Chapter 1

One

Adam winced as the ball smashed into a leadership team demon's face, knocking him backwards in the air.

"That's a lot of blood," Adam muttered, staring at the demon's face; his nose seemed to be spouting blood, and Adam hadn't even known they bled.

Minos only chuckled, and Adam wasn't imagining the gleeful sound to it either.

Maybe interdepartmental dodgeball wasn't the greatest idea after all.

The leadership team demon popped back up, grabbed a ball, and aimed it at the lesser demon who had hit him.

"Oomph," Adam muttered in sympathy as the ball hit the demon below the waist. The demon rolled around on the floor for a bit before he popped up, searching for a ball.

"Um, Minos? Once they're hit, they're out. That's how dodgeball is played," Adam clarified.

"Both sides agreed on different terms," Minos replied. "Their terms seemed reasonable."

Adam didn't want to imagine what terms would be reasonable to a team of leadership demons and lesser demons who didn't like each other. He tried not to look back out at the field again, because things were getting a bit gory for his taste. His soulmate sensed his discomfort, however, and Minos took his hand and led him away. The retreat was being held in a specially created section of Limbo, and they made their way out of the retreat area and back towards Minos's Judgment Chamber.

Adam sighed once they were out of sight, but Minos pulled him close, kissing his lips. "Your retreat has been inspired, my soul," Minos reassured him. "It has been suitably torturous for the leadership team."

Adam supposed it had been torturous, but he just wasn't sure how effective it all was.

They'd made the entire leadership team attend, and he'd paired up roommates of one demon and one angel in each room, and then he'd had loads of workshops with motivational speakers (no shortage of those in hell, that was for sure, and a few half decent ones were in Limbo, as well).

He'd even managed a few trust exercises, which had been spectacularly hilarious. Luckily angels and demons had wings, because the whole trustfall thing… yeah, the less said about that, the better. Although really, he didn't know why they complained—it's not like they could die or anything.

He'd also set each team member up with a stylist, although they were really not receptive to the whole not looking and dressing alike thing. In the leadership team, angels wore white robes tied with a sash at the waist and white sandals, and demons wore loose black pants and a top also tied with a sash at the waist with black sandals. It was all rather boring.

Adam had started by offering totally different types of clothing—jeans, sweaters, hoodies—but those had been firmly ignored. He'd then tried giving them their outfits of choice and simply adding designs or color to them.

Those had also been firmly ignored. Minos had told Adam to simply force them to wear the outfits, but that really defeated the point. He wanted them to choose to be different. He wanted them to find their own personalities and things they liked. If he forced them, it would still not be them expressing individuality.

It was all quite exasperating. The name issue only added to Adam's frustration. They all went by the name "leadership team angel" or "leadership team demon," like they were in some dystopian novel or something. Adam had tried repeatedly to get their original names out of them, but either they didn't know them or else they couldn't remember them. It was totally weird, and Adam didn't get very far on the topic. One demon had looked at him and actually asked what the point of a name was, since their title was all that was needed to inspire fear and compliance in the afterlife. He'd then gone on to explain that they all spoke in unison, so separate names prevented disagreement amongst the team.

Yeah, definitely not the right attitude. Sometimes a little disagreement was essential to growth and happiness.

Even the fact that they were a group of angels and demons didn't seem to separate them. Sure, the two groups dressed differently, but he thought if they had their way they wouldn't. One angel admitted it was to deal with their underlings, and so far he hadn't seen any disagreement or difference between the angels and demons.

It was kind of creepy.

It seemed like the leadership team was a magnet for corporate drones. He guessed Earth really did mirror the afterlife in some ways—those people who followed the rules and did nothing more or less than they were told ended up making it ahead. Somehow middle management was often filled with assholes. It seemed rare to get someone good in that position.

