Page 6 of Indecent

“How long is it until we get out of Purgatory?” Daniel asked, drawing Chaol back to the present.

“I’m glad you asked. That really depends on you.”

Daniel’s jaw brushed his, and Chaol fought back a shudder. “How so?”

“All the gates are closed right now. No demons can enter or exit Hell. I have no idea why.” As far as he knew, nothing like that had ever happened before. There were always routes in and out of Hell. Something big was going down, but he had no idea what.

Daniel reared back to look at him. “Wait, what? How are we supposed to get there, then? You lied to me! You said you could take me⁠—”

“Oh, shush. Your other option was to hang out down there with that reaper masquerading as your mother, remember? And I said demons can’t get in or out. It’s why I was stuck out here. Think of Purgatory like a pathway between the realms. Souls pass through here to get to Heaven or Hell. With Hell’s gates closed, it prevents demons from entering or leaving. But human souls, they still have to be able to travel to their final destination, right?”

“Right,” Daniel agreed dubiously.

“But that means you need to trick this place into thinking Hell is where you’re meant to go.”

“How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

“By wanting it.”

Daniel paused, then said, “Come again?”

Chaol chuckled. He liked this human. “You have to make yourself believe you’re meant to go to Hell. That’ll make the Soul Gate appear.” Most souls didn’t want to go to Hell, but that was their intended destination no matter what. Behaving as though that was where Daniel was meant to go should do the same thing, essentially. Chaol was winging it, no pun intended, but he had a feeling it would work.

“Soul Gate,” Daniel repeated.

“Just wish with all your might, little human. Think about how much you want to get back to Earth. How much you need it. And how much you need to go through Hell to get there. It’s the only way. Hell is your ticket back home. Hell is what you need. You want to go there. You must.”

Daniel went quiet, tucking his chin against Chaol’s shoulder. His fingers pressed divots into Chaol’s back.

Nothing happened at first, but Chaol didn’t expect it to be immediate. He didn’t imagine it was an easy thing to convince himself he wanted to go to Hell. That was okay. They could drift through the air for however long Daniel needed. In this form, he could easily carry Daniel’s weight for as long as it took.

Eventually, a red light appeared in the distance, floating in the sky directly in front of them. The Soul Gate. Chaol pushed his body harder, wind gusting behind them with every flap of his wings.

“That’s good, little human. Very good.” One clawed hand rose, cupping the back of Daniel’s neck, and the human made a questioning noise in his throat. “Don’t look yet. This can be disorienting. Most souls aren’t conscious for it.”

“Most souls just wake up in Heaven or Hell?”

“That’s right. Only the ones with unfinished business find themselves in Purgatory. Reapers track them down and try to send them on their way. Hold fast now, and keep your eyes closed.”

“Oh, God.” Daniel tucked his face deeper into the curve of Chaol’s neck. Chaol’s arms tightened around him.

As they passed through the Soul Gate, the haze of gray around them transformed to deep, crimson red. It was like a technicolor tunnel of flashing red, black, and gray. Chaol tucked his wings and dove straight into it. Daniel uttered a ragged sound as he felt the change in their speed and direction. His legs wrapped around Chaol’s hips, and Chaol suppressed a groan. Flying was no more complicated to him than walking, and with Daniel pressed against him so enticingly, it was hard to remember that he couldn’t sink his teeth into this golden soul. That would surely turn Daniel against him, and he didn’t want that. He wanted to stay with Daniel—because he needed him to get to the surface. That was all.

That wasn’t all. But he couldn’t entertain anything else.

The technicolor haze gave way to dark rock, and when the tunnel finally opened up, Chaol pulled up, bringing their bodies horizontal. Daniel’s blunt nails dug into his back. Chaol laughed again, unable to resist bumping his head against Daniel’s in a teasing little touch. Daniel groaned, hooking his heels together at the small of Chaol’s back.

“Please don’t drop me,” he whimpered.

“I said I wouldn’t.” He would reassure this human as many times as it took. What would it be like to earn his trust?

“Are we almost there?”

“Yes.” He didn’t need to fly with Daniel in his arms down here, though. It would draw too much attention. In fact, Daniel would draw attention just by existing here. Better that they were on the ground when that happened. There were bigger things than Chaol in the sky, and he wouldn’t risk taking a hit and actually dropping Daniel. Even if it couldn’t kill him, they’d get separated. And he’d be damned—heh—before he let this human out of his sight down here.

“But I still shouldn’t look?”

His fingers sank into Daniel’s curls, and the human shivered. Fuck, he wanted to make him do that again. “You can look, if you’d like an aerial view of Hell.”