Page 71 of Sweet Violence
Yeah, that was it. I was just jealous.
"What's in that thing?" I asked, noticing the slosh of clear liquid in the bottom of the bowl when the six humans placed it on a stand in front of Trett.
"Vodka."
A better question: why had my adventure through Hell been filled with so much nudity? Seriously, there were cocks and boobs jiggling everywhere I looked in the great hall, some of them covered in spikes or stripes or spots. It was like being back in the red caves again, only with more blood and snarling.
On a table beside ours, a male demon lay splayed across the grain with his throat torn out, his cock flopped on his stomach. Even when they killed, they were naked. Honestly, what was wrong withclothes?At least my new friends wore leather armour and black canvas, although it wasn’t exactly modest. I don't think I could've kept a straight face if their bits were flying free.
A murmur went through the hall and I turned my attention back to the humans, wondering why they didn't at least try to run. Or stab someone—that's what I'd have done.
I asked Lou about it and her eyes flashed with excitement as she told me, "Izan compelled them."
"Compelled," I repeated, fighting a shudder at the idea of being forced to do something against my will. "I've never seen magic that can compel before."
I just managed to avoid sayingdemonmagic. That'd be a bit of a giveaway I wasn't 100% demonic myself.
"Only Izan can do it." Lou leaned across the table, a grin on her face, and told me, "He's a pioneer. He's made so many new kinds of power."
"And Izan is…"
"The man you met earlier; our leader."
"Oh! That guy! Impressive cloak."
"Soimpressive," Lou agreed, her grey cheeks bunching with a smile. "You wouldn't believe all the things he's done for us."
"Like what?" I pressed, faking greedy enthusiasm.
"The training hall never used to be like this. Izan knows we're more powerful when we're given free reign, and following rules is only gonna hold us back. We never had as many humans to play with before. It was all work, work, work."
I gagged.
"Exactly," she agreed. "We need to havefun; we're demons. We're not meant to be shoved into a training schedule and giventasksto do—that's human shit."
I nodded. Suuure.
It sounded like their last big bad was a drill sergeant, and the new one was a lacklustre babysitter who let them run wild. No wonder the demons here loved him if he brought in humans to torture and kill.5
"Behold!" Trett shouted obnoxiously; I glanced at him with a flat expression, wondering if he'd squeal if I cut him into teeny tiny pieces. "Our power and greatness, gifted to us by our benevolent leader."
Benevolent my ass. Even if Eidolon wasn't pulling the strings, Izan wanted an army of insane, murderous demons for a reason. He probably wanted to park his own backside on Dev's throne.
"Here we go," Melle said, blue eyes bright in her smiling face.
Trett arranged the humans into position around the crystal bowl, and I had a sneaking suspicion I knew where this was going. With visions of throats and wrists slit, I watched the scene, trying to block out the monsters in various states of clothing around us. At least some of them had pulled leather over their dangly bits, but I swore I could still hear grunts at the back of the room.
"This is what we'll do to our enemies," Trett went on, full of his own importance.
I felt like telling him he was only in charge of this because the big bad clearly had better shit to do, but I needed to blend in, not stand out.
"And to those who prove to themselves unworthy," he added, and looked right at me, X, and Joseph. I couldn't resist wiggling my fingers at the douche in a little wave.
Still fixed on me—and unhelpfully dragging everyone else’s attention in my direction—Trett snapped his fingers.
The humans turned inside out.
There was no other way to explain it; their skin rolled until all the gory bits were on the outside, and then they sort of … frothed.
