Sinners' Kingdom #1: The Book of Lust (Complete)

11

No matter what Juliet asked, Beau's answers were always the same.

Princes could not be summoned against their will.

Princes could not be blocked against their will.

Princes did whatever they damn well pleased, and anyone that got in their way might as well be dead.

She pressed him for more details and the justifications for his statements, which at first flattered him, then annoyed him.

"If you don't believe me, then don't," he said, testy. "These are facts I've gathered through more than a decade of targeted research, and twenty five years of demonic, celestial, and Earth education. Do you know I've been studying the universe since before most people learn to say their ABCs? Obviously I can't experiment with summoning Princes, you're just trying to denigrate me at this point. I've gone through nearly every certified ancient text from the 700s to the modern day, and this is what I've extrapolated only from reputable sources, so if you doubt me—"

"Watch your tone, prisoner," Lewiston warned, off-camera. "Your attitude is not cute today."

"... Fine. I'm just saying. If someone wants my expert opinion, I would expect that person to then accept my expert opinion. There may be others who have studied demonology more extensively than I have, people who've been doing this for a hundred years and dabbled in a hundred different sub-fields, but I'm the one whose research propelled the Faustian fad these last two years. My knowledge is specific and purposeful. You should trust my judgment."

"Faustian fad? You sound like you're denigrating your own work now."

"Fads aren't a bad thing, you know. For your information, I believe in the tenets of the movement. The entire central belief system revolves around the natural right to education, information, and the enrichment of one's life through them—"

"All right, I think you've out-talked your usefulness, buddy," Lewiston grumbled. "Did you get everything you needed, Jules? Because I'm hungry and I wanna go eat now—"

"Wait, there's one more thing," Beau interrupted. "You sound like you're dealing with a real situation, so I'll give you a clue. Aside from the whole nonsense about Princes, there are other demons too strong to be handled when they come through the engineered threshold. It's bound to happen, like Icarus flying too close to the sun, so on and so on. So when you inevitably encounter someone who's bitten off more than they can chew, and you don't have any witches on hand powerful enough to counteract the threshold spell or contain the demon that comes through, you do still have one option."

I perked, and Juliet discreetly nodded at me before responding. "And that would be?"

Beau looked highly pleased with himself, almost preening.

"Easy. If the demon is too dangerous, and you can't stop the spell, destroy the threshold. Just kill 'em."

***

Just kill 'em, he said.

I would punch him in the nuts if he were here in front of me. I stared at the lunch Juliet made and finally gave up, putting my clean fork and knife back down on the table. She had disappeared for a bit after ending the video call, and neither of us had spoken about the last thing Beau mentioned.

Just kill 'em.

Asshole. But... that was about right. No one wanted to unleash a Prince into the world. The sheer bloodshed that would result would turn the planet inside out. I sure as hell didn't want to die, but if this matter went to the Coven — which it looked like it was bound to do — they wouldn't hesitate. They'd probably put in an order to try to harvest my eggs or something first, whatever it took to preserve my bloodline, and then chop my head off. Done. Executions were taboo, the death penalty considered too horrific, but they'd make an exception for me.