Page 18 of Indecent

He stiffened, and Chaol turned toward the voice, lowering one hand to rest just above Daniel’s knee. There was an empty wall of darkness beyond the fire, and knowing something lurked out there beyond his visibility sent a shiver down Daniel’s spine.

“Pay it no mind,” Chaol said softly. “It’s just a wraith.”

Just a wraith. Just a monster who could hypnotize him into stepping around the fire and into its clutches. His stomach roiled, and he squirmed, drawing Chaol’s attention.

“You’re scared,” Chaol said.

“Of course I’m scared,” Daniel breathed. “I’m in Hell, and I have no way of defending myself against things like that.”

Chaol tilted his head thoughtfully. “What if you could?”

Daniel frowned. “Could what? Defend myself?”

“Yeah. There are weapons in Hell. None specifically designed for a human to wield, but you have training, right?”

“I do. Are there weapons down here that could hurt a demon? I thought holy weapons were the only thing that could kill a demon.”

“There are things that can harm us, yes, but nothing holy. They’re hard to come by, for obvious reasons. We don’t want just anyone getting their hands on something that could kill us. I might be able to find something in Pandemonium. If not that, maybe something that would cloak you. Hide the brightness of your soul.”

“Really?” Daniel would feel a lot better if he had a weapon of some kind, but something to hide him might be just as good. He wouldn’t need to defend himself if no one knew he was a human.

“Yes,” Chaol replied. “I’d feel better knowing you had some way of defending yourself, but masking your presence might work just as well. I don’t—like the idea of you being hurt again.” His brow furrowed like he didn’t understand his own feelings.

Daniel warmed. “Thanks. You’re not worried I’d use a weapon on you?”

Chaol tilted his head. “It didn’t even cross my mind. Would you?”

“No!” he said quickly. “No, of course not.”

Chaol gave him a rakish, lopsided smile. “Good.” He glanced outside, and then refocused his attention on Daniel. “Now, let me tell you the rumor I heard earlier today.” He settled more comfortably against the wall, half-turning to face Daniel. Their legs brushed.

Daniel bit back a smile. “Are you trying to distract me?”

“Maybe, but you’ll want to hear this.”

Daniel gestured toward him. “Okay, shoot.”

“I heard from a couple of demons that the reason all the gates to Hell are closed is because an angel entered through one and started killing all the demons in the area.”

Shock zipped through Daniel. “Wait, what? An angel? Really?”

Chaol inclined his head. “That’s what I heard. One of the demons I spoke to said the angel cut her arm off before she could get away. She said he had golden eyes and that he was sucking some kind of red smoke from every demon he could get his hands on.”

Daniel frowned. He had his doubts about whether it was true, but supposing it was, why would an angel be attacking demons in Hell? “Is there a chance she was mistaken? Maybe he wasn’t an angel.”

Chaol shrugged. “Maybe. I’ve never seen an angel, so it’s hard to say.”

In all his years in the guild, he’d never heard of an angel appearing to anyone. The Bible had stories about them, of course, but beyond those, the guild’s records about them were sparse at best. No one had ever seen one. Daniel wasn’t convinced they were even real. But if they were…

“Do you think he could help us get out?” Angels were supposed to be the good guys.

One elegant brow arched, and Daniel knew what Chaol was going to say before he said it. If the angel was killing demons, he wouldn’t help Chaol get to the surface. And if Daniel turned himself into a demon, he’d be no safer than any other demon. No, whatever this angel was doing down here, Daniel doubted he would be an ally.

And truthfully, he didn’t like the idea of bringing Chaol anywhere near a murderous angel who was targeting demons. The thought of something happening to Chaol made Daniel’s stomach turn.

“No, never mind,” he said glumly. “If he’s hunting demons, you wouldn’t be safe.”

Chaol’s dark eyes softened. “And you’d care?”