The devil's Pact - S01 E416

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The devil's Pact - S01 E416

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 416

Monday, November 18th, 2013 – Mary – I-5 at Seattle City Limits

The icy rain hammered the hood of the limo as we stopped three hundred yards short of the Seattle city limits. An entire armored column escorted us, twenty Strykers led by two M1 Abrams tanks. Orbiting overhead were Apache and Black Hawk Helicopters. We were ready if Lilith tried to do anything during the prisoner exchange.

Sitting between Mark and me was Fiona, gagged and restrained. The strawberry-blonde woman had been well treated during her week-long captivity in the Pierce County Jail and seemed eager to go back to Lilith.

*Are you ready?* Mark sent.

I knew he didn't want me coming to the exchange, and it was sweet how he tried to protect me, but I just couldn't stand staying behind and waiting. I was protected by my enchanted stab vest, and readied to cast whatever spells were necessary to protect us. Sam had dug up a paralyzing spell in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the only useful thing she had found so far in Israel. I checked to make sure my bronze dagger was in its sheath in case I needed to carve a portal to the Shadows if things went sideways.

*Yes, let's get Jessica back.* I sent back.

The rain was freezing cold, sending a shock through me as I stepped out into it. It fell heavily and quickly plastered my hair to my head. It was still dark, the sun just starting to rise. At least I think it was. It was hard to tell with the angry clouds above. A wind whipped up, driving the rain sideways. Around us, soldiers disembarked from the Strykers, setting up their battlelines. I grabbed Fiona, and marched her forward.

Six hundred yards down I-5 a mass of monsters waited, dark shapes in the driving rain. We agreed to meet in the center, bringing only fifteen guards apiece. Mark summoned his Celestial Gold armor and sword, and then he summoned our guard. A mist appeared and fifteen figures coalesced about us. Chasity, Karen, and our thirteen dead bodyguards. They were clad in silver armor, and clutched silver 9mms in their hands.

“Master, Mistress,” Chasity smiled. She looked fierce, a warrior women with blue eyes and blonde hair. A Valkyrie.

“It's good to see you all,” I smiled back. “You are all missed.”

“Are they going to try anything?” Mark asked Karen. We often summoned her for information.

“Not that I can divine, Master,” Karen answered. I blinked, just realizing the driving rain passed right through her ghostly body. It must be nice to control when you interacted with the physical world. “They've shielded City Hall with spells that keep ghostly eyes out.”

I could see a group break off, walking down the highway. That would be Lilith and her guard. I nudged Mark and he nodded, muttering, “Let's get this over with.”

We marched down the highway, an army at our back to cover us if anything went wrong, and our ghosts formed up in a protective circle about us. My stomach fluttered with nerves as Lilith's group became more visible. She must have chosen the fifteen biggest daughters she had: there were two of the giantesses, nearly ten feet tall; three of the bullish, winged women; and two leonine woman that, according to Mark, could spit poisoned spines. Walking in the center was Lilith, her silvery hair plastered to her lush body; Chantelle walked beside her, marching Jessica.

Relief flooded me, she looked fine. A hopeful look appeared in her eyes when she saw us. Behind them marched a few of our captured soldiers. They looked proud as they marched unarmed, not willing to show weakness to their captors. We both stopped twenty yards apart, facing each other warily. My heart was really hammering and I tried not to tremble. I saw what those monsters could do up close when we attacked the warehouse last week and, even with our ghostly guard, I wasn't sure the odds were even close to our favor.

“My Goddess wishes to speak to you two face to face!” Chantelle shouted. “She proposes that we leave our guards behind and meet in the middle to talk!”

“Talk about what?” I shouted back.

“A truce!”

I glanced at Mark and he grimaced. “You should stay here, I'll go by myself,” he finally said. “It's too...”

I touched his lip with my finger. “I know, but we're in this together. My life bound to yours.”

“Fine,” he stiffly said. “Let's do this.”

We strode forward as Lilith and Chantelle did likewise, leaving behind our guards. Lilith was as beautiful as I remembered, even soaked by the driving rain. In fact, the rain-soaked dress wetly clinging to her lush body only added to her sensuality. My eyes fell to Chantelle, who looked as cold as she was drenched; she still moved with a dancer's grace.

“Lilith,” Mark growled.

The demoness ignored Mark, glancing at me. “Hello, Mary. Do you ever think about that cock I gave you?”

My cheeks warmed, and Lilith's smile deepened. That bitch did tell me about the Magicks of the Witch of Endor just to tempt me! “We're not here to talk about that!” I snapped. “What do you want?”

“What happened to your species?” Lilith wondered. “Your kind used to live on ceremony. Now it's all rush, rush, rush. It's so...undignified.

“Cut the crap!” my husband growled. His right fist clenched, and his face grew flushed. He wanted to summon his sword and ram it through the bitch, the consequences be damned. Part of me wanted to let him. She killed Karen!

“Seattle,” Lilith answered. “It's my city, and I want you to formally acknowledge it.”

Mark laughed. “Why would we do that. You can't fight my forces.”

“No,” she admitted. “But you don't want to kill me.”

I didn't think I could feel colder in this driving rain, but her words turned to ice inside. Does she know the truth? They had captured Jessica.