He and Minos could always strip the entire team and put new people in their place, and he had contemplated doing just that, but Minos assured him that they'd done that in the past and it ended up exactly the same. Maybe it was something about middle management that just sucked the life out of people. Or the individuality out of angels and demons. Maybe it actually sucked their souls away? Something to ponder…

As they passed through the bar and club scene in Limbo (afterlife physics were still confusing, and Limbo was a mystery), Adam thought about his spark of hope on the team. The angel cutie who had shown up with the unique planner was apparently the newest addition to the team, and of course there was a scowly demon who was also a newer addition, and Adam had a sense that their individuality hadn't totally been stripped away.

He was hoping to get to them before the leadership team did whatever creepy drone-making mojo they did. Of course, neither of them had names either. Yah had put the cutie angel in charge, and Adam hoped he and scowly demon would sort out the rest of the crew, but he didn't think the rest of the team wasn't actually following that edict very well.

It was all really frustrating.

As if sensing his growing aggravation, Minos leaned down to kiss him when they reached the door to the chamber.

"Do not fret, my soul. You may not see it yet, but change has begun. You cannot expect eons of stagnation to be fixed in one retreat. It shall take time, but I have no doubt you are up to the task," Minos murmured. "In the meantime, I'm sure coming up with some suitable punishments for wayward souls will make you feel better."

"I know, big guy. And we will fix the leadership team—together. I know we can accomplish anything," Adam replied, and then their kiss turned heated, Minos's tongue invading his mouth and those massively large hands making their way down to squeeze Adam's ass. He might have been rubbing himself off a bit on Minos (really, how could he not?), when they were interrupted by a throat clearing.

Minos growled low in his throat, which was oh so freaking sexy, and he finished plundering Adam's mouth before he looked up at whoever had intruded on what could have turned into some very fun naked sexy time. Adam leaned his head against Minos's chest, and Minos scooped him up into his arms, as if his sexy demon was ready to walk off and ravage Adam rather than deal with whoever hadn't gotten the memo that make-out time was sacred time.

Only when Adam looked over, it wasn't just a demon. It was leadership team angel cutie and leadership team scowly demon, and they were both standing there, staring at Adam and Minos.

"Aw, Cutie! So nice you came to say hello! Are you ready for another trust exercise?" Adam cooed, and he didn't think he imagined the blush on the angel's face when Adam mentioned that. Cutie and scowly demon had been paired up together for the trustfall since Adam had placed them in the same room, and they had actually caught one another.

Adam looked at them a little more closely. They both looked vaguely nervous, but they also looked… different. Adam wasn't sure exactly what was different about them, though.

"Cutie angel and scowly demon, did you guys do something different?" Adam asked.

They both looked at each other, and then they stuck out their feet.

Cutie was dressed in the normal white sandals, only they had little black flowers painted on them. Scowly also had on his normal black sandals, only there were white skulls with blue eyes painted on those.

Minos grunted in approval, and Adam gushed out, "Adorable! Don't let the other drones steal your idea and make similar sandals! They're perfect for you guys! You could even add matching designs to your clothes!"

"Do you think so?" Cutie asked, and there was a note of hesitation in his voice.

Adam managed to reach out and pat him on the shoulder. Minos was still carrying him, but his big guy moved a bit closer as if he knew exactly what Adam intended, which was probable considering they were soulmates and all that.

Adam would never get tired of thinking about that. So awesome.

"So what's up, you two? Did you pick names, too? Is that why you're here?" Adam asked.

Only the angel looked rather confused at that. "I thought… I thought we had names?" he asked unsurely.

"Oh, wonderful!" Adam gushed, and then he waited.

And waited some more.

Finally, Minos rumbled, "What are they?"

Cutie paused before answering, still hesitantly, "Cutie?"

Then the demon chimed in, "And Scowly." And he scowled when he said it (which was kind of adorable).

Adam just about melted. "Awwww! Minos! I named them! Isn't that the sweetest thing ever! They're like puppies I found and named and now I get to keep them forever and ever, right?"

Minos grunted. "They're not puppies."

"But I still get to keep them, right? They're totally my favorites. Plus, I named them! Like they're my children! I'll raise them to be just like me!"

Cutie looked slightly horrified at the thought, while Scowly looked somewhat intrigued.

Minos just chuckled. "My soul, I don't think the afterlife could take two of you, never mind three of you. Now"—Minos coughed a bit before grating out—"Cutie and Scowly." He cleared his throat before asking, "What brings you here?"

