Exodus (Imp Series Book 8) (27 page)

Elyon glared at me. “The High Lords are preparing.”

“Preparing what?” I urged. “I’ve dealt with four different groups of elves over the last few days and there wasn’t a High Lord among them. Do they plan to send you all ahead like spear fodder? To test the waters before they risk their necks coming over?”

“You speak of the humans as though they are savages,” Usurper argued. “Admittedly I have no direct experience with them, but from the reports they seem to be tractable and easily led. And the elves are no cowards. I’m sure the High Lords are preparing their people for the task ahead.”

Task ahead. I narrowed my eyes. “So the High Lords are all still in Hel? Please answer truthfully as you are before the Ruling Council.” Where I was the only one allowed to lie. Just me.

“What exactly are you accusing them of?” New New Guy demanded. “First you demean their messenger, then you insinuate that he is a liar.”

“Yep. He’s a peon and elves lie. Now, are the High Lords all in Hel or not?” I asked again, this time more forcefully.

Elyon shuffled his feet, the glow dimming slightly. “Not all of them are in Hel. Some High Lords have been here walking among the humans for months, learning their ways and gaining their trust.”

My breath stopped. They’d been here for months. I’d been chasing red herrings the last two days, while the power players among the elves had been setting up camp, no doubt masquerading as humans. How long had this been going on? How long had elves been coming through the gates, stealthily gathering information and inserting themselves quietly into human society?

“Splendid!” Goldilocks clapped his hands. “See? And it won’t take thousands of years for the elves to learn their way around. It won’t even take a year. They are already prepared and will probably only need a few months of supervision before we can leave them in charge.”

Oh no. No, no, no. “Where?” I choked out. “Where are they? Who are they?”

Elyon smirked. “Rest assured that our High Lords here have taken every precaution. They have approached the leaders of several of the human countries, and spent time promising them that we are simply here to help—that we can solve so many of their problems and guide them to a peaceful existence. The High Lords have been careful not to cause panic among the masses, and as a result of their efforts, fifteen human countries are now prepared to reveal our existence and accept us as advisors and leaders.”

“Amazing coincidence given the agenda item we are just about to discuss.” New New Guy still had that smug smile on his face. He waved an imperious hand toward Gabriel. “Go on. I believe we were just about to address something important. And how timely that Elyon is here to add input to our discussion.”

Yes. How timely. I ground my teeth and watched while Gabriel turned his scowl to the agenda.

“This next topic involves the land of the humans and their guidance towards positive evolution and enlightenment.”

“Now that the elves are returning, we can phase out our involvement,” Usurper said.

“Exactly,” Gregory jumped in. “Of course, the elves are completely unfamiliar with the human world, their culture and way of life. A few months is not enough time to learn all they need to know. I, as head of the Grigori am proposing a special program to get them up to speed. I estimate we can begin introducing elves into human civilization within ten thousand years and complete the handover within fifty thousand years.”

“One month.” Usurper asserted. “One. Elves are bright and have shown a remarkable ability to be adaptive. They have to have been adaptive to have lived so long side by side with the demons. I see no reason for it to take ten thousand years for them to learn the human world, especially if, as the Iblis says, they have been exposed to humans in Hel. One month to complete handover. I’m sure some can begin their work with only a few days of training.”

Elyon nodded in agreement. I caught my breath. A month. No, no, no. This was so wrong. Everything I’d worked for—we’d worked for—over the last few years was going to shit. In days the cleverest and most powerful elves would begin their world-domination plans right under the angels’ approving noses. In one month, there’d be no oversight at all as Aaru turned themselves away from the humans and left it all to the elves.

In one month I’d be left with a mess, with powerful elves who’d enslaved a planet full of people. And as bad-ass as I liked to think I’d become, I couldn’t stop them alone.

I glanced over at Gregory.
We need to find a way to keep the angels involved. If we can’t hold to the original timeline, we need a reason that the Grigori at least need to stay and monitor things
.

I agree
. “We need to think seriously about our responsibility toward the humans,” Gregory said thoughtfully. “After the tenth choir…a lot of the problems in the human world are due to our mistakes early on. It’s not fair to leave the elves to rectify all that—it may negatively impact their own positive evolution. Until we are certain the humans have overcome the problems that arose due to our errors, we cannot in good conscious abandon them to others.”

