Page 37 of Wicked (Dark Delights #5)

Shadrach

When Isaac returned, he was splashed with black blood, his expression light, and Shadrach’s mouth watered.

“Black is the new red,” he said by way of greeting as Isaac approached him. “Love the new style. Very murder-chic.”

“Very funny,” Isaac said, walking right into him and sealing their mouths together. Shadrach growled deeply, sweeping his tongue into Isaac’s mouth. “I made a tiny mistake.”

“Surprising no one,” Talon drawled from the snack bar.

Isaac threw a scowl over his shoulder.

“What mistake, killer?” Shadrach asked, more interested in the warmth of Isaac’s body under his palms than in whatever happened on the patrol. His human was unharmed and happy; that was all that mattered.

“We ran into some halflings.”

Behind him, Talon perked up.

“Turns out Nate wanted to question one of them about Lilith’s whereabouts. ”

“And?” Shadrach asked.

“I sort of killed them all before he could.”

Talon groaned loudly in frustration, flinging his head back and then grabbing a bottle of liquor from the shelf.

“Were they good kills?” Shadrach asked, because where those halflings came from, more would follow. There would be another chance to nab one. The most important thing to him right now was how happy Isaac looked.

Isaac brightened. “They were. Very bloody.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” He leaned in, unable to resist the gravitational pull of Isaac’s smiling lips. He nipped the plush bottom one, longing to sink his teeth deep enough to taste the rich blood that teased him below the surface. But not here.

“Groooss,” Angela sang as she passed.

Isaac whispered, “Why are there children here past curfew?”

“Hey, screw you,” Zachary said without heat. “I’m eighteen now.”

“You look twelve,” Isaac responded, and Zachary’s mouth fell open in indignation, causing Angela to cackle.

“Their dad’s not home,” Shadrach explained. “They spend the night here sometimes.”

“Once again,” Talon said, “this human is proving to be the worst thing that’s ever happened to this place.

” He rounded the broken glass snack bar with his fresh drink and joined Alex on the sofa.

The latter appeared barely awake, slouched down in soft joggers with his cheek propped up on his fist. When Talon sat, he shifted to lean over on him instead of on the armrest.

“Hey, fuck you,” Shadrach said, parroting Zachary—but more vulgar. “I like him. ”

“You’ve always had questionable taste,” Talon said with a dismissive wave.

That man’s head was worth a million dollars, Isaac thought with awe.

He was pretty sure he could take Talon, if he absolutely had to.

He wouldn’t , for a lot of reasons—mostly Shadrach and Alex—but the idea that a million dollars was close enough to reach out and take was a little mind-boggling.

At one time, that would have been life-changing money.

Now, it didn’t really register. Shadrach had more than that, and he’d made it clear Isaac could have anything he wanted.

But he couldn’t resist teasing a little.

“I could use a million bucks, y’know,” Isaac quipped, and Shadrach pinched his side when Talon swung a withering glare at him.

Sitting at the air hockey table with Luke, Malachi barked out a laugh.

“We could’ve used one of those halflings to find out where Lilith was hiding,” Talon said.

“Those halflings were idiots,” Isaac said. “They wouldn’t have known anything.”

“He’s probably right,” Nathan said, letting Storm pull him into his lap.

Neither were small men, and the metal folding chair creaked under their combined weight.

“The ones that attacked Alex and I were much better prepared. These guys had a gun, but only one. The other four were completely unarmed. I don’t think they expected us to put up much of a fight—which is stupid, like Isaac said, because we were paladins, for God’s sake.

And they specifically mentioned wanting Alex, not us.

I suggest no patrols for you for a while,” he said to the man himself, who pouted .

“What? I’m not just gonna hide away while the rest of you handle everything,” Alex said.

“They want you because they know you’re Talon’s weakness,” Nathan said. “They’ll capture you and use you to draw him out.”

Alex shot Talon a discomfited look, and Talon wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“We’ll find Lilith, little bird,” Talon said softly, “and put a stop to this soon. I promise.”

“There’s got to be someone who knows where this Lilith person is,” Isaac said. “What about all the demons at the club?”

“I can think of several who might know how to find her,” Talon said, his hand absently rubbing up and down Alex’s upper arm. “None who would be willing to talk to us, though. She’s got a lot of connections in the city. Even if we could question her contacts, it’d take time to find her.”

Isaac looked between Talon and Shadrach. “You two are leviathans or whatever, right? You’re stronger than halflings. Can’t you just rough some people up until someone gives her up?”

“Not if we ever want to be welcome at the club again, killer,” Shadrach said.

“Lilith may ‘only’ be a halfling, but she’s been doing this for a very long time.

She hasn’t been in power for this long without being ruthless and cunning.

In a one-on-one fight, yes, we would be physically stronger, but when it comes to resources and connections, she’s got us beat. ”

Isaac hummed, his expression thoughtful. He was thinking intently about something. Shadrach studied his profile, waiting .

“Okay, so the easiest way to find her would be to draw her out. She won’t feel safe showing her face until Talon is dead, so we make her think Talon’s dead,” Isaac said, leaning into Shadrach’s side.

“She’s not going to believe anyone here ,” Talon said dismissively.

“She’d believe me,” Isaac said. “I’m a goddamn paladin.

” He grinned, like he enjoyed the way the curse felt on his tongue.

“We have plenty of reason to hate each other, and they don’t know we’re…

” he gestured loosely, “on the same side or whatever. So. I’ll do it.

How would I find her, if I wanted to turn in the bounty? ”

“She won’t believe a paladin is cashing in on a demon’s bounty,” Storm said, then glanced from face to face. “Will she?”

“So I’ll show her I’m not loyal to the guild. In theory, if I take her money, I’m free to leave the guild and set for life. Where’s the downside? I could sell it.”

“If anybody could, it’d be Isaac,” Luke said.

Isaac yawned, pressing closer to Shadrach.

“Tomorrow night, I’ll go to In Extremis.

Ask around. Tell a bunch of red-eyes I want to talk to Lilith, because I killed the big bad demon she wanted dead.

” He flapped a hand in Talon’s direction.

“She’ll probably want proof, right? She won’t trust a holy man.

We set up a meeting, and you guys swoop in and do your thing. Easy.”

Shadrach pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “I told you he was smart.”

“It could work,” Nathan agreed. “She doesn’t know he’s been here. She has no reason to suspect he’s working with us. At worst, she’d suspect he was setting her up with the guild. Depending on how badly she wants Talon dead, though, she might be willing to risk it.”

Talon stroked his jaw, eyeing Isaac unhappily. “I want to state for the record that I still don’t like him,” he said. “But okay. Let’s do it.”