“Seems like a pretty big mix-up to me.” Janka retrieved the remote from his pocket and opened the front compartment.
“What are you doing?”
“This END label, if I twist the knob in that direction, what ends, do you think?”
Kinzer moved forward, feeling the tension in his collar. He wanted to attack. He wanted to kill Janka to keep him from hurting Hayde, but he was locked in place. “Hayde only got mixed up in this because of me. If you want me dead, kill me and get it over with.”
“That’s the thing, Kinzer. I don’t want you dead, not yet. I feel, after everything you’ve done, after the great inconvenience you’ve caused me, that at the very least I deserve to torture you in the way I see fit. Certainly that’s only right. Certainly that’s what I deserve.”
“You also think you deserve to reign over all the realms?”
“I told you, the Almighty has become obsolete. This morality you have—this artificial philosophy bred by the Leader’s need to take care of you and others—is a hindrance. Do you think the Almighty cares about what any of us think? Do you think He reigned all those eons by giving a flying fuck what His creations thought? No. But we’re free now, because we learned something ever so important, and the Leader showed us that just because you create something doesn’t mean you can control it. Once you’ve created it, the work is done…the damage is done. Then the creation is free to wreak havoc at its will. The Almighty learned that with us, and the Leader learned that with the Morarkes, which, as you can see, with Veylo’s help I have been able to hone and create an army with, an army that does my bidding.”
“What kind of kingdom are you going to have when these creatures have wiped out all the realms, killed all the higherlings and the fallens, and totally annihilated Earth?”
Janka shook his head and made a clicking sound with his tongue. “Oh, Kinzer. What makes you think that I have any desire to reign over mortals? I totally embraced the Almighty’s plan with the Christ because, not only do I not mind Earth being annihilated, but look at my babies, look at these creatures, these packs that serve my every need. They’re my own guard dogs that have been able to keep me safe in this tower, where I will continue to hide until there is enough fear in all the realms and they are begging for it to stop. And in the meantime, it will be through my accomplices that I will get word out to those who have aligned themselves with me, to my allies.”
“Vera,” Kinzer said. “That’s what she’s for, isn’t she? You needed an ally who could go out without you being in any danger.”
“I see my timing is just right.”
Kinzer turned to see Vera step out of a doorway near Janka’s throne. The clicking sound of heels echoed through the room as she sauntered toward him, in the same black dress he’d seen her in right before she set off whatever trap they’d fallen into.
“You always have impeccable timing,” Kinzer said with spite.
“I’ll let you in on a little secret. I wait in the wings to find the perfect opportunity to make my entrance.”
“Something you picked up from Veylo, I’m sure. Theatrics and all. I hope you don’t find yourself sharing his fate because you trusted the wrong immortal.”
Vera shook her head. “Kinzer, Janka and I have been in league since the beginning. No matter what you’ve done, how you’ve interfered, we’ve always been two steps ahead of you and your friends. Even you coming here today, I knew because I had a tracking device in Kid from when I took him with me to Hell.”
“We saw you coming all along,” Janka said, seemingly pleased with himself.
“And that shit at the colosseum with Treycore?” Kinzer asked.
“The Almighty really did send that message,” Vera said. “Obviously I have been working in league with Him, or so He believes. It was His desire to lead the Council to believe He wanted to execute Treycore only to rescue him and take him to safety. Of course, He couldn’t have known we had other plans that day, but to make my loyalty more plausible, I had to be there, of course.”
“Well, since you’re so eager to share,” Kinzer said, “perhaps you don’t mind telling me where my other friends are?”
“Eilee? Oh, I have special plans for her. Beautiful plans. Don’t worry, I certainly won’t end her, because to take away something so magnificent from all the realms would be devastating for all our kind, I believe. No, I plan to mutilate her, deform her in a way I have imagined for a very long time.”
“You’re going to dowhat?” Kinzer asked.
“Set an example,” Janka interjected. “What will they say when they see the mutilated atrocity we turn Eilee into? How will they revere the Almighty? They will see through Eilee the shame, the horror, the humiliation, and realize who they bow to.”
“And what about the Almighty in all this?”
“Where is the Almighty, Kinzer?” Janka asked. “Do you see Him? Does anyone see Him? He sits on some sort of hidden throne, like I do, like the Leader does, out of fear of what we may do. He’s a coward, Kinzer. Even if He wanted to, He could not take on the army I create, the army I build through fear. Haven’t the mortals taught you anything? Hasn’t the Almighty taught you anything? Fear is the most powerful thing in this universe. You control through fear, through terror, and all creation bends to your will.”
“That wasn’t what the Leader wanted,” Kinzer said.
“And that’s why the Leader went and reigned over a kingdom in ruin, a nightmare wilderness where the Almighty sent him. You know as well as I do, Kinzer, that we were not born to be paupers, to be beggars. We were born to be mighty. We were born in His image.”
He stopped his monologue short and looked to Kinzer suspiciously. “I have a feeling you’re not very amused by my ingenious plan. You were never much of a thinker. You know that. It’s not intelligence that has been your charm…or beauty. It has been your reckless passion—one of the things I found very desirable about you. But I do have to admit…” he said as he approached Kinzer. He grabbed him by the back of his neck and pressed the tip of his sword against Kinzer’s abs as he moved in close, whispering, “I like that you were stupid enough for me to control.”
Kinzer knew it was true. That was how it had gone on so long. That was how Janka had been able to get away with so much.
A clicking sound filled the air once again, and Kinzer saw Vera walking toward Hayde.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“We’re all going to play together,” she replied. “A fun little game. It’s what your new master desires.”
