The library team, minus Eisheth, had met with Lilith, Sarah, Phea and Saliria. The librarian succubus had decided to not join them, because two succubi would draw too much attention of the kittens away from everyone else and it would be a bit much for Eisheth currently. She wanted some boring quiet days after the upset yesterday.

  After teleporting into Nirrti’s home and slowly sneaking out, the group was ambushed by the cats.

  “No way, they really are raptor kittens!” Sarah knelt down to pet one of them. A fatal mistake, as she was immediately beset by multiple more.

  Apollyon sat down beside the human. “What did you expect?”

  “I honestly don’t know. Just not that they are literally raptor-shaped kittens. They are so cute!”

  “They sure are.”

  “Kate said something about migrating, this seems like a lot of cats in a pce they don’t usually hang out in.”

  “A herd like this has a route that takes just under a human century to complete. In a few weeks they will converge with a costal group in Dis. They often stop by settlements for a while to spend time with the locals and get some different food than the insects they usually hunt. Their migration routes can overp quite a bit, but the different herds don’t meet up very often. This one is one of three that pass through Dis, one of those actually comes by this town as well, but that will be in about two decades. Most groups meet with another herd once or twice in their migration cycle and exchange members. The fact that one of the big meeting spots is in Dis is not a coincidence either. Many demons in one pce means a lot of food and cuddles to go around.”

  “That is fascinating! How many herds are there?”

  “We don’t know. The Academiae Infernalis is tracking around eighty that pass through various settlements, but with the varying members, some of those are not entirely confirmed to be singur herds. There are also many more that have been confirmed that don’t see any towns on their route or have such long paths that we mistook them for a different group and just haven’t seen them again in the spot. It’s also unclear if all herds stick to a specific route like this one. Freya is out there trying to study these little cats.”

  “Freya… as in the chariot commander Freya?”

  “That exact one.”

  “She is awesome.”

  Apollyon tilted her head slightly. “You know her?”

  “I met her after Ama asked me to show TV shows to some other demons. Freya was one of them.”

  “That expins some things.”

  “Hm? What do you mean?”

  “She can be quite excitable when it comes to fiction. She quoted something I didn’t know when we were taking the chariot to Celestis recently.”

  “Okay?”

  “She did a gesture with her hands like this.” Apollyon held her hand up and motioned forward. “And told Hera to ‘engage’.”

  Sarah started to giggle. “Okay, yes, that is perfect. Incredible.”

  “Will you enlighten me on what she did?”

  “Later maybe. You need to see the show for that.”

  “Then we have a pn for the weekend.” The old devil picked up a raptor kitten that had accidently rolled off her p and pced it back where it belonged.

  Kate had snuck off with Nirrti while Apollyon and the others had distracted the raptor kittens and brought pillows and lounging chairs. Soon after everyone managed to climb onto the chairs, despite the raptor kittens attempts to cling to every person avaible, Evelyn and Lizzy teleported in, prompting a wave of meowing from the kittens.

  “You can understand what they mean, right?” Adelina leaned over to talk to Kate without being drowned out by the cats.

  “They are just yelling one question over and over again. Friend?”

  Adelina giggled. “Friend indeed.”

  Once the two newcomers got comfortable as well and allowed the kittens to besiege them, the tone of the meowing shifted slightly.

  “Sounds like they got their answer. They are just yelling ‘Friend!’ now.”

  “They do sound happy.”

  “They are.”

  “Good.”

  A while passed as the demons and humans just enjoyed their time with the raptor kittens and their infectious simple enjoyment of life. Eventually, Kate turned to Lizzy.

  “Be honest, please… what did you think when you heard what I was doing yesterday?”

  Lizzy sighed. “I was worried. I… I didn’t care much about some random humans I didn’t know dying. I was worried you would be hurt, not physically, but like you were after that accident.”

  That accident was something Kate had pushed so far away now. It had cost her two years of her childhood but seemed so utterly unimportant now. She had been hit by a drunk driver and had to forego her physical hobbies like tennis. She spent two years in and out of hospitals, undergoing numerous surgeries and spent what felt like an eternity in physical therapy. It had left scars, both physical and mental. The mental ones were far worse. Still, both kinds were gone now. The driver died a few years after the accident and Kate’s body got healed by adapting to her consumption of souls shortly before she left those human vulnerabilities behind entirely.

  “I almost forgot about it… you were right to worry. Killing humans isn’t what bothers me for some reason. I am more concerned by the fact that I don’t care about them. I shouldn’t be this indifferent to murder.”

  “I get where you’re coming from, but honestly? You just killed some religious terrorists who threatened and actively attacked the thing you hold dear. If you weren’t a demon, you’d be dead. I’d want to kill them too if I were in your position. It’s not the morally right thing to do. It’s not even the most logical thing to do. But it is the thing you needed to feel safe again. And I should know what you need. That’s my special power.”

  “It somehow always was, even without actual magic.”

  “That’s what your big sister is supposed to do. I actually promised Amelia and Michael to check in with you more often until I am absolutely sure that everything is fine again.”

  “So, uhm, will you come by more often then?”

  “Absolutely. Today is literally the first day after your home was attacked. There is no way you have fully dealt with everything that happened, and I will make sure that this won’t haunt you in the long run. I will come by multiple times a week until I am absolutely sure that you are alright.”

  “Lizzy the Carer doing her thing… I’m sure Jolene would be proud. As am I. Couldn’t hope for a better found sister.”

  Lizzy helped another raptor kitten onto her p. “Just doing what is right. Anyway, I heard something about a bath ter?”

  “Yes! We’ll be heading to a bathhouse in the first circle, you can join us if you want.”

  “No way I’m going to miss that. It’s like those Japanese hot springs, right?”

  “That’s what Polly told me, yes.”

  “I always wanted to go to one of those but the ones in actual Japan likely won’t be super demon friendly… getting to experience this and being me at the same time will be great.”

  “It will be amazing. But we still have to have dinner first.”

  “Back at the library or are we heading out?”

  “Nah, our chef wanted to prepare something special for today.”

  Lizzy chuckled. “I still can’t get over the fact that your library has a damn chef.”

  “It’s great, isn’t it?”

  “It’s amazing and her food is too. Still, it will be hard to tear myself away from these cuties.”

  Kate hugged a few of the kittens, who responded with loud purrs. “Good thing we have a few more hours before we need to leave, and nothing is stopping you from coming back tonight.”

  “I just might. And I might try to drag you with me.”

  “Not sure I would try to resist.”

  “Good.”