Page 10 of Indecent

“There are ways of hiding a human presence. I can’t do that yet, because I don’t have the materials, but once we’re closer to the city I should be able to find something. And don’t worry, I’ll be escorting you. If any demons learn about your presence, they’d have to fight me to take you, and most won’t bother. Demons are opportunistic. Like vultures. They don’t want to fight for their meals. Not with the Pit so close by.”

“Most?” Daniel repeated, feeling ill. His body didn’t seem to care that he couldn’t physically get sick. It was going to threaten to anyway.

Chaol smiled. “Don’t fret, darkling. We’ll make it.”

Daniel turned away with a sigh—and froze. Out in the darkness, movement caught his eye. A pale face appeared at the edge of the firelight.

He knew that face. He saw it in his dreams. It had once sneered at him on a quiet street sidewalk, morphed into fury and punched his friend, Alex. A paladin who called them monsters, Casey had drawn his blade with the intention of killing Alex that night. So Daniel had killed him first. Run him through with his blade. Daniel remembered the sick twist of his gut when he’d done it, and later, the way he’d fallen to his knees when he was alone and prayed for forgiveness.

“You killed me,” Casey rasped. His voice barely sounded human. His pale hands clawed at his throat, like it hurt to speak. Daniel could barely make out his features in the darkness. “You killed me. You belong here. Monster!”

“Ignore it,” Chaol said calmly. He didn’t even glance over at it. “It can’t come into the light.”

“What is it?” Daniel asked, shivering. He clenched his teeth to keep them from chattering.

“Some kind of wraith. It preys on the guilt of the human souls.”

“Murderer,” the wraith croaked, inching closer and then backing away when the light proved too strong. “Killer. Ssssinner.” Its body jerked like a marionette, joints creaking as it shifted in the darkness.

Daniel pressed his hands to either side of his head, staring into the fire.

“Deserve to be punissshed. Deserve to be heeere.”

“No, no, no,” he whimpered.

“Step into the dark,” the raspy voice said. “Begin your penanccce.”

Daniel looked at it again. He couldn’t help it. His breaths were short and quick. Chaol said something, but it sounded far away, like it was coming from the end of a long pipe. The monster was horrifying, but it was right. He’d killed a human being. He deserved to be here, didn’t he? All his life he’d tried to do good, but maybe he was no better than the guild, the ones he’d cast judgment upon. He was a sinner in his own way, just like them. Was one really any better than the other?

Maybe he did belong here.

“No.” Chaol stepped in front of him, breaking his line of sight with the creature.

Daniel stared at his pale back. He didn’t remember standing up or moving to the edge of the light. He laid a hand on Chaol’s bare back, and Chaol backed up into the touch. The warmth of his skin chased away the ghoulish cold that had settled over him, and the fog lifted from his mind. Had that creature hypnotized him?

“He’s mine.” Chaol’s voice rang out. “Leave or die.”

The wraith chuckled. “Yours for now. Ours for eternity.”

Chaol reached back blindly and snagged Daniel’s wrist. “Stay in the light, no matter what.”

“But…”

Chaol lunged away. Daniel dimly saw the wraith’s face slacken with shock. It shrieked—in fear or outrage, he couldn’t guess—and then with a sickening crunch, the noise cut off. Gratuitous ripping and tearing sounds followed, and Daniel backed away from the cave entrance, kneeling by the fire and adding some wood to keep it going. His teeth chattered in earnest now. The stone was frigid against his back.

When Chaol returned, he was licking black blood from his fingers and looking particularly satisfied. He didn’t sit across from Daniel again. Instead he sat directly beside him, between Daniel and the cave entrance.

“Some of the demons here, they have this way of getting in your head,” Chaol explained, leaning in far too close for comfort. His eyes glittered like starlight. “Hypnotizing you, almost. You mustn’t let them get to you.”

Chaol’s body was impossibly warm, and Daniel found himself leaning closer, pressing their shoulders together and trying to absorb it. “Thank you for stepping in. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t broken the spell. I didn’t even know I’d stood up.”

“I know exactly what would’ve happened if I hadn’t,” Chaol said. “Trust me when I say you don’t want to know. And… you’re welcome.”

With an unceremonious tug, he guided Daniel’s head onto his shoulder.

“Sleep, darkling. It’ll be a very long night if you don’t.”

Daniel balked at the idea of sleeping with his head on Chaol’s shoulder, but whenever he tried to move, Chaol’s hand tightened on his forearm as though to reel him back in. With a sigh, Daniel rearranged his legs so his knees were facing Chaol and his body wasn’t quite so twisted. He might not have a physical body here, but he didn’t want to risk waking with a crick in his neck.