Belial was weird. He’d stopped questioning it long ago.
“The Hunter is tracking us,” Bel said when they had all finished eating. He dropped his spoon in his empty bowl and leaned back in his chair. His size made it look like a seat for toddlers, and the wood creaked ominously under his weight.
“I heard,” Ash said cautiously. Bel appeared calm, but he’d been wrong before and the stakes were high. “We’re safe in the wards here, though.”
“Yes. But not outside the wards.”
“Which means we can’t leave the apartment,” he finished with a sigh, and Bel nodded.
“That’s so lame,” Meph complained. “I’ll go crazy in here.”
Bel crossed his arms. “It’s either that or get caught.”
No one replied because no one wanted that outcome.
“We can’t just stay here indefinitely,” Ash felt the need to say. “We need a plan.”
“I think we should leave Montreal,” Bel said. “Half a dozen gargoyles already found us. There’s a chance the Hunter knows we’re here.”
Ash immediately balked at that idea. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew he was going to fight with everything he had to stay. It probably had something to do with the decadent little Eva whom he was in no way done indulging in.
“We killed all the gargoyles,” he said. “They never got a chance to report.”
“We killed the ones we saw. There could have been more we didn’t.”
“That would imply they were able to spy on us without us knowing. They’re not that smart.”
Bel frowned. “It’s a risk, Asmodeus. I know you like it here, but you have to admit that.”
“Yeah, but so is leaving when we’ve got a safely warded apartment to hide in.”
There was a tense pause.
“Fine,” Bel finally said. “We’ll stay for now. But we need to figure out some further protection so we can go outside. I didn’t escape Hell to get trapped in this shithole apartment for all time.”
“What we really need is to get our hands on some Nephilim blood,” Meph said, putting to words what everyone was already thinking.
Raum scoffed, fidgeting with the end of his spoon where it rested in the empty bowl. “Good luck with that.”
“The last time I heard of a readily available source was a century ago,” Ash agreed.
“It’s still available if you know where to look,” Belial said.
“If anyone can get it, it’s you, big brother.” Meph grinned, and Bel cocked a brow.
“Even if I can get it, it won’t be cheap.”
“We should be able to afford it, right?” Meph linked his hands behind his head and rocked back on two chair legs. “I mean, we’re not broke by any means, though we’re sure as hell living like it.”
“Sure, we could probably afford it for a while, but what happens when we’re out of money and the blood wears off? We’re right back where we started.”
“We have to take it one step at a time,” Ash said. “Right now, we need a way to leave the apartment safely. Once we figure that out, we can find a more permanent solution.” He smiled wickedly. “Maybe we could catch a live Nephilim to keep as a pet.”
They all chuckled.
“Can you imagine?” Meph sighed. “Our very own source to use at our leisure? We could go anywhere, do anything. We’d be free.”
Bel stood suddenly. “I’ll get in touch with my contact now. Don’t disturb me unless you want to die.” He passed through the kitchen, stooping under the doorframe and heading down the hall. “You can clean the dishes since I fucking cooked!” he called before his bedroom door slammed.
