“You knew Feather?” Orange exchanged glances with the other two.

“I killed her,” my voice didn’t shake anymore, did that mean I was hardening to the idea of death?

“A Worshipper killed her,” the human looking one took a deep breath, “you don’t smell like a Worshipper, at all.”

“I’m not, anymore,”

“Who’s Eternal?” Snake Skin asked.

“The god of death.”

Another silent exchange, maybe they could communicate with looks.

“Princess would have told me about a god of death,” the human looking one snarled.

Realization dawned, I sputtered, “You’re Kitty’s Worshipper?”

She looked nothing like Toni. Toni had been thick, not just because she was mostly metal but like it carried over from her military days. This new Worshipper looked feminine, curvy with blonde hair and delicate features. There was something weird about her skin but I wasn’t about to get close enough to her to see what.

“Kitty?” Snake Skin laughed.

The human looking one gave him a look, “She used to go by that, before she came to rule with Prince, how do you know that?”

I sighed with relief, at least it looked like I was out of the weeds.

Which of course meant I wasn‘t as I heard Kitty‘s voice, “I thought I heard a familiar nuisance.”

The three Worshippers jumped in surprise, backing away from me quickly.

Behind Kitty walked the Angel. If there was one god who could pull off a human expression it was the Angel, and it was usually arrogance. He had white hair like the Prince but he was built like a football player; tall, thick and well muscled. He had a handsome face and piercing blue eyes, by piercing I mean literally, he did something when he looked you in the eyes. So I avoided looking at him.

I found Kitty staring at me.

“I can’t kill you, not without another upheaval but your presence is irritating, leave.”

“She said she had a message from Eternal,” Kitty’s Worshipper said.

“He contacted you, without you dying?” the Angel managed incredulous pretty well too.

I nodded.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Well,” Kitty cocked her head, “Anything you can tell the Prince you can tell me, after all I am your god too.”

“Um, I’d rather not?” I took a step back.

Kitty moved to stand an inch from my face, “I insist,” and we shifted to stand just the three of us in the throne room. That was the only thing I could call the pool area now as there was a permanent throne at one end of the pool now. I was surprised she dragged the Angel along.

“Well you don’t have a choice, the Prince isn’t here,” she draped herself over the throne. “We decided this city isn’t big enough for the both of us. He volunteered to move overseas,” she stretched and twisted on the chair until her head was where her knees should be, her legs draped over the back of the chair.

“The Prince is gone?” My stomach sunk to my knees.

“It’s just you and me,” she smiled reminding me of the Cheshire Cat.

Oh yeah, that made me feel so much safer. “So…”

“Sooo,” she echoed.

I felt like a jester whose master was waiting to be dazzled.

“I’m bored,” Kitty whined, “So tell me about Eternal!”

Again I got that look of ‘dance, monkey, dance’.

I guess I wasn’t leaving without telling her something, “Do you know how I could release Eternal from that place?”

I guess all the gods had that expressionless surprised look. Then she burst out laughing. Maniacally, it just went on and on.

“Sooo, I will just show myself out,” I started walking backwards to the door.

“You thought Prince would release Eternal because you asked? Seriously?”

I shrugged.

“What makes you think he even remembers how?”

“Do you?” I kept backing up.

“You don’t seriously think I’d tell you?” Again that laughter, it would feel right at home coming from the Joker. Batman’s Joker, not you know, another god.

“Why would I help release a god that may try to kill me?” Kitty apparently wasn’t finished.

“I thought he couldn’t kill the an--”

“And what makes you think he won’t kill humans? His word?”

“I don--”

“Wouldn’t it be easier for you to die and keep from bringing that chaos back into the world?”

Eternal was the chaos? Then what the hell were the rest of them? “He’d just find--,” I could feel a vein start to throb on my forehead as she interrupted again.

“Yes he could just find another human, enough of you die every day--or,” her eyes lit up, “you could become my Worshipper and he couldn’t touch you again.”

I opened my mouth but nothing came out this time.

“Come on,” the Princess got in my face, “Don’t quit on me now.”

Entertaining...she wanted me to be entertaining. Fine. “Do you know what it feels like to spend all day shopping. Trying on dresses and shoes and not having a limit on what you can buy or how much you can spend? Just all day going, ‘that’s cute’, trying it on and voila, it’s yours?”

Kitty sat back on the throne raising an eyebrow, at least she was letting me talk. “Sounds spectacular.”

“My point is that for the first time in almost five years I had that in L.A. It was fantastic and I want it back.”

“I believe you called it mooching off your friends.”

Did she read my mind? I didn’t know how to respond.

“Why is it that you call us by our titles not our names?”

“Huh?”

“The Prince, The Eternal, those are our titles in the status of our godhood. Prince, Eternal, etc. are our names.”

“Huh?” Okay so I understood what she said but it didn’t make any sense. “Look, if we’re done here, I should be on my way.” I turned to go.

I didn’t actually think she was going to let me go but the speed with which she grabbed the back of my shirt still surprised me.

“No, I think you’re going to be…my guest,” she smiled, this time more American Psycho than the Cheshire Cat, “Until we figure out what to do.”

“Um, you’re not going to kill me?”

Kitty shrugged, “What for? I already killed you and look what happened. No, I think I very much need you alive.”

She snapped her fingers and I fell backwards onto a bed. A bed? I looked around. This is…this is…