Page 52 of Indecent

“You have nothing to worry about from me,” Chaol said.

“I know,” Valac said pointedly.

Chaol didn’t outwardly react to the threat in his tone, and he couldn’t deny that Valac had a point. A kalmach like Chaol wasn’t a threat to a behemoth.

Daniel shifted. “Valac,” he warned. A harbinger, on the other hand…

Valac’s violet eyes focused on Daniel. “I would be a fool to disregard the threat he poses to our friends.” He asked Chaol, “You would give up your quest for revenge so quickly?”

“Do you want me to try and kill the leviathans?”

“No,” Julian said hastily, turning to pin Valac with a look, “we don’t want that at all.”

“If you abandon your loyalty to your brother’s memory so easily, how do we know we can trust you when it matters? How do we know you won’t simply walk away from our quest when it suits you?”

The table creaked, and Chaol glanced down. Daniel was gripping it hard, knuckles blanching.

“It wasn’t easy at all,” Chaol replied, struggling to find the right words. “But my desire for revenge… pales in comparison to how Daniel makes me feel. Wouldn’t you do anything for your human?”

“Of course,” Valac said without hesitation.

“Then how dare you question my feelings for mine,” he growled.

“Daniel isn’t human.” Valac’s voice and gaze didn’t waver. “Not anymore.”

A dark growl tore from Chaol’s throat. “That doesn’t matter to me. He’s still mine.” Nothing would come between him and Daniel. He would rend the world to shreds with his claws if he had to.

Daniel released the table to lay one hand on Chaol’s tense thigh. “I feel the same.”

Chaol knew that. Daniel’s feelings weren’t the ones in question right now, but he appreciated hearing it again nonetheless. He’d never tire of hearing it. Daniel meant everything to him. Yes, it boggled his mind how quickly he’d rearranged his priorities after meeting him, but it didn’t make them any less real.

Valac relaxed then, sitting back in his seat with an easy nod. “Good. I just needed to hear you say it.”

Chaol frowned. “Hear me say what?”

“That Daniel becoming a demon hadn’t changed your bond. I had to be sure. We know how it feels to fall for a human, but none of us have experienced what happens when our human becomes a demon. We didn’t know if it might change the way that connection felt. Becoming a demon changes a human soul.”

“Does it?” Daniel asked idly, sounding more curious than bothered.

Hell yeah, it did, Chaol thought. Only time would tell how much, but the Daniel he’d met in Hell who had cowered from the nighttime wraiths and agonized over how sex might change after he transformed would never have held Chaol down and fucked him until he screamed. Demon Daniel took a certain sadistic pleasure in showing Chaol no mercy. The human he’d been before had kissed him tenderly. And while he still had his tender moments, there was an edge to him now than hadn’t been there before. Chaol didn’t care, as long as Daniel was still his.

Chaol drew him in for a kiss. “You’re still you where it counts, darkling.”

Daniel looked bemused. “So I am different?”

“Not in any way that really matters. You still love your brother and your friends, right?”

Daniel nodded. “Yeah.”

Chaol affected a grimace. “You might not feel the same about church, and your alcohol tolerance will be through the roof. Those are small prices to pay for eternity, though.”

Daniel smiled, giving him a light shove that still nearly toppled his chair over. Only grabbing onto Daniel and the table kept him upright, and Valac, watching them wordlessly, chuckled lowly at Chaol’s flash of panic.

“Harbingers are very strong,” Valac added. “And like last night, you’ll have to be mindful of your emotions, or the hellfire will react.”

Daniel winced. “Right.”

“Draego said he’s sticking around, right?” Julian asked. “You could ask him for tips.”