that. Nothing.
Dar and Asta did that silent eyeball-communication thing again. “Order.”
Fuck. An Angel of Chaos in Hel wouldn’t have been easy, but at least she would have had a chance at survival. An Angel of Order would be ripped to shreds—after being toyed with for some time. And as tough as Dar was, I doubted he, or I, could protect this baby for long. She belonged in Aaru. But Angels of Order could not create between themselves. They needed a demon, or an Angel of Chaos. And Karrae would be proof of Asta’s sin. She’d be punished, and the baby would likely experience the same fate as the Nephilim had up until recently.
There had been a huge fight in Aaru about some laboratory method of creating angels. Even the most ridged of them had been enthusiastic about offspring that didn’t require the sullying influence of demons. Karrae, as cute as she was, wouldn’t fare well there, especially with the entire place a warzone.
It seemed here among the humans would be the best option—an even better option if both her parents could remain and assist with her upbringing.
Now I had one more reason to worry. One tiny, golden-winged reason
Chapter 5
I sat on a hot rock in Hel, legs dangling over the edge as I ate the demon equivalent of an egg salad sandwich. The eggs were from a swamp reptile that could swallow an imp in one bite, and the bread had been meticulously baked by dwarven bakers in a volcanic oven. That made it all the more decadent than the human equivalent. I was the Iblis, the titular leader of Hel. Such food should be my right, but I had to literally beg, borrow and steal to get this fucking sandwich. Just because I had the title of Ha-Satan didn’t mean anyone in Hel gave a shit about it. Or me.
Even my own household defied me. Ancients ruled theirs with an iron fist. My fist seemed to be more wet paper. My Lows loved me, hanging on my every word and racing off to fuck up every mission I sent them on. I’d give my life for those worthless sons-of-bitches, though. There was something about the adoration, the faith in their eyes as they looked at me…yeah, I’d become a slave to my slaves. I was their protector, unwilling to sacrifice them like the pawns they’d be in any other demon’s household.
As for my more senior members, well they seemed to have a wary respect for me, but I clearly understood they only had one foot in the pool. Dar was an elder foster sibling, and although he’d pledged allegiance and service to my household in return for taking the heat from Haagenti, he seemed to interpret that service rather lightly. Yes, if I played the heavy he reluctantly complied, but his attention was all on his angelic lover, Asta, and I couldn’t really fault him for that. The pair of them had worked their butts off securing the inter-realm rifts that were occurring, and now with a baby to care for, neither had time for additional projects.
Leethu was another story. She’d helped big-time when I was disabled and under Ahriman’s thumb. She’d brought the Klee elves into our fold and carried the day among the other elven kingdoms, getting me out of some hot-spots. I loved her with the wary kind of affection a demon has for one who might turn around and bite them when least expected. I trusted Leethu…kinda. I trusted her half-breed daughter far more.
But it was Leethu I needed most right now. I had lost touch with what was going on in Hel, been blind-sided by an elven plot to disrupt the rule in Aaru as well as the stability of the human realm. Because of my inattention to Hel, the elves had united, killing off the few Lords who’d sided with me. They’d opened up a breathtaking amount of inter-realm gates between the human world and dozens of other places, bringing all sorts of disruptive creatures through the passageways. And they’d sent a demon on a suicidal path of murder and mayhem.
I might be tasked with raising the FICO scores of less-than-credit-worthy humans. I
Dar and Asta did that silent eyeball-communication thing again. “Order.”
Fuck. An Angel of Chaos in Hel wouldn’t have been easy, but at least she would have had a chance at survival. An Angel of Order would be ripped to shreds—after being toyed with for some time. And as tough as Dar was, I doubted he, or I, could protect this baby for long. She belonged in Aaru. But Angels of Order could not create between themselves. They needed a demon, or an Angel of Chaos. And Karrae would be proof of Asta’s sin. She’d be punished, and the baby would likely experience the same fate as the Nephilim had up until recently.
There had been a huge fight in Aaru about some laboratory method of creating angels. Even the most ridged of them had been enthusiastic about offspring that didn’t require the sullying influence of demons. Karrae, as cute as she was, wouldn’t fare well there, especially with the entire place a warzone.
It seemed here among the humans would be the best option—an even better option if both her parents could remain and assist with her upbringing.
Now I had one more reason to worry. One tiny, golden-winged reason
Chapter 5
I sat on a hot rock in Hel, legs dangling over the edge as I ate the demon equivalent of an egg salad sandwich. The eggs were from a swamp reptile that could swallow an imp in one bite, and the bread had been meticulously baked by dwarven bakers in a volcanic oven. That made it all the more decadent than the human equivalent. I was the Iblis, the titular leader of Hel. Such food should be my right, but I had to literally beg, borrow and steal to get this fucking sandwich. Just because I had the title of Ha-Satan didn’t mean anyone in Hel gave a shit about it. Or me.
Even my own household defied me. Ancients ruled theirs with an iron fist. My fist seemed to be more wet paper. My Lows loved me, hanging on my every word and racing off to fuck up every mission I sent them on. I’d give my life for those worthless sons-of-bitches, though. There was something about the adoration, the faith in their eyes as they looked at me…yeah, I’d become a slave to my slaves. I was their protector, unwilling to sacrifice them like the pawns they’d be in any other demon’s household.
As for my more senior members, well they seemed to have a wary respect for me, but I clearly understood they only had one foot in the pool. Dar was an elder foster sibling, and although he’d pledged allegiance and service to my household in return for taking the heat from Haagenti, he seemed to interpret that service rather lightly. Yes, if I played the heavy he reluctantly complied, but his attention was all on his angelic lover, Asta, and I couldn’t really fault him for that. The pair of them had worked their butts off securing the inter-realm rifts that were occurring, and now with a baby to care for, neither had time for additional projects.
Leethu was another story. She’d helped big-time when I was disabled and under Ahriman’s thumb. She’d brought the Klee elves into our fold and carried the day among the other elven kingdoms, getting me out of some hot-spots. I loved her with the wary kind of affection a demon has for one who might turn around and bite them when least expected. I trusted Leethu…kinda. I trusted her half-breed daughter far more.
But it was Leethu I needed most right now. I had lost touch with what was going on in Hel, been blind-sided by an elven plot to disrupt the rule in Aaru as well as the stability of the human realm. Because of my inattention to Hel, the elves had united, killing off the few Lords who’d sided with me. They’d opened up a breathtaking amount of inter-realm gates between the human world and dozens of other places, bringing all sorts of disruptive creatures through the passageways. And they’d sent a demon on a suicidal path of murder and mayhem.
I might be tasked with raising the FICO scores of less-than-credit-worthy humans. I
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