The Kill Society (Sandman Slim)(56)

“I watched you massacre whole towns because they annoyed you. It made me wonder what’s this guy going to do if he finds out I’m an Abomination.”

“The Abomination,” says Vehuel.

“Thanks for the reminder.”

“You raise a fair point,” the Magistrate says. “But from now on, no more secrets.”

“I’m fresh out of those right now.”

“I am glad to hear it.”

“Hello, Alice,” says Traven. “I’m Liam.”

They shake hands.

I say, “Besides the Magistrate, Father Traven is the only one around here with any brains. I knew him back in L.A. after you, you know . . .”

“Died,” she says. “I won’t be offended if you say it. You’re dead, too.”

“Yeah and it’s weird.”

Alice looks across the table.

“Hi, Cherry,” she says.

“Hi, Alice,” rasps Cherry through her respirator.

“Love the fur coat. Or did you just stop shaving your back?”

“You’re not fooling anyone with that armor. You look like you’re trick-or-treating for UNICEF.”

“Cherry?” says the Magistrate. “Mimir? How many names do you have, my oracle?”

She puts her hand over his.

“I am your Mimir.”

“Shit, Cherry. Take off that stupid mask so we can understand you,” I say.

The Magistrate reaches over and pulls the mask down off her nose and mouth.

“This, too, was a lie?”

She puts both of her hands over his.

“I had to disguise myself. I was afraid of people from my old life. People like him,” she says, looking at me. “Cherry was my name in the mortal world. Before I knew my powers and my true calling.”

Alice cocks her head.

“Did she tell you that back in the mortal world, she used to sell overpriced Hello Kitties and teddy bears?”

“They weren’t overpriced,” snaps Cherry. “They were imports.”

“And the great power she’s talking about? Back on Earth she used it to turn herself into jailbait, not to see the future,” says Alice.

“Fuck you, bitch!”

Cherry takes a swing at her, but the Magistrate grabs her and pushes her back into her chair.

“We will talk later, Mimir.”

“You still believe in me, right? I’m still your oracle. Even Jimmy believes in me and he hates me.”

“I don’t hate you. Okay, sometimes. But I do believe you’re an oracle.”

“I will keep your endorsement in mind, Sandman Slim. As I will the fact that she lied to me about you.”

The threat hangs there, but for once it’s not aimed at me, so who cares? So I say, “Please don’t call me that. It’s a terrible name.”

“Strewth,” mumbles Johnny.

“You raise an interesting point,” says the Magistrate. “Beyond your name, what are we to tell the havoc about you?”

“Just tell them that I got lucky. Or that I’m crazy. Most of them already think it. Besides, they don’t care about me. There are four angels having a smoke outside and two in here. I think people are a lot more interested in them than my ugly ass.”

“I thought I was finally getting a handle on you,” Daja says angrily.

“And I was trying to stay out of Tartarus.”

“Was anything you said true? Starting with you up on that mountain?”

“Everything about the mountain is true. Someday I’m going to find Death and dance on his balls to thank him.”

“I still maintain that Death sent Stark to us for a reason,” says Traven. “And I think the presence of these angels proves it.”

“You knew who he was this whole time, too, didn’t you?” says the Magistrate.

“Yes. I did.”

“You were friends in the mortal world?”

“Yes.”

“So, your chief loyalty was to him and not to me, who saved you, or to our cause.”

Traven runs his fingers along the edge of the table.

“Speak freely,” the Magistrate says.

Traven looks into his eyes. “Very well. The thing is, I was happy in Blue Heaven. The havoc appeared from nowhere and burned my home to the ground. You slaughtered my friends in front of me. Except where it comes to Stark, I’ve been loyal to you. But it was mostly out of fear.”

“I see. Thank you, Father. That is food for thought,” the Magistrate says. “Since this seems to be a day for secret sharing, I will share with you one of mine. I’m sure all of you are curious as to what it is that we have been carrying with us all this time. It is a weapon. A weapon that could turn the tide of the war in Heaven.”

He looks at me.

“But, of course, you knew that already, didn’t you, Mr. Stark?”

“Just the weapon part. I didn’t want you to point it at me, so I never mentioned it.”

“Naturally. But the truth is that I could have pointed it at you all day and all night and you would have been perfectly safe because the gun lacks one key component.”

“The Lux Occisor,” says Traven.

“Exactly,” says the Magistrate. “The weapon could blow apart the gates and walls of Heaven or dispatch its enemies to oblivion. But it is a dead thing without the Light Killer.”