“Hard to choose where I’d rather live out my lonely existence.”
Stop being pathetic. Dedrus chastised himself. He was just trying to get Kinzer to pity him.
Kinzer’s gaze shifted around the room, as Dedrus recalled him doing when he’d attempted to convey his affections for him long ago.
“But this place is so wonderful,” Dedrus said, in an effort to lift Kinzer’s discomfort, “sometimes I forget I’m not in Heaven.”
Kinzer chuckled. His eyes lit up.
There’s that gleam, Dedrus thought.Stop thinking like that!
This wasn’t the time to be swooning over Kinzer. There were serious matters to tend to, and most importantly, Kinzer needed time to mourn the loss of his Janka…the immortal that had ripped Dedrus’s love right out from under him.
“I’d kill myself if I had to be around Treycore every day,” Kinzer said.
“He isn’t the easiest immortal to live with.” Dedrus gestured, presenting the room to Kinzer. “As you can see, I’m not either.”
“I guess when you’ve spent eons with servants waiting on you hand and foot, it’s hard to adjust to cleaning up after yourselves. How is his verse these days?”
“Time hasn’t improved his talent, but that’s what happens when the Almighty prioritizes aesthetics over intellect.”
“Well, I gotta hand it to him. He’s given up a lot. Of all the elite that have joined the cause, he had the most privilege.”
“When you’re on a pole in a thong, feeding the shallowest of mortal impulses, it’s easy to forget you ever had privilege.”
“Not such a big fall for an immortal like me. But Janka probably felt the same way.”
There was that name again. Dedrus hated himself for cringing at it. He’d loved Janka. He considered him a brother—a brother he loathed for taking the only thing in all the Almighty’s realms that made eternal life worth it.
“You never should have both been sent into the Raze,” Dedrus said.
“I insisted.” Kinzer gazed off.
He was clearly thinking about all that had happened. He needed to talk about it. Get it off his chest.
“Here,” Dedrus said. “Come on. Let’s sit down.”
He passed Kinzer, heading into the adjoining room.
Frozen dinner trays, water bottles, and unopened bills covered the table by the couch.
This is so embarrassing.At least it’s better than before.
He approached the couch and motioned for Kinzer to sit.
Kinzer did. Dedrus made himself comfortable in the corner, relaxing his triceps on the arm of the couch and angling his legs over the side. His distance from Kinzer was calculated. Though he wanted to wrap his arm around him, to hold him close and ask him to tell him everything, he knew that wouldn’t be appropriate. Even worse, he wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to take things further—to a place that would take advantage of Kinzer in his moment of weakness.
“You want to talk about it?” Dedrus wanted to be there for his friend in whatever way he could, but he questioned his motives. Did he want to help out of the goodness of his heart? Did he secretly want Kinzer to notice his kindness and come to appreciate him as he’d come to appreciate Janka? Surely, both elements were present within his intentions, but he hated himself for the part that selfishly wanted to use this opportunity to get closer to Kinzer—to pick up where Janka had interrupted.
Kinzer leaned back on the couch, his fingers massaging the edges of the sword. He stared forward, as if he was looking through the wall on the other side of the room. His eyes no longer reflected the gleam that usually enchanted Dedrus.
“Veylo’s mad with power,” Kinzer said.
Dedrus shook his head. “He was always that way. His mind is too close to the Almighty’s—in a way that breeds corruption. He can create powerful, mystical technology. He can give life to inventions that no other immortal could conceive of. That power breeds arrogance. When I worked with Janka, Veylo trivialized our work. He saw us as limited, narrow-minded. Whereas we would work to use the tools that surrounded us, Veylo worked to create new tools that took creation to another level. I’m not saying he’s not a genius. He is. Veylo could do more with the elements of the heavenly realms than any other creation I’ve ever known. But that power…there’s something dark within it. Something twisted. It lacks ethics. Morality.”
“That’s him in a nutshell.”
“The only reason Veylo ever fell was because he thought he’d have more power in Hell. Fortunately, the Leader was too smart to give him any. The Leader knows he’d use it to usurp him. I remember how upset Veylo was when he wasn’t allowed in the weapons division. I think Veylo wanted to work on the Antichrist Project. What great mind didn’t? Kamin, Erisar, Vegir…there was something alluring about the idea of working against the creator. But even those immortals knew that creation without hesitance would bring about annihilation. Hesitance has never been Veylo’s strength. I take it you don’t know what he was working on?”
