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No one loves you, and you’re in Hell. You’re alone. How much else can be taken?
If I only have myself, I must preserve myself.
He hums. “I was an Atlanta Falcons fan.” He’s not sure a King of Hell would know football teams.
Paimon smirks. “So, a masochist. Tsk. Hell is the perfect place for you, then.”
Surprised, Lauren?iu keeps his expression calm. He doesn’t want to look too enthusiastic, either excitedly chattering about football or grousing about the Falcons. What’s most unexpected is that he has to suppress a smile. “You know sports?”
Paimon offers a customary flippant shrug. “Not especially. But even everyone in Hell heard about them blowing that massive lead in the Super Bowl.”
Passionate fury roiling in him, Lauren?iu snipes, “Tom Brady is the Devil.” Then again, despite that being true, how could he blame Tom Brady for such a massive, unforgivable fumble?
Paimon feigns offense with a palm pressed to his chest. Small hairs peek out from his robe. “Careful. Lucifer is very sensitive about who he’s compared to.”
“Sorry,” replies Lauren?iu dryly. “That was cruel.”
“Well. What were your parents like? Or your family?”
With a hum, Lauren?iu considers the question. It feels wrong to condense two human beings into a single, easy description. Given what he’s already done, he can certainly do it, though. And when he really thinks about it, it’s easy to do with himself. He wants revenge. That’s about it. There’s little else that compels him.
“Hardworking perfectionists.” Dedicated. Paranoid. Fastidious. Loving.
Paimon’s smile is terse, like it is when he hears the same demon from the Circle of Sloth complain about a gargoyle eating his sheep for the two-thousandth time. “I think I know the type. That didn’t end well.”
“I loved my mama and tata. I don’t think I ever quite met their expectations for me, what they wanted me to do with my life.” He was never terribly adept at basketball or football, and he never cared about engineering or IT. “We loved each other.”
Paimon gives a solemn nod, and in the silence, he goes to refill his glass and returns to his seat. “What did you want out of life?”
A heavy question. Intriguing. Why is he being asked now of all times? Lauren?iu’s immediate impulse is to say,Everything I deserved. Everything I didn’t get.He has to keep himself from rocketing up and pacing. He doesn’t feel like talking about all that if Paimon won’t give it to him. It makes him impatient and angry if he thinks too long about where he should be, but isn’t. He might still be “newer” to Hell, but he recognizes its traps. Most might mistakenly think they’re the fiery lakes, plunging chasms, and ferocious monsters.
No. It’s all mental.
Lauren?iu answers, “A nice place with six cats.”
Paimon stares, as if that’s not what he expected. That makes sense; Lauren?iu didn’t expect it either. He wants to keep fighting, keep rising, keep getting more and more after he was abandoned by everyone.
But it would be nice to just...sit. Like he would on the back porch, the swing, and look out at the backyard while doing and planning nothing in particular. With the knowledge that once he goes inside his home, he’s wanted. Just watching squirrels race up swings as bees lazily dance.
The King of Hell downs his champagne. He waits to speak for about half a minute. Again, unusual. “An Atlanta Falcons fan, and a cat lover. Hm. I’m not sure if Daisy likes cats. I knew that you had depth, but already, you have depths I hadn’t fathomed.”
Lauren?iu tells him, “After college, after I was changed into a vampire, I made plenty of money through escorting, a good job when you’re up all night.”
“You might need to hide the coffin.” Lauren?iu doesn’t clarify that for some clients, the casket is perfect. “But yes, it sounds like the schedule lines up.”
“Things were beginning to break down in the world. It felt fast and slow all at once. Still, I could’ve retired with more than I ever thought I’d have. But there was something else I had to do before I could have the life I wanted.”
Paimon’s next words, despite his casual dress and demeanor, are deliberate. “Is that why you’re here, whatever thateventwas?”
Dryly, Lauren?iu responds, “Yes. The murders didn’t help my case.”
“To feed, yes?”
“Yes. I imagine that’s the most important reason.” Lauren?iu lies, “Nothing else matters.”
As he should’ve come to expect, Paimon isn’t convinced. Instead of cajoling him, like he expects, the demon king grows somber, his voice low while his eyes are half-lidded. “Lauren?iu, I have been around for a long time, and there’s something missing from the story. Something happened, and you want it resolved; something before the dreams of a mortgage and catnip. Believe it or not, but despite how persnickety the guys upstairs can be, you don’t end up in Wrath for a couple of survival feedings.”
“Yes.” Lauren?iu shakes his head, suppressing a sigh. “It’s a long story.”
