15. Chaol
Chaol
Chaol regretted leaving almost immediately.
His body ached with the need to return to Daniel, knowing he’d left Daniel behind and distressed.
He had no one to blame but himself for the state they were both in now.
He should have warned Daniel before they made it to the surface.
But he hadn’t, and now Daniel might never forgive him.
He should have told him why he really wanted to come to Earth.
Daniel had a brother; he probably would have understood.
Instead he’d kept it a secret until it rightly blew up in his face.
He’d hoped there would be a way to have Daniel and his revenge when they got to the surface. Now he knew that wasn’t possible.
Which begged the question: what the fuck did he do now? He wanted Daniel more than anything, but could he stomach working with those demons to do it?
High in the sky, with the cars along the highway looking more like string lights than automobiles, Chaol spread his wings wide and glided through the air, circling over the Rink.
He couldn’t stand to be far from Daniel, but at least up here he was too far away for any of the others to sense his presence.
He would keep an eye on his darkling and return to his side when it was safe.
If Daniel would still have him, that is.
Late into the night, Daniel finally emerged from the building. There was a sense of power to him now, like a vibration in the air. It called to Chaol, and his keen eyes landed on him at once. He followed the pale-haired Julian to a car and got into the passenger seat.
Chaol followed them from the parking lot, the salty taste of the ocean lingering on his tongue as they turned north on the highway. He pumped his wings hard and fast, keeping the car in sight far below him.
It eventually came to a stop at a house hidden among a grove of trees, with a small, grassy field beside it.
Was this where Julian and the behemoth lived?
The house was a quaint, two-story farmhouse.
Not at all what Chaol would have expected for a behemoth, even if Valac had mostly left the household decisions up to his human.
The two figures emerged from the car, and Daniel followed Julian into the house. Chaol was much too far away to hear their voices, and he wondered if this was where Daniel planned to sleep.
Was he angry? Would he send Chaol away?
He lingered in the sky until all the lights in the house went off.
Dawn was a golden-gray haze on the edge of the horizon when he finally worked up the courage to glide down toward the house.
Daniel’s presence was obvious even through the walls, and Chaol stopped in front of a window on the second level, peering in through the gap between the curtains.
Pale hands parted the fabric, and then Daniel was there, opening the window with hasty, fumbling fingers.
Chaol was struck by the sight of him. He was a beautiful man.
Standing bathed in silver moonlight, the play of shadow and light highlighted the relaxed dip and curve of muscle on his corded forearms. He wore a soft T-shirt and sweatpants, and Chaol felt a momentary throb of regret for storming off before the shower Daniel had obviously taken at the Rink.
His dark curls were messy—Chaol wanted to run his fingers through them.
His orange-ember eyes gazed unblinkingly at Chaol, as if drinking him in.
Chaol wished he’d savored those moments in the cemetery more. He’d thought that was the beginning of something. Now, he feared it was already over. Daniel was probably pissed, and rightfully so. No amount of groveling would be enough, but he hoped he’d get the chance to try.
“Come in,” Daniel entreated. His dark, glowing eyes were pleading.
Chaol landed on the windowsill, gripping the sides with his hands as he transformed, tucking his wings away.
He needed to apologize for flying off, for trying to attack his friends, for lying.
But when he opened his mouth to speak, Daniel lunged, hooking his hands under Chaol’s legs and hauling him closer.
Chaol’s ass hit the windowsill as Daniel shoved between his parted legs, crushing their mouths together and holding Chaol against him in a steel-tight hug.
Chaol moaned into it, their tongues tangling.
He tried to resist for a moment, just to see how strong Daniel was, and a sharp little thrill went through him when Daniel exerted more pressure than he could easily dislodge.
He was strong, his darkling. Good.
Daniel ripped his mouth away, gripping Chaol by the throat and holding him still. Chaol reeled, mouth kiss-bruised and slick. He found purchase on the sides of the windowsill, blinking at Daniel’s teeth-baring snarl.
“You lied to me,” he growled.
Daniel was volatile for a lot of reasons now that he was a harbinger, but Chaol wasn’t scared. He gently patted Daniel’s wrist, and the hand around his throat loosened, sliding around his neck to pull him properly into the darkened bedroom.
