Page 17 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse

“Oh, no!” He rubbed his forehead.

“He had this firelash thing, and I think he was planning to disintegrate me with it.”

“Yes, I know of this firelash. I’ve never seen it, but it sounds terrifying.”

“It is.”

This was the oddest conversation. The Grant I’d known during the majority of my time at the league wasn’t the kind to admit anything was terrifying. Not only that, the Luciahe’dmet hadn’t been either.

“He was torturing Drevan with it,” I said. “He had him tied up with these glowing manacles… hellcuffs or something.”

Grant’s expression turned almost comical as his surprise redoubled. “Two celestial artifacts in one night. This is definitely not good. Things are getting out of hand very quickly. Drevan said this might happen. The situation in hell has been growing worse at an accelerated pace. I think the timeline is shrinking.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean we may not have very long to redeem the six remaining people.”

“Like… the world might end sooner?”

He nodded.

“How soon?”

“It’s impossible to tell. I think someone is very eager to put an end to us.”

“And by someone you mean…” My eyes flicked heavenward.

“That’s exactly who I mean.”

When Drevan first enlisted me to help him, he said it could take several decades to finish the task. So when I left New York, I figured that would at least give me a full life to enjoy, but now it sounded like I might not even get that long. What if the world ended in ten years or five or one?Witchlights!I didn’t want to die so young.

“Lately, we’ve been extremely busy quelling demons at much higher rates than the same time last year. It’s the reason I’m attempting to modify our curriculum to permit apprentices to do fieldwork much sooner. I’m waiting on the Delegacy to approve my request.” Grant leaned forward on his desk and looked me straight in the eye. “We could use someone with your talents, Ms. Sunder.”

He laid a hand on the Queller’s scabbard. “This sword is going to waste without you. I wish you would reconsider your decision.”

“I appreciate your kind words, director, but I have a life in St. Louis now. I’ve made other plans, and I think they’ll be good for me.”

“Forgive me for saying this, but I can’t imagine any other way in which your talents could be used for a greater good.”

I blew air through my nose, very aware of the irony. Of course, there was nothing more laudable than saving humanity. Even if I became Mother Teresa and dedicated my life to caring for the poor and disadvantaged, it would pale in comparison to delivering humanity from utter destruction.

“I guess you’re right,” I said, since it was a moot point to try to argue.

The Queller’s pommel twinkled as the light hit it. It seemed to be calling to me, and my hand itched to unsheathe the blade to admire it, to feel its weight in my hand, to feel a jolt of confidence shoot into my body.

The doubts that had been hounding me for the past six weeks sank their claws into me, and I found myself saying, “Before I left, Drevan told me that prophecies didn’t leave people much choice. Do you think that’s why I’m here tonight? He’s always talking about free will, but maybe I don’t have any—not if I’m destined to do whatever it is this prophecy talks about.”

“You always have a choice,” Grant assured me. “No one can take that away from you.”

“At times, it doesn’t feel that way.”

“I see you still have doubts.” He let out a heavy sigh and rose to his feet. He walked to one of the large bookshelves that occupied the room. After examining a group of large tomes, he pulled out a particularly thick and old-looking one. Holding it with both hands, he offered it to me.

I took it, my hands shaking and my heart doing a weird somersault.

“I would love to have you back as a student, but you need to decide what’s right for you. You can read about the prophecy here, then you can decide what to do. Maybe it does refer to you, but if you decide to leave, then it means that it doesn’t. Besides, no prophecy is foolproof.”

“You mean that whoever came up with it could’ve been wrong?”