“I'd love nothing more!” my husband growled.

“It is a shame this disease is spreading across the world,” Lilith smiled like a serpent eying a mouse.

“We know you are responsible, Lilith!” Mark spat. “And you will pay for all those deaths!”

“Will I?” Lilith asked. “If something were to happen to me, I could only imagine what one of my daughters would do. They would be inconsolable, and in their grief they could spread a new plague. One not so discriminating.”

A weird relief flooded me. Lilith didn't know that we couldn't kill her. Now we just had another reason why we had to spare the bitch. The CDC had been quite clear; the disease was engineered to only affect men. That could be changed.

“Blackmail, Lilith?” Mark asked. “How disappointing.”

“You have grown too powerful,” Lilith sighed. “It is pointless for us to fight. We'll just destroy each other. Give me Seattle and you can have the rest.”

“Really?” I couldn't keep my derision out of my voice. Never trust a demon.

“It is better than going back to the Abyss,” the demoness replied. “Whatever happens in Seattle is my affair, not yours. And whatever happens outside it is yours.”

*I don't think we have a choice, Mark,* I sent. *Even if she's bluffing on the disease, we're not ready to fight Lucifer. If we attack the city, Lilith could easily be killed by accident.*

“What about the men in the city?” Mark demanded. “Will you let them go?”

“I will see that they are properly cared for.” I shuddered at the venom in Lilith's tone. “But that is none of your concern. What are a few thousand men versus the world?”

I could see the frustration in Mark's face, his fists were balled tightly. “Fine, Seattle is yours. But if any of your 'daughters' set foot outside of Seattle, they will be hunted down and executed.”

“More than reasonable,” Lilith purred.

“And if there's another outbreak, I will reduce Seattle to rubble,” Mark promised. “I have the US nuclear arsenal under my control. The first hint, Lilith.”

I saw concern, fear even, flash across her face for one instant, and then she was back to her sultry insolence. “Then we are agreed. I propose a yearly meeting right here on the anniversary of this meeting, in case there are any issues that need discussing.”

“Fine,” Mark spat.

“Then we have a Pact.” She gestured behind her, and our imprisoned soldiers marched forward, passing by us. “As a gesture of good will,” Lilith explained. “And now you send Fiona and I'll send your little slut.”

Fiona and Jessica both walked forward, Jessica's head held high, trying to ignore the freezing rain, and Fiona hunched, hugging herself and shaking with more than the cold. I could feel Mark's tension in the air; it was worse than mine. At any second Lilith could betray us. This could all be just a ruse to lure us into letting down our guard. Jessica and Fiona passed. Jessica glared daggers at Fiona; the former slut didn't even react. A smile broached our slut's caramel face as she neared. Fiona reached Lilith, and they retreated.

Jessica threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly. “Thank you, Mistress. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“They didn't hurt you?” I asked her. “Or...”

“No, they just stuck me in the basement,” she answered, shivering in my arms. She wasn't dressed for the rain. “They never touched me.”

“C'mon, let's get you home,” I told Jessica, wrapping my arm around her, throwing one last glance over my shoulder at Lilith. She seemed to be retreating back. I sighed; it wasn't a trap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Noel Heinrich – Patriot's Headquarters, Montana

“They found a girl,” Wyatt said as I stepped out of the portal from the Shadows. “Stowed her in the small bedroom.”

Wyatt, my second-in-command, was packing clay into the chicken wire frame of the golem. Seven more assembled golems – made of the local, red clay and vaguely shaped into the form of powerfully built men – loomed in the pasture before the ranch house that served as our headquarters. We were twenty-five miles south of Sanford, in the middle of nowhere, Montana. The nearest neighbor was over five miles away. The perfect place to plot the end of Mark Glassner and his Theocracy.

“Good,” I nodded.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked. “It's not too late to let the girl go. Christ, Noel! It's evil!”

“The golems are coming along well. How long until they're all ready?”

“It's going a little faster. Six months maybe.” He fixed his brown eyes on me. “You avoided the question.”

“We'll need the blade,” I answered. “It's the only way to neutralize the ghosts protecting them. Mark thinks the Shadows is safe and will not expect an overwhelming attack from there.”

He sighed, shaking his head. “This hate's going to destroy you, Noel.”

“As long as I take the Tyrants with me.”

He turned back to the golems. “A lot of people are going to die if we unleash these monstrosities.” He grimaced. “Innocent people.”

More blood to feed the tree. Freeing mankind from his tyranny was worth any price. “We have six months to find a way to kill Mark without resorting to such extreme measures.” I glanced at the house. “She's inside?”

“Yeah.”

I strode towards the ranch house, nodding to the hulking Davin. He leaned next to the front door, smoking a cigarette. He nodded back, not saying a word. He was a good man, and normally affable. He had a blank look on his dark face, his eyes troubled. Wyatt wasn't the only one uncomfortable with my plan.

“You'll never be the same if you do this, Noel,” Wyatt persisted. “Please reconsider!”

I shook my head, pushing through the front door. “I have no compunctions about doing this. It has to be done!”

I reached for the door to the bedroom. He grabbed my arm. “Doesn't mean this won't change you, Noel.”

I shook him off. “It's the only way to summon Asherah.” I opened the door.

To be continued...