The Devil's Pact Pt. 40

She killed Karen!

"What do you want!" Mark snarled.

"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. Did 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 eyeing a mouse.

"We know you are responsible, Lilith!" I 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 had another reason why we had to spare the bitch. A public reason. 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 U.S. 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 today in case there are any issues that need discussing."

"Fine," Mark spat.

"Then we have a pact." She gestured behind her. Our imprisoned soldiers marched towards us, freed. "As a gesture of goodwill," 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 while Fiona walked hunched, hugging herself and shaking with more than the cold. I could feel Mark's tension tightening the air, his body coiled to act. 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. The demoness turned and retreated to her guards, Chantelle and Fiona heeling her like dogs.

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 reached her guards—the larger group—and then retreated to her forces. I sighed in relief. 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. "A runaway. They 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 forms 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. Our 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!"

I ignored that, instead saying, "The golems are shaping up nicely. How long until they're all ready?"

"It's going a little faster than I estimated. Six months maybe." He fixed his brown eyes on me. "You avoided the question."

"We need the blade," I answered. "It's the only way to neutralize the ghosts protecting them. Mark thinks the Shadows are 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 destroy the Tyrants in the process."

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 that bastard's 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. The sacrifice screamed in terror. But hate hardened my heart. I would see the Tyrants destroyed.

To be continued...