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All I could do was nod, feeling sick as he continued

"There used to be more Dukes At one time there was one for each of the Ten Commandments, in addition to those that cover the seven deadly sins, but e as necessary Lies and adultery are the only two of the Ten Co each lifetime based on the state of society they’re in at that tiraphy"

I held a bottle of water inback the nausea that crept up as he spoke

"I hear your father had a good run with alcohol last century," he continued "But in this lifetis Demons feel a pull in the direction of their specialty, and their offspring get a taste of it as well Being fe able to tell when others have addictive natures, a of how I saw it in Jay "But what does being female have to do with it?"

"I’m not certain, but fes Fehters were able to sense virgins and fertility, asOkay, what else?"

"Yep Let’s see I suppose you should know that positions of Dukes are highly sought after a the demons They all want a chance in hu the dark spirits Lucifer himself would prefer to be on earth, but he’s bound to hell, along with his right- and left-hand warriors, Beelzebub and Ae of relief to surface

"No, they can’t Lucifer lives vicariously through the Dukes and Legionnaires"

"Why are there so few demons on earth? He could send up all of theht?"

"I suppose he could, but it’s all run as a sort of clandestine operation, which is ironic, since everyone in heaven must knohat the dark ones are up to But Lucifer seems to want to stay under the radar, so to speak"

"He’s scared," I thought out loud

"The thing is," Kaidan said, ignoringThey can’t take away a person’s free will They place ideas into their heads Period But humans are self-centered by nature Half the ti the their selfish instincts"

These were unpleasant things to hear Kaidan breezed through it, givingfrom a demon textbook

"Do the Dukes whisper to people? I mean, what do they actually do?"