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“I…have never attempted to explain this to a human before," Luca said, shifting to sit back in his chair.
"Try," Theo said dryly.
Luca steepled his fingers, as if he were taking his role as theology professor seriously. “Well, the first thing to understand," he began, "is that Heaven and Hell have nothing to do with what happens to you after you die. Heaven is not a place in the sky where good souls go, and Hell is not beneath the earth for sinners to be tortured. Humans never enter Heaven or Hell. It is not for them."
I frowned. "Then what does happen after we die?"
Luca shrugged. "No one knows. Heaven is simply a realm where angels reside, and Hell is the same, but for demons. What angels and demons do is influence human souls while they are alive."
"I don't particularly like the sound of that," I muttered.
"It is not what you are imagining," Luca said. "It is not…what is it? An angel and a demon sitting on each shoulder, whispering to a person what to do? No—it is more that they exist to keep human souls in balance. They work together, in harmony."
Theo's brow was creased in consternation. "You're making it sound like people don't have free will."
Luca looked imploringly to Julian, who made a poor attempt to stifle his grin and shook his head.
"No," Luca assured Theo, "do not worry; all of your poor decisions were wholly yours. It is not that they influence your conscious choices. It is on a different level. Guiding your soul. Keeping you balanced, as a person, deep inside. I do not know how else to describe it." He lifted his hands helplessly. "This is why we do not explain these things to humans."
Julian snickered, and Luca shot him a glare. "You are welcome to take over."
"You're doing a fine job," Julian said blandly.
"So," I said, narrowing my eyes as I tried to wrap my head around the concept, "you're telling me that right now, I have a bunch of angels and demons watching over me? Guiding me on my path of zen?" I glanced around, like I expected them to suddenly materialize.
Luca smiled. "Not a bunch. When a human is born, a single angel and demon are assigned to them. You are…connected…if you will, for the entirety of your lifetime." He tapped a finger against his lips. "Think of it as a symbiotic relationship. The three cannot survive without each other."
"Wait, so are there exactly as many demons as humans, then?" Theo cut in.
"No, there are many, many more humans. Angels and demons are immortal beings, remember. Our numbers do not change, even as the human population increases. At the moment, each demon oversees hundreds of thousands of human souls. I expect that number will continue to increase."
I opened my mouth, then shut it again. My head was spinning.
Something thunked down on the arm of my chair. I blinked at the small tumbler of amber liquid. I hadn't even realized Julian had moved from his perch on the bed. "Luca's sermon might go down better with whiskey," he said with a grimace that may have been intended as a smile.
I didn't question him, just raised my glass and tossed it down. "Luca—Abigor. Are you both here right now?”
“We are.”
Well, that was certainly something to think about. “Uh, okay,” I continued, trying to form my jumbled thoughts into a coherent sentence. “Abigor. You’re currently linked to a bajillion human souls that you…influence. Keep in balance, whatever."
Luca nodded. "That is correct."
"Even though you're sitting here, talking to us, some part of you is…doing that."
A smile pulled at his lips. "Yes. It is not hard. It is what I was made for."
I shook my head at that. "And Lilin, inside me right now, is—wait, no." I frowned. "If she's not an angel any longer, what happened to the souls she was linked with?"
Luca and Julian exchanged a glance, then Julian looked down at the floor. "It was part of the ritual," he said in a low voice. "As a demon, she would have been assigned new souls, but the souls she was bound to as an angel…they transferred to another."
"Another…” I stared at him. "You mean you?" I exchanged an incredulous look with Theo. "But you're human. Aren’t you?”
Our exchange in the woods replayed in my mind. Are you…immortal? And his unreadable expression as he'd responded. I don't know.
He wore the same impenetrable gaze as he met my eyes. "I am human, as far as I know. But it is as I said. These rituals have costs higher than many are willing to pay."
I wanted to ask if he had known before he'd agreed to it, but Theo was already moving in a different direction.
