Page 24 of Wicked (Dark Delights #5)

Isaac

Isaac drove like a madman, and he was lucky he didn’t run into any cops on his way back to the Rink.

He couldn’t remember exactly where it was, and panic had its hooks in him as he drove in circles in the area until he finally spied it down the street.

There were cars in the parking lot, and he passed two familiar, black SUVs on his way to the building.

They were already there. He hoped he wasn’t too late.

He skidded tires behind the various expensive cars parked in the craggy parking lot and threw himself from the sedan, grabbing his knives and barreling toward the door.

He saw the bright light through the glass before he opened the door, and an anguished sound left him. Was he too late? Was it already happening? Did he arrive just in time to watch Shadrach die?

The paladin with the Enochian stones, Ryan, was standing with his back to the door, and the demons were cowering on the floor from the light.

Black blood trickled from their eyes, ears, and noses.

They were screaming in pain, and the paladins were holding off the Sentinels from helping.

It was too bright for Isaac to see Shadrach clearly, but he caught a glimpse of black slacks and a white dress shirt through squinting, watering eyes.

Isaac didn’t know how to stop the light from shining, so he grabbed Ryan from behind and dove outside with him. The door swung open from the force of their momentum, and they landed hard on the pavement. The stones bounced out of his hands, and the blinding light disappeared.

“What—”

Isaac didn’t give him a chance to speak. He brought his blades down hard, stabbing Ryan through the heart the same way he was taught to kill a demon. Ryan choked, his face slackening with shock.

That was the second human being he’d killed tonight.

He yanked his knives out and rushed back inside.

They were all fighting. The Sentinels were still outnumbered, trying desperately to keep the paladins from getting to the demons, who hadn’t recovered from the light. Shadrach was among them, sprawled on his side, gasping for breath and coughing up black blood.

Isaac didn’t think. The paladins had their backs to him, distracted by the enemies at their front.

He slit the throats of two before anyone realized he was there.

He recognized all of them, but he felt nothing at the prospect of killing them.

The first one who turned to attack him was sloppy.

He dodged Shawn’s blade and left his knife in his gut.

Using Shawn’s sword, he cut down Ben next.

Slammed Joel’s head into the glass snack bar, broke Brian’s neck.

“You!”

Isaac whirled—and ducked under Frederic’s swinging sword .

“I always knew you’d turn on us like a rabid dog!” he snarled. “I tried to warn people about you!”

Their blades clashed again and again.

“I should’ve known you’d betray us for the monsters just like they did.” He swung, and Isaac leaned back to dodge under it. “You fit right in with them. I bet you’d even like Hell. That’s where all the monsters like you belong!”

“You know what?” Isaac slammed into him, pinning their swords between their bodies.

“Maybe you’re right,” he said through his teeth, and he realized how true the words were as he said them.

“Maybe I would like it. If that’s where I’m meant to go, so be it.

If Heaven is where people like you go, I’d rather be elsewhere. ”

“You’re a fucking psycho!” Frederic said.

Isaac smiled, feral and mean. “You don’t get to call me that,” he said in a singsong voice.

Frederic’s arms shook, failing him, and Isaac’s stolen blade reached his throat, sinking in deep and spilling red.

He dragged it through the white canvas of his flesh, opening it up like a river undammed.

Crimson gushed from the wound, and Isaac laughed.

It was beautiful. It was perfect. He waited until Frederic’s eyes went blank and the river of blood slowed, then dropped the body like a broken toy.

When he turned around, he realized everyone was staring at him.

The paladins were dead. The demons were all still alive, and when his eyes met Shadrach’s, everything else faded away.

A fragile feeling took hold inside him, and he dropped his blades as Shadrach pushed himself to his feet.

Black blood streaked from his ears, eyes, and nose, but his expression was clear and unmarred by pain.

He was okay, and his midnight gaze trailed down Isaac’s body.

He could only imagine what he looked like. He was even more bloody now, Hawley’s blood painted over by the paladins’. His hair was coming loose from the bun he’d put it in hours ago, tangled and wild.

He was right back where he’d wanted so badly to escape, and this time he didn’t know what he’d do if he wasn’t allowed to stay .

“I’m so sorry,” he croaked.

Shadrach’s face hardened. “You’re not leaving again.”

