Page 64 of Plaidypus
Darlene nodded. “It’s so true. If you say you can handle your washing and laundry on your own, I’m going to start inquiring on your handiwork, and it’ll get embarrassing for somebody quickly. We’re all adults here. If she wants to handle you, your washing, and your laundry, we’re not going to stop her. Well, maybe the sleeping vampire might try to, but he won’t succeed. I’ll just toss a succubus at him to keep him amused.”
Ernesto snickered. “I can ask Mina to come out. She’s in Perth, lounging around at some hotel I’m spending a ridiculous amount on. She thinks I’m crazy for wanting to ride one of the Four Horses across Australia.”
“She doesn’t think you’re crazy,” Darlene replied. “She knows you are. We all know you are. That’s half the fun. And anyway, Pestilence enjoys when you ride him. He’d hoped you’d brought your qilin companions with you.”
“Kirin.”
“Qilin.” Darlene placed her hands on her hips. “Why do humans insist on changing perfectly good names?”
Ernesto narrowed his eyes. “All right, I’m officially confused. Why do you think they’re qilin?”
“Because Lucifer made them, and he named them the qilin.”
“That is a good argument, but why are they called kirin now when Lucifer dubbed them the qilin?”
“Because people are stupid.” Darlene flattened her ears and hissed.
Lucifer returned, and he laughed at his wife’s expression. “What has you upset now?”
“The qilin.”
“What about them? I’m quite proud of them. They’re among the better, albeit more violent, of the battleground shepherds I’ve made. The standards can clean up a battlefield a little faster, but the qilin did a marvelous job of reminding humanity why they shouldn’t be fighting each other anyway.”
“Humans renamed them the kirin, and I don’t like it.”
“You know I call them by their proper names. Perhaps I’ll go visit the qilin herds and make sure they understand they were the intended children and the kirin were not the original guardians.” The Devil considered Ernesto. “I’ll bring a few kirin foals your way in the next few months. There are a few who will be misplaced and will have need of a good home. I’ll discuss the issue with your qilin and begin getting the true purpose behind the branching off sorted. Humanity does enjoy making a mess of things. My darling, you can help with the acquisition of the foals.”
Darlene’s fur stood on end. “Who is abusing them?”
“No one, not yet at least. There’s a particularly nasty religious cult that has caught a few breeding pairs. We’ll rescue the parents, but it would be kinder to send them out to pasture in the conservatory. For now, the kirin do their best to make sure their foals make it into the world, and that love has power. They won’t live long beyond rescue, and we can comfort them for their passage. Their children being in good hooves will make a difference for them.”
“And the qilin are good hooves?” Darlene demanded.
“They will be, especially once I explain the situation to them.”
Ernesto’s expression softened. “My hive is a home for the unwanted, who have had to hide in the darkness. I can’t promise sunny days for them, but the gardens will be opened for them, and they will be welcomed with open arms. I have an unfortunate number of vampires stricken with unbecoming amounts of sentiment.”
Everything Lucifer had told me clicked into place.
Ernesto’s words made it clear they possessed one thing of equal power to love: compassion. Compassion in the face of prejudice put them over most humans, too. From what I could tell, he had a reason for prejudice, although I remained unaware of the depth of it. But to ignore his prejudice for the sake of others?
No one lacking a soul would do such a thing.
The Devil winked at me.
“All right. Let me guess. You organized this little party so I would have a chance to prepare my home for these kirin?”
“In part. A little warning for the qilin would be good. Old hate dies a slow and long death. The fate of these kirin will help. There aren’t many left. Humanity has destroyed their noble spirits.”
Ernesto winced. “How are the kirin faring, in truth?”
“Not as well as I would like, and they lack the ability to convert mates or shapeshift. I will tend to that garden through the introduction of demonic and angelic genes.”
“You mean to form a triad with akirin?”
“They are as sentient as you and I, and angels care nothing for the physical form of their beloved. Incubi and succubi simply change form to suit their partner. That will introduce shapeshifting genes into their line, and it will allow the kirin to thrive in a distant future. I’ve six foals, and four will be suited for triads. I’ve plenty of naughty little demons who would enjoy being captured by vibrant spirits.” Lucifer snickered, and he shrugged. “I’m debating which one of my brothers should take part in the triad. So many choices.”
“And the other two foals?” Ernesto demanded, and he dared to glare at the Devil.