His big guy was so good. He'd barely even stumbled over calling the angel and demon by their new names. (Adam could admit they were slightly absurd, but he still loved the fact that he'd named them and he totally wasn't changing their names. Nope.)

The angel and demon looked at one another, and it's like they had some kind of silent communication,

"Well.." Scowly began, but Adam had a thought and cut him off.

"Oh my god—does this mean I can name them all? Like will they just eventually adopt whatever I keep calling them? Because if so I really gotta think before addressing everyone." Adam paused thoughtfully before he mumbled, "I hope that one leadership team demon I called shit-for-brains didn't hear me, because that would be a really unfortunate name."

Minos gave Adam a squeeze. "I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time naming them all, my soul, but perhaps we should see why"—Minos cleared his throat—"Cutie and Scowly, here, have come to visit."

"No one else has expressed that they have been given a name," Cutie added stiffly. "They assumed we were the only ones because we are slightly… different."

Adam gasped in outrage. "Are they bullying you? Are those leadership assholes giving you a hard time because you're different? Because that is the whole point!"

Minos scowled as well. "If they are bothering you, they shall be dealt with accordingly. A few centuries in the pits should straighten out any misconceptions they have about how to treat those we favor."

Scowly chimed in at that (and yes, he was totally scowling). "They are not harassing us. Everyone has heard of what happened to the last angel who crossed the two of you. They would not dare say a word against you or anything we do that is deemed favorable by you… at least not out loud. If they feel displeasure towards us, it is only in unspoken looks. We are not bothered by such things."

"That is also partly why we are here, as well," Cutie chimed in. "The leadership team has sent us because we are the newest members of the team and they think you favor us, and although we usually don't have any voice in team issues—"

Adam cut him off. "What do you mean you don't have any voice in team issues?" he asked.

"The leadership team always agrees," Scowly answered. "Since we are the newest members of the team, we never have any say in voicing an opinion. Once it is seen that we agree with the team in all things, then our opinion can be heard."

"Well, that's absurd," Adam sputtered. "You can only have an opinion once you don't actually have your own opinion? I guess that explains some things. Existing management beats down the new guys until they just agree. How miserable."

"Yes, well… there is currently a situation that is quite different," Cutie replied. "The team is at a loss as to what to do. It mostly concerns their… concern, I suppose, over the two of you. No one can decide what is to be done, and Scowly and I suggested that perhaps since the disagreement revolved around you two, that you two should deal with the… situation. The team actually heard our opinion, but they also then decided we should be the ones to bring it to you."

"What has the team done now?" Minos growled.

Adam patted him comfortingly. Yes, this didn't sound good.

"The team unanimously decided to let you two decide things," Scowly said, not really shedding any light on the situation.

Adam also noticed how Scowly and Cutie were practically finishing each other's sentences. He wondered if it was a corporate drone thing, or if there was something else going on there. Those two had, after all, caught each other in the trustfall. And were they standing a little close together? Their wings were actually touching, which was sort of sweet. Before Adam could get way off track, Minos interrupted his thoughts with a squeeze and a question aimed at the two possible lovebirds.

"What do we need to decide?" Minos demanded.

"It wasn't our acquisition. It seems some overzealous lesser demon collected it well before its time, which is rather unheard of, and no one knows what to do with it. Yes, so… it's in your chamber now, and you two can decide what to do with it," Cutie finished.

"Huh. That's weird. Who do you think they brought us?" Adam wondered.

Minos merely grunted, mumbled "Stay," to Cutie and Scowly, and turned to head through the bar toward his judgment chamber.

When Minos walked through the door carrying Adam, a lesser demon was partly blocking the view of some guy who was sitting in the middle of the floor, hunched over and looking down. Something about him, although Adam couldn't see him clearly, looked vaguely familiar. Minos cleared his throat, and the man looked up toward them.

"Adam?" the man asked, squinting a bit at him.

Holy fuck, Adam knew that voice.

And that smug, idiotic face.

"Tim?" he blurted out.