“Just as we agreed to with the reinstatement of the Fallen, we need some sort of program with milestones to assess elven readiness to take over with the humans. And even after they assume leadership, we need oversight until certain criteria are met,” Raphael said.

There was a flurry of arguments.

“All in favor of the one month timetable with a review each week to ensure the handover is on track?” Usurper asked.

Three raised their hands.

“There needs to be the potential to extend the deadline if needed,” Gabe argued. “I can’t vote for a one month handover without ensuring that milestones are met in keeping with that timetable.”

I’d never loved all the angels’ bureaucratic nonsense more than I did right now. Or loved Gabe more than I did right now. He was saving our bacon, and he was doing it in a sneaky, non-confrontational, Kafkaesque manner that was all Gabe.

“One month to handover with weekly monitoring of milestones and the ability to extend or shorten the timeline depending on success,” New New Guy said with a nod toward Gabriel.

Four raised their hands. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I hated that Gabe had sided with those assholes, but understood that this small compromise was delaying what the rebel angels would end up demanding by force soon enough. And delay was what we needed. I had to figure out what was going on with the High Elves, and get my small demon army in place for the battle. We weren’t ready today. We would be ready tomorrow.

“Given our vote on that agenda item, I’d like to hear what the elves have to say about their intentions and plans.” Usurper shot me a scathing glance. “The Iblis has cast doubt about their motives. Let’s hear what this elf has to say.”

Elyon smiled. He was pretty when he smiled, for an elf, that is. “Ancient Revered Ones, Members of the Ruling Council, I am honored to be in your presence. Please allow me to present our proposal. I think you’ll find that we can assist you in helping the humans toward positive evolution, and at the same time improve our own vibration patterns. The last few million years in Hel have done great damage to the elven race. We have tried to hold on to our grace, but we struggle being constantly in the presence of such temptation and sin. We long to rejoin the angels and once again walk toward the light. And what better way to do that than to assist the humans?”

Really? Did this asshole just throw me and the demons under the bus? Hel had done great damage to their vibration patterns, had it? Well, that was nothing compared to what I was going to do to this guy’s vibration pattern—once he helped me get rid of the rest of the elves, that is. If this was the game of dirty politics we were going to play, then elf-boy was going to lose. No one played dirty politics like I did. And two years on the Ruling Council had only improved my mad skillz.

Thankfully, Gregory wasn’t fooled either. I’ll chalk that one up to my bad influence and sinful ways. He would have lapped that shit up a few years ago, but now he scowled at the elf, his arms still across his chest.

“So tell me exactly how you plan to assist the humans?” the archangel asked.

Elyon nodded. “Of course. First we intend to stop the deplorable cycle of violence that the humans are currently trapped in. No wars. No muggings, rapes, shootings, or stabbings. We’ll instill in them the value of hard work, of respect and consideration for one another. We’ll reduce the sins of jealousy and greed by ensuring that every human has equitable amounts of food, clothing, shelter and material goods.”

Right. I could read between the lines. Slaves knew the value of hard work, and had equitable, miniscule amounts of food, clothing, shelter and material goods. And half-starved, beaten-down, frightened humans found it difficult to fight back, especially when the price for fighting was death.

“What if the humans don’t want this?” I asked. “Do they get a vote? I’m not thrilled about the angelic oversight of their ‘evolution’ and I’m even less thrilled about elven oversight. When do the humans get to manage their own affairs?”

“When they stop killing each other,” Goldilocks replied, his voice stern.

“You kill each other,” I pointed out. “Isn’t there a war in Aaru? And some assholes attacked us a couple of Ruling Council meetings ago. They weren’t exactly shooting Nerf weapons either. And the elves aren’t models of pious virtue. They just had a big fucking war in Hel, and they’re second only to dragons when it comes to greed.”

Elyon shook his head, a look of profound sorrow on his face. “Demons lie. There has been no war, and we strive to live a humble and peaceful existence. It’s difficult with demons as neighbors, but we try. And I’m sure any issues in Aaru are due to the very disruptive and unbalancing presence of an imp, of an Iblis, here in your midst.”

