“I’m worried she won’t live much longer,” I told him. “I think that’s the only reason Patti let me come on this trip with you.”
“We’ll get there in time.”
I hoped so.
“I want to know everything you know about the demons,” I said.
He cleared his throat and began, matter-of-factly.
“I’m sure you’ve heard of the seven deadly sins: wrath, sloth, gluttony, envy, greed, lust, and pride. Pride is said to be the sin from which all others arise. So here’s how their rankings work on earth: there’s one demon in human form assigned to each of the seven deadly sins, except sloth and gluttony; those have been combined under one demon, since they often go hand in hand. There are six additional sins as well: lying, murder, hatred, theft, adultery, and substance abuse. That makes twelve dark angels in human bodies. They’re called the Dukes, and they’re the bosses of evil on earth.”
“Our dads are two of the twelve Dukes?”
“That’s right.”
It was strange listening to Kaidan talk. His accent took on a roguish edge when he was excited or angry, but then there were times, like now, when he sounded like a refined schoolboy giving an oral report. I realized he could transform himself to suit his audience. Kaidan could play the part of a gritty bad boy or an educated gentleman as needed. But who was he really? I reached back to rub my neck, which had begun to prickle.
“So what’s the difference between a Duke and the other demons, like the one in the restaurant today?”
“In spirit form they’re the same, but Dukes are the only demons allowed to possess human bodies. Each Duke commands a legion of demon whisperers who haunt the earth. The whisperers are called the Legionnaires. We sometimes just refer to them as spirits. Between the Dukes and the Legionnaires, there are six hundred and sixty-six demons on earth.”
A prickly chill of disbelief coursed through me.
I did the math. “So, twelve Dukes, six hundred fifty-four whisperers, or Legionnaires... where do the Nephilim figure in?”
“We’re just a by-product. We don’t count as human, but also don’t qualify as being part of the demon Legionnaires. We work for our fathers and keep our mouths shut. That’s it.”
All I could do was nod, feeling sick as he continued.
“There used to be more Dukes. At one time there was one for each of the Ten Commandments, in addition to those that cover the seven deadly sins, but many of them became obsolete. They change as necessary. Lies and adultery are the only two of the Ten Commandments still represented. The Dukes specialize during each lifetime based on the state of society they’re in at that time. My father specializes currently in pornography.”
I held a bottle of water in my lap, forcing back the nausea that crept up as he spoke.
“I hear your father had a good run with alcohol last century,” he continued. “But in this lifetime it’s drugs. Demons feel a pull in the direction of their specialty, and their offspring get a taste of it as well. Being female, you probably have additional senses, like being able to tell when others have addictive natures, am I right?”
I nodded, thinking of how I saw it in Jay. “But what does being female have to do with it?”
“I’m not certain, but female Neph always seem to be more sensitive to things. Female intuition or whatever. My father’s past daughters were able to sense virgins and fertility, as my father does, but I can’t.”
“That’s interesting. Okay, what else?”
“Yep. Let’s see. I suppose you should know that positions of Dukes are highly sought after among the demons. They all want a chance in human form. There’s even been warring among the dark spirits. Lucifer himself would prefer to be on earth, but he’s bound to hell, along with his right- and left-hand warriors, Beelzebub and Ammadeus.”
“They can’t leave?” I asked, allowing a surge of relief to surface.
“No, they can’t. Lucifer lives vicariously through the Dukes and Legionnaires.”
“Why are there so few demons on earth? He could send up all of them if he wanted to, right?”
“I suppose he could, but it’s all run as a sort of clandestine operation, which is ironic, since everyone in heaven must know what the dark ones are up to. But Lucifer seems to want to stay under the radar, so to speak.”
“He’s scared,” I thought out loud.
“The thing is,” Kaidan said, ignoring my comment, “the Legionnaires can’t make humans do anything. They can’t take away a person’s free will. They place ideas into their heads. Period. But humans are self-centered by nature. Half the time the demons are only telling them what they want to hear—encouraging their selfish instincts.”