Crowley lowered his hand and straightened the front of his suit. Completely unfazed by the hostility, he forced out a faint smile. "I came here, of course, to deliver a message—and to discuss cooperation."
"Cooperation?" Sam's voice was ice-cold. "You, the King of the Crossroads Demons, want to discuss cooperation with us? Enemies who were fighting each other just days ago?"
"Who do you represent? Lucifer?" Sam clenched his fists. That attack in Hell had killed quite a few demon hunters.
"Of course not. I represent only myself in this discussion—more precisely, President Lohr." Crowley turned to Wu Heng and gave a slight bow. "And anyone willing to stop Lucifer from completely losing his mind."
Dean's gun barrel wavered, but he did not lower it. "You think we'd believe you? You're the fucking King of Hell, Lucifer's right-hand man. Three days ago, you were commanding demons in their attack on us!"
"I used to be."
Crowley's smile finally faded, and a trace of genuine exhaustion appeared on that face that always wore a mask. "Before Lucifer decided to tear open a permanent rift and move half of Hell into the human world, I truly was his loyal... partner."
He placed particular emphasis on the word "partner."
Dean let out a soft chuckle when he heard that.
"All right, there was admittedly a somewhat coercive element involved. I had no choice in the matter." Crowley spread his hands.
"But now..." His voice lowered. "This game has gone beyond my control. Lucifer is no longer satisfied with the Apocalypse, nor is he satisfied with that duel with Michael whose ending was already ordained."
"He wants to dictate everything in his own way. Our opinions have been completely ignored—humans, demon hunters, disobedient demons, even angels who may disobey him in the future. What