Page 19 of Wicked (Dark Delights #5)

Isaac

Isaac hailed a cab as soon as he found a busy road and promised the driver payment on arrival. Luckily the driver was understanding. The world outside passed in a midnight blur as Isaac barreled toward HQ. Toward home.

It was still home. So why did it feel like he’d left a part of himself behind?

The feeling of wrongness continued as the cab pulled up in the circular drive before the ruined administrative building.

“ Whoa ,” the driver breathed, staring at the wreckage. “What happened here?”

“Fire,” Isaac said dully. “Wait right here. “I’ll be back with payment. Keep the meter running until I get back.” He didn’t mind paying a little extra to thank the man for trusting him.

“If you insist.”

He unfolded himself from the car and inhaled the sweet scent of the grove behind the buildings, carried on a cool breeze.

Wispy clouds passed in front of the moon, and Isaac fought the urge to get back in the car.

It was stupid. He didn’t want to go back to being a captive, did he?

Whatever happened back in that shower was a moment of weakness.

Surely demons like Shadrach couldn’t really feel emotions the way humans did.

It wasn’t like he cared about Isaac. That would be…

ludicrous. He was tempting Isaac, that was all.

Halflings liked to tempt humans to commit their sins willingly, or so he’d heard.

That was why they ran that club. They lured humans in and urged them to give in to all their darkest desires.

Shaking himself, he strode toward the apartment building. Gravel crunched under his sneakers—the only thing left from his original outfit—and he drew up short when the side door opened and a familiar figure emerged.

A fresh-faced paladin who’d just graduated last spring—and whose name Isaac couldn’t remember for the life of him—staggered down the steps as his eyes landed on Isaac.

They’d never exchanged more than casual greetings, but now, the boy’s face broke into a grin like Isaac was the best thing he’d ever seen.

“Holy crap, it’s you!”

Isaac was so tired he glanced behind him to see if the kid was actually addressing someone else.

“Morrow, we’ve been looking everywhere for you!” he exclaimed, leaping off the stoop and stopping in front of him, looking him up and down as though inspecting him for injury. “Are you okay? Where the hell have you been?”

“I’ve—I’ve been…” He stopped, glancing over his shoulder. “I need to pay the driver.”

The young paladin reached into the pocket of his flannel pajamas and withdrew his wallet.

“I’ll take care of that.” He waved his wallet with a weak grin.

“Lucky I brought this. I was going to get some snacks out of the rec center machines. Here, take my phone and call Sloan. He’ll be ecstatic you’re back. ”

There had never been a time in his life that Sloan was ecstatic to see him. Although, there had never been a time when he’d gone missing for two days, either.

The kid started toward the cab, but Isaac snagged his arm.

“Wait. Weston. Somebody found his body, right?”

The kid’s eyes widened again. “Oh, yeah. Along with the breakfast food Sloan said he’d given you to give to him.”

“What do they think happened?” He needed to know. Did they blame him? Did they suspect the Sentinels?

The kid shrugged one shoulder. “A demon snuck in while the wards have been down, killed Weston and possibly you.” He gestured to the phone in Isaac’s hands. “Call Sloan. I’ll be right back.”

“Right.”

He’d never wanted to do anything less. Sloan would have questions, and it would be wrong for Isaac not to answer. But knowing that didn’t settle the nervous twist to his stomach. Reluctantly, he dialed Sloan’s number and raised the phone to his ear.

Because the administrative building was unsafe until a full inspection had been done and restoration had begun, Isaac was led to Sloan’s apartment on the first floor.

It was bigger than Isaac’s little studio, practically sprawling in comparison, with a wall that separated his living room from his kitchen and a full-sized dining table in front of the windows.

It seemed like a waste of space to Isaac, since Sloan had no family.

He sat at the head of the table with a cup of coffee while Sloan paced in front of the windows to his left, wearing jeans and a plain T-shirt that looked hastily thrown on. Even like this, he was imposing, his gaze raking over Isaac when his pacing brought him close.

“And then what happened? After you saw Weston’s body?”

Isaac licked his lips, setting his coffee down. It felt like acid in his stomach. “I woke up tied to a chair. I found out I was taken by a demon named…” He paused. There was no going back after this. The Sentinels would truly be Enemy Number One the moment the words left his lips.

“Named?” Sloan prompted coldly.

He had no other choice. It was wrong to lie, and Sloan would know if he did. “Talon.”

