Connor dashed away from the door and behind his couch. “Shit!”

  Kate and Apollyon sauntered into his apartment. “I take it you know why we’re here.”

  “Fucking Kayden failed. That idiot.”

  “He didn’t. The bomb went off.”

  “What? I told him you would read his mind and find out. You did that, didn’t you?”

  “No, actually. I will give you credit for that. The demands you used as cover to pnt the bomb were so outndish that they had me properly distracted. A mistake I won’t make again.”

  He peeked over his couch. “But how are you here then?”

  “We’re immortal, you can’t kill us. The bomb also failed to destroy the library. We anticipated an attack and set up defences against this kind of terrorism. You blew up my office though. There was a desk in there that I held very dear. You better pray to your funny little deity that it can be reassembled, otherwise we might see each other again in a few billion years when this universe has faded into nothingness and I can finally hunt you into the afterlife.”

  “O-over a desk?”

  “Yes, over a desk. A desk older than your disgusting little species. A desk belonging to my closest friend. A desk with more history than you dinky little mortals can imagine. This alone would be enough to hunt your kind to extinction, but no. You had to try to destroy our library too. But I guess you are right. You only managed to destroy the desk, some wooden wall panels and a couple of couches. Oh, and three chairs. Yes, your life is forfeit over a desk.”

  “Fuck your desk and fuck you!”

  Kate sauntered over to the couch, took a seat and put her arm around Connor’s neck, pinning him against the back of the couch. “You’re not my type. I prefer women who can beat me in a fight. You… I could snap you in half while lounging on a couch. Anyway, I thought it would be a bit more difficult to find you all, but your friends ratted you out. They knew they would die anyway and they still told me where you were. That’s honestly kind of sad.”

  “Sad? They betrayed me and Jason! That’s more than sad, that’s horrifying!”

  “I guess you could say that, yes. I suppose that is one thing that separates you from animals… spite. No roach will betray another out of spite and yet you do. To me, that makes you less than roaches. Tell me, Connor, what would you do when you suddenly find roaches attacking your home?”

  “Call the exterminator.”

  “Precisely. Any fun insults you want to throw my way before I exterminate you?”

  “To give you the peace of mind that you killed me after I insulted you? Never.”

  “Nah, I just thought it be a fun thing to ugh about over a drink in a few centuries. Oh well.” Kate pulled her arm back to grip his neck and form her sword through Connor’s spine. He spilled an annoying amount of blood onto his couch and Kate’s armour but at least he died rather painfully.

  Kate got up and looked out one of the windows. “Polly, is this right?”

  “Does it feel right?” Apollyon stepped closer to Kate.

  “It does. But it also feels like I am doing something that is too primitive…”

  “What did you feel when you took Evan’s and Brian's souls?”

  “Nothing, really. They tasted better, in the weird way souls somehow have a taste, but that’s it. I don’t feel the need to do it again.”

  “You felt how most demons feel when feeding on a living soul. The taste can be enjoyable, but there is no true satisfaction. It is a hollow act. You see, the thing that makes human souls taste better than synthetic or animal souls is the heightened ability for malice. Some animals can be malicious too, their souls are quite good, but humans… they are capable of far more sophisticated evil than pretty much anything else. The worse the human, the better the taste.”

  “But I don’t want to taste it again. I am gd in a way that I tried it once and now… there is no need to devour anyone.”

  “Good. Why then do you want to kill the FBC members?”

  “Revenge. They did something I couldn’t even imagine possible. I want to make sure no one ever tries anything like that ever again. I want to make an example of them and make them pay for what they have done.”

  “That is a normal desire. Many differences between demons are remedied through combat. Violence is in our blood. We are predators. You may have been born human but your blood, your soul, your instincts are demonic now. By human standards, you could question your actions, but by demonic standards you are keeping this rather civil.”

  “You wanted revenge too, right?”

  “I am enjoying you massacring them. Don’t let me take away your kills.”

  Kate shook her head. “You take the next one. We only have two left and I want to save Jason for st. If I am keeping things civil, I am curious what you would do.”

  “As you wish.”

  Apollyon pulled Logan from the floor by his colr. “I didn’t give you permission to grovel.”

  He tried to free himself somehow and failed.

  “Look at me when I’m talking to you.”

  He didn’t.

