Page 14

Chapter 14

Storm

Nathan dozed for a while longer, and later that morning, Storm was already awake when Nathan stirred, curling toward Storm’s body heat and burying his face in his neck. Midmorning light streamed in through the curtains they hadn’t bothered to shut last night, making the room uncomfortably bright, but none of the beams actually hit Storm or the bed itself. Even if he’d been directly in the sun’s path, he wouldn’t have moved. Holding Nathan through the night was a dream come true, and he wanted to kick his past self for sneaking off before morning last time when he could’ve had this that much sooner. Ira was right, he was an idiot. But he was an idiot who’d learned his lesson, at least in this regard.

“Morning,” Nathan rasped, angling his head back to blink up at him. His hair was mussed, and there was a pillow crease on the side of his face. “For real this time. I have to get up.”

“If you must,” Storm replied. He’d much rather continue laying here with a naked Nathan in his arms.

“I must,” Nathan said regretfully. “I have to go to HQ and give my report about last night.”

A low growl rattled out of Storm at the reminder.

Nathan raised his head, smiling at him. “Don’t worry. HQ is perfectly safe.”

That was also debatable, but he didn’t want to remind Nathan of the precarious nature of their secret relationship right now. Not when things were finally so good between them.

“I also need to check in with Doctor Maxwell. The sooner we find out what that pill was, the better.”

Storm grumbled under his breath. He supposed that was true, but he was loath to let Nathan leave his sight. He’d been in bad shape last night. Storm didn’t even want to think about what might’ve happened to him if he hadn’t been lurking outside his house. A demon with far less affection for him might’ve stumbled across him, sobbing and vulnerable, and seized an opportunity.

“I have a job for you, anyway,” Nathan said, sitting up and yawning.

“What’s that?” Storm asked, following him upright.

“Go to the Rink and tell the others about what happened. And—I know Sloan technically took me off this case, but he can’t stop you guys from investigating it.” He hesitated, eyes narrowing, and then added, “And he can’t stop me from helping you. I’d like to go to the demon club and ask around about the drug. There’s got to be some kind of plan, right? Multiple possessors are trying to do this. It has to be for a reason.”

Storm nodded slowly. Going back to In Extremis after their time away might make the halflings a little more tight-lipped than usual, because Lilith still blamed them for the attack on the club. No one would want to help them and risk getting on Lilith’s bad side. But if they asked Talon to come along, too, maybe they could talk to Lilith herself.

“We can make it work,” Storm said. “You come by the Rink tonight, and we’ll take you to the club. Surely somebody knows something. Lilith may not like it, but she probably won’t like knowing people are dying, either. Anything that points the paladins in her direction pisses her off. We can warn her they’re coming to question her, too. Maybe that’ll make her more cooperative.”

Nathan studied him with a soft frown. “Are things bad there? I don’t want you to come if it’ll put any of you in danger.”

“Not so bad that I’m willing to let you go alone,” Storm said seriously. He never thought he’d find anything that was worth facing down an angry Lilith. But he’d do anything for Nathan. Anything. “She’s pissed that the paladins attacked her club. If we warn her that the paladins are planning to come back over this pill situation, maybe she’ll let bygones be bygones.”

“You think so?”

Storm shrugged. “It’s worth a try, because you’re right. These possessors are doing this for a reason. And it seems like they’re targeting paladins.” He leaned in and brushed his lips against Nathan’s shoulder. “You’re not safe.”

Nathan smiled softly. “I hunt demons. I’m never really safe.”

Storm pulled him closer. “You are with me.”

He wanted to kiss Nathan’s reddening cheeks, but instead Nathan pecked him on the lips and slid away.

“I can’t live in a bubble, Storm.”

Groaning, Storm stood and fetched his clothes from last night while Nathan stepped into the bathroom. He’d left his and Nathan’s discarded things from last night in the living room, piled on the sofa. After he dressed, he set the coffee to brewing.

When Nathan emerged, smelling like fresh deodorant and minty toothpaste, he was taping some clean gauze into place over the stitched-up bite wound on his forearm.

“You should let me heal that,” Storm said, batting his hand away and fixing the tape into place for him.

Nathan frowned in confusion. “Heal it? You can do that? How?”

“Our blood has healing properties. If you ingest it, it’ll heal you.” Slow heat moved through Storm at the thought. If Nathan agreed to take some of his blood, they’d probably wind up back in bed.

Nathan stared. Blinked. Stared some more. “Really?”

“Mm-hm. It would heal you as well as it heals me. Which is to say, you’d basically be immortal while it was in your system.”

He couldn’t tell if Nathan’s blank expression was good or bad. “Wh-What? Seriously?”

Storm nodded. “It’s the only reason Luke survived the attack from the paladins when he was banished.”

“Luke… The others all do this? They’re all—what, immortal?”

Storm’s nose scrunched. “I think so. It’s not like I’ve gone out of my way to ask. I never really wanted to hear about their sex life, know what I mean?”

“Sex life,” Nathan repeated, his voice high. “Sex life—it’s a sex thing? You’re demons , of course it’s a sex thing, forget I said that. They drink blood ?”

“Just a little. It’s not like it takes a lot.” He took a breath to say more, to tell Nathan he didn’t have to if he didn’t want to, but Nathan slapped a hand over his mouth.

“No, wait, hang on,” he said. When his hand fell away, it lingered on Storm’s chest, his thumb brushing a tiny wrinkle in the fabric of his shirt. “That’s a lot of information to digest. Um.” He shook himself, then met Storm’s eyes with an earnest look. “Thank you for the offer. I can’t accept right now, because Maxwell would’ve given a report to Sloan about my injuries. If I show up miraculously healed, it’ll be too suspicious.”

