Daniel #2
“Shut up, kalmach,” the reaper hissed, baring his mother’s teeth at the stranger.
Kalmach. Daniel knew that word. It was the type of demon that had attacked the guild last year with an army of possessor demons. They could look human, but they weren’t. They had wings and sharp teeth and claws. What the hell was a kalmach doing in Purgatory?
“You’re a demon,” Daniel said.
The kalmach ran a hand through his hair. “Well, yes. Is that a dealbreaker?”
At one time, yes, it would have been. But now? After he’d seen his brother and his friends find happiness with demons on Earth? He knew better than to judge a demon by its origins.
“No, it’s not a dealbreaker.”
The kalmach beamed at him, looking rakishly handsome with his lopsided grin and twinkling black eyes. “Fantastic.”
“Leave here, kalmach!” the reaper hissed. “You do not belong here.”
The kalmach ignored her. “It won’t be easy to get back to Earth. What do you know about halflings?”
Daniel’s heart jolted—fear, hope, shock, all scrambling for dominance. “They used to be human.”
The kalmach nodded. “If you descend, you can go back as a demon.”
“He would never choose such a thing,” the reaper said. “He is a holy man. His soul would be torn apart in Hell before he could reach the transformation pools.”
The kalmach’s gaze didn’t waver from Daniel’s. “Not if he has a guide helping him get there.”
“You? Why would you help me?” Daniel asked.
The kalmach’s head tilted. “You aren’t the only one who wants to get to the surface. All the usual routes are closed. But you… If you become a demon, you’ll get an express trip straight back to the surface, usual routes be damned. And I’ll be able to hitch a ride.”
“If you follow this demon into Hell, you will damn your soul for all eternity,” the reaper warned. “You will never see paradise. You will never see your mother again.”
It should have been an impossible choice. He’d missed his mother terribly growing up. His father was a strict man—a lot like Commander Sloan, really. Growing up without her should have left a hole in his heart.
But he’d had Nicolas. His big brother had looked out for him in all the ways he could have wanted.
Nicolas nursed him back to health when he was sick, made sure he drank plenty of water during training, checked him for injuries when they started going out in the field together.
If he had to choose between his fuzzy memories of his mother and the real-life, high-definition relationship he’d left behind with his brother, it was no contest.
“You’re sure it’ll get me back to the surface?” he asked. It was one thing to trust the demons he’d already met. He didn’t know this one, and it was a serious gamble to trust him with something so big.
The kalmach’s steady smile didn’t change. “I’m certain.”
Daniel pictured Nicolas and Julian and Ashmedai. He would do anything to get back to them. They needed him. He couldn’t rest until he knew they were safe. What kind of paradise could it be if he couldn’t ever see his brother and friends again?
Reading the resolve on his face, the kalmach held a hand out toward him. “Come with me.”
“No!” the reaper said, stepping toward them. Her pupils glowed white, and all the color leached from his mother’s face. “You cannot do this! His soul was not bound for Hell! You break the natural laws for your own gain, demon!”
Daniel rushed toward the demon, slapping a hand into his. He yanked Daniel closer, wrapping his arms around him.
“Don’t scream,” he said. “Or—you can if you want. It just won’t help anything.”
The demon transformed before his eyes, his warm skin paling rapidly through shades of inhuman gray to eerie white. Black horns sprouted from his skull, long and twisted, and behind him, his bat-like wings stretched widely.
“Hold on tight.” The voice that came from between those sharp teeth was like his human voice but raspier.
Hold on tight to the sharp-toothed demon gripping him in a steel-tight hug? Daniel barely had the sense of mind to fling his arms around the demon’s neck before the wings beat hard, shooting them up into the air so suddenly that his stomach bottomed out.
He did scream; it was impossible not to. The demon laughed in his ear. He swore they spun, dove, and arced even more just so the demon could hear him holler each time.
“Stop it or I’m gonna throw up,” he said, closing his eyes and willing it all to stop.
The kalmach laughed. “Ah, little human. You can’t throw up. You have no physical body.”