  “I told you to look at me.” The old devil forcefully turned his head towards herself. “That’s better. Now, where were we? Ah, I was telling you how insignificant your disgusting little existence is and that you dared make it matter in our lives. I don’t appreciate roaches like you making themselves important. It’s quite amusing that you thought we were fighting a war against you and your dead little God. Well, now that I am indulging you, are you happy with how your war is going?”

  He didn’t respond.

  Apollyon chucked Logan against a nearby wall. “It is polite to answer when you are asked a question.”

  He coughed and groaned has he tried to stand up. “We have God… we will win…”

  Apollyon grabbed him again and threw him again, this time not against a wall but across worlds, teleporting herself, Logan and Kate into the heavens. “What is that?” She pointed towards a rge stone monument.

  “A…a grave, I think.”

  “Yes, a grave. Read.”

  Someone else interrupted. An angel in heavy armour teleported before Apollyon. “What are you doing here?”

  “I am making a point. If it makes you happy, you can watch.”

  “What sort of point?”

  “He is part of a group that attacked the library with the intent to destroy it. He acted in God’s name. You understand the rest, Hadraniel.”

  “I do, Apollyon. I will watch as you continue. Once you are done, I will inform the archangels of the attack.”

  “Do that.”

  Hadraniel stepped aside and nodded silently.

  Apollyon turned back towards Logan. “Now, read.”

  Logan hesitated before complying. “Here lie the remains of God, ruler of the One Heaven, tyrant of the old order, traitor to the angels of the heavens. May his actions serve as a warning that no one angel is more than any other and that only together we can find our pce.”

  “Do you still believe God will help you?”

  “This can’t be…”

  “You're seeing his tomb with your own eyes. Will you still deny reality?”

  “God can’t die… he made us all, he made everything, he cannot die.”

  Hadraniel looked at Apollyon and frowned. “May I?”

  Apollyon nodded. “Go ahead.”

  “Logan, your devotion is admirable but misguided. The God you were told about, the God you believe in, never existed. He was a lie created by a dictator to ensve your people. Even God, as he ruled the heavens and waged war against Hell never dared what you did. He never touched the library. If demonkind has anything they consider holy, it is that pce. They value their memories even more than we do. Attacking a pce that remembers what we forget is unforgivable. Mistress Apollyon and head librarian Kate are right in punishing you. Your existence is forfeit.”

  “You… you’re not a real angel! God cannot die! Impostor!” He shed out and tried to strike at the angel, who merely grabbed Logan’s wrist.

  “God is dead. The war is over.”

  “Liar!”

  “Then there is no saving you. I apologize, Apollyon. I have wasted your time.”

  Apollyon shook her head. “You didn’t. He did.” She grabbed Logan by the colr again to pull him closer. “Did the indoctrination really turn your brain into nothing but dirt and rubble? Can you really not see the obvious truth right before your eyes?”

  “You’re trying to deceive me into going to Hell! I will never renounce him! God is not dead!” Logan struggled trying to tear himself free.

  Apollyon gave Hadraniel a quick nod before teleporting herself, Logan and Kate back to the human’s home. “Then you will suffer.” She dropped him onto the floor.

  He tried to struggle to his feet before colpsing again, screaming in agony. His body was burning from the inside, his own blood searing through his flesh until he eventually stopped moving. A quick flick of Apollyon’s wrist turned his body into dust.

  “Shit… you weren’t kidding when you said I was civil.” Kate moved closer to her friend.

  “I could have kept him alive for longer. I might have if he had been more creative with his babbling.”

  “You didn’t even flinch, didn’t even lift a finger to kill him…”

  “Does it bother you?”

  “No, it just makes me feel like I can do fuck all compared to you. You are still so much more powerful than I am.”

  “You are powerful in your own ways. You can do things I cannot.”

  “There is a vast difference between the ability to feel other peoples’ thoughts and being able to conquer the heavens.”

  “True. The former is far more useful.”

  Kate paused and looked confused. Apollyon simply began ughing. After a second of gathering her thoughts, Kate joined in. “You know what? You’re right. Still, what you can do is scary in all the right ways.”

  “I am gd you approve. Do you have pns for Jason Hedgeley?”

  Kate nodded. “I already had pns but you gave me a few more ideas. I don’t think he will die as quickly as the others. Heh, we truly are cats, aren’t we?”

  “In what way?”

  “We py with our food.”

  “Nothing wrong with a little fun.”