Fucking bastard. I launched myself at him, only to be pulled backward by Gregory. His arms held me tight against his chest.

That won’t help our cause, Cockroach
.

He was right, but I still wanted to plant my fist in the elf’s face.

“We’ll need more detail,” Gabriel said. Even he looked flustered by the turn of events. “At the next meeting we’ll expect a step-by-step action plan on how the elves plan to assist the humans toward a positive evolution. At that point, we’ll be in a better position to discuss plans to transition this world to elven control or not, and any timeline regarding a handover.”

Everyone voted in agreement. Well, everyone but me. Gregory also didn’t vote, but I wasn’t sure if that was because he wasn’t in favor of the proposal or because he needed both hands to keep me from attacking Elyon. Probably the latter. Gabe was right. It was time for a strategic retreat, and when angels needed to regroup, they threw paperwork and bureaucracy at a problem to buy them time. It was an angelic solution. My solution was to rip Elyon’s head off, followed by an execution of New New Guy, Usurper and Goldilocks. Then I’d deal with the High Lords.

Can we kill them?
I asked Gregory. I wasn’t sure if I was asking permission to do away with the elves or the angels or both.

In due time, Cockroach. Remember patience is a virtue.

Yes it was, but I was a demon and I was ready to start sinning.

W
e are so fucking busted.” I paced the floor while Gregory put on a pot of coffee. “Better put something in that coffee. Like vodka. Lots of vodka.”

“I intend to.” Gregory poured a healthy shot of alcohol in both mugs. “And yes, we are all busted.”

“One month. Not even one month. They’re ready to meet with the High Lords and hand over the keys.” I paused, suddenly struck with an idea. “Wait. We’ll just kill them at the handover. It’s perfect. They’ll all be in the same place at the same time. You can take out Goldilocks, New New Guy, and Usurper, and I’ll deal with the High Elves. It’s a win-win.”

“It’s a lose-lose.” Gregory handed me a mug of coffee-flavored vodka. “There’s no way we’d be able to pull that off. Besides, I don’t think the High Lords are stupid enough to all show up at a Ruling Council meeting. They sent this Elyon guy today, and they’ll send a ‘representative’ again.”

“They’ve been meeting with these angels behind your back. They’ve orchestrated the whole thing.”

“True, but the elves aren’t all bad,” Gregory argued. “The ones in your field seem earnest about living peacefully among the humans. That half-elf, Bob, doesn’t appear to want to enslave the human race. If we can get enough elves together who want the same thing, on the human’s terms, this could work. We just need to put a system in place where those with less-than-pure motives don’t have a chance to rise to the top.”

Too late. “I vote for killing them. And reducing the Ruling Council by half. Kill them all.”

“Spoken like a true demon.” Gregory smiled at me over his coffee cup. “But I believe you’re going at this the wrong way. Simply murdering a group of elves and angels isn’t going to solve our problem. It’s like a hydra. Cut off a head and two more grow back.”

I fucking hated hydras. “Then what do you suggest? Spread love and flowers everywhere?”

“We win Aaru. Once we have control of Aaru—full control with the rebellion quelled—then we can play the heavy with the elves. The only reason the High Elves are thinking they can get away with their plans is because they think the angels will turn a blind eye. Their angelic contact and the rebels would be happy to leave the humans in the hands of the elves and shut the door. We need to make sure they’re not in charge, and that the door isn’t shut. The only way to win your war against the elves, is to win the war in Aaru.”

I agreed. My priorities were shifting as of this morning. No longer was I focused on preventing the elves from migrating. I’d lost that war. They were here already. And the only way to ensure they didn’t get the world they wanted was to make sure Gregory retained control of Aaru. He had to win. And if that meant I brought every single demon I could find to the battle, I’d do it.

But something else puzzled me. “These angels, they’re rebels. Aren’t they considered Fallen? Traitors? If so, I just got myself thirty thousand or so angels.” And would I love having those assholes under my thumb. New Guy, New New Guy, Sleazy, Goldilocks and Usurper. How I’d love to make them pay. Dalmai’s punishments in my stable would seem like a luxury vacation compared to what I made those angels do.