He latched onto Ira’s neck, sucking hard.

Ira chuckled sheepishly. “Did I? I was so tired, I barely remember getting here.”

Wolf trailed wet kisses down his neck and across his shoulder. “Mm-hm.” One hand slid down Ira’s chest, pinching a nipple hard enough to make him yelp, and his cock gave a definitive jerk of interest.

“I’m going to do exactly what I did last night,” Wolf said, teeth scraping across Ira’s shoulder blades as he pushed him face-down.

“What? This isn’t…” He wasn’t on his stomach last night, they were facing each other.

“What I mean is, I’m going to do what I want, and if I reach a point where you don’t want something, you tell me to stop.” Wolf paused, looming over him, his lips brushing Ira’s ear. “Unless you’d like to choose what we do next?”

Ira’s brain stalled. He’d seen so many things in his visions over the last six months. He didn’t have any idea where to begin.

At his silence, Wolf hummed. “I thought so. Don’t worry, seidhr. I’ll take control so you don’t have to, and I swear I’ll make you feel so good .”

Ira shivered as Wolf worked his way down his spine. His hands followed, kneading the knotted places Ira hadn’t even known were there. He was groaning before Wolf ever made it to his ass, tugging his underwear down and off. Thick thumbs parted his cheeks, massaging over his hole. Ira squirmed at the unfamiliar touch, and then Wolf’s tongue licked from his balls all the way up his crack. A punched-out noise left him, and he grabbed onto the pillow, burying his moans in the fabric as Wolf laved over his hole. The pointed end of his tongue speared into him over and over, pressing deeper with each pass, until Ira was sweating and moaning and grinding back against his face.

When Wolf suddenly disappeared, Ira tried to cobble himself together, but a moment later the pillow was ripped from his grasp.

“Grip the headboard if you need something to hold on to,” Wolf said, kissing his shoulder. “But I want to hear those sounds.”

A weak whimper left him. Wolf was going to be the death of him.

The sound of a cap clicked open, and Wolf nudged his knees apart. The position was an unusual one, his knees planted far apart and his spine arching like a ramp. His face flamed at the vulnerability of it, knowing every inch of him was exposed to the air—to Wolf.

“That’s it, just like that,” Wolf praised softly, one hand sliding up the arch of his spine and back down, prying his cheeks apart.

“Wolf, please,” he murmured, pressing his forehead to the mattress.

“I’ve got you, seidhr, don’t worry.”

A warm, slick finger pressed past the first ring of muscle, and Ira moaned. He hadn’t let anyone do this since he was a teenager, and if he was honest, it hadn’t been very good. Neither of them really knew what they were doing. It was enough to get them both off, but it was over quickly and not entirely pleasant. But this . The burning stretch was nothing compared to the sensation of fullness . A shuddery moan spilled from his mouth, and he canted his hips back for more.

Wolf’s other hand encircled his cock. It was only half-mast now, distracted as he was. A wet mouth kissed up the back of his thigh as his finger slowly pumped in and out, and his other hand gently tugged his cock back, between his legs. Ira whined at the stretch, arching his back as far as he could as Wolf’s hot mouth sucked him down from behind.

“Oh God ,” Ira cried out, rocking his hips back, working his cock into Wolf’s mouth and his ass back on his finger with each push. He was mad with pleasure, delirious with want. “More, please, more.”

Wolf’s moan vibrated down his length, and a second finger pressed inside him. Ira’s toes curled. The breath shuddered from his lungs, and his fingers twisted in the sheet below him. It was too much and not enough.

“Wolf, please. Please, I want you inside me! Please, come on.”

Rather than reply, a third finger stretched him open. Ira hollered as they pumped in and out with purpose, his hole sloppy with lube and saliva.

“Please, please, please,” he chanted.

And then everything disappeared. Ira rose up on his hands, taking a breath to shout in frustration, when Wolf’s sizable arms caught him around the waist, his cock fitting against the cleft of Ira’s ass.

“I’ve got you, seidhr,” he rumbled, reaching one hand down between them. “Hold onto the headboard and get ready to bear down.”

