He would have done far worse.
He hoped he still would get to do far worse, but he wasn’t getting that feeling from Adam. His little soulmate was not nearly as bloodthirsty as he was, and all he sensed from Adam was impatience and a bit of disgust toward Tim.
He set Adam down when his soulmate patted his chest, and they strolled back to the table where the leadership team angel and demon were waiting. They’d once again been joined by Pandora and Arioch, who were chatting animatedly while those two looked on. They were also definitely sitting closer than they needed to be. Perhaps Adam’s matchmaking dreams would come true after all.
Adam and Minos sat down in the booth, and Cutie and Scowly—he supposed he would have to get used to calling them those names—looked over at the two of them and raised their eyebrows in unison.
“Well, darling—did you rip him limb from limb?” Pandora asked.
Minos shrugged grumpily, then turned to Adam. “Why do I sense my dreams of death and dismemberment will not be happening?” he grumbled.
Adam giggled and leaned into him. “I have the perfect revenge!” Adam stated.
“The pits? The labyrinth? An impossible task he must attempt to complete over and over again?” Arioch asked.
“I think we should…”—Adam paused dramatically, and everyone leaned forward—“..send him back,” Adam finished, crossing his arms and smiling smugly.
“Send him back?” Pandora asked incredulously.
Arioch merely hmphed and slumped down. Cutie and Scowly looked confused.
“But… how is that revenge?” Cutie asked.
“Tim is a narcissistic asshole. He gets by in life by fooling people into helping him, but he doesn’t actually care about others outside of what they can do for him, and he doesn’t actually take responsibility. Right now, everyone knows that. They’re all mad at him. He lost his friends, his job, and his apartment. Despite the fact that his parents dote on him—which is probably partly why he is the way he is—he absolutely hates living with them. Living out his time topside and having no one fall for his narcissistic bullshit will be revenge enough,” Adam explained.
Minos grunted. “I still like dismemberment better, but I do have to admit it was rather satisfying to hear how horrible he thinks his life is.”
“It just doesn’t seem like enough,” Ari argued. “What if he gets a whole new group of people under his spell? I’ve seen it often enough, and I’ve seen the damage done by people like that.I think perhaps we ought to cause a little more chaos in his life, and at the same time make sure he can’t fool anyone else.”
“We can make sure he fools no one else,” Scowly cut in.
Cutie nodded his head in agreement. “It would be easy enough to put someone on him to watch over the situation, and that is within our jurisdiction. It isn’t usually used in such a manner, but if it’s helping others, I think we could make an exception.”
“We can make people see through his personality fairly quickly,” Scowly agreed. “Chaos would probably fall under your department, Arioch.”
Ari nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, it would, and I know I’ll have plenty of lesser demons who would enjoy just such a job.” He smirked then.
Pandora sighed. “It all seems rather… anticlimactic. I was hoping for something more spectacular.”
Minos simply shrugged. “Sometimes, Pandora, leaving people to their own fates and to the situations they’ve created is the best punishment out there.”
Adam added, “He’ll have no one to blame but himself, and he’s never taken responsibility in his life. Perhaps he’ll even learn something from it.”
Cutie nodded. “No one is irredeemable. And if he doesn’t learn something from it, then there’s always reincarnation for souls just like this one. Eventually they figure it out, even if it takes a few dozen lifetimes.”
Minos grunted in approval. He’d have to make do without torture and gore for now, but if his soulmate was happy, he was happy.
He felt Adam wiggle on his lap. Yes, he could use a little time to reconnect with his soulmate. He had been rather worried about how his little one would take all the uproar.
Adam gave another wiggle, pressing his ass down and grinding a bit. Cutie and Scowly were both staring at them and blushing, but Minos decided leadership team romance was something to consider another time.
“Ok, then, we’re all set! Minos and I will head off to our place! Long day and all that!” Adam cheerfully announced.
Ari snorted, and Pandora chuckled.
“You two aren’t fooling anyone,” Pandora smirked, but she and Ari got up and left the booth, leaving Cutie and Scowly behind.
“You two go spend some time together. In your room. Talking about the plan. Yes. You are officially exempt from all corporate retreat activities in order to spend time together. You can get to know each other better. In all ways,” Adam announced.
