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"I haven't needed it since I met you. I wouldn't have known it was gone if I hadn't put my coat on." His words, once again spoken so lightly, landed directly on Judah's heart.
The moment was suddenly disturbed by Judah's cell phone. He pulled it from his pocket and answered immediately. "They found him, Judah," Sam stated straight away. "Meet me in the bar."
“I’m on my way.”
Nash looked up at him expectantly after Judah closed the call. “They found Arthur?” he asked, and Judah gave a curt nod.
“I want you to stay here at the hotel until I return.” He cupped Nash’s face in his hands and pulled him closer while tilting Nash’s face up to his. He looked down into those expressive light blue eyes and wanted to give this man the world.
"I'm going to finish this today, and you will walk free of the heaviness and ties that have held you back. You have my promise." He punctuated that pledge with another kiss.
"Just stay safe, Judah, and come back to me," Nash told him with a tremble in his voice.
“I’ll always come back to you, baby, always.”
Judah met Sam at the Black Dog, and they headed out to the old warehouse district. Nash was made comfortable in Sam's office and instructed to wait and not leave the hotel. Judah recognized his angst but chalked it up to separating so soon after their bond. With a firm assurance that he would return as soon as possible, Judah left.
They found Koa and Javier crouched down with them and observed the warehouse. It was in poor condition, with part of the roof having caved in, but Koa said the magic they followed was accumulating inside the decaying structure and not moving.
Sam had put in a call to the Coven, and two guards arrived to lend an assist. The five of them split up and approached the warehouse from all sides. Judah took the side door while Sam took the front entrance. The other came in from the other side and back.
Judah saw the setup as soon as he entered. The candlelight was illuminating the central area of the old warehouse. There was debris everywhere except in the center, where Arthur stood at what appeared to be a makeshift altar. The scene was macabre, and the man looked wild and feverish.
"Fantastic." He shouted when he saw them approaching. "You think you can protect Nash?" He laughed. "That hopeless pathetic child will destroy you just as he is about to destroy himself. That soft heart of his was always his weakest point, and I leaned on it heavily." He laughed again and tossed a handful of what looked like glitter onto the candle flames, resulting in a surge that lasted a few seconds.
"His soft heart will be his death and will be the death of everyone stupid enough to get close to him." The guards who came in the back rushed him and took Arthur to the ground and then picked him up and held him restrained but on his feet. The one guard grabbed Arthur by the hair and pulled his head back, forcing him to look at Judah as he approached.
Arthur started that insidious laughter once again. "You're too late. You were too late before you ever got here. My plan is working to perfection, and he will be so pleased." Arthur kept going, chanting and shouting his victory. "There is nothing you can do." Arthur looked directly at Judah, who then reached out and snapped his neck, killing him on the spot.
"There's one thing that I can do," Judah replied flatly. The guards dropped his body to the ground.
“The man had a lot of words but not a lot to say. So much for his big plans.” Koa commented. “The magic seems to be getting weaker.”
"Did the demon leave him?" Javier asked, and Sacha, who had just entered the building, answered.
“The demon wasn’t here.” He said as he walked up to the man’s lifeless body and looked down. “It left him yesterday.” That was not what Judah wanted to hear.
"Where is it?" Javier was the first to ask, and all attention was riveted on Sacha.
"I can read it much clearer now that its original vessel is dead." Sacha paused and focused for a few minutes before speaking. His tone was tight with panic as he turned to look at Judah.
"It entered the man who worked for him, Neo." He paused and tilted his head as if getting more information from the universe. "He wants Nash; Nash is the prize. Neo is on the Deadlands. He waits."
Nash sat in Sam's office and played a few games on the phone Judah had given him and waited. He finally could not sit still any longer, so he left the office and walked through the bar and out into the lobby. The Indigo was quite a showpiece of hotel excellence. There wasn't anything missing, and nothing was done halfway. The Pack must be very proud of this achievement, he was thinking when he took a seat and watched the many people walking back and forth. Judah had given him a couple hundred dollars before he left, just in case he needed anything. He really didn't need anything but did buy a bottle of designer water from the machine. He could feel his beloved on the fringes of his awareness. His emotions were disciplined and tight, betraying nothing that was happening. Judah was a soldier, so he was probably an expert at control.
When his phone rang, it surprised him, and he eagerly pulled it out and saw that it was a call from a number he didn't recognize. Curiosity forced him to answer, believing that it had to have something to do with Judah since it was Judah who gave him the phone.
“Hello.” He said and waited.
"Judah needs you, Nash."
“Who is this?”
"He's in the forest north of town, private land that borders the Federal Forest. It's important. Judah may not survive." The call cut out, and Nash began to panic, knowing that half of him resisted the truth of what just happened, and the other half feared not doing as he was told.
He left the hotel and hailed a cab that took him to the north edge of town near the forest area the caller had spoken of. The driver was aware of the area and private land and warned him that it was dangerous due to the dilapidated home and barn that was on the property. Nash thanked him, jumped from the vehicle, and took off through the woods. He tried to connect with Judah, but their bond was cloudy, like something was blocking him from getting through.
Nash could feel the negative forces that were radiating from an area ahead of him, and he assumed it was the private land the caller had described. His instincts were telling him to turn around and run, but his worry for Judah kept him moving forward.
