Page 5 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse

No, no, no. She can’t mean…

“Who could this godforsaken creature possibly care about?”

“The Pride Subject,” LeBeau said, slowly enunciating each syllable.

The Pride Subject.

Was that how they referred to me?

“What would make you think that?” the man asked, voice dripping with skepticism.

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier,” she said. “He helped her in a very unorthodox way.”

“How so?”

“He possessed her.”

“Possessed her?” The tone in his voice suggested that he thought possessing someone was as nasty as dumpster diving. “Why would you do something like that, Drevan?”

“You wouldn’t understand the extent of my commitment to my craft,” Drevan responded like some method actor at the set of his latest flick.

“What could have possessed you to… possess someone?” Jophiel asked, real curiosity in his voice.

“Like I said, you wouldn’t understand. Now, are we done with this? I’m due for a nap. Though I must mention once more how much the quality of my sleep would improve if I had a bed.”

“He’s deflecting,” LeBeau piped in. “Makes me think I hit the nail right on the head. I suggest we get a hold of Lucia Sunder and see how Mr. Morningstar likes it when you use thefirelashon her.”

Oh, shit!

They wanted to torture me, and here I was inviting myself to the party. I needed to get out of here. This was way beyond my pay grade. Hell, I didn’t even have a pay grade, didn’t even have that stupid scholarship anymore. Demons and all other kinds of heaven and hell related stuff had nothing to do with me.

“Okay, then,” Jophiel said. “Go get her.”

LeBeau cleared her throat. “Well, she’s all the way in… I really don’t remember where she’s from.”

Bitch!I cursed inwardly, realizing how little she’d cared about me during all the time she spent teaching me how to summon and quell demons. She never gave a rat’s ass about me—not even a tiny one.

“I don’t want to hear excuses,” Jophiel spat. “You’re here to take care of all the mundane minutiae. Go find her and bring her here. I don’t care what it takes.”

The way he was ordering her around made it clear she was nothing but a peon.Ouch!I doubted she enjoyed being treated that way. It couldn’t be fun going from the director of a prestigious institution to whatever this was.

Retreating steps sounded against the stone floor. I imagined the tall, elegant woman walking away to follow her master’s command. LeBeau was a strong female, not the kind to yield to just anyone. So whoever this Jophiel was, I probably didn’t stand a chance against him.

“That’s just another waste of time, LeBeau,” Drevan called in a bored tone. “But be my guest. Find that insipid girl and show this fool how little you know about anything.”

Insipid girl?! Really?!

Asshole!

Why was I even here, holding a Queller, thinking of saving him? If only I could leave, I would abandon his ass to whatever that firelash was.

“Shut your mouth, Drevan,” Jophiel said. “As fun as using this has been for me, as you can well imagine, I need to know who the Sloth Subject is, and I need to know now. So whether or not you care about this person that LeBeau is going to fetch, you will tell me what I need to know sooner or later.”

So that was what he wanted to find out. Drevan already knew who the Sloth Subject was, and Jophiel didn’t.

“Fuck you, Jophiel,” Drevan spat, his voice dripping with contempt. “Fuck you all the way to heaven and back.”

“Very mature and constructive of you.”