Ira obeyed. The plump head of Wolf’s cock pressed against his entrance, and he arched his back until he felt it pop inside. It burned , a brighter and fuller pain than even three of Wolf’s fingers had been.

“Fuck, you’re tight,” Wolf murmured. “You should’ve let me open you up more.”

“No, no, I want this,” Ira said, sweating as Wolf’s cock pressed deeper, burning him from within.

For so long, his visions had been just that. Visions of a future he wasn’t sure he’d ever experience. It seemed like such a distant concept, he and Wolf together, that he never really let himself believe they would happen. It was too farfetched to think of himself with a halfling. He wasn’t a field agent like Alex and Luke. He wasn’t out there in the trenches, coming into contact with demons of any kind. So Wolf became a distant, fanciful, taboo daydream. Yes, all of his visions seemed to come true, but somehow he’d talked himself out of believing Wolf would ever be a reality for him.

And yet here he was, in bed with Wolf and doing one of the very things he saw in those visions.

“Oh, God,” he sobbed. It was real. Really, truly real .

Wolf’s hands stroked up and down his sides. “Am I hurting you, seidhr?”

“Yes,” he confessed, threading their fingers together, “and no. Don’t ever stop.”

Wolf kissed his shoulder, finding his other hand on the headboard and gripping tight. He pulled out slowly and then pushed back in. In and out, deep and long strokes that drove Ira embarrassingly fast toward that hot peak. Pleasure coiled low and tight within him, like a snake readying a strike. He canted his hips back, meeting Wolf’s thrusts, and sparks of pleasure shot through him, making his eyes roll back.

“Harder, harder,” he pleaded.

Wolf groaned against his shoulder. “You’re fucking perfect.” He pounded into him, and Ira leaned heavily on the headboard, broken whines falling from his lips. “Touch yourself,” Wolf ordered. “I want to feel you come around me.”

Ira was a live wire. Two passes of his hand over his cock and he was gone, his vision whiting out and a scream tearing from his throat, his whole body spasming as his seed spilled over his fingers.

“Oh yeah,” Wolf growled, “there it is.” His fingers left trails of fire up Ira’s spine, tangling in his hair and forcing his head back. He rutted into Ira for another minute, and when his cock jerked, he moaned, sinking his teeth into the meat of Ira’s shoulder, hard enough to bruise but not to break the skin.

Ira gasped for breath, letting his head fall back on Wolf’s shoulder. Wolf guided them back, sitting on his heels and bringing Ira with him. With his legs spread wide and Wolf still inside him, his spent cock gave a weak jerk at the enticing new position. Like this, Wolf’s hands roamed his front, stroking his hairy thighs, his sensitive length, his sweat-damp stomach and chest.

“Did I die?” Ira croaked.

Wolf laughed, hugging him tight. “Possibly. This is as close to heaven as I’ll ever get.”

Ira flushed. “Flatterer.”

“If the truth flatters you, so be it.”

Ira sighed, turning his head and nuzzling closer. “Can we stay like this forever?”

“That depends.”

“On?”

“If you want breakfast.”

Ira opened his eyes. He’d forgotten all about food. His stomach gurgled hopefully at the prospect, and Wolf smiled.

“Your body seems to.”

“My body wants lots of things.” He carded his fingers into Wolf’s loose hair and guided him in for a kiss that grew slick and hot. Wolf sucked on his tongue, his crimson eyes glittering with delight as he fucked up into Ira, who let out a shocked moan. He was so oversensitive, he couldn’t tell if it felt good or ached.

“I’m a demon, seidhr,” Wolf warned with a wicked grin. “I will outlast you for stamina. Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

“Maybe I want to,” he groaned.

With a dark and eager gaze, Wolf’s hands fell to Ira’s hips, guiding him forward and back, working him on Wolf’s cock. Ira trembled, his eyes rolling as his cock began to fill once more. God, it felt so intense. He clung to Wolf as best as he could, fingers gripping his hair and the hand that gripped Ira’s hip. His thighs burned, but he didn’t care, rocking back and forth. Soon Wolf was meeting his thrusts, little grunts and groans coming from him like he’d completely lost his mind to sensation. Ira knew the feeling. Sweat prickled along his body. Everything felt hot and liquid, like melted caramel.

