Minos gave Adam a squeeze. “I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time naming them all, my soul, but perhaps we should see why”—Minos cleared his throat—“Cutie and Scowly, here, have come to visit.”
“No one else has expressed that they have been given a name,” Cutie added stiffly. “They assumed we were the only ones because we are slightly… different.”
Adam gasped in outrage. “Are they bullying you? Are those leadership assholes giving you a hard time because you’re different? Because that is the whole point!”
Minos scowled as well. “If they are bothering you, they shall be dealt with accordingly. A few centuries in the pits should straighten out any misconceptions they have about how to treat those we favor.”
Scowly chimed in at that (and yes, he was totally scowling). “They are not harassing us. Everyone has heard of what happened to the last angel who crossed the two of you. They would not dare say a word against you or anything we do thatis deemed favorable by you… at least not out loud. If they feel displeasure towards us, it is only in unspoken looks. We are not bothered by such things.”
“That is also partly why we are here, as well,” Cutie chimed in. “The leadership team has sent us because we are the newest members of the team and they think you favor us, and although we usually don’t have any voice in team issues?—”
Adam cut him off. “What do you mean you don’t have any voice in team issues?” he asked.
“The leadership team always agrees,” Scowly answered. “Since we are the newest members of the team, we never have any say in voicing an opinion. Once it is seen that we agree with the team in all things, then our opinion can be heard.”
“Well, that’s absurd,” Adam sputtered. “You can only have an opinion once you don’t actually have your own opinion? I guess that explains some things. Existing management beats down the new guys until they just agree. How miserable.”
“Yes, well… there is currently a situation that is quite different,” Cutie replied. “The team is at a loss as to what to do. It mostly concerns their… concern, I suppose, over the two of you. No one can decide what is to be done, and Scowly and I suggested that perhaps since the disagreement revolved around you two, that you two should deal with the… situation. The team actually heard our opinion, but they also then decided we should be the ones to bring it to you.”
“What has the team done now?” Minos growled.
Adam patted him comfortingly. Yes, this didn’t sound good.
“The team unanimously decided to let you two decide things,” Scowly said, not really shedding any light on the situation.
Adam also noticed how Scowly and Cutie were practically finishing each other’s sentences. He wondered if it was a corporate drone thing, or if there was something else going onthere. Those two had, after all, caught each other in the trustfall. And were they standing a little close together? Their wings were actually touching, which was sort of sweet. Before Adam could get way off track, Minos interrupted his thoughts with a squeeze and a question aimed at the two possible lovebirds.
“What do we need to decide?” Minos demanded.
“It wasn’t our acquisition. It seems some overzealous lesser demon collected it well before its time, which is rather unheard of, and no one knows what to do with it. Yes, so… it’s in your chamber now, and you two can decide what to do with it,” Cutie finished.
“Huh. That’s weird. Who do you think they brought us?” Adam wondered.
Minos merely grunted, mumbled “Stay,” to Cutie and Scowly, and turned to head through the bar toward his judgment chamber.
When Minos walked through the door carrying Adam, a lesser demon was partly blocking the view of some guy who was sitting in the middle of the floor, hunched over and looking down. Something about him, although Adam couldn’t see him clearly, looked vaguely familiar. Minos cleared his throat, and the man looked up toward them.
“Adam?” the man asked, squinting a bit at him.
Holy fuck, Adam knew that voice.
And that smug, idiotic face.
“Tim?” he blurted out.
Chapter 2
Minos
Minos growled, his form beginning to expand. Did his Adam just say the name of that awful human who had broken his soulmate’s heart? Minos would rip him limb from limb; he would tear out his heart and feed it the hellhounds; he would drown him in the lake of lava; he would do all those things over and over and over?—
“Hey big guy, maybe calm down a bit, hmm?” Adam said, patting his chest.
He looked down at Adam, who was looking at him adoringly. And maybe he was squeezing his soulmate a bit tightly, but Adam wasn’t complaining.
He looked over to see the lesser demon cowering in fear, and yes, of course, Tim hadn’t reacted so well. There were lots of human bodily fluids all over the floor and plenty of whimpering and cowering to go along with it.
Adam patted him again, saying, “Let’s head back into Limbo to decide what to do before there’s more of a mess to clean up.”
