Deicide

February 14 23xx

Howlan sighed and fell back into his seat.

"Oh, before I forget, we have to go back to the church the day after tomorrow." Eden polished off his cup.

"Why? Did you forget something?" Silas rubbed Eden's side.

"No, we're going back for Elaine."

"Elaine?" Howlan reached over the counter and set his mug in the sink.

"Yeah, we're breaking her out." Eden shrugged, as if he had just described a regular daily activity of theirs.

"Oh, why?" Howlan responded, as though this was in fact a regular daily activity of theirs.

"I don't exactly know the full scope, but John hit her." Eden's grip tightened on his mug. "And she told me to come back in three days at midnight."

"I don't understand, the doors are always unlocked. Why can't she just leave anytime?" Silas finished his coffee, too.

"Because she probably has people to say goodbye to, things to arrange. She'll have to pack, and get all her weapons and gear in one place. But inconspicuously, so she's not caught and stopped. And she'll have to do something about that ankle monitor." Eden leaned back against Silas.

"Ankle monitor?"

"I only glimpsed it when I first saw her, during the initial once-over. She wears boots, so it kind of blends in, but it's definitely there." Eden tilted his head up to look at the ceiling. "It didn't look like Silas' though. I think it can be cut off normally, but there might be some sort of thing where it alerts John as soon as it's off."

"Then we'll cut it off at the church and make a break for it as soon as it's gone," Howlan said.

"I was thinking we could kill him, but sure, that works too."

"Why would we kill him?" Howlan sounded genuinely surprised.

Eden's voice lowered and he glared at the ceiling. "Because he hit her."

"Relax, dove." Silas wrapped his other arm over Eden's chest. "We'll get her out, we'll get her safe."

Eden nodded and took a deep breath.

"Until then, wanna go to Pakuri's and see if there are any quick local jobs we can take care of?" Howlan grabbed his Glasses.

"Yessir." Eden got off of Silas' lap and made his way to his bedroom. He changed into a pair of loose jeans and one of his wing-incorporating shirts. He grabbed a big red sweater, left it unzipped, fastened his mask to his belt, and slid a dagger sheath to the back of his belt. He stuck the dagger in, covered it with his sweater, and made his way back to the living room. Silas went into Eden's room next, and came back out in a pair of pants and a plain black T-shirt.

Howlan spent thirty minutes in the bathroom, and then met Silas and Eden in his normal clothes. Black leggings, a tank top, and a coat with large pockets.

They made their way to the bar in ten minutes and were greeted with the normal amount of buzz. "Hey boys." Pakuri grabbed three glasses out from under the bar. "What can I get you?"

"An old fashioned, please." Eden sat down, and immediately shot back out of his chair.

"Everything alright?" Pakuri raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah, just sore." Eden smiled.

"Right, with a face like that, of course you would be." Pakuri kept moving his hands around the bar, making Eden's drink, but his eyes stayed on Eden. "I'm just still not used to seeing your face. Or seeing someone so pretty here at the bar."