He turned his head, licking into Wolf’s mouth sloppily, and one of Wolf’s hands wrapped around his slowly hardening cock. A whine left his mouth, his body fighting between tensing and loosening. He was mindless, just the press of Wolf’s cock against his prostate and the tunnel of rigid fingers around his own length.

“Oh, God,” he moaned, hurtling toward a second release. “Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh—” He broke off, his spine bowing hard as he came for a second time, shrieking desperately as his body spasmed.

Wolf laughed brightly, peppering him with kisses as he moaned through his own orgasm, pinning Ira’s hips down as he filled him up a second time.

Ira’s breaths were loud and ragged. “No more,” he relented. “No more. Mercy.”

“It was your idea,” Wolf said, still laughing.

“I have regrets,” Ira declared. “Now I’m stuck. I can’t move. My legs don’t work.”

“Here.” Wolf helped him rise, and they both hissed when his spent cock finally slipped from Ira’s abused hole. As soon as Wolf shuffled aside, Ira let himself fall backward, collapsing in a heap on the mattress.

“That was… nice,” he said to the ceiling.

“Only nice? Damn, I’ll have to try harder,” Wolf said.

Ira whimpered. “No, please, anything but that.”

A laugh rattled out of Wolf as he left the room. When he returned, he had a warm washcloth in hand, which he used to clean between Ira’s legs, his hands gentle and warm. Ira’s face heated. No one had ever done that for him before. Today was a day for new experiences, it seemed.

“Here, dress,” Wolf said, digging some boxer briefs and sweatpants from his duffel. “I’ll go heat up the pizza.”

“‘Kay,” he croaked.

Eventually, he levered himself upright and dressed, grabbing the nearest T-shirt and snorting to himself when it swamped him. The humming of the microwave caught his attention, and he smiled to himself as he headed for the door.

The vision sucked him under just as he passed into the living room. He caught a glimpse of Wolf turning toward him, and then?—

Ira was running through an abandoned building, an open space with a wooden floor and a tall ceiling. There was a short, half-wall separating the room into two sections. Empty, square cubbies lined one wall. His heart pounded, his grip on the sword painfully tight.

“Ira, duck!”

He dropped to the floor, and a monster sailed over his head, its black skin like hot coals, cracked with molten orange. The scent of sulfur hung in the air.

A hand grabbed his arm, yanking him to his feet. “We told you to wait outside with the kids,” Alex said sternly.

Ira gasped, twisted in his grip, and plunged a blade into one of the black creatures sneaking up behind Alex. “And that’s why I couldn’t,” he responded breathlessly.

“Ira. Ira! Seidhr, you’ve got to give me something here. Are you okay?”

Pain lanced through his skull. Where was he? What happened? “Ow. ”

“What the hell happened? You just collapsed! I thought you were having a stroke or something.”

He was on the floor, slumped against the wall. Wolf knelt in front of him, gripping his shoulders hard enough to bruise.

“No, sorry, you haven’t sexed me to death yet,” Ira joked.

“Ira…” The use of his name had Ira meeting Wolf’s bleak gaze. “I thought something was really wrong.”

Ira reached for him, gentling Wolf’s grip on his shoulders and drawing him in for a quick kiss. “It was a vision, Wolf, I’m okay.”

“Do they always do that? Make you lose your faculties?”

“The big ones, yeah. There’s a reason we go to quiet rooms and meditate to have them. But sometimes they take us by surprise. I usually try to sit down somewhere if I feel one coming. I didn’t feel this one at all.” It wasn’t the first time he’d been taken by surprise, but it always sucked when it happened.

“What did you see?”

Ira blinked in surprise. Most people didn’t ask him that. They weren’t allowed to at the guild. He would log it for the council and keep it to himself. Telling Wolf what he saw would be novel—and he’d cherish it. But if he was going to do this, Wolf would need to understand what a responsibility it was to know things.

“Help me up,” he said, wiggling his fingers. Wolf took his hands and pulled him effortlessly to his feet. “I’m going to sit down. You grab the food, and then we’ll talk.”

