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The massive dude with the fur cape Bunny had spotted in the crowd earlier stood up from where he’d been sitting in the first few rows of chairs. He lifted his giant tree-trunk arms into the air, amid a loud cheer that went up from everyone around them.
A group of people seated near him started chanting.
“Cer-ber-us! Cer-ber-us! Cer-ber-us!”
As he began to walk toward the front of the room where a makeshift stage had been set up, the group started barking and howling.
With a profound look of confusion on his face, Death leaned into Bunny. “Isn’t that meant to be the three-headed dog?” he asked. “Why does he look like a guy?”
She looked at him incredulously. “You’re asking me?”
“Shh!” hissed the cherub, who was sitting in the row in front of them.
“Wassuuuuup, everyone!” Cerberus growled with a wide grin that showed off his perfect white teeth. He leaned down to speak into the microphone at the podium, his fur cape swishing with the movement. “Thanks for bein’ here today. As you all know, this award is given in recognition of a contribution by the most accomplished celestial for the last one hundred years.”
The crowd cheered their agreement.
“It’s an honor to present the award today to a colleague who consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty. Not only do they carry out their work to an incredibly high standard, but they also recently undertook the training of another staff member. The winner of this year’s Employee of the Century Award is…”
Silence reigned supreme in the room. Bunny was sure she could have heard a pin drop. Cerberus glanced around the crowd, smirking as he waited for the suspense to build before he leaned toward the microphone.
“Death!”
The crowd burst into applause as a spotlight came out of nowhere to settle on Death. He looked around, perplexed, until everyone had turned to stare at him expectantly.
Unsure of what else to do, Bunny gave him a nudge.
He stood and squeezed his way to the end of their row of chairs, wandering down the aisle amidst the crowd, looking for all the world like a deer caught in the headlights of oncoming traffic.
“Speech!” someone yelled out as he stepped up to shake Cerberus’ huge outstretched hand.
The sentiment was repeated. “Yes, speech!”
Cerberus handed Death a strange glowing blue ball that Bunny supposed was the celestial version of a trophy, and then stepped aside so Death could speak into the mike.
“Uh,” he began hesitantly. His dark eyes searched the crowd, skimming along the back row until they came to rest on Bunny. The poor guy didn’t have a damn clue what to even say.
“Thank you all so much,” he began, as Bunny lifted her right hand, drawing it across her neck in the universal gesture of death before pressing both hands emphatically to her chest in what she hoped was a display of love and gratitude.
“I love… killing people,” Death said haltingly, “and I’m happy that I get to do it every day.”
Bunny clapped a hand to her forehead in dismay before she realized her error.
Death smiled charmingly. “Even if it gives me a headache.”
People were frowning and glancing at each other in confusion. Bunny glanced around the room, looking for something—anything—she could use as a distraction.
And that’s when she saw the AC repairman. Except he looked a lot worse for wear than the last time she’d seen him. In fact, his flesh looked so putrid she wondered why no one else had noticed the straight-up demon amongst them.
Until she saw another one, sitting with the people who had been cheering loudly for Cerberus.
And then another, standing with the people who were doing all the tech stuff for the stage.
In the span of another few seconds, she saw at least three other demons in their midst, and she kicked herself because she hadn’t seen them wandering around the room either.
And now, as the AC repairman turned to the pretty toga-clad Muse sitting next to him and sank his long, needle-like teeth into her neck, Bunny knew the shit was about to hit the fan.
