“You poisoned him to keep your secret? Did you slip me some too? Trust me, I can take your head off before I go down.”
“I would never kill you, Lord Lucifer. And you are Lucifer now. You defeated the Henoch, the evil one, and his beasts and I’ll sing your praises to all of Pandemonium. Hell needs a brave and glorious Lucifer if it’s to rebuild.”
“But I’m going to tell everyone the truth,” I say, but even as the words come out I know in some weird way I’m not.
“You’ll tell them what I tell you. I didn’t poison you. I just gave you a little memory draught. What’s happened will fade and be replaced with the myth I’ll repeat to you on the way to Pandemonium.”
I want to stab Geryon but the knife gets very heavy. My hands drop to my lap. Geryon pushes Elephant Man’s body into the back of the truck and gets into the driver’s seat. He starts the engine and drives us into Pandemonium.
“Henoch Breach lies on the edge of a town with no name. A town of traitors,” he says.
“No. That’s not true. I’ll remember. I’ll tell them.”
“No. You won’t. Henoch mated with beasts and they terrorized travelers on the road.”
I start to say something but the words won’t come out. I try to picture Maleephas in his dingy robes but I can’t hold the image. I try to remember the Breach, the labyrinth, and the fake Bamboo House of Dolls. But even now I can feel it all slipping from me like water down a drain. I try to hold on to the memories but I know that by the time I finish this sentence they’ll be.