Wolf hovered over him until he was sitting on the couch, then fetched the pizza from the kitchen. When they were both seated with the pizza on the coffee table in front of them, Ira turned to face him .

“Okay, ground rules.”

“Rules? For what?”

“The visions. Here’s how things operate at the guild: prophets log every vision they have with their supervisors. Even if I have a vision of someone doing paperwork, I have to log it. The supervisors send the log to the council. The council decides what’s a priority, like if someone’s life is in danger or whatever. Sloan will assign cases to the paladin squads based on our visions. It’s how they do most of their work. They rely on the prophets’ division to function.”

“Interesting. Sort of. You don’t have to worry about any of that now,” Wolf said, his brow furrowed as he tried to understand.

“Right. But part of the rule in the guild is that no one can ask a prophet what they know. It might mess up the balance. If a prophet tells someone they’re going to die, that person might not go on the mission that kills them. But if they don’t go, maybe an innocent dies.” He waved a hand. “It’s a whole big thing. Don’t ask the prophets questions, that’s the takeaway.”

“So I’m not allowed to ask you questions?”

“No, you are! That’s what I’m getting at. I don’t want it to be like that with you. But if I share what I know with you, you have to keep the secrets, too.” It was asking a lot, Ira knew. Maybe not the most he’d asked of Wolf since they met last night, but being the keeper of knowledge like this was a heavy responsibility sometimes.

Wolf shrugged. “Okay.”

Ira wasn’t sure he understood the gravity of what he was saying, so he tossed out a scenario. “If I tell you about a vision where Talon dies, you can’t tell him. ”

He narrowed his eyes. “You saw a vision where I was attacked and intervened.”

Ira hesitated. “Yes, but… the reality played out exactly as the vision showed me it would. I didn’t see the part where I showed up. I only saw what happened leading up to it. My interference didn’t actually change the vision itself. I’m… not sure we can change the visions themselves, actually. No one I know ever has.” There might’ve been a case in the guild’s history where a vision had been altered—to detrimental ends. Maybe that was why they had all those rules in place. Ira didn’t know, and it was too late to find out.

“So you’re not saying we can’t change things, just that you’ve never seen it done?”

Ira hesitated. Again. He didn’t know . “I…”

Wolf smiled, leaning in to kiss him. “You don’t make decisions well.”

“Hey,” he protested, but it was weak. He couldn’t argue with the truth.

“It’s okay. How about you tell me things, and we’ll decide together? I’m a bartender. I’m used to people telling me things they don’t want others to know.”

Ira snorted. “Okay, well. In the vision I had just now, I was… in a dark building. It looked old, abandoned. I had a sword —which is shocking, because I’m not a field guy—and Alex was there. There were these black demon things chasing us. Alex said something about kids waiting outside.” He frowned. “It looked kind of familiar…”

“The building?”

“Yeah.”

“Describe it to me.”

He did, remembering the open space with the wooden floor, the sectioned-off corner in the distance .

“It almost sounds like a bar,” Wolf mused. “Like a dance floor.”

Ira frowned thoughtfully. “Not a bar, I don’t think. There was this partition… like a waist-high wall separating it from the other side of the room. And there were these square cubbies against the wall like—oh my God it was the Rink.” He stood, adrenaline flooding his body. He’d seen the Rink many times in his visions. It was important, but he’d never seen how they found it before. He’d thought maybe Alex and Luke would find it on their own.

“Oh your god it was the what?” Wolf repeated.

“The Rink! The Rink! It’s a…” He deflated, recalling how bad it looked in this new vision. “It’s a shithole .” He sat down hard, bouncing on the cushion. He’d seen the finished product, after they’d fixed it up and turned it into what it could be—what it would be.

Wolf sputtered out a laugh. “I’ve never heard you cuss before.”

“It’s gonna take so much work . It’s all —” He sighed, carding his fingers through his messy hair. “It’s all going to be so much work. Finding it, clearing it out, cleaning it up, setting up the new operation.” He keeled over, using Wolf’s thigh as a pillow. “We must be getting started soon.”

“I have no idea what you’re saying right now. We’re taking over a skating rink?”

