Page 43 of Whiskers on Kittens

We only knew the tanks had been there because of the discoloration where they’d once been.

It took several hours for us to bag everything, but once done, we had the harder job ahead of us: finding the evidence we needed to rescue the kittens. I walked the street, hissing over the decisions I needed to make, and I ultimately decided we’d work from farthest away from my car to closest, so when we left, we wouldn’t have far to go to make our escape.

I opened the door, and the stench of rotting food and sex assaulted my nose. I gagged, waved my hand in front of my face, and put some serious thought into crying at the thought of having to go inside. Like me, Easton expressed his disdain for the foul odor, although he coughed before baring his teeth and growling.

“We will clear out as we go and be out of here in record time. And we’re going to send this shit straight to hell so the Devil can fucking suffer while sorting this mess out!”

“Good call.”

We spared only enough time to review any handwritten materials before adopting the shoveling approach to our work. Easton fetched the broom and shovel I’d brought along for the ride, and we cleared the entry out in a record five minutes once starting work. I sweated, and Easton’s fur showed signs of needing to be washed and groomed else he’d be a matted mess before the night was over.

The source of the rot proved to be a body stashed in a closet, fresh enough she was in rigor mortis and had begun the true process of putrefaction. As I refused to treat her body with the disdain required to shove her in a bag as though her life and death had no value, I went for my phone.

Instead of abusing Belial even more, I went for Gabriel, tapped to connect the call, and held the phone to my ear.

“I knew you would call,” the archangel said rather than greeting me.

“Can you treat her well and with kindness? I’m sure your brother would help, but I can’t bear the thought of just throwing her in a bag and sending her to hell.”

“Your very soul shies away from sending someone to hell undeserving. Her body is but an empty shell. You would not be condemning her soul. But yes, I will come do as you ask. She deserves better than, as you say, being thrown into a bag and sent off to hell. Do you care to know the fate of her soul?”

“As long as she escaped this hell for somewhere better, I’m satisfied.”

“She no longer lives in any hell, that much I can promise you.” A moment later, Gabriel appeared, and he patted my shoulder, snapping his fingers to make his phone vanish, and began the tedious process of removing her stiffened body from the closet. “As hers is not the only body you will find, after I take care of transporting her, I will return and assist with your efforts. He understands I will pitch a fit should I not be permitted to.”

“I’ll ask Belial if he has anymore bags.” I texted Belial, and sure enough, the devil appeared with a stack of the bags, which he handed over. “Thank you.”

“Gabriel,” the devil greeted.

“Belial. How is Lucifer handling the work tonight?”

“The more damaged of the girls are in his wife’s loving paws along with some of the gentler succubi, and outside of giving her time with an incubus to assist with her other needs, things are progressing nicely. The angelic host will handle the deceased, I presume?”

“We have opted to take this burden up of our own volition, and He has opted to look the other way. These mortals could have done the work, but the bodies deserve mercy as much as they deserve justice.”

“We will take care of delaying the mortals from returning so there is more time. If He permits, we’ll use aversions.”

“He permits it,” the archangel confirmed. “Bring Lucifer’s heir into it, tomorrow, once these homes are barren and there is prey for her to hunt. This street would make a good project for her. This is the only home these women now know, and many will be too fearful to return to the families waiting for them. We shall purge these buildings of the filth so that they may become homes for them.”

“They’ll be easy to find,” Belial pointed out.

“He offers his blessings for the aversion for those who would do them harm be a permanent feature here. The universe herself weeps at what has fouled the soil here. This would help restore the balance.”

After considering the archangel with burning eyes, the devil nodded. “Perhaps it might be wise to involve Hibil.”

Gabriel heaved a sigh, and I wondered at his expression—assuming he had a head tucked away somewhere. “It shall be so. They will require the light to step forth into the world once more. He is prepared to unleash the entire host to resolve this matter.”

“Ah.” Letting out a gusty breath, Belial turned his attention to me. “He is infuriated. This is the state in which the floods that had once purged this world of sin and sinner alike had begun—not because He sought to punish humanity for being human, but that His temper flared beyond control. But this time, rather than attempt to bottle His wrath and fail, He bleeds His fury through His host. Gabriel, I will send Lucifer’s little kitty upstairs soon to help calm him along with her guardians. That should tame Him for a time.”

“A good plan. She can withstand all that He is and all that He was, just as she can withstand all that my brother is and was. That is her purpose, after all.”

“How long to clean everything out?”

“We will not use our powers for this. No, this must be a deed done with our hands. We should finish by sunrise. Please be prepared to teleport our mortal friends to their hotel in the morning and arrange for someone to drive their car to the appropriate place. Perhaps Lucifer’s residence over Manhattan might suffice?”

“It shall be done.” Belial vanished.

Gabriel picked up one of the bags from the pile. “And so it begins, an era of salvation and sacrifice of life without death.”