“We should all say something about him.” Snatch mumbles, jiggling his knee nervously as he sits forward in his chair. “Mavi.”

I stare back mutely, my throat tightening up before I even attempt to speak. What can I say? This spur of the minute memorial was not my idea. Yet we need to mourn Caesar’s death. He was one of our own. A member of the team. It’s something we can’t ignore because even if I try it won’t bring him back.

Pressing back farther into the wall, I avoid Snatch’s expectant gaze and examine Cassandra’s room for the millionth time. It’s cosy. Well lived in with all the creature comforts of home. Not what you would expect of a prison cell.

Flipping open the pizza box on the worn coffee table, Leo grabs a hot greasy slice. “Fine, I’ll fucking start. He had no sense of style, but I loved him all the same. I’ll miss the bastard.” As he finishes his sentence, he takes a bite.

Cass sits across the room watching us with a sombre expression. She’s barely spoken a word since inviting us in. There’s a nervous air around her and I can’t help noticing the way her attention keeps bouncing my way.

Maybe she doesn’t like me after what happened or perhaps I scare the shit out of her. I don’t know. Frankly, I’m frightened of myself and what I’m becoming.

“I remember the first day I met him.” The words are so quiet they’re almost a whisper, but I still keep talking because if I stop I am not sure I will get them all out. “He sat there in the pub watching me for over an hour before we were introduced. I thought he was one of the regular weirdos. I hated him at first. It had always been me and my Uncle before I struck out on my own. When Gabriel recruited me, I thought I would still be going solo which I’d gotten used to. That didn’t last long. Caesar tried his damn best from day one to get under my skin. Always cheerful, friendly. He made acting indifferent harder over time even though I tried my hardest not to let him through my armour.” Everything’s spilling out now so fast I don’t have a fucking chance to stop. “Then you two joined our little band and I had no way to stop you from touching my heart. You became my brothers. My family. Even though you don’t know it. You’re closer to me than my own blood.”

I want to say Caesar is in a better place. At peace. But what the fuck do I really know? He was a demon. They don’t have souls like humans. For them, Heaven as an afterlife was never in the equation. Maybe it’s somewhere I’m not destined for either. With my mixed parentage I no longer know where I stand.

Snatch looks like he’s about to get up to give me a hug, but I shake my head. I’m still falling apart. If he touches me I won’t be strong and that’s something I'm clinging to right now.

“Caesar was there for me when I overdosed.” He suddenly admits, playing with a thread sticking loosely from his baggy jumper. At the rate he’s tugging it’s going to unravel all over the floor.

His confession snaps me out of my melancholy. “When the fuck did this happen?”

It’s always been a fear that we’d lose him to his addiction. The talks we’ve all had with him about getting clean have led nowhere.

“About a year ago. If he hadn’t found me when he did, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you now. He got me to the hospital. Took care of me. I owed him big time and he never wanted anything in return.”

“Christ, Snatch.” Leo mutters, unable to keep the shock from his tone. “You both never said anything.”

Our friend shifts uncomfortably in his seat, looking shame faced beneath a mop of untidy hair. “I asked him not to and he kept that promise. He was good like that. Loyal. Caring.”

Quietly, I move and take the spare seat next to Cass on the shabby sofa. “He was always there for us one way or another.”

“An unofficial Dad.” Leo’s smile is fond, but sad as he polishes off his pizza. “He took me home more times than I can count after getting so dunk I couldn’t walk. Shit faced, mouthy,

you guys know I’m not always easy to deal with like that, but he had the patience of a fucking saint.”

Wiping greasy hands together, he takes another slice.

Realising our telekinetic isn’t stopping anytime soon the rest of us dive for our own pieces.

I’m hungry. Can’t even remember what I ate for my last meal. I’ve been working on autopilot so long it’s something easy to forget until I crash.

Taking a bite out of the end, I savour the cheesy tomato flavour. How Raziel got takeaway down here in Hell I have no idea. I can’t imagine they have a pizza place around the corner.

The four of us eat in silence for a while. It’s companionable. All of us lost in thoughts of the friend we lost. Our pain shared and evident along with the love we feel.

Leo tugs a beer can free of a cardboard box on the floor. “Mavi, you might have the cold-blooded killer down to a tee, but we can see you care about us Puddin’ even if you don’t want us to see it. We know you better than you think we do. So did Caesar.”

I catch the can as he tosses it to me. Bending back the ring, it opens easily.

Snatch catches the second one more clumsily.

“To Caesar, wherever he may be.” Leo salutes, raising his own to his lips.

In union, we hold up our own.

“To Caesar.”

“Caesar.”