Page 15 of Forbidden

Ira had never personally beento a club like In Extremis. Though he’d had visions of the club during typical work hours, with Wolf tending the bar and the crowd undulating to the music in the background, he’d never seen it so empty before. A handful of figures sat at the bar, which was the only source of light in the wide, open room. Chairs were stacked upside-down on tables. The dance floor gleamed.

The door slammed shut behind them, echoing through the cavernous room, and Wolf threaded their fingers together as he led him over to the bar. He’d texted everyone on the drive over, asking them to meet here, and now here they all were. Everyone turned to look at them, and Ira saw, for the first time, faces that he’d only ever seen in visions. He knew Alex and Luke already, of course. They sat on barstools side by side. Behind them, like sentinels, were their demonic partners, Talon and Malachi, and Storm, with his shock of white-blond hair.

“Who’s this?” Talon asked. There was a barely concealedthreat in his tone, and Ira shuddered under the attention of those black eyes.

“Ira,” Alex blurted, and Luke turned on his stool to get a better look as Wolf tugged him behind the bar to stand in front of them.

“Ira?” Talon repeated, his fingers curling around the back of Alex’s neck and ruffling the base of his chestnut brown hair.

“The prophet who helped me find the mozgoran demon that killed my family,” Alex explained, leaning into the touch.

Luke’s eyes lightened with understanding. “You came to me, too, not long before the guild tried to kill me.”

Guilt churned in Ira’s gut. “Yes, I’d like to apologize about that. I swear I would’ve warned you, but I didn’t see the attack before it?—”

Luke waved him off. “It all worked out in the end. You’re not at fault for what they did. Why are you here now, though?”

Ira glanced at Wolf, who gave him an encouraging nod. “I’ve left the guild,” he said. “Quite abruptly, really. They don’t even know about it yet. For the last six months, I’ve been having visions of… us. All of us. And then tonight—last night?” He frowned, realizing he had no idea what time it was. The sun would be rising soon, surely. “I saw Wolf being attacked by paladins outside the club, so I came here to help. But now I can’t go back. If they find out I helped a demon, I don’t know what they’d do. Kill me, maybe. Yesterday morning, Sloan announced that he’d finally convinced the council to raise the threat level of the halflings to a category A. Halflings will now be attacked on sight by any paladin who sees them.”

Alex balked. “What?Allhalflings?”

Ira nodded miserably.

“What do we do?” Alex asked, looking from face to face. “The guild knows about the club here. What’s to stop them from coming here and killing everyone?”

“They may do that,” Ira said grimly. “Sloan told them to avoid the club for now until he comes up with a plan. But yes, I’d say it’s likely they’ll make a move on it eventually. They know it’s where many of you spend your nights.”

“Then we should be spending our nights elsewhere,” Talon said. With a heavy sigh, he said, “I should let Shadrach know. He hasn’t been coming around as much, but I wouldn’t want him to be caught unawares.”

“No offense to the paladins, but if they catch Shadrach by surprise, I’ll eat my hat,” Storm said.

“You’re not wearing a hat,” Wolf drawled.

“I’ll buy a hat,” Storm amended.

“Who is Shadrach?” Luke asked, glancing between Talon and Malachi.

“He’s another leviathan like me,” Talon said, smiling wolfishly. “He doesn’t play as nice with others.”

The demons all shared a laugh that had Alex and Luke sharing a look of confusion, and Ira felt compelled to say, “For now.”

That drew them all up short.

“What?” Talon asked.

“You heard me.”

Talon leaned in, as though eager for gossip. “Are you telling me Shadrach is going to find a human?”

Ira sank his teeth into his bottom lip. “I’m saying it’s apossibility.”

Wolf hummed lowly, and Ira recalled their conversation in the elevator.

“Just out of curiosity, have you ever had a vision that didn’t come to pass?”

“No.”

Talon didn’t miss it, his dark eyes darting between them shrewdly.

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