Xas shrugs, but he can't help looking pleased: Benji is the first human who's ever seen it, even indirectly, and as for angels - Xas went back to Turkey, once, and found a pipeline from a nearby lake disappearing into the entrance to Hell. He can take that as a compliment. But no one ever said anything nice about it while he was there.

"I had a lot of time to learn," he says, and inclines his head. Benji's New York City didn't look like it had much in the way of gardens. "Did you live in one of the nicer places? Why would you go to the city?" Why would anyone, he means, when it was like that.