“Sit,” Minos commanded. They both slid into the booth quickly, and Minos noticed they were pressed hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder, wing to wing.
“Not puppies,” Pandora murmured quietly, shaking her head while Adam giggled.
Alright, maybe his commands were a bit… short. And something you would say to a dog.
“At least they’re housebroken,” Minos murmured, causing Adam to snort.
Adam composed himself, though, and got down to business. “Ok, you two—we are totally not blaming you, because I know you said this was some overzealous demon, but how the hell is my ex sitting in Minos’s judgment room?”
Ah yes, they had said that. Minos had forgotten that.
“One of your demons was trying to sneak him to you, Minos, although we got the impression it wasn’t solely his idea. The leadership team got notification as soon as a mortal soul entered the afterlife, however, and they took control over the soul, only then they had no idea what to do with it,” Cutie stated.
Minos supposed he would need to have a talk with his demons, although he was sure they were bringing him Adam’s ex to torture, and he couldn’t really blame their sentiment. They all adored Adam, and some of them had heard stories about his ex. Their hearts had certainly been in the right place; it wasn’t their fault the leadership team had caught them before they’d been able to hand over Tim.
“Well, it seems clear that a little revenge is in order,” Pandora huffed. “This was the man who ruined Adam’s life. He actually caused Adam’s death! He’s also a complete asshole. I’m sure we can fix that whole still alive thing quite easily.”
Minos grunted agreement.
Unfortunately, it was like Pandora’s words had conjured up the demon in charge of such things, because he heard a voice boom out, “Bruh! Did I hear something about revenge?”
Minos and Adam turned to see Arioch striding toward their booth. Adam squealed in delight (Arioch was also one of thosepeople we like, according to Adam), but Minos simply scowled.
“I’m quite capable of coming up with dismemberment techniques without your input,” he told Ari stiffly.
“Aww, dude, no worries! I won’t cramp your style! I’m all about torture, and I know you’re a master at it, but sometimes revenge is aboutmorethan torture,” he drawled, sliding in next to Cutie and Scowly, who both looked like they were totally at a loss as to what to do with the appearance of another Infernal King of the Underworld.
“Hmmm, yes, you do have a point. Physical torture is all well and good, but mental anguish can be far superior. Perhaps a mix of both?” Minos responded.
“Dude, absolutely! Best to mix the two for maximum revenge!” Ari said.
A voice then chimed in, “Punishment isn’t truly effective unless it redeems the soul and makes them sorry for their action.”
Of course Kushiel was here. Minos barely refrained from rolling his eyes, because this was yet another one of thosepeople we like. Unfortunately, there were quite a few of them.
“The gang is almost all here! Only Asmodeus is missing!” Adam squealed in delight.
Yes, they hadn’t seen Az since he’d been summoned topside. Minos wondered if perhaps they ought to check on him. After this was taken care of, of course.
Kushiel squeezed in next to Arioch, and Cutie and Scowly gave each other a look.
“Perhaps we should leave you all to decide…” Cutie began, but Ari cut him off, throwing an arm around him. When Scowly scowled at that, Ari simply extended his arm to grab Scowly and pull him in, too, smooshing him up against Cutie’s side with Ari’s arm holding onto both of them.
“Nonsense, dudes! You can totally help plan it all out!” Ari boomed.
Kushiel looked at both of them speculatively, and Minos could only imagine his surprise at an angel and demon cuddledup together. Then again, Kushiel was an angel who was hanging out with a bunch of demons in Limbo.
“Hmmm,” Kushiel muttered, looking at Minos and Adam.
“I know, right? So much fun!” Adam replied, actually rubbing his hands together. “And,” he added, shooting a look at Ari and Minos, “much more fun than talk of dismemberment and torture.”
“Aw, bruh, come on now. We heard the afterlife gossip, and your ex totally needs some revenge coming down on him. He’s a total douche,” Ari insisted.
Minos nodded in agreement. Time to start plotting. Cutie and Scowly could wait until after Tim suffered. He leaned forward, ready to detail some rather horrific punishments for the asshole who had hurt his soulmate.
Chapter 3
Adam
