Page 12 of Indecent

Daniel huffed. “Do you want to hear about the guy I murdered or not?”

Chaol laughed. “Fine. Stick a pin in that question and we’ll come back to it.”

“Sure. So, they don’t like us, because we’re former paladins who have left. Well, among other reasons. But they think we’re monsters⁠—”

“Just for leaving their precious cult?” It wasn’t that hard to believe, really. The fanaticism ran deep behind those holy walls. Chaol had chosen to live across the country from them during his last stint on the surface for a reason.

Daniel smacked him in chest. “No more interruptions.”

“Sorry, sorry.” He’d have flayed the skin from any human who dared to lay a hand on him like that in the past. Now, he felt a curl of warmth in his chest for it. Daniel was comfortable enough to admonish him. That had to be a good thing.

“Anyway, we met a paladin squad on the street one night. There were three of us and six of them. It turned into a fight, and Casey—the guy that the wraith looked like—drew his sword to stab my friend. So, I drew mine and beat him to it.” Daniel squirmed in his arms, so Chaol tightened them until he subsided with a huff. “I didn’t—mean to kill him. I just didn’t want him to hurt Alex.” Guilt threaded through his tone.

“You’ll hear no judgment from me, darkling. I’ve killed a lot more than one in my lifetime.”

Daniel snorted weakly. “I don’t know if that helps, really, but thanks. He was just the first, anyway. We killed a few more the night we rescued the Alvarez kids.”

“Oh?” They should really get moving, but there was no way Chaol was interrupting him if he was willing to share more about who he’d been before he’d died.

“Yeah. I wasn’t directly responsible for any of those, but we…” His gaze went distant, and his lips parted.

“Danny?” It was the first time he’d called Daniel by name. He liked the shape of it in his mouth.

“That was the night I died, I think. But I don’t remember how. What happened when we went in there? I remember… Ashmedai sucked the life out of somebody. We all stood by and watched.”

“Dark, indeed.” That did sound like a sin eater, so Chaol quietly rearranged his opinions. It wasn’t that he’d ever thought Daniel was lying, exactly, but embellishing to make himself seem less scared of Hell? Maybe.

Daniel sighed, looking frustrated.

“More will come to you in time,” Chaol said, squeezing him gently.

Daniel settled once more against his shoulder. “Truthfully, I’m not sure I want to know. Some things might not need to be relived, y’know?”

“Perhaps. I don’t think you’ll get much of a choice, though. If it happens, it happens.”

Daniel hummed, going quiet for a while. His gaze drifted to the sickly looking trees outside their shelter and the burgeoning light in the sky.

“I don’t suppose Hell has coffee.”

“I think a lot of demons would be less interested in leaving if it did.”

Daniel laughed as he pushed himself upright, and Chaol wanted to bottle the sound and keep it with him forever.

What the fuck was happening to him? A single human shouldn’t be able to get under his skin like this. It was like Daniel had already burrowed in and planted roots.

Chaol stood, leading Daniel out of the cave and stretching. The wraith’s remains were scattered through the trees where Chaol had tossed them, stinking like sulfur. Daniel stared at the pieces for a long, inscrutable moment.

“You did that for me,” he finally said.

“I did. It would have hurt you.” He would kill anything that threatened Daniel. He didn’t have to understand that to know it was true.

Daniel’s golden brown eyes met his, and Chaol felt flayed open, like Daniel had the key that unlocked his deepest, most hidden chambers. A furrow appeared between his brows, and his teeth sank into his bottom lip.

“Do you…?” he started.

Chaol resigned himself to his fate. Whatever Daniel asked, he would answer honestly. A part of him was even eager for it. Ask me. Ask me so I can tell you you’re mine.

Daniel shook himself, turning away with reddened cheeks. “Never mind. Um. We should get moving, right? We’re wasting—daylight? Is that what this is?”