Page 33 of Indecent

“Shit,” Chaol murmured. “Right. Lucifer said we should move fast.” There was no time to ask how Daniel was feeling or what he was thinking. There was definitely no time to kiss the hell out of him. They had to survive leading the angel through the gate first. Everything else would have to wait.

Chaol transformed in the blink of an eye and hooked an arm around Daniel’s waist, launching them into the air. “Keep an eye on my back. Let me know if the angel gets too close.”

Daniel hugged him tight. “Okay. He’s still far away right now.”

That wouldn’t be the case for long. The angel was stronger than him, which meant he was also faster, especially while Chaol was carrying Daniel. He pumped his wings hard, focusing on a distant mountain, the base of which housed the nearest gate.

The trouble with flying was that there was nowhere to hide, no cover to take or obstacles to use to his advantage. It was just them and the open sky.

“He’s gaining fast,” Daniel said, tensing.

“Fuck,” Chaol snarled. “Hold on tight.”

Bright light flashed over his shoulder, and Chaol tucked his wings, going into a freefall. Daniel screamed in his ear as they barreled toward the ground. Whatever the light was, it missed them. Chaol banked just before they hit the ground, and their feet grazed the dirt as they pulled upright. On instinct, he dodged from side to side, and light flashed on either side of them, hitting the ground with a boom and sending dirt exploding into the sky.

“What the hell is he shooting at us?” Chaol hollered.

“Some kind of white arrows,” Daniel replied. “Are we close?”

“Yeah! Just a little⁠—”

“Watch out!”

Chaol feared it was another of those arrows as Daniel tensed in his arms. He tried to dodge again, but he was too late. It wasn’t an arrow that hit him but a body. A shoulder slammed right between his wings, and Chaol went down with a curse. The three of them rolled end over end in the hard-packed dirt at the base of the mountain. Chaol lost his grip on Daniel, and the angel’s weight disappeared from his back. Pain shot through one of his wings as he rolled and skidded to a stop, on his stomach with his right wing arching up at an unnatural angle. It throbbed furiously.

The clash of blades filled the air. Groaning, Chaol pushed himself to his knees and cast his gaze around for Daniel. He found him at once, locked in battle with the angel. Daniel wielded a black blade cracked with glowing orange. It shot red sparks every time it met the angel’s blindingly white sword. Daniel’s face was a mask of concentration, his mouth downturned as he fought the angel’s advances.

Chaol glanced over his shoulder, stretching his injured wing out so the bones could reset. The gate was open, looking like a circular hole cut out of the air itself, sparking around the frayed edges. They were so close, barely thirty feet from it.

“Danny!” he roared. “The gate!”

Daniel didn’t acknowledge him, but he circled around the angel, putting his back to Chaol and backing toward him.

“I will have your power,” the angel said.

“You can fuck right the hell off,” Daniel replied.

Chaol snagged the back of his shirt, tugging him toward the gate. “Come on, come on,” he urged.

Daniel’s shirt was nearly ripped from his grasp when he lunged to parry the angel’s next swing. Chaol grabbed his hips next, hauling him away. The angel’s next swing swiped through the air just shy of Daniel’s chest.

“Hurry up,” Chaol hissed.

“Trying not to get stabbed here,” Daniel said over his shoulder.

“Well, there’s a really easy fix for that! We just go through the gate!”

The angel’s eyes narrowed. “You cannot escape.”

“Tell that to the open door behind us, asswipe,” Chaol sneered.

They were almost there. Fresh air billowed in, cooling Chaol’s back. He gave a mighty yank just as the angel rushed toward them. His sword crossed with Daniel’s, and together, the three of them toppled through the gate.

Chaol expected to land in Purgatory and make another run for it, but Lucifer must have pulled some strings to allow them to bypass it. He held tight to Daniel’s waist as light and color streaked past them. A hand encircled his wrist, and Daniel lifted both legs, kicking hard with both and dislodging the angel from them. They hurtled away, and Chaol only hoped they landed somewhere with enough distance between them and the angel to give them a chance to orient themselves.

Daniel slipped from his arms just before the world came to a grinding stop. Chaol landed on his back, jarring his still-healing wing, and he groaned up at the starry sky, panting for breath.

“Fuck me,” he breathed, rolling over and pushing himself upright. “Danny? Daniel!”