Page 40 of Indecent

“They killed my brother!”

Daniel’s lips pressed hard against his ear. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he whispered, and Chaol wanted to sink into the floor. He never wanted Daniel to be hurt by his vendetta.

Chaol sagged in defeat. He couldn’t win this. Even if Daniel wasn’t standing between them, he could never take on two leviathans, a sin eater, a behemoth, and a room full of ex-paladins and halflings. This was never going to work.

“Just let me go,” he rasped, burning with humiliation and disappointment.

“You won’t⁠—”

“No, I won’t. Just let me go.”

Daniel’s arms slid away, his hands coming to a stop on Chaol’s waist. “Chaol…”

Chaol couldn’t stand there a second longer. His skin crawled with the need to get away. He jerked out of Daniel’s grip and strode to the door with one last poisonous look at Talon, who was reassuring his human that he was okay. He couldn’t stay here; not for another second. Not even for Daniel’s sake.

The parking lot was filled with cars of all shapes and sizes. They looked different than he remembered from the seventies. Chaol wondered which one belonged to Talon and whether he could smash the windshield before Daniel stopped him. It was a nice idea, if not terribly practical. The night sky was black, the stars barely visible thanks to the city’s light pollution.

His wings sprouted from his back, the familiar weight of them a relief to his restless muscles.

“Chaol, wait!” Daniel’s voice was stark with hurt and vulnerability. “Don’t do this. Please don’t go.”

Chaol closed his eyes. He couldn’t turn around and face the hurt on Daniel’s face. “I’m sorry,” he breathed, and then with a flex of his wings, he shot into the night sky.

Chapter 14

Daniel

An ache bloomed in Daniel’s chest as he watched Chaol soar away. Chaol was his. How could he just leave after everything they’d been through together? After what they shared in the cemetery? His head swirled with questions and worry. Chaol hadn’t told him about Amon, the demon who had attacked the Paladin Guild last year. He’d implied that his whole clan was killed years ago. Why would he have kept this from Daniel? Didn’t Chaol trust him?

The door behind him opened, and Daniel forced himself to turn. Nicolas waited in the glow of the lights within, looking uncertain. Ashmedai hovered over his shoulder, glowing orange eyes peering out at him.

“Danny, are you okay?”

Daniel shook his head. “No. He… He left.”

Nicolas held a hand out to him. “Come on. Come back inside. You can’t chase after him right now, and I’m sure he’ll be back. In the meantime, let’s talk.”

Daniel blew out a breath, glancing over his shoulder at the sky where he’d last seen Chaol. There was nothing but darkness there now. Reluctantly, he let Nicolas lead him inside. The guild refugees had moved away, giving the core group some privacy in the meeting area. Talon stood by the air hockey table, looking as unruffled as always.

When their eyes met, Daniel said, “I didn’t know. He never told me.”

Talon inclined his head. “I don’t blame you. I don’t even blame him.”

“I blame you a little bit,” Ira snarked, looking only half-joking.

Talon sighed. “We needed to know.”

“You could have asked without pissing him off,” Daniel said. Jesus, it felt like someone had carved out a Chaol-shaped hole in his chest, and it was hard not to blame Talon for it.

Ira added, “He’s Daniel’s demon. He’s not going anywhere. Making an enemy of him right out of the gate is not how we should be doing things, Talon.”

Talon groaned loudly, letting his head fall back. “Fine, yes, I shouldn’t have been so quick to judge.”

Daniel replayed Ira’s words over and over, tentative hope taking root. “He’s not going anywhere?” he asked. “He’ll be back?”

Ira softened. “Of course he’ll be back. Did you really have any doubt?”

Daniel shrugged. “It’s all been kind of a whirlwind. We haven’t really talked about where we stand with each other.” Chaol had kept the truth about Amon from him. He didn’t know what else the demon might be hiding from him. How could he guess where they stood with each other when he clearly didn’t know Chaol as well as he thought he did.