Daniel #2
His back. His back was really bleeding, but the lashes hadn’t been real.
“Why am I bleeding? How am I bleeding? I thought that was a physical thing.”
Chaol huffed out a laugh. “You can bleed. Otherwise where would the fun be?”
“Great.”
“She was clawing up your back, using it to feed on your fear.”
Daniel absorbed that. “It was her claws. Not the whip.”
“Whip?” Chaol asked sharply. “What whip?”
“At the guild. Punished for disagreeing with the commander. Whipped me in front of everyone.” His eyes burned, but no tears fell.
Chaol’s fingers tightened against the back of his head. “What?”
Daniel nodded numbly. “Months ago. That’s one of the reasons I finally left.”
“You mean you didn’t leave that day?”
Daniel sniffled. “No. I should’ve. I was weak. A lot of us were. We wanted to leave, but we didn’t know how. The guild is all we’ve ever known.”
Chaol was quiet for a moment. “I’ve always hated them,” he finally murmured. “But I didn’t know I could hate them like this.”
Something warm unfurled in Daniel’s heart at that. Chaol hated the guild on his behalf? Just like that?
He relaxed further into the demon’s arms.
“Will it heal?” Daniel couldn’t bring himself to raise his head, speaking the words against Chaol’s pale throat. His alabaster skin was warm against Daniel’s lips.
“Yeah. Wounds don’t last long here. Just like when you toss the ring away and it comes back.”
“Is that part of the fun?” he asked dully.
“Well—yeah. What’s the point in torturing a human soul if they actually died? You just wait until they reset and start all over again.”
Daniel shuddered.
“But I’m not letting that happen to you.
” The words were muffled, because Chaol’s mouth was in his hair.
He couldn’t remember the last time someone held him this tenderly, and even if this demon didn’t mean it, Daniel didn’t care.
He pressed closer, seeking Chaol’s incredible body heat, and claws pricked gently against the back of his head as Chaol’s fingers buried themselves in his curls.
“Because you need me,” Daniel said, trying to claw his way back to rationality. He couldn’t let himself trust Chaol too much. He barely knew him, no matter how good it felt to be held by him.
“Yes,” Chaol growled.
“To… To help you get to the surface.” That was the deal. Nothing more. Right?
Chaol was quiet for a long moment. “Yes.” But this time the word was weaker.
Daniel raised his head and met Chaol’s eyes.
It should be scary to be this close to a demon’s face.
His eyes were unnaturally dark. In this form, the white part was completely gone.
His nose was too short and pointed to pass for anything remotely human, and his mouth was full of sharp white teeth.
Ivory horns rose up from either side of his forehead, curving backward.
His leathery wings were cinched tightly around Daniel’s back. He was a monster, through and through.
And yet Daniel felt safer than ever.
Slowly, he leaned in until their foreheads were touching. Chaol sighed with something that might have been relief, and his dark eyes fell shut.
“Shouldn’t we… keep moving?” Daniel asked. He couldn’t let a little thing like torture stop them from reaching their goal.
“Yes.” But Chaol made no move to extricate them from each other. He held Daniel like he was something precious, clawed fingers touching his head and throat with infinite care. “I won’t let you out of my sight again, darkling, I swear.”
They were on the cusp of something. Daniel could voice the question he’d wanted to ask before, and he had a feeling Chaol would answer honestly.
But knowing the truth when they still had so far to go would complicate things.
There were too many unknown dangers here in Hell.
Letting themselves get distracted by whatever might be happening between them was a recipe for disaster.
Whatever this was, whatever it could be, they could figure that out when they were safe on the surface. Until then, Daniel had to focus.
He shifted, and Chaol opened his eyes, studying the resolve on his face and giving him a nod. The wings loosened from around him, and Daniel staggered to his feet. By the time Chaol stood, he looked human once more, spiky-haired and splashed with black demon blood.
“My back doesn’t hurt anymore,” he said, turning to let Chaol look.
A hand smoothed down his back, and Chaol said, “Yes, you’re all healed. Even your shirt is fixed.”
And the guild ring weighed like an anchor on his finger once more. All was as it should be, as far as Hell was concerned.
The stone spires of Pandemonium were visible in the distance from their hiding place that night.
This was barely big enough to be considered a cave.
It was more like a handful of jagged boulders leaning together to create a hollow.
Chaol nudged Daniel to the very back and built another small fire in front of them, which completely blocked the narrow entrance.
It was impossible not to touch each other.
Chaol sat sideways in front of him, and Daniel wound up with his ankles resting under Chaol’s raised knees.
In the low, flickering light of the fire, Daniel studied his demon companion.
Half his face was shrouded in shadow, the hollow of his cheekbone and the sharp cut of his jaw highlighted by the orange glow.
His shoulders were rounded with muscle, his chest dusted with coarse, dark body hair.
His lean forearms rested on his knees, and Daniel’s eyes followed the path of one of his veins to the back of his hand.
“See something you like?” Chaol asked, the corners of his lips lifting in amusement.
Daniel ducked his head, casting about for something to say. “Do you ever get cold without a shirt?”
Chaol grinned outright, leaning his head back against the rock wall. “Nah. I run hot.”
He certainly did, and Daniel hoped the darkness obscured the worst of his blush. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen anyone as beautiful as Chaol, with his windswept hair and glittering black eyes.
A rattling voice emerged from the darkness beyond their little hideout. “Daaanieeel.”
He stiffened, and Chaol turned toward the voice, lowering one hand to rest just above Daniel’s knee. There was an empty wall of darkness beyond the fire, and knowing something lurked out there beyond his visibility sent a shiver down Daniel’s spine.
“Pay it no mind,” Chaol said softly. “It’s just a wraith.”
Just a wraith. Just a monster who could hypnotize him into stepping around the fire and into its clutches. His stomach roiled, and he squirmed, drawing Chaol’s attention.
“You’re scared,” Chaol said.
“Of course I’m scared,” Daniel breathed. “I’m in Hell, and I have no way of defending myself against things like that.”
Chaol tilted his head thoughtfully. “What if you could?”
Daniel frowned. “Could what? Defend myself?”
“Yeah. There are weapons in Hell. None specifically designed for a human to wield, but you have training, right?”
“I do. Are there weapons down here that could hurt a demon? I thought holy weapons were the only thing that could kill a demon.”
“There are things that can harm us, yes, but nothing holy. They’re hard to come by, for obvious reasons.
We don’t want just anyone getting their hands on something that could kill us.
I might be able to find something in Pandemonium.
If not that, maybe something that would cloak you. Hide the brightness of your soul.”
“Really?” Daniel would feel a lot better if he had a weapon of some kind, but something to hide him might be just as good. He wouldn’t need to defend himself if no one knew he was a human.
“Yes,” Chaol replied. “I’d feel better knowing you had some way of defending yourself, but masking your presence might work just as well. I don’t—like the idea of you being hurt again.” His brow furrowed like he didn’t understand his own feelings.
Daniel warmed. “Thanks. You’re not worried I’d use a weapon on you?”
Chaol tilted his head. “It didn’t even cross my mind. Would you?”