Sloan’s face smoothed with understanding. “Hawk’s demon.”

“Yes.”

“Why? What did they want?”

“They wanted to know our plans for them. They wanted to know why I had been reporting to you about the dissenters. Apparently, Talon was dealing with Weston and overheard our conversation outside the prison that morning.”

Sloan turned away, his hand clenching into a fist. “We have to find a way to renew the wards here. It’s not safe . He could be neither the first nor the last demon to sneak past our defenses.” He returned his sharp gaze to Isaac. “What else?”

“N-Nothing, that’s mostly it.” He couldn’t tell Sloan they’d tortured him without raising the question of why he had no wounds.

Admitting he’d been given demon blood, even unwillingly, would likely have consequences he would rather risk lying to avoid.

“The humans in the group wouldn’t let them do much actual torture.

They starved me instead. I think they probably would’ve tried other, more painful tactics if I’d stuck around long enough. ”

“And how did you escape?”

Isaac’s throat bobbed. “Tonight, they had only one demon on duty while the rest went home to get some rest. I waited until he took me to the bathroom to let me relieve myself and shower. I made my move then. Hit him over the head with the toilet tank lid and ran. Hailed the first cab I saw and begged him to let me pay him when I arrived. God was truly watching over me tonight.” The words stung his throat as they left, and he ignored the spike of pain in his chest. He couldn’t explain where it came from. He told himself he was just tired.

“Where was this place located? Where were they holding you?”

Isaac met Sloan’s eyes. Cold crept down his spine. Something in him wanted to resist, but resisting would hurt. He came back here because staying with the guild was the right thing to do. Telling Sloan where they could be found was the right thing to do … wasn’t it?

“Paladin Morrow,” Sloan said sternly. He wouldn’t accept anything but the truth.

Isaac’s gaze fell. “They’re working out of an old skating rink. I don’t know exactly where.” He rattled off a few of the street signs he remembered seeing on his mad run to the nearest crowded area, ignoring the uneasy twist in his gut .

Sloan studied him for a long, unnerving moment. “And what else?”

Isaac blinked up at him. “What?”

“There’s something else. You lie very well, Isaac, but it’s actually your lack of tells that gives you away.”

Sloan’s eyes were too piercing, and Isaac frowned down at his cooling coffee. “They didn’t just starve me. They tried other things to get me to talk. At least I think that’s what they were doing.”

“What other things?”

Isaac wilted. Admitting what Shadrach had done to him was admitting a weakness. Admitting he’d liked it . He would be shamed and punished. Hawley would be beside himself that Isaac had let a demon defile him. Maybe they would banish him. Maybe they would kill him.

Maybe he would deserve it.

“They tempted me,” he rasped. “They told me to leave the guild, that I could stay there and work with them. One of the demons, he—he wanted to touch me. Make me feel things.” His face burned, and he didn’t dare look up at Sloan.

Sloan hummed. His calculating expression didn’t change. “You did right by resisting and returning to us. Tonight, I want you to go up to your apartment and rest. Tomorrow, you’ll go to Hawley and confess to everything. Every dark thought, every temptation. He will absolve you of your sins.”

A little shiver went down Isaac’s spine. “Yes, Commander.”

He stood stiffly, saluting and turning away so Sloan couldn’t read the anguish on his face. Outside the apartment, he pushed open the door to the nearest stairwell and walked up the concrete steps in a daze. It felt like there was a hook in his chest, trying to pull him in the wrong direction.

He ignored it.

His apartment was cold and quiet. He’d been here not long ago, but it seemed like years. He scarcely felt like the same man he’d been two days ago. Letting Shadrach touch him had cracked something open inside him, and he didn’t know how to glue it back together.

In the darkness, he kicked off his sneakers and trudged to the bed. He sat down, braced his hands on the edge of the mattress, and stared at the floor between his feet.

This was the right thing to do. They’d kidnapped him, tortured him, hurt him.

They’d also healed him, given him fresh clothes, let him shower.

He couldn’t help thinking back on the moment when Shadrach stepped into the shower with him.

The relief he’d felt when Shadrach pinned his wrists to the wall.

Surrendering all control to the demon had felt rapturous.

He’d never experienced a moment of such pure, perfect pleasure before—which was all the evidence he needed that it was wrong .

Anything that brought him happiness was punished.

Being with Shadrach had to be the worst sin he’d ever committed.

Otherwise it wouldn’t have felt so good.