As she came up beside him, he pushed aside a few loose papers to reveal her grimoire and pulled it closer. “Right,” he began. “I’m going to give you the briefest explanation possible because, as I said, I really don’t have time for this.”
She stared at the side of his face, scarcely believing what was happening. Was he actually going to tell her what she wanted to know?
He looked at her. By his movement, it seemed it was meant to be a quick glance, but once their eyes caught, they locked. And like before, that connection sparked instantly to life. Her blood heated and shivers raced across her skin.
He shook himself and turned back to the book. “As you surely know, demons and angels are created, not born. Angels have souls. Demons do not. Only beings with souls, like humans and angels, can procreate. Which is how the Nephilim, the forbidden human-angel hybrids, came into being.”
“Fallen angels mated with humans.”
“Correct.” He flipped to the first section of the book, trailing a black claw over a diagram of some kind of aura surrounding a sketch of a person. She leaned over his shoulder to see more clearly. “These pages detail a soul’s activating qualities and ability to conceive new life.” He flipped a few pages ahead to another section. “And these show how the lack of a soul prevents conception.”
“Oh my god …” He’d barely explained anything, and already her mind was blown. She’d stared at those diagrams for years wondering what the hell they were for.
“This model has been accepted as fact for all of recorded history,” he went on. “Gamigin, however, was one of the first to question our established understanding of souls and studythem. And according to his research, a demon can evolve a soul, in a way.”
He flipped to another page of diagrams. They looked a bit like drawings of electrons mixed with mandalas. She’d always thought they were sigils, but clearly, she was wrong. “Here, Gamigin theorized how the soul is developed.”
“Wait …” She blinked at the nonsensical drawings. “Demons candevelopa soul? From nothing?”
He nodded. “After a very long time, a demon may acquire somewhat of a conscience—a sense of morality and a desire to improve themself. A soul evolves with it, though it’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario, since it’s unclear whether a conscience births the soul or vice versa.”
“But that would mean …” She trailed off. What would it mean?
“It means a lot of things.” Murmur met her gaze. “Firstly, if an angel with a soul can procreate, shouldn’t a demon with a soul be able to do the same?”
Her eyes widened.
“And secondly, any being with a soul must have a place for that soul to go after their death. Angel souls go to Heaven by default. Human souls are judged based on their deeds in life. But what about demon souls?”
“They go to Hell …?”
He nodded. “Theoretically, a demon’s soul could be weighed on the scales of good and evil, just like humans’. But none have ever had the chance. They are all trapped in Hell, and unlike humans, they have no hope of rebirth and redemption in another life.”
“That doesn’t seem fair.”
“No, it does not.”
“But how do you know all this? If most people don’t even know demon souls exist, how can you be sure they’re trapped in Hell for eternity?”
He smiled thinly, like he approved of her line of questioning. “Because I know who’s trapping them.”
“What?”
“Gamigin may have been the first to study the evolution of a demon’s soul, but he was not the first to have this knowledge. In fact, it has been known by one demon in particular for a very long time.”
“Who?”
“Lucifer.”
“Luci—” She coughed. “You’re kidding.”
“The High King not only knows of the existence of demon souls but has been making use of them.”
“Making use …? What does that mean?”
“A soul is eternal, indestructible—immortal in the only true sense of the word. A soul is also pure, inexhaustible energy. An angel’s soul is even more powerful than a human’s, so it stands to reason that a demon’s would be as well. Imagine the strength one could wield if they could find a way to harness that force.”
“Like you did.”
