The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,109

stoicism of the rest. Unfortunately, Phanuel didn't seem to be convinced. Then again, he was an archangel, and it was his duty to guide the others in their decision.

"So, what do you want from us?" Phanuel finally asked.

"Once these slaves are safe, we'll need to make arrangements for them. We want to do that as fairly as possible. Many have only recently been acquired, and we think they need to go back. The problem is that what they've seen could cause problems for them. If they remember the torture of the angels, it could shift their entire culture. More likely, however, is that they will be seen as unstable, and most sentients isolate those in one way or another. That doesn't seem fair."

"And?" Phanuel pressed, making it clear that I hadn't answered his question.

"We want to alter their memories, block them, or simply prevent the person from talking about it. We need to mind-fuck them, Phanuel. Everyone we send back to their world needs to be prepared to return to their real life. Either with a good explanation for where they've been or in a way that will not expose the atrocities that have been committed by us for so long."

"Them," Sia mumbled behind me.

"Angels," I corrected.

But that was too much for her. "No." Slashing her arm through the air, she stepped to my side. "None of us in this room - angel or demon - did this. Maybe some of you made mistakes in your past, but you chose to stop. That's why we're all here, not on Daemin or Angelis. No, this is on Michael and his followers. Them, not us. We're just trying to clean up the mess without making the midworlds live in fear. They can't stop angels from taking them. They can't fight off demons. It doesn't honestly matter if they live good, wholesome lives or horrible ones. The end result is the same: they will die. We mortals tend to do that, but we don't need to fear monsters the whole time. What we need are some heroes to protect us."

Tilting his head, Phanuel turned his attention to her. "I would've assumed that you'd prefer to encourage a rebellion. To teach humans to fight back - and the other species. To make angels into the enemy while shifting opinions to see demons as the saviors."

She blew that off. "I'd prefer that people don't think about angels and demons at all. Vesdar, Tyrnigg, and Earth are not your homes. If you want to live here, then you have to blend in here. Sayeptal is doing that. You've found a way to live with your world, not make it live for you."

He nodded. "And when the next reaping happens?"

Sia just smiled. "See, that's the part Luke left out. I want to remove the slaves from Angelis because I plan to lock their veil. The same way I did the one on Daemin. For too long, demons and angels have been the strongest thing on all five planes. Not anymore. I will make sure that angels cannot reap lives without paying a price for it. Take the aether of the dead and dying; that's a kindness. But anyone who thinks they have the right to kill without repercussions? Demon, angel, human, satyr, or fae, I will throw them back to the plane they came from and leave them there until they rot."

"She can, too," Sam added. "I'm sure you all remember."

"We do," Phanuel admitted. "But locking the veil on Angelis will not be as easy as you think, Muse."

Sia's tail swished behind her once before she stopped it. "I don't think it'll be easy. I think I'm going to do it anyway. I'm not asking you to help me with that. I wouldn't. That's your home, and even if you're happier here, there has to be some emotional connection. I get it, ok? All we need is for a few of you to help us sort the slaves. To volunteer your time to make their short lives better so we can fix what we've all done a good job of screwing up."

"I'll do it," Vehuel said. "Myself and a few other seraphim will be happy to help alter the memories of slaves, but will that really be enough?"

"Satyrs first," Phanuel added.

"No," Sia said. "The most recently taken first. Only because the less time they've been missing, the easier it will be to settle back into their lives. I don't care what world they came from. And for