killed?
All the time.
At which point Deb moved from where she was next to Elliot and came and sat down beside me and held my hand.
It was very telling.
Elliot explained how the first demon had come and shown him eyes full of blood and clawed him and basically scared the crap out of him.
“I had no idea what to do. I was afraid everyone would think I was nuts.”
“In San Francisco,” I said, “my friend Malic works with the police. My friend Ryan has a local television show he hosts, and he makes a point of visiting all kinds of businesses, and those include those that are owned by Wiccans, psychics, Gypsies, and the people that others go to for help with occurrences that would seem paranormal in nature. Our sentinel checks the paper, follows anything odd or out of the ordinary, and sends us to check things out.”
“Plus,” Leith told them, “we patrol, every night, two to three of us.”
“We don’t do any of that,” Shane said, having entered the room at the tail end of the conversation, walking around the couch and taking a seat beside Joe.
“You don’t patrol?” Leith asked.
Shane shook his head.
“Well, I for one think it’s dangerous not to be visible to the pit creatures.” Leith shrugged, gesturing at Joe’s father. “Case in point.”
The doorbell rang then, and Kyle asked Elliot and Deb’s permission to go get it. When he returned, he had two other men with him. Here were the rest of William Boyd’s warders.
They seemed like nice guys, pleasant, but as I looked at them, even at Shane and Kyle, I was struck by how different they seemed from the guys I normally hung out with dispatching demons back to hell. In comparison, they were lacking.
“So we have news,” Daniel, one of the newly arrived warders, began. “I guess this demon, Breka, already found out about Tanner and grabbed him out in front of his house earlier today. I talked to his hearth, and she said that he was taken right outside of their home.”
“Too bad he didn’t make it inside.”
Leith turned to me. “So even if you’re not a warder anymore you still have all the power?”
“I think your sentinel can strip you of the title,” I said, “but the strength is there until you die.” I looked over at Shane. “Although I’ve never heard of a warder being stripped and then not returned to the labarum council. I thought warders were placed in prison until they died if they were guilty of corruption.” I squinted at him.
He stared at me.
I waited.
“Shit.”
“Shane?” Kyle prodded.
“Okay, so, the guy the demons took, that’s a doppelganger. It’s not really Tanner.”
The other two warders turned in stunned silence to look at him.
“William said that only I could know,” Shane told the other three warders who belonged to his clutch. “We had to try and draw the demons out. We had to know who they were.”
“That’s horrible,” Joe said suddenly, his voice full of revulsion, and we all turned to look at him. “All this time you guys have been letting that woman think that her warder is still sleeping in her bed, and now that he’s taken, you’re just gonna let her believe that right there in front of her was the last time she’ll ever lay eyes on him.” A hard shiver passed through him. “That’s vile.”
And it was. The warder’s hearth thought he was dead, and he had to deal with knowing that she thought that, and she had to deal with that being her reality. I couldn’t think of a more horrible price to pay.
“You need to tell her the truth and let her see him.” Joe’s voice splintered. “That’s obscene.”
“It is,” Kyle agreed—his eyes, his face, everything about him having gone cold. “You let some… thing … sleep with the man’s hearth.” He took a breath. “I can’t believe William would condone such a thing.”
I wondered about them then, about their clutch. Jael kept no secrets from us, and we had none from each other.
“We’re so lucky,” I
All the time.
At which point Deb moved from where she was next to Elliot and came and sat down beside me and held my hand.
It was very telling.
Elliot explained how the first demon had come and shown him eyes full of blood and clawed him and basically scared the crap out of him.
“I had no idea what to do. I was afraid everyone would think I was nuts.”
“In San Francisco,” I said, “my friend Malic works with the police. My friend Ryan has a local television show he hosts, and he makes a point of visiting all kinds of businesses, and those include those that are owned by Wiccans, psychics, Gypsies, and the people that others go to for help with occurrences that would seem paranormal in nature. Our sentinel checks the paper, follows anything odd or out of the ordinary, and sends us to check things out.”
“Plus,” Leith told them, “we patrol, every night, two to three of us.”
“We don’t do any of that,” Shane said, having entered the room at the tail end of the conversation, walking around the couch and taking a seat beside Joe.
“You don’t patrol?” Leith asked.
Shane shook his head.
“Well, I for one think it’s dangerous not to be visible to the pit creatures.” Leith shrugged, gesturing at Joe’s father. “Case in point.”
The doorbell rang then, and Kyle asked Elliot and Deb’s permission to go get it. When he returned, he had two other men with him. Here were the rest of William Boyd’s warders.
They seemed like nice guys, pleasant, but as I looked at them, even at Shane and Kyle, I was struck by how different they seemed from the guys I normally hung out with dispatching demons back to hell. In comparison, they were lacking.
“So we have news,” Daniel, one of the newly arrived warders, began. “I guess this demon, Breka, already found out about Tanner and grabbed him out in front of his house earlier today. I talked to his hearth, and she said that he was taken right outside of their home.”
“Too bad he didn’t make it inside.”
Leith turned to me. “So even if you’re not a warder anymore you still have all the power?”
“I think your sentinel can strip you of the title,” I said, “but the strength is there until you die.” I looked over at Shane. “Although I’ve never heard of a warder being stripped and then not returned to the labarum council. I thought warders were placed in prison until they died if they were guilty of corruption.” I squinted at him.
He stared at me.
I waited.
“Shit.”
“Shane?” Kyle prodded.
“Okay, so, the guy the demons took, that’s a doppelganger. It’s not really Tanner.”
The other two warders turned in stunned silence to look at him.
“William said that only I could know,” Shane told the other three warders who belonged to his clutch. “We had to try and draw the demons out. We had to know who they were.”
“That’s horrible,” Joe said suddenly, his voice full of revulsion, and we all turned to look at him. “All this time you guys have been letting that woman think that her warder is still sleeping in her bed, and now that he’s taken, you’re just gonna let her believe that right there in front of her was the last time she’ll ever lay eyes on him.” A hard shiver passed through him. “That’s vile.”
And it was. The warder’s hearth thought he was dead, and he had to deal with knowing that she thought that, and she had to deal with that being her reality. I couldn’t think of a more horrible price to pay.
“You need to tell her the truth and let her see him.” Joe’s voice splintered. “That’s obscene.”
“It is,” Kyle agreed—his eyes, his face, everything about him having gone cold. “You let some… thing … sleep with the man’s hearth.” He took a breath. “I can’t believe William would condone such a thing.”
I wondered about them then, about their clutch. Jael kept no secrets from us, and we had none from each other.
“We’re so lucky,” I
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