Page 129 of Hell-Bound

Leo was a sleeper.

“Ren, run,” Azur said, pulling Ren from the ground and standing in front of her.

“I wouldn’t, my child. I will only kill you if you try,” the other god laughed. “It would behoove you to listen to what I have to say.”

He produced a large leather tome from behind his back.

Two more creatures emerged from the dais. They were unnaturally tall with gray skin and long fingers that curved into vicious points. They had no lips—only barbed teeth sticking out in every direction, and on their back were twolarge gray-feathered wings.

“Little brother, you remember Rafael and Michael, don’t you? My Angels?” the god said, gesturing to the creatures.

“How did you do this?” Azur spat, gesturing with his head to Leo.

“You really are the most witless of our siblings,” he said, opening the tome lazily and flipping through. “Almost as useless as those creations of yours. High Devils? That Xarek could barely string two words together. But the sleepers,” he said, pointing to Leo, “these creatures are perfect. They aremychildren.”

Azur blinked, confused.

“What are you saying? They are the product of my contracts.”

The God of The Heavens waved a dismissive hand.

“Your contracts always were foolish, as were your creations. You and the others—harping onfree will.Well, what did free will get you?” he queried, voice rising. “They all turned their backs on you and preferred to worshipme—not that I can blame them.”

Ren noticed that Azur’s hands were clenched and shaking with rage.

“So I improved on them. Once you signed your contract with me, all of their agreements were under my ultimate control. I decided thesesleepers,as you call them,were more useful in Hell than in Heaven. Now they work, they don’t complain, they don’t clog up my Heavenly Plane with theirsouls,” he said, with an expression of disgust. “And most importantly, they bring me the vurmite. My power.”

“Y-you did this?” Azur sounded breathless as he took one shocked step back. “You did this to them—to Ahdan. To all of them. You didn’t let them move on.”

Nainaur’s smile twisted from ear to ear.

“I took particular pleasure in that one—Ahdan.” He said, savoring the name. “But I had to intervene. Love, as you have discovered since, is weakness, little brother. That bothersomeDevil was a distraction. He stopped you from reaching yourtruedevilish potential—”

Azur didn’t let him finish.

He flung himself at Nainaur, arms outstretched, clawless hands twisted to rip whatever he grabbed. But Azur, without his powers, could not compete with a god.

Nainaur simply flicked his wrist, and Azur’s body was shoved twenty feet into the air. His arms and legs snapped together as if by invisible restraints.

Azur roared in protest, gnashing his teeth, muscles straining. “Why?!” he demanded. “You just wanted control?”

“Tsk tsk, Azur. I can’t reveal all of my secrets now, can I?”

Nainaur trailed a finger along the spine of The Ultimate Truth.

“After all, secrets—” his eyes flashed to his brother’s, “are deeply personal.”

Nainaur sighed. “It was all working perfectly—you made contracts, I made sleepers, and my power grew. For thousands of years! Until Faydir started to get ideas,” he growled, ignoring Azur’s bellows of protest.

“His children werestarving,Nainaur. He discovered you—the loathsome thing you had become. The Ultimate Truth needed to be told—”

“I am Truth,” he bellowed, shaking the large cavernous room. “Ispeak,and it is so!You think you are justified in your betrayal of me? You all turned your back on me, and forwhat?”he snarled. “These pathetic creations? The parasites that drained your powers, making you barely capable of sustaining your Immortality?” He spat on the ground. “You disgust me, Azur.”

“I will not let you destroy it,” Azur said firmly, thrashing in mid-air.

Nainaur laughed maniacally.

“Oh dear. That isn’t something you can stop.”

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