Hope soared through him even as Shadrach stalked toward him like a man possessed.

“You’re not fucking leaving me again. You’re never going back there or I swear to your fucking god that I’ll hunt you down and drag you back.”

“I won’t. I can’t.” A hysterical laugh bubbled out of him. He opened his mouth to say more, but Shadrach cut him off with a searing kiss that tasted like his strangely sweet black blood.

Isaac muffled a sound of relief between their lips.

Shadrach’s hands clawed at him as though to merge their bodies into one.

His hands scooped under Isaac’s thighs, lifting him up, and then the world around them blurred.

Isaac recognized the sensation—it was the same one that Talon had used to drag him from HQ that fateful day.

When it all came to a wild and nauseating stop, they were in a darkened apartment.

Tasteful, dark-brown leather furniture sat at one end of the room.

Soft lights in the corners kept total darkness from encroaching.

Expensive-looking, colorful art pieces hung on the cream-colored walls.

Soft rugs covered the polished wood floor.

On the other side of the room was an open kitchen with a wide island and a trio of stools.

Gleaming, stainless steel appliances sat in silence.

The dishwasher, he noted, had a small LED light on.

Did that mean there were clean dishes inside?

He couldn’t imagine Shadrach doing something as mundane as dishes .

“Where…?”

A staircase sat in the corner beside the kitchen, leading up to a short hallway and a closed door. The exit, he thought.

“My apartment,” Shadrach said, his arms tightening like he thought Isaac might want to get down.

“Why did you bring me here?” He didn’t dare to hope that he was being invited to stay. He wouldn’t hope for anything beyond this moment with Shadrach. If this was all he could have, he’d take it. But if he hoped for more and was denied, it would ruin him.

“Because you’re covered in blood. We both are. We’re going to shower, and then I’m going to feed you. And we’ll figure the rest out tomorrow.”

He walked through a doorway and into a sprawling bedroom. There were no windows in any of the rooms, and the bed, covered in luxurious white blankets, looked far too inviting. He couldn’t touch it without staining the blankets right now, but he groaned as they passed it.

Shadrach chuckled. “Not to worry. We’ll get there.”

The air conditioner was on full blast, and Isaac shivered as they passed under one of the vents. In an adjoining room, Shadrach flipped a light switch and revealed the biggest bathroom Isaac had ever seen.

The shower was white and gold marble with a glass wall and what appeared to be rainfall spouts. A sprawling, claw-foot bathtub sat in the middle of the room. LED lights were built into the vanity mirror frame. Isaac could swing his sword in here and not worry about hitting a thing.

Shadrach set him on his feet beside the glass shower wall and opened the door to turn on the water. “Undress,” he ordered. “We’ll throw those out.”

Isaac reached for the sleeve of his flannel when a glimmer of silver caught his eye, and he realized he was still wearing his guild ring.

He froze, staring down at it. It was stained with blood.

The pearl cross in the center was streaked with it.

Had anyone found Hawley yet? Probably not.

There were still hours until morning. The body would stink up the whole church before someone found it.

His body would finally match his personality—rotten.

A choked sound left him, and he saw Shadrach turn sharply toward him at the sound, alarmed until Isaac did it again and it became clear it was laughter.

“What are you laughing about?” Shadrach asked in bemusement.

“I can’t believe…” He trailed off. “I can’t believe it was so easy.

I was so fucking scared of him for so long.

There were so many times I imagined bashing his goddamn skull in, and then I did !

” A peal of laughter trailed out of him.

He tugged off the ring with some effort and dropped it to the floor with a relieved sigh.

Shadrach tilted his head, watching him carefully. “Who?”

Isaac peeled off his flannel and drew his T-shirt over his head, letting both fall. Shadrach’s eyes fell to his bare chest, and his head tilted.

“You have blood under your shirt? How?”

Isaac looked down at the blood on his skin. Not smeared from soaking through his shirt, but dried to his skin in telltale little splashes.

“I told you. I killed him.” It shouldn’t be a relief. He’d committed one of the ultimate sins, and yet he felt lighter than ever.

“Who?” Shadrach asked again.

Isaac met his eyes with a grin. “Hawley.”

Shadrach’s eyes widened with shock—and then glee. “Are you serious?”