“The 1st and 2nd Rings are clearing out,” Azagoth said. “As per Revenant’s orders, I’m reincarnating a lot of the non-evil demons on those levels. So do some creative reassigning.”
Not only would that be a lot of work, but it would require bringing in more fallen angels to oversee Rings that were going to contain a lot more evil demons, and no fallen angel volunteered to work in the Inner Sanctum. Not when they weren’t allowed to leave and their powers were limited. They’d have to be...recruited. By force.
“Sir, this is bullshit,” Hades growled. “What the everloving fuck is Hell’s new overlord doing?”
Azagoth flipped open the book. “That’s not for you to question.”
Hades burst to his feet. “My hot ass,” he snapped. “I never thought I’d say this, but at least Satan kept order and balance in Sheoul. This new douchebag––”
Burning pain ripped through him, and only belatedly did he realize that he’d been struck by a bolt of hellfire that had streamed directly from Azagoth’s fingers.
“Here’s the thing,” Azagoth said calmly. “Satan didn’t give a shit what anyone said about him. But Revenant? He’s putting down everyone who speaks out against him. Hell, he’s laying out anyone he even suspects might rebel.”
“That’s because he’s a paranoid fool. Learning his true identity has made him weak.” Apparently, Revenant had grown up in Sheoul believing he was a fallen angel, when the truth was that he had always been a Heavenly angel. How could a true angel, no matter how tarnished his halo, expect to be ruthless enough to rule Hell?
“And yet, he managed to defeat and imprison not only Satan, but Lucifer, Gethel, and the archangel Raphael as well.” Azagoth snapped the book closed with a heavy thud. “Respect him.”
“He couldn’t have done it without help from his brother,” Hades muttered.
“Maybe not. But keep in mind that he and his brother have each other’s backs. Don’t piss off either one of them. Together they are far more dangerous than Satan ever was.”
Hades actually liked Revenant’s brother, Reaver, who happened to be one of the most powerful Heavenly angels to ever exist. Reaver had spent a little time in the Inner Sanctum as Azagoth and Hades’s prisoner, and really, even when the guy had been in pain, he’d been pretty cool.
But Revenant could suck Hades’s balls.
The thought of having his balls sucked made an image of Cat flash in his head, which, granted, was way better than thinking of Revenant. But still, off-limits was off-limits. Dammit.
“Yeah, whatever,” Hades said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “Ever since Rev took over as King of Hell, the Inner Sanctum has been a war zone.”
“Which is, in part, because he requested that I only reincarnate Ufelskala Tier one and two demons.”
“And the result of that idiotic order is that my domain is filling up with majorly evil fuckheads who only want to cause trouble.”
Azagoth’s dark eyes flashed as his patience with Hades wore thin. But then, he’d never had much patience to begin with. “Deal with it. Now. Your rebellions are leaking over into my part of Sheoul-gra, and the archangels are starting to get twitchy.”
“The archangels are starting to get twitchy? I’m the one trapped down there with demons who are desperate to get out.”
“Then keep it from happening.”
Keep it from happening? As if Hades had just been laying around on a beach and drinking margaritas while the Inner Sanctum went up in flames? “What the fuck do you think I’ve been doing for thousands of years?”
There was a long, brittle silence, and then Azagoth’s voice went low. And maybe a little judgmental. “There have been escapes.”
“Very few, and never more than one at a time. And come on...there were special circumstances in each case.” No demon could escape on his own, not when demons had no power in Sheoul-gra. Escape required energy or objects from an outside source, which was why visitors were very rarely allowed inside the Inner Sanctum. A single feather from an angel could be used in spells to destroy barriers or kill a target. One seemingly harmless vampire fang had once given a Neethul the power to reincarnate himself without Azagoth’s help.
“Still, you must be extra vigilant.” Azagoth dragged his hand through his black hair, looking suddenly tired. Good. Hades shouldn’t be carrying the stress of all of this by himself. “I’ve never seen Sheoul so unstable.”
Vigilant. Vigilant, he’d said. As if Hades was a total noob at this. But instead of saying that, he merely gritted his teeth and offered a tense smile. “Yes, sir. Anything you say, sir.”
“Good. Now get out. And do not fail me again.”
Somewhere outside Azagoth’s Greek-style mansion, a bird of prey screeched. Cat loved hearing it. Not long ago, Sheoul-gra had been a dead realm, a physical manifestation of Azagoth’s emotional state. Dark and dreary, the “Gra,” as it was sometimes called, had resembled a toxic wasteland that couldn’t support any animal or plant life that wasn’t straight out of Hell itself.