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“Nice of you to join us, Zac.” Maury emerged onstage, holding a microphone. He wore a bright red suit and a top hat with flames painted on it.
Heads turned, and the crowd cheered, “Maury! Maury! Maury!”
“Thank you, my friends. And welcome to the first annual Burning Demon Festival!” Maury yelled excitedly.
The crowd roared.
“And didn’t I promise you a spectacular kickoff?” Maury waved to the crowd. “Tonight is a special treat like no other in honor of ushering in the dawn of a new age. Tomorrow, the last demon will pass through the portal, and the world will belong to the demons!”
More cheers.
“But let us not forget those who came before us, those who helped us see that living in peace with other immortals is a pipe dream. They showed us exactly what they think of our species when they locked us away for good!”
Boos erupted.
Maury continued, “Yes. That’s right, my demon family and friends. They preached sweet words—things like all species have a place in the world, that the Universe is species-blind. But really? The gods merely wanted to placate the masses and keep control. Well, tonight we take it back, and we take them down! But we do so by thanking the gods for enlightening us and showing their true colors. And, as we all know, nothing pleases the gods more than a little sacrifice.”
Zac’s entire body burned with rage. He’d never wanted to kill anyone more than this fucker. “Maury! Let the ladies go! They have nothing to do with this!”
Maury ignored Zac’s plea. “Ah, and here is our special guest! I give you the God of Temptation!” Maury looked across the ocean of demons at him. “I bet you were wondering why I let you out of the underworld. Now you know, Zac. You are our guest of honor. But I thought I would take the opportunity to educate you before you are sent back to your cold, endless prison. I allowed you to spend time as a demon, to know what it is like to be shunned and ridiculed simply because you are not a seven-foot god. I showed you what it was like to love a woman for what she offers in her heart—the demon way. But best of all, I took away something you valued more: your precious self-confidence.”
“All you’ve shown me is a demon’s love for mind games, Maury. You’ve shown me you’re hell-bent on revenge because the gods kicked your asses out. But I bet you’ve all forgotten why. Haven’t you? You were warned. You were given multiple chances to stop tormenting humans. We even signed a treaty with your then king, because we did believe our words. Everything, even demons, has a place in the Universe. But demons weren’t satisfied with that—having a place among the immortal community. You wanted more! You wanted to cause suffering and take over. You refused to honor any agreements to live peacefully.” In fact, the very next day after signing the treaty, the demons had unleashed a wave of crabs, lice, and venereal diseases on humans.
As if they weren’t filthy enough. At the time, people still weren’t into regular bathing. Add the itching and crawly critters to the mix, and it just didn’t help.
“You’re right! We aren’t satisfied with that,” Maury yelled back in a sanctimonious tone. “Demons answer to no god. No vampire, fairy, merman, or any other creature. We were created by the Universe, same as you. But we are not hindered by your weak emotions and guilt.” He laughed. “What purpose does that serve?” He raised his arm in the air. “Life is for living! Life is for eating until you puke! Fucking until you pass out! Shopping until you drop. It’s for making the weak bow down to you! Or to entertain you. And if you do not believe me, Zac, tonight is proof.”
Zac didn’t like the sound of this.
“Tonight, you will entertain us!” Maury yelled, and the crowd screamed with enthusiasm.
“Fine. I will entertain you. Whatever you like, but let Tula and Gola go. They’ve done nothing to you.” Zac knew trying to reason with Maury was useless, but what else could he do?
I should have left the island with them the moment we arrived. But a part of him feared what might happen if the two women were still in the wrong bodies. If he didn’t find out what Maury was up to, he wouldn’t be able to stop him. Or help Tula get her body back.
“There you go again, trying to appeal to my sense of decency.” Maury chuckled. “I am a demon. I have none! And now, you must choose, Zac.”
“Choose?”
“Yes, which woman lives, which woman dies.” Maury laughed, and the crowd began yelling out their votes. They all wanted “the human” to die.
“I am not doing this. I’m not playing your game,” Zac called out.
