Page 65 of Indecent

“Tasty,” Ashmedai quipped as he dropped the last twisted body.

“Our humans are ignoring us,” Valac said, and Chaol reluctantly pried himself away from Daniel so they could both turn.

Julian and Nicolas seemed to be deep in conversation, looking at their blades and gesturing animatedly as they talked.

Ashmedai appeared in front of Nicolas, drawing him into a kiss under his shadowed hood.

“What are you guys chatting about over here?” Daniel asked as they joined them.

“We were debating who put these etchings on the blades,” Julian said with a grin, sheathing the sword. “The guild used to have a blacksmith, right? I figure it was him.”

“They’re holy inscriptions,” Nicolas said, sheathing his, too. “I guessed it was the priest of the time, saying blessings over the blades after they were made to make them holy.”

“Why were you talking about that?” Valac asked.

“Because we realized how boring it was to patrol with four overpowered demons,” Nicolas teased. “Any one of you could have handled those paladins, and all the monsters hide in fear from you. There’s really nothing for us to do out here now.”

“What a hardship,” Daniel joked, “to not have to kill anything on patrol.”

Chaol glanced back at the bodies. A few arleth and arronid demons were approaching warily, intent on feasting.

“Speaking of monsters,” he said, calling the others’ attention to them. “Did you guys want to grab the paladins’ weapons before the demons start eating them?”

“Yuck,” Nicolas said, which Chaol thought was rich coming from the man who just kissed a sin eater on the mouth. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

Chaol turned toward the beasts and flapped a hand at them. “Beat it! You can have them in a minute.”

The demons shrank back into the shadows.

Julian’s blue eyes widened. “They understand you?”

Chaol shrugged. “Eh.”

“Somewhat,” Valac explained. “The way a dog understands its master’s tone and body language. They are particularly sensitive to demons who are more animalistic in nature, such as the kalmach and sin eater.”

“Yes,” Ashmedai rasped. “Born deep in the Pit, we were.” He inclined his head at Chaol, who warmed at the kinship he felt.

“Supposedly,” Chaol said as they approached the bodies, “kalmachs were once unable to shapeshift into human forms. That would have been thousands of years ago, long before my time. We evolved into shapeshifters who could use human language, but we once roamed the wilds of Hell like animals.”

“Hell has wilds?” Nicolas asked, pausing from the sword retrieval to gawk at him.

“It does,” Daniel answered. “Trees, caves, rivers. It all looks like something from another planet. I wish you could see it.”

“Perhaps one day they can,” Valac said.

Julian blinked over at him, his arms full of sheathed swords. “We can? How?”

Valac shrugged one boulder-like shoulder. “I had not considered taking any of you through Hell to make the transformation, but it’s an option. It would allow you to be immortal in your own right rather than relying on our blood.”

Chaol wondered how many of them would actually want something like that. Drinking blood granted them strength and immortality without affecting their ability to handle their holy weapons. Becoming a demon would change that and cut them off from ever reaching Heaven, which, thanks to the angels, they now knew was undeniably real. How many of them would actually be willing to make that choice?

Nicolas glanced between Ashmedai and Daniel, an uncertain frown on his face. But there was longing there, too.

Nicolas’s mate and brother could never join him in Heaven. Maybe, for him, it wasn’t much of a choice at all.

Chapter 20

Daniel