Page 75 of The Music Demon

“Then don’t initiate.”

“Just tell me what I want to know. Or give me a truly stellar reason why not.”

“Truly stellar reason coming up. Wait for it. Wait for it.”

“Lally!”

“NUMBER ONE! Manufacturing female demons could be bad. At the very least it means disruption to the natural order of things. At the most it could mean chaos, bedlam, and pandemonium throughout the multidimensional gridwork of worlds that are anchored to Earth. The irony is that all that doom might be unintentional because the dem femmes don’t know what they’re capable of.”

She took a deep breath. “Like me?”

“The transformed hunters are never going to be powerful like you because they’re not real demons. They’re artificial. In all creation you are unique because of your very unlikely genetic makeup. Time for metaphors.” He said that as cheerfully as if he was auditioning for a revival of Sesame Street.

“Oh, here we go.”

Ignoring that impotent protest, he said, “A bull in a china shop may not level the entire building the way a tank might do, but the destruction would be just as devastating to the tenants who leased the space. With all their inventory and means of livelihood gone, they wouldn’t care about the distinction.”

“And in this metaphor, my female hunters are bulls and I’m a tank?”

“Yes.”

“Flattering comparison.”

“Wasn’t meant to be.”

Rosie decided to forego a lesson on sarcasm in the interest of staying on track. “What’s number two?”

“What?”

“You said that was number one. That my hunters are potentially dangerous to… all living things?”

He shook his head slightly. “Not alllivingthings. Allthings, inanimate and animate by extension.”

“And that they might wreak havoc without intending to.”

“Right.”

“What’s number two?”

“That there’s no point in discussing this because we have a policy of non-interference.”

Rosie gaped at the angel for a couple of beats before laughing out loud. “I need to start a little notebook of Kellareal quotes. Maybe I’ll publish them someday and market to fans of Yogi Berra sayings.”

He looked blank.

“Let me put it another way. Your relationship with me is the furthest thing from non-interference.”

“What do you mean? I don’t impinge on your free will.”

“While that is true, you’ve said yourself it’s your job to keep tabs on me.”

“Well. I wouldn’t put it that way. It’s not like I don’t like you.”

“Good to know.”

“Really. I enjoy your company and your unpredictability. Within reason.”

“You mean short of burning down the house?”