“I did,” Chaol said, shutting the window behind him and drawing the curtains. It left the room in almost total darkness, but neither of them moved to turn on a light. Neither of them needed one now. He wasn’t sure Daniel even realized it.
“Why?” Daniel demanded.
Chaol sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want to hear your apologies. I want to know why.”
He gestured to Daniel’s left hand. “Your ring. I knew you were connected to the paladins right away. I knew Amon was killed there. It was safe to assume you wouldn’t help me get to Earth if you knew I was associated with someone who might’ve killed friends of yours.”
Daniel folded his arms across his chest. “But later, after we… Why didn’t you tell me later? Once you knew you could trust me?”
“What would you do to someone who hurt your brother?” he asked.
Daniel’s face hardened, then relaxed. “Okay. I get it. But you could’ve told me.”
“I knew you would want to stop me.”
“Then what was the plan? Get here, kill them, and hope I’d forgive you?”
“I—I don’t know. I didn’t have a plan. I wanted to get to the surface.
That goal never changed. At some point, it became more about getting here with you than for that.
I didn’t know what I planned to do. I knew I should tell you, but I didn’t know how.
” He scrubbed both hands over his face. “I knew you wouldn’t want me to.
And I thought maybe I could let it go in order to be with you, but then we just showed up there, and I was suddenly face to face with them.
And Talon—” He broke off, letting a snarl burble out of him.
Daniel bobbed his head. “He can be an asshole, yeah. He provoked you, and he knew it. He actually apologized to me after you left.”
“Apologizing won’t bring Amon back.”
Daniel blew out a breath, trudging over to the bed and sitting down. “So, what then? If you see them again, you’ll kill them?”
“Would you let me?” They both knew Daniel could stop him if he wanted to.
Daniel didn’t look amused. “That’s not what I asked.”
Chaol sat down beside him, staring down at his lap. “No, I wouldn’t. You don’t want me to, and I’d rather have you. If I kill them, I’ll have my revenge, but I’ll still be alone. If I leave them be, I might still have a chance with you. That’s… That’s more important to me now.”
“You might still have a chance with me?” Daniel repeated.
Chaol blinked, uncomprehending. “Well, yeah. Aren’t you pissed at me? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to see me again. I—”
In the blink of an eye, he found himself on his back with Daniel hovering over him, pressing him down into the mattress.
“You are mine, Chaol,” Daniel said. “Do you understand that? Mine. No matter what. Do I want you to kill them? No. If you did it anyway, would I let you go? No.”
Do you promise? Chaol wanted to say, but the words clogged in his throat.
“It would complicate everything. My friends would come after you for hurting them. I would hate having to choose between keeping you and fighting them. So no, I don’t want you to kill them. But nothing would make me let you go.”
Relief flooded through him. He hadn’t fucked this up. Daniel still wanted him.
Words weren’t needed. He leaned up, closing the distance between them and crashing their mouths together.
Chaol whined into the kiss, rutting up against Daniel.
He poured everything he felt into their touch, how much he regretted his actions and how much he still wanted Daniel.
And Daniel, he gripped Chaol with possessive eagerness, one hand sliding into his hair and the other going under the arch of his spine, plastering them together.
At one time, Amon had chosen Lilith’s vendetta against the paladins over what remained of their clan.
Now, Chaol wouldn’t let himself feel guilty for choosing Daniel over that half-baked quest for revenge that had gotten him through those first few weeks of solitude.
He’d clung to it, because he needed something.
Revenge had been his only comfort. He’d only wanted it because it hurt to be alone.
He wasn’t alone anymore. Daniel was his and he was Daniel’s, and his world finally made sense again.
Daniel’s teeth raked against his lip, soothed by his tongue as he wrenched Chaol’s fly open.
He shoved his pants and boxers down. Daniel had showered at some point, but Chaol hadn’t.
Streaks of dirt still stained his skin, and he was sticky with cum.
Daniel growled, the sound completely unnatural and sending a shiver straight down Chaol’s spine.
How quickly they’d gone from Chaol being the protector to Daniel being the strongest between them.
He didn’t think Daniel realized yet just how much their dynamic had shifted.
He was now one of the most powerful demons that Chaol had ever met.
He kicked his shoes off, and Daniel got up just long enough to yank his pants all the way off. Then he was back, blanketing his body over Chaol’s.
“Danny,” he whimpered.