Devil's Bargain (7 page)

“So?”

Lilli rolled her eyes. “I think they're referring to Samael and you.”

“What?”

“ ‘Dark prince' is pretty self-explanatory, don't you think? I mean, come on, that one is practically handed to us. It took me a minute to think through the ‘valiant knight, brilliant mind, acquires a page' thing—that's a little more esoteric—but it has to be you. You said your uncle left you the house and the contents, right? Including a whole lot of pages. Books full of them. Including this one. Because you were his favorite. He loved you.”

“But—”

Warming to her topic, Lilli didn't let him finish. “And the brilliant mind thing is a given. I'd bet you a year's income you've got an entire bowl of alphabet soup after your name. You probably got perfect scores on your SATs.”

“I still don't see what that has to do with anything. Why would Samael care about four badly written rhymes about an interpersonal conflict between the two of us when he could be instigating a rebellion that would lead to the destruction or enslavement of the entire human race?”

Sheesh.
For a smart guy, Lilli realized, Aaron could be really thick. “Because if one of these ‘badly written rhymes' comes true first,” she explained patiently, “Samael wouldn't be able to start a rebellion. He'd be finished, at least for the foreseeable future. And you, my friend, are the one who's going to bring him down.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three and a half hours later, Aaron found himself standing around his uncle's basement and feeling like an idiot while Lilli drew a huge circle on the floor with a thick stick of white chalk. Dawn was still more than an hour away, which according to Lilli meant that Samael and his hologram would leave them alone a while longer. He would pop back up once Lilli's time ran out for retrieving the book for him, but he wouldn't want to be caught in this realm for very long with the sun approaching. His powers were already weak on earth, and the sun would only drain him further, so he would wait until the last possible minute before he showed his face outside of Hell. When he did, the wards would keep him outside the house, unless someone invited him in.

That should give Lilli just about enough time to answer one more question for Aaron.

“Tell me again why this idea is not completely ridiculous and suicidal,” he urged, leaning against a bookcase with his arms folded defensively in front of him. He was trying not to stare at her ass while she crouched down to draw her circle, but frankly, it was an extremely fine ass, and he could still remember the way it had felt cupped in his hands upstairs.

Aaron swore and shifted. The erection he'd sported then had finally subsided and he really didn't think now was an appropriate time for its return. Unfortunately, the fire that fed it seemed disinclined to go out as long as Lilli was anywhere within a fifty-foot radius of him. It was becoming damned inconvenient.

“I already told you, I'm sure this is going to work,” she said, setting aside her chalk while there was still about a twelve-inch gap at the base of the circle. “The prophecy says so. You're going to kick Samael's ass, the apocalypse will be averted, and then we can call live happily ever after and you'll know you're the one who made that possible. Think of the sense of satisfaction that will give you.”

“I'm too busy thinking of the sense of pain I'll feel when Samael decapitates me with his bare hands and uses my head for an impromptu game of Hacky Sack.”

Lilli shot him a quelling look as she began to place white and black candles around the perimeter of the ten-foot-wide circle. “Your pessimism is not going to be helpful.”

Aaron threw up his hands. “You know what would be helpful here? Automatic weapons. Before today, I was always an advocate of strong gun control laws. No one needs a machine gun to defend themselves unless they're being invaded by the Turkish army, I told myself. But you know what? I've changed my mind. Give me an Uzi; give me an AK-47. Hell, give me a Gatling gun. I don't care. Just give me something that will allow me to pump the maximum amount of lead into Samael's body in the minimum amount of time. That's all I care about. Just call me Charlton Heston with a death wish.”

“Oh, relax. You know as well as I do that bullets are like mosquito bites to a devil as powerful as Samael. A gun wouldn't do you as much good as a letter opener with a good steel blade. An iron fire poker would work even better.”

“Really? I'll just run upstairs and get one, then.”

She stood and put her hand on his arm. “Aaron, it will be
fine.” Her fire-colored eyes, the ones he now knew came from a true devil of a father, glowed up into his, warming him. “I'll be right there with you. And I believe in this prophecy. You have nothing to worry about, because you're going to beat him. I promise.”

