Rolling to his side, he pinned her beneath his much larger body and bit lightly at her shoulder. “I think someone needs to be reminded which of us is the big, scary demon and which is the soft, delicate little human.” He punctuated his words with another nip at her neck.
She giggled in a decidedlyun-Suyin-like way and reminded him, “Halfhuman.”
VILLAIN OF THEPEACE
WHEN DID YOU REALIZE YOU NO LONGER WANTED TOparticipate in the battle between Heaven and Hell for dominion over humanity?” the angel across the desk asked, pen hovering above her clipboard. She leaned back in a high-backed office chair, thick braid pulled over one shoulder, wearing a strappy black-lace dress that was decidedly unangelic.
Murmur shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He’d once been hanged upside down until his head exploded, and he swore it was less painful than this interview. He glanced over at Suyin, who sat beside him. Her smile was encouraging with a hint of teasing. She knew how much he hated this, and she found it amusing.
He would spank her for that later. For now, however, he supposed he’d better behave.
“My opinion on that matter has been unchanged for centuries,” he replied to Sunshine. “I find humans repulsive, and I have no care for what happens to their souls at all. It doesn’t matter to me in the slightest.”
“Hmm.” The angel ticked a box on her paper.
Suyin shot him a warning look, and he made a face back at her. But he knew she was right. He needed to be good for just this one interview.
If he passed, this angel had the power to grant him free, unrestricted access to the Earth, which meant there was no one who could keep him from Suyin. And that was worth anything—even answering ridiculous, uncomfortable questions.
“Would you say you feel compassion for others’ suffering?” Sunshine asked. “When you see someone in pain, do you want to help them?”
“That depends on who it is. Most people, I couldn’t care less. In fact, I’d probably enjoy it.”
Suyin cleared her throat.
“But only if I especially hated them,” Murmur added quickly.
“And if you didn’t?” Sunshine asked. “What would you feel if you saw someone you didn’t know suffering?”
“Well, then I don’t think I would feel much of anything.”
Suyin coughed lightly.
“But,” he added, “if Suyin told me to help them, then I would.”
“Is that so?” Sunshine muttered, marking something down on her clipboard. “So if Suyin explained to you why you should have empathy for another person, what would you do?”
“I would listen to her, of course. I always listen to her.”
Sunshine smiled. “Very good. And if Suyin was the one suffering? What would you do?”
Murmur growled darkly. “I would destroy whatever caused her pain. I would annihilate it from Earth or Hell. I would obliterate it.”
“Oh, well, I suppose that counts for something.” Sunshine marked something else down on her chart. “What is your opinion of humanity as a whole?”
He made a sour face. “I despise—”
He broke off and glanced over at Suyin. She was giving him a pained look, but she still looked amused. And then he really thought about his answer.
“Iusedto despise all humans,” he amended, “until I met Suyin. Now I must consider that she is half human and was birthed by a human mother. So I must conclude that I don’t hate her mother, or her mother’s mother before her. Therefore, there is at least one bloodline of humans that I don’t dislike. As for the rest of them, I reserve judgment.”
Sunshine beamed at him. “That’s great, Murmur. I just have one last question for you. How do you envision your future? When you imagine yourself in five years, where are you and what are you doing?”
“Well …” He stroked his chin and thought about that for a moment. And he was surprised to find he didn’t really have an answer. “I have achieved all my goals and fulfilled my greatest ambition, and I’m content to be without clear direction for a time. Right now, I don’t care what I do as long as I’m with Suyin. Her goals are my goals. She wants to study magic, so I plan to teach her everything I know.”
Sunshine smiled and looked between them. “I think that’s wonderful.” She marked something on her clipboard and then set it down on the desk. “That’s all for your interview, Murmur, and I can tell you now, you passed with flying colors.”
“I did?” He glanced at Suyin with a frown. She looked equally surprised.
