“My father killed people and his minions killed people.”
Greed sucked in a weary breath. “You father was an anomaly. A problem—which is why he was delegated to the Basement. He wasn’t suppose to leave, but he was crafty and . . . well, he was stupid. He had free will just like the rest of us and chose to use it unwisely. You actually did Satan a rather huge favor by killing him. My father would have loved the honor, but as I said . . . we can’t actually kill. We all have a purpose in the balance between good and evil.”
“What in the hell was his purpose?” I clenched my fists at my sides. This was simply too much information, but I knew I needed to hear it as much as I didn’t want to.
“Possibly to sire you—I’m not sure.”
“Fucking awesome.” I had more questions, but I didn’t know if I wanted the answers. “Did I really kill him? Is he gone for good?”
“Oh, yes,” Envy said. “You did excellent work.”
“I’d say thank you, but I’m not exactly proud of what I did.”
“Now your mother is a different story,” Lust said, enjoying the look of horror on my face at the mention of my mother. “She’s down here. I’d love to take you for a visit.”
“Lust . . . ” Greed warned. “You have no jurisdiction over those matters. I’d suggest you back off,” she added in a voice that sent chills down my spine.
My mother was here. It wasn’t unexpected. I certainly didn’t expect her to go to Heaven. I searched my heart and realized I felt very little. Had I become hard or had she just beat any feeling out of me? I assumed she was in the Basement, but I refused to ask. My parentage was so appalling, I just wanted to avoid the topic altogether.
“She’s really quite pretty . . . well, she was,” Lust purred, making me want to beat her senseless. I was now quite sure my mother was burning in the Basement. I knew she deserved it, but . . . As much as I couldn’t ratchet up any feelings for my mother, I wanted to destroy anyone who spoke badly of her. I was the only one who was allowed to do that.
“Back to the lesson,” Envy said, cutting off any more input from her nasty sister. “The next level up is the Sub-Basement. The Sub-Basement is for lesser evil souls when they die. There’s fire there too, just not as hot. The lucky humans who reside there weren’t quite bad enough for the Basement, but not quite good enough for Purgatory. I know, many doubt Purgatory, but it exists.”
Dixie piped up. “I’ve been there and trust me, you don’t want to go. It’s boring and beige, it smells stale and they play bad cheesy elevator music 24/7.” She giggled and shuddered. I gave her a smile and Greed nodded her head in agreement.
“Kind of like nails on a chalk board. Too close to Heaven for me,” she said and winked.
I liked Greed. I mean, I wasn’t into greedy people but the girl was funny and a lot nicer than the others.
“Ohhhh, don’t forget about the Rehab Room,” Dixie said.
“Daddy likes to pretend that one doesn’t exist,” Lust laughed. God, she was really beautiful. As much as I didn’t like her it was almost impossible to dismiss her appeal.
“Right,” Dixie agreed. “It’s a room where souls do penance so they can leave Hell and ascend to Purgatory . . . then possibly Heaven. It’s a major long shot, but there are some who I do think end up down here by mistake. Not that I would share that with my dad—my good report cards are about all he can take. The flip side of that is that some in Purgatory end up becoming violent and have to descend into Hell. Personally, I think the constantly piped in elevator music causes some souls to snap. It would make me want to tear my own head off.”
“Agreed,” Envy said. “And why in the hell are you still getting good report cards? Did you not listen to my lecture on skipping class?”
“I like learning,” Dixie whispered, clearly afraid of ridicule.
“Listen, sweetie,” Greed told her. “You can still learn everything you want. Absorb all of it. I did. You just need to blow your tests—on purpose. It will get Daddy off your back and it’s what’s expected of you. We have a reputation to uphold, dear.”
Greed really was nice, but had a fucked up idea of what was right . . . Although what did I know? Hell was not my territory and I didn’t want it to be.
“Don’t forget the main floor.” Envy stood up and walked over to me. “That’s where we are now. It’s as big as the United States, but most the action takes place in the north east corner in an area about the size of Washington D.C. This is where the Demons live. We’re born in Hell and we are the loyal army of Satan, my dad. Many Demons take the portals back and forth to Earth all the time. Personally, I’d rather stay in Hell with my family no matter how dysfunctional we might be.” She eyed her sisters and they all laughed.
“I like going to Earth,” Lust cooed. “Humans are such a delight to fuck . . . and so are Vampyres.”
“You’ve slept with a lot of Vampyres?” I asked. I could see Vampyres being attracted to her. I could see almost anything being attracted to her. Although once they got to know her . . .
“A few.” She laughed and examined me like I was a science project. “I could go for some more Vamp sex. In fact . . . ”
“Give it a rest,” Envy snapped. “You’re such a slut.”
“Jealous much?” Lust snapped back.