“Then why do I feel sick?”
“Because your mind believes you should feel sick.”
“What happens if I fall?”
The kalmach harrumphed. “You will not fall.”
“You could drop me.”
“I wouldn’t.” He said it with such certainty that Daniel couldn’t help believing him.
After a moment, he said, “But what would happen if you did? I can’t die, right? I’m already dead.” Saying the words didn’t actually help him wrap his mind around it. He was dead.
“Right. I don’t know. I suppose we could find out…”
“No, no, don’t even think about it!” If possible, he clung even harder.
The arms around him tightened, and it occurred to him that this was a very intimate embrace, their bodies pressed together from head to foot.
If Daniel turned his head, their cheeks would brush.
He resolutely did not do that. Just because his brother fell for a demon didn’t mean they were all so friendly.
“I said I wouldn’t.” The kalmach chuckled again.
Daniel studied the kalmach’s pointed ear, unwilling to turn his head and bring their faces closer together. The thought made him heat for some reason, even with the demon in his monstrous gargoyle-like form.
“Why are you helping me?” he asked. “What’s in it for you?”
The kalmach’s head twitched toward him. “The routes to Earth are shut for some reason. I’d like to get to the surface. When you’re transformed, you’ll get access. I can go with you.”
That sounded fair enough. Daniel had no problem helping him get to Earth. It seemed like the least he could do, if the kalmach helped him get through Hell.
They were quiet for a while after that. Daniel stared up at the endless gray sky and listened to the eerie, rhythmic flap of the kalmach’s wings. He could see one pointed ear on the side of the kalmach’s head from the corner of his eye.
“Do you remember how you died yet?” the kalmach asked.
Daniel sighed. “No. Will I?”
“I believe so. Most souls do eventually.”
“Good.” That seemed like something he should know. “What’s your name?”
The kalmach’s head turned, and Daniel thought he’d surprised him. Their cheeks brushed. The kalmach’s marble skin was unnaturally warm. “Chaol.”
“I’m Daniel. It’s, uh, nice to meet you.”
“I believe you might be the first to ever say that to me.”
Daniel chuckled. “Well, you’re not my first demon.”
“Paladin, right? I saw the ring.”
“You saw the—dammit, it came back, didn’t it?” He sighed hard. “Whatever. Yeah, sort of. I left the guild not long before I kicked the bucket. I don’t know why I’m still wearing the ring. I didn’t have it on me when I died.”
Chaol hummed. “I was never human, but as I understand it, you appear in the afterlife as you perceived yourself during life. Being a paladin was a part of who you were, wasn’t it?”
“Well, yeah. Up until they went crazy.”
“Went crazy?” Chaol asked curiously.
“Yeah. It’s—kind of a long story.”
“It’s a long journey through Hell.”
“Well, then maybe I’ll tell it eventually. I’d rather have my feet on the ground, though.”
“Fair enough.”
“So you’re saying I’m responsible for the ring showing up here. I still consider it a part of my identity.”
“Something like that, yeah.”
Daniel didn’t like that. He didn’t know how to remove ‘being a paladin’ from his identity.
He’d thought he’d done that already when he left the guild.
“Hm. For better or worse, I guess. But also, no, I didn’t mean you’re my first demon in the hunting-them sense.
I meant that I have friends on Earth who are demons. ”
Chaol snorted. “Sure you do.”
“I do!”
“Name one.”
“Ashmedai, the sin eater.”
Chaol laughed. “No, seriously.”
“Seriously! He left Hell a while back, didn’t you hear? Valac the behemoth escorted him out—and Valac is also a friend, by the way. He’s dating my best friend. Ashmedai is practically married to my brother.”
“Shut—up.” Chaol was wheezing, his whole body shaking against Daniel’s with uncontrolled laughter.
“Hey, buddy, do I look like a liar to you?”
Chaol just kept laughing. Daniel didn’t know whether to be offended or not, and the most important thing, he told himself, was that Chaol absolutely did not have a nice laugh. Nope. Not at all.