Page 23 of Indecent

“Let him go!” Chaol slammed into them, his claws raking at the angel’s face.

The angel arched away with a grunt, shoving Daniel hard. He hit the ground and twisted to look back at them. The angel was gripping Chaol by the throat, and Daniel watched in horror as he raised his free hand and placed it flat on Chaol’s heaving chest. Chaol’s wings beat uselessly as red smoke bloomed from his chest, and a choked scream broke free from his lips.

Daniel scrambled to his feet. He needed a weapon. Something that might be able to hurt the angel. Whirling around, he spotted the blacksmith nearby. The shop was empty now, and the street was mostly devoid of life. The few who were left were too injured in the blast to get away.

Daniel raced to the open storefront. Heat billowed from within, and weapons hung along every wall. Daniel grabbed a sword at random—and dropped it with a cry when it burned his hand.

“Fuck, that hurt,” he hissed, already stooping down to pick it back up. Gritting his teeth as his palm sizzled, he rushed back out onto the road where the angel still held Chaol in the air. The demon’s struggles were weakening, and panic zipped through Daniel. He had to help. Now.

“No!” he screamed, swinging the sword.

In the blink of an eye, the angel dropped Chaol to the ground and drew a blindingly white blade from thin air. It clashed with Daniel’s, sparking as holy met hellish.

“You dare?” the angel growled. “You dare to raise your hand to me, you vermin?”

Vermin? Daniel thought wildly. What kind of an angel was this guy?

“That demon is mine.” He didn’t know where the words came from, but he felt them in his very soul. Daniel’s place would always be between Chaol and danger.

The angel swung his blade, and Daniel raised his own, parrying and backing away. His hands shook with the effort of holding onto the burning sword. Pain screamed up his arms. He tried not to think about what his hands looked like. They would heal quickly once this was over. He couldn’t die twice, right?

Arms wrapped around him from behind. “Hold on tight, darkling.”

Daniel barely had time to suck down a breath before they launched into the air, sailing away from the angel and all the destruction he’d wrought. Daniel watched him until their bodies turned away, praying that the angel wouldn’t decide to follow. He had wings, too, after all. But he turned away, seemingly deciding that they weren’t worth the trouble.

Thank fuck for that.

“Drop the sword, Danny,” Chaol said in his ear. His breaths were labored, and his arms shook around Daniel.

“But what if⁠—”

“Drop it now. It’s hurting you.”

Reluctantly, he pried his hand open and whimpered as it peeled away from the skin, falling through the air below them.

“Are you… okay?” Chaol asked breathlessly.

“I should be asking you that,” Daniel said, gripping one of Chaol’s arms around his middle. “You don’t sound so good.”

“I’m well enough—to get us the fuck away from there. Hold on tight. Is he following us?”

Daniel craned his head to look past Chaol’s shoulder. “No, I don’t see him.”

“Good. Good—ah,” he hissed, fingers spasming in Daniel’s cloak.

“What the hell did he do to you?”

“I don’t know, but it hurt. I don’t—know how long I can keep us up here.”

“Then don’t. We’re safe now. Take us down.”

They hadn’t gone very high, and the city streets whizzed by below them. Chaol panted in Daniel’s ear, and he reached up with one hand, cradling Chaol’s clammy face.

“Please. Please don’t hurt yourself. Take us down.”

Chaol turned his head, nuzzling Daniel’s palm. He spread his wings wide, gliding down slowly. They came to a graceless stop on a low rooftop, both of them staggering and falling. Chaol sprawled on his back, white wings spread out on either side of him, panting. Daniel crawled over, taking his face in both hands.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”