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[Kemi finally manages to suck in some air.] Well. [His voice is a strangled gasp.] If your minions would follow sui-- [Except they don't, of course. Before he quite knows what's happening, he's got a shackle on each wrist and he's being stretched between a pair of demons twice his size. And he's pretty sure the works up in the one shoulder, his left, are broken.

And Thamuz taps the end of the club thoughtfully in his hand. "Now. Where shall I start?"]

Oh, work over the itty bitty baby wings, won't you? [Shai smiles nastily.] I think there's a lesson to be applied here, boys. And it's that nothing my baby brother has can't be taken away as many times as we want.

["What an excellent idea, Master." Thamuz disappears from in front and reappears behind Kemi. He doesn't even have time to brace himself before the club smashes into what's left of his right wing bone, pulverizing it and making his vision go white with boiling agony. His legs refuse to hold him up, and he's left hanging there between the chains, unable to even gasp.

Well. At least he's not making the noises that Shai's so fond of.]

[Shai doesn't seem that disappointed; he throws his head back and howls with laughter.] I hope they fuckin' keep growing back. We could make this a monthly event. We could sell fuckin' tickets.

[The hell of it is, they could. Kemi can picture denizens from Below, jostling for the best view, trading favors and souls like currency, shrieking with bloodlust. He can picture that all too well.

Especially when Thamuz reaches out with an enormous hand, stabs his finger talons between Kemi's back ribs next to his right shoulder blade and his thumb talon below his bottom back rib--

And squeezes. Every rib on that side is suddenly pulverized, and the claws rip through his lungs. He coughs out a gout of blood, and the watching demons cackle with unrestrained glee.]

Now, see, Simon, from my point of view, [Shai leans in and traces those sharp talons that are the best he can do at changing his physical form these days down along Kemi's jaw,] All you did by calling Daddy crying? Was fuck yourself over.

Kemahiel. My name. Is Kemahiel. [He's not at all sure where he got the courage to say that. Shai will probably kill him for it. Or at least make him suff--

Right on cue, the club comes down on top of his right shoulder this time, making his world explode in exquisite agony once again.

He's not human and can't pass out. He wishes to Dad he could.]

You're just as fucking boring as the rest of them now. [Shai backhands him with halfhearted contempt.] Fucking goody-two-shoes bitch. At least Galiel called down curses on me when I grabbed him.

Gal's a. Soldier. I'm a. Messenger. Love my brothers. Even. Even you. [The club hammers into what's left of his left wing this time, pulverizing the bone and driving the shards into his lung. And now he can't breathe at all, blood is bubbling up from everywhere and blocking his windpipe.

Grinning, Thamuz grabs him by the hair and wrenches his head up. "Even me, little brother?"] Even. You...

Feh. [Shaitan spits in Kemi's face. There's nothing for him here; violence and torture for their own sake are fucking boring, and Kemahiel's mild reaction is barely an appetizer.]

Next time I'll grab another fuckin' soldier, then. Guri, maybe. I bet that little bitch can rage like no other.

You leave. Leave Guri. Alone... [Thamuz performs the same operation on his left side as he did on his right. He barely misses Kemi's heart and the nucleus of Grace there. He can't--]

Dad... please. Save Your. Son...?

[Shai sweeps a steel-toed boot around and kicks Kemi's knees out from under him, then spits on him again. His voice is full of contempt.]

Dump this whiny-ass bitch. He's a waste of our fucking time.

[Complaints and moans go up from the assembled demons. "But we were just getting started," the one holding the right-hand chain says, even as Kemi hits the floor and lies there in a bleeding heap. Thamuz, however, nods respectfully, scoops Kemi up, and disappears with him, leaving the chains behind.

They come back into the world in a dirty, smelly alley. A couple of cat-sized rats look up, shrug, and go back to rooting through garbage. Thamuz drops Kemi on a pile of black plastic garbage bags. On his back. "Tch, little brother. I'm not sure running Home to Daddy Dearest was such a good career move for you."

And he leaves in a puff of ill-smelling smoke.]