CHAPTER 7

Sofia laughed behind her. "Yes and no. There are plenty of things that call themselves demons but aren't. Biblical demons are the ones everyone is most familiar with. Ones like Lily and Oliver. These are angels that have fallen from heaven itself. But many religions have demons of their own with different origins."

"I see." The answer itself made sense, but opened the floor to a lot of questions. Beth turned away from the room and started up the stairs behind the cyclops. "So, it's really just a matter of nomenclature. Something nasty and from a dark place must be a demon?"

Sofia nodded, closing the door behind them. Back in the kitchen, she turned on the sink to wash her hands. "That's one way of looking at it. Categorizing demons is a tricky business, because one of the defining qualities usually involves devouring a human soul."

"Not a lot of those just lying around, right?" Beth pointed to a pastry. "May I have one?"

"You may." Sofia had pulled some dough out of a large bowl and was kneading it. "And thank you for asking."

"I'm not a child." Beth picked up the flaky pastry and bit into it. There was a type of jam inside that made her think of strawberries. "This is really good."

"Thank you." The cyclops smiled.

"So, a follow up question. If demons can exist from different religions, doesn't that mean multiple religions are valid?"

Sofia laughed. "Ah, the eternal question. Which religion has it right? Well, in a way, all of them."

"But how is that possible?" Beth asked.

"Simple." Sofia set the dough down and put her hands on her hips. "Don't trust everything you read. Each religion has its own agenda, for better or for worse. And when you rely on a human, of all things, to remain unbiased while passing the information along, you're bound to get a few mistakes, some personal interpretations, maybe even a few exaggerations, opinions, etc."

That explanation made sense. She and Mike had done a ton of research into the afterlife and the underworld in an attempt to traverse it and get Cecilia back from the faerie realm earlier the previous year. Notes had been made about multiple gateways that could be found there, and the destinations were often unpleasant.

"Is there a text that has it right?" Beth asked. "One that only contains the truth?"

Sofia grinned. "If there is, I certainly haven't seen it. As a reader, it's our job to question what we are reading, to learn how to read behind the lines. Just because it's been put in print doesn't make it trustworthy, no matter how hard we want to believe." She picked the dough back up. "You have to remember I was raised when the Greek gods were still kicking about. I've lived in a society where people could commune directly with the gods themselves."

"Whatever happened to the gods?"

Sofia shrugged. "Great question. It's interesting how some gods simply disappear, isn't it? Best as I can tell, they all just kind of vanished one day. Were they hunted? Did they just leave? Or did they rely on belief to continue existing? I really don't know. Maybe we were never meant to know."

Beth watched Sofia with the dough, and a giant grin crossed her lips. "Would you like some help with this?" she asked. "I would love to talk about this stuff some more. What were the gods like?"

"Most of them were major assholes," Sofia said. "Wash up and I'll tell you."

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Mike counted almost thirty centaurs in the front yard. Though the moon tribe lived in a magical greenhouse behind his home, they used a shortcut that the rat king had built to come directly to his front yard from the middle of their village. Though he didn't know all of their names, he recognized them as the men and women who took care of his yard. It was something he had never asked them to do, but was aware that it was a thank-you for rescuing them from persecution in their former land.

He was disappointed to see that their chieftain Zel was not among them. He rarely saw her anymore, but understood why. The centaurs had spent most of the winter mapping out the vast jungle where they lived, and had been working on an expansion plan, which required Zel's full attention. The topography of the area allowed for some phenomenal agricultural opportunities, but they needed a central location for that. Over the winter, Mike had managed to bring in some livestock for the centaurs to raise, and what had once been a small collection of yurts and hay had become a full-fledged village. The tribe was flourishing, and though he missed his friend, he couldn't be happier for her.

Besides, they had an agreement to meet every once in a while and just chat. He found himself looking forward to those days, if only because he felt like it was a miniature vacation from the day-to-day happenings in the house.

The centaurs milled about his yard with the other members of the household. A retinue of rats kept close to Reggie as he used the railing of the home to watch the proceedings, and Cecilia sat on her swing next to Suly. Down in the yard, a space had been cleared, and the centaurs had rolled out a pair of large drums. Not ones to waste any time, they had apparently decided that it was time to start a party of their own. A group of centaurs appeared wearing feathered anklets on their legs, along with bells, beads, and anything else that would flair out dramatically.

Looking down at Kisa, Mike said "Looks like they're going to start dancing." Standing at around four feet tall, Kisa had once been human, but a cursed object had transformed her most of the way into a feline. She wore an emerald dress that matched her eyes, the same dress she had worn for Zel's chieftain ceremony so many months ago. "You going to join?"

He didn't even have to ask that question. Ever since the night he had mated with her, not only had they bonded, but she was now his familiar. The magic inside his body was now somehow mirrored in her own, and when she was next to him, he could sometimes feel her emotions. Right now, her heart was racing in excitement at the idea of dancing with the centaurs, and he couldn't help but smile.