He tried not to pout, but if Nathan’s widening smile was any indication, he didn’t succeed.

“I’m not saying no forever,” Nathan continued. “Just not this time. Not when there’s a risk we’ll be discovered. I won’t put you in danger.”

Storm brushed the gauze with his fingers. “This will scar.”

Nathan’s sigh was a weary gust. “It won’t be my first.”

With an unhappy growl, Storm crushed Nathan against him, ignoring his halfhearted sputtering and instead focused on the way Nathan’s arms wrapped around his waist without hesitation.

“Oh, yeah, I have something for you before we go,” Nathan said, squirming until Storm released him. He opened up a drawer near the coffeemaker. The contents within rattled, and Storm leaned around Nathan to see that it was filled with junk. Pens, post-its, loose change, paper clips, screwdrivers, scotch tape. Nathan picked something out and closed the drawer, turning around to hand it to Storm.

It was a key.

“What…” He took it slowly, uncomprehending.

Nathan took a fortifying breath. “It’s a key to the house. You… showed me last night that I can trust you in my worst moments. I can’t keep pretending I don’t feel something when I do. It’s crazy fast, but I don’t care. You’re welcome here, whenever you?—”

“Always,” Storm said quickly. “I want to be here always. With you, by your side, no matter what.” He lunged forward, kissing him hard. Nathan’s hand—and the key—were trapped between their chests. “No one’s ever given me a key before.”

Nathan’s laughter against his mouth was sweet. “Glad I got to be one of your firsts.”

“Firsts don’t matter, sunshine. You’re my only, and that’s all that matters.”

Nathan’s lips parted, awestruck, and a blush crawled up his neck. “You can’t just say stuff like that,” he breathed.

Storm smirked. “Try and stop me.”

* * *

Eventually, Storm had to concede to Nathan’s plans for the day. On his way to the Rink, he sent a text in the group chat and requested they all meet him there. Some of them were likely already there, but he only wanted to tell this story once. He didn’t want to relive the moment he’d discovered Nathan on the front lawn any more than he had to.

Talon’s car was absent from the parking lot when he arrived, as was Shadrach’s, but that wasn’t surprising. He found both demons waiting inside with the others when he entered. Not for the first time, he envied their ability to teleport wherever they wanted to go.

They were all huddled around a steaming carafe of coffee at the snack bar, passing the box of sugar around and adding various creamers to their cups. Storm swore each one of them preferred a different flavor.

“Why are we here so early?” Alex asked, yawning.

Storm debated having a cup of coffee, but he didn’t trust himself not to crush the little styrofoam cup. He folded his arms, deciding to barrel right into it. “Nate was attacked last night.”

The humans looked far more alarmed than the demons, who showed only mild interest at the statement.

“What? Is he okay?” Luke asked.

“He’s mostly fine. He’s got a bite wound on his arm and some scratches. It was another possessed human. It tried to force a pill down his throat.”

Alex’s eyes widened, and Talon’s head tilted.

“He didn’t swallow it,” Storm added quickly, and all the humans relaxed. “He gave it to the guild’s doctor to analyze.”

Talon rolled his eyes. “That’s a shame. I would’ve liked to have seen it for myself.”

Ira folded his arms, looking discomfited. His hair spilled in loose curls around his face and shoulders. “I’m sorry, Storm. I didn’t see anything about this attack. Is he really okay?”

Storm forced himself to take a deep, calming breath. He was beyond pissed about what Nathan endured last night, but it wasn’t Ira’s fault. “Yeah, he’s okay. He was pretty shaken, but he seemed better this morning. It’s not your fault for not seeing it. It’s not like you get to choose your visions.”

Wolf nodded, wrapping an arm around Ira.

Storm sighed. “The truth is… he and the other paladins tried to do an exorcism and save the human, but it didn’t work. The demon broke through just like that footage he showed us, and Nate… ended the human’s life. It severed the connection that the possessor was using and prevented it from breaking free.”

“Wait, wait,” Talon said. “You’re saying it was breaking free? The human wasn’t quite dead, and the demon was on its way out when Nathan killed the human to keep the possessor from getting out?”

Storm nodded wordlessly.

“That’s not what happened in the footage we saw,” Talon said, glancing around at the others. “The human’s chest exploded, and he died. But this new one, it was almost out.”

“They’re learning how to do it,” Ira said grimly. “And they’re getting better at it.”

“What happens when one of them breaks out?” Alex asked. “What’s their plan?”

“That’s what we need to figure out,” Storm said. “Nathan wants to come by tonight and go to In Extremis. He thinks someone there might know something.”

“That could be,” Wolf said reluctantly, “but whether they’re willing to talk to us now is the real issue.”

Storm’s eyes slid to Talon. “That’s why I was hoping a heavy hitter like yourself might tag along.”

Talon gave a grudging sigh, and Shadrach laughed.

“We’d be happy to,” Alex said with a beatific smile, leaning into Talon’s side.

Talon shook his head, looking resigned. “You know, my life was a lot easier before you came along, little bird.”

Alex wasn’t fazed. “Yeah, but you just had to have me.”

Talon’s face softened, and he kissed Alex’s forehead. At one time, Storm would’ve rolled his eyes—like Shadrach was doing—but now, it just made him miss Nathan. It would be hours before he was able to pry himself away from HQ and sneak over to the Rink.

Talon looked at Storm. “Fine, we’ll meet your human here tonight and go piss Lilith off a little more. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Malachi snorted out a laugh.

He’d been on the fence about the humans at one time, but he was more grateful for them than ever now. They would make sure the others didn’t turn their backs on him and Nathan, and loath as he was to admit it, Storm would probably need their help to keep him safe.