Chaol #2
Chaol poured himself a cup and took a sip of the black brew. It was nice; a more pleasant taste than the stuff Julian kept in stock. It was probably expensive, like everything else in this place.
“We could take them all back to the Rink, where the angel wards are,” Chaol suggested, even though he knew, logically, that they would be safe enough here until Daniel woke. Not to mention the space issue they would face at the Rink.
“We will,” Talon said, pulling himself up to sit on the kitchen island. “But that isn’t a long-term solution. It’s already crowded there, thanks to the guild refugees. We can’t all sleep there. There isn’t enough room.”
Chaol hummed, leaning against the kitchen counter across from him. He didn’t like hearing his own thoughts voiced by the leviathan. It made him… relatable.
“Then we should just hurry up and kill this angel.”
Talon huffed out a laugh. “Agreed. The trouble is how.”
“We’ll figure it out.” He wasn’t opposed to some experimentation. Could an angel survive decapitation? Dismemberment? Sinking into the Mariana Trench?
Talon’s dark gaze studied him intently. “You sound very confident about that.”
“I’m confident that something led Daniel and I together like this for a reason. It wasn’t just so we could die at some rogue angel’s hands right after he’s achieved immortality.”
Talon cocked his head with a bitter twist. “You would think. Life can be cruel, though.”
That was rich coming from him. “I know,” Chaol said pointedly.
The air pulled taut between them.
Talon’s eyes glittered knowingly. “I won’t apologize.”
“I don’t believe I asked you to.”
“Do you still want to kill me?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Admitting out loud that he didn’t want to kill him felt like ceding valuable ground in whatever conversational spar was happening here. His pride wouldn’t allow it.
“Oh?”
“It would upset Daniel.” That was admission enough.
Talon nodded, leaning back, and the tension dissolved with him.
“How quickly they wrap us around their little fingers. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Alex, either.
The minute they realize it, you’re done for.
Any leverage you might think you have is gone.
” He sighed wistfully. “He lets me pretend I’m in charge, at least.”
Chaol snorted out a laugh. “Danny knows. He’s always known. Hell, it doesn’t even matter. He’s a harbinger now. He can just strong-arm me into doing whatever he wants.”
Talon gave him a thoughtful look. “It wasn’t just Shadrach and I, you know. Wolf, Malachi, and Storm were there, too. Alex, Luke, Ira, and Nathan. Not to mention all the others who were still paladins at the time—including Daniel. All of us were there. We all played a hand in what happened.”
“I know—now. At the time, I’d only heard about the leviathans. Possessors don’t exactly tell reliable stories.”
“They’re the ones who told you about it?” Talon’s head tilted curiously.
Chaol nodded. “After that battle, the possessors scattered. A lot of them wound up back in Hell, where they told the tale of the battle with the guild and Amon’s fall.
I heard it from one of them. They were all too eager to regale me with their brief taste of freedom and the leviathans who’d ended their fun like a couple of do-gooder humans. ”
Talon rolled his eyes. “And it didn’t occur to you that they intended for you to hunt us down?”
“I don’t know,” Chaol said. “It didn’t even cross my mind to hunt you down for a while after that.
But the more I dwelled on it, the angrier I got.
Amon was—the last of my clan.” He hesitated over the words, remembering the way Talon had called it a flock.
But there was no sign of that mockery here, so Chaol went on.
“We hadn’t seen each other in a while, but I thought we were still loyal to one another.
Why the hell were two leviathans killing demons on the surface?
Why Amon? I didn’t know, and I wanted to find out.
I wanted to make you pay. I didn’t count on Daniel showing up in Purgatory on my way out of Hell.
I didn’t count on him knowing you—I didn’t count on caring about him. ”
“We didn’t want to get involved,” Talon told him softly.
“For whatever that’s worth. Storm and Nathan, their relationship was still very new.
Nathan hadn’t decided to leave the guild yet—as far as I know, at least. He was there when the attack happened, and Storm would have rushed in alone if we’d refused to help.
But our humans, they couldn’t sit by and watch people die.
They insisted there were good people behind the wall, not just Sloan’s extremists.
They wanted to go and help, if they could.
That’s why such a divide formed in the guild in the first place.
Our humans are genuinely good, and they wanted to help even though the guild saw them as enemies.
That didn’t matter to them. Innocent people would die, so they had to go.
And because they’re our humans, we had to go, too.
I didn’t enjoy killing a kalmach. I’d never known your kind to be so aggressive. ”
“We aren’t,” Chaol rasped. “Not really. We used to keep to ourselves. He only did those things because Lilith wanted him to.”
“Lilith was a whole other issue, it’s true.”
“She was just as much to blame; I know that.” Not that it mattered, really.
She was long gone. With a sigh, he straightened, drained his coffee, and set the empty mug in the sink.
“Look, we’re probably never going to be BFFs, leviathan, but I can admit my anger toward you and Shadrach was somewhat misplaced. ”
“Somewhat,” Talon repeated, looking like he was fighting a smile.
“Yes,” Chaol said magnanimously. “You were somehow fighting for the greater good, and in doing so, you made it possible for me to meet Daniel. Ultimately, Amon’s choices were the reason that he died.
I may not like you, but I know that, at least. So, we’re good.
You have nothing to worry about from me.
And—thank you for not leaving me behind with Ramiel when you were grabbing everyone to bring here. ”
“I cannot confirm or deny whether it crossed my mind,” Talon said neutrally. “But I know better than to get on a harbinger’s bad side.”
Chaol clucked his tongue in amusement. “Ah, Daniel’s love for me prevails once again.”
Talon barked out a laugh. “You’re not bad, kalmach.”
“Go fuck yourself, leviathan.” It lacked heat, and Chaol walked away smiling, with Talon’s warm chuckle trailing after him.
Halfway up the stairs, a pair of glowing eyes at the top caught his attention.
“How long were you spying on us, darkling?” he asked, slipping his arms around Daniel’s naked waist. He was still clad in nothing but boxer briefs.
“Not quite the whole time,” Daniel admitted. “I do, you know.”
“Do what?”
“Love you.”
Chaol smiled, backing Daniel against the wall. “Good. You better love me. I might be very upset if you said you didn’t.”
“Can’t have that,” Daniel breathed.
Chaol kissed him, deep and slow.
“Get a room!” Talon called up from downstairs.
Chaol broke away from Daniel’s mouth. “I still hate him a little bit.”
Daniel snorted. “Right now, so do I. Come on. I can’t sleep without you.”
He threaded their fingers together, pulling Chaol after him.
“Anything you say, darkling.”