Ira rolled onto his back, peering up at Wolf hopefully. “We?”

Wolf combed his fingers through Ira’s hair. “Of course. Where you go, I go. We’re in this together, aren’t we?”

Ira smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, we are.”

After a slice of pizza, Ira borrowed Wolf’s phone and went to the bedroom to call Nathan. He didn’t think it was safe enough to meet in-person, so a phone call would have to do. If it were anyone else, he wouldn’t trust them with Wolf’s phone number, but Nathan was different. Nathan was trustworthy.

He sat on the foot of the bed and dialed the number, glancing back at the mussed blankets with a curl of warmth in his chest.

“ Hello? ” Nathan sounded confused. Ira was surprised he’d answered an unknown number at all.

“Captain, it’s Ira Faer. Are you in a secure location?”

“ Um—one moment .” Ira heard the distant clacking of wood meeting wood. He must’ve been out on the training yard. Right, it was almost noon. He’d been up past dawn and slept far later than usual. “ Okay, I can talk. What’s up? This isn’t the number you gave us yesterday. ”

“No. I… I’ve left the guild.”

“ Wait, what? What do you mean? ”

“I mean, I packed my stuff, I left my apartment, and I’m not going back. I left the phone and the laptop and the car and even the ring behind. I can’t go back.”

“ Why? What happened? ”

“I… I’m one of them. I’m with Alex and Luke and the halflings. I’ve been having visions about?—”

“ You’re not supposed to tell me ? — ”

“No, shut up, you need to hear this. I’ve been having visions about the halflings. Alex and Luke and I, we can all see that the halflings aren’t evil. I know you see it, too. For now, I just wanted you to know that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.” It was vague, but it had to be.

There was a moment of silence, followed by Nathan’s gusty sigh against the microphone. “ Okay. You know they’ll come after you. When you don’t show up, they’ll come looking. ”

“I know. They won’t find me.”

“ What if they come looking near the demon club? ”

“It’s not like I’m hanging out and getting drunk.”

Nathan’s snort of laughter filled his ear. “ No, I know. But are there demons there who would rat you out? ”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“ Good. Will… Will everything work out? ”

Ira sighed. Wolf appeared in the doorway, leaning artfully against the frame with his thumbs hooked in his pockets. He gestured for Wolf to come closer, and the demon obeyed, slinking into the room and settling on his knees in front of him.

“I think so?” Ira answered as Wolf’s forearms rested on the mattress on either side of him. “I haven’t seen everything yet, but I can tell things are falling into place like they’re supposed to be. Just do like you said yesterday. Keep your heads down for now. If you need anything, call this number. And if you… If you hear anything about them moving on the club, warn us if you can?”

“ Absolutely. Be safe out there, Ira. I… I can’t afford to inform anyone that you’ve left the guild, so they’ll find out in time when they investigate your disappearance. ”

“That’s fine. As soon as they send someone to my apartment, they’ll know. They won’t like it, but they won’t be able to find me.”

“ Good. I’ll be in touch .”

“Go with God, then.”

“ You as well .”

He hung up and tossed the phone aside, noting the way Wolf’s hands had curled possessively around his hips. “ Don’t start anything with me right now. I’m physically incapable of coming again after this morning.”

Wolf snorted. “I had no intention.” At Ira’s arch look, he amended, “All right, I considered it, but I have no intention now .”

Ira chortled.

“How are you feeling? Was he receptive?”

“He was. Nathan was Alex’s captain. He’s a good man. One of the few who’s taken issue with Sloan’s new orders. He seems to be gathering a few like-minded individuals in the guild. It’s promising, and we’ll need all the allies we can get.”

Wolf looked troubled at that. “What’s going to happen in our future, seidhr?”

Ira pursed his lips. “I haven’t seen it all. But it’ll be… hard. For a while.”

“But we’ll come out the other side? We’ll be okay?”

There was a lot Ira didn’t know, huge gaps in his knowledge of what was to come. But there was one image he’d had months ago that he clung to—one of him and Wolf standing together in a vast library. A familiar library.

“I think so,” he said. “I don’t know how far into the future it will be, but yeah. I think we’ll be okay.”