Aaron felt the predictable tightening of his body the instant she touched him, but this time he felt something else, too. Something just as strong, but softer somehow. Something new, like a kernel waiting for the right time to flower.

He uncrossed his arms and lifted one hand to her cheek. Cupping her face in his palm, he lowered his head and brushed his lips over hers. When this was all over, he promised himself, they were going to finish what they'd started on the table in the kitchen. He didn't care if Lucifer himself interrupted.

“Okay,” he said softly, lifting his head. “I still think that deliberately summoning Samael in the flesh is the dumbest thing that any human being has ever attempted in the entire history of human stupidity, but if you think this is what we have to do, why don't you run me through it?”

Lilli smiled, and despite all her reassurances, Aaron thought he detected a hint of nerves. “Sure.”

She stepped back and gestured briskly toward the area she had set up in the center of the open area of the floor. The white chalk stood out starkly against the dark gray of the cement floor, and fourteen stout black and white candles, seven of each, ringed the outer perimeter of the space. In the middle of the circle, she'd laid down the soft fleece lap blanket his uncle had always kept folded neatly over the back of the desk chair.

“We're going to cast a basic circle of protection first,” she explained. “I'm sure you know how to do those, so I won't bore you with details.”

Aaron shook his head. “I'm far from an expert. I've done
one or two, of course, but not since I was still studying with my father. I'm more of a magus than a summoner. I generally leave circles to the people who know how to use them. I just work in the open and rely on my personal words to keep away the baddies.”

“Oh, right. I see. Well, um, it's really pretty simple. You can just watch me and follow along.” She cleared her throat, her glance sliding away from his and toward the center of the circle. “We'll need to raise a pretty intense level of energy, though, Samael isn't a garden variety demon or a low-level devil, so it's going to take more than a quick chant to get the job done. Then once he's in the circle,” she continued hurriedly, “I'll ask him what the price is for his agreement not to break the seals to Hell.”

“See, this is where things start to break down for me,” he said. “I know what you read in the
Praedicti,
but what could either of us be able to offer than would make a Prince of Hell give up the quest for world domination? That's like asking how much a bird would want in exchange for giving up its song.”

Lilli nodded, her mouth settling into grim lines. “He's going to ask for a soul. At least one of ours, maybe both.”

“And you think that's a fair exchange?” He tried not to sound as appalled as he felt, but wasn't sure he succeeded.

“Of course not. We're going to negotiate.”

“I thought there was supposed to be a battle.”

“A battle of wills.”

Aaron knew his skepticism was showing. “I'm not quite sure prophecies are really as elastic as you seem to think they are. When they talk about battles, they usually want battles, complete with injuries and the potential for death and/or putrescence.”

“Don't worry. If it does come down to an actual fight, just remember two things. Number one: even in the flesh, Samael's powers are limited in this realm—severely limited
as long as he stays inside the circle—so whatever you do, don't open the circle. Keep everyone inside and he'll be at most equivalent to an elder master magus.”

“Oh, right. No problem, then. Do you have any idea how many elder master magi there have been in recorded history? Three! Three out of all time! But sure, piece of cake. I can take him with one hand tied behind my back.”

“And number two,” she continued, her mouth curving into a smile that both infuriated and tempted him, “remember that you have a secret weapon.”

“What?”

“Me.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lilli glued her smile in place like a Kabuki mask. She could feel her cheeks threatening to quiver from the strain, but she ignored them. She had no intention of giving in to her own fears, especially not when Aaron obviously had so many of his own. To be honest, she had no idea whether or not her plan was going to work, but she didn't see any choice but to give it a try. Their current choices consisted of dying now, together, in an attempt to save the world from Samael's apocalyptic war, or dying in a few weeks or months along with every other human being who resisted his dominion. She'd rather die on her own terms.

She thought Aaron would feel the same, but thankfully he wouldn't have to make that choice. If a sacrifice had to be made to keep Aaron alive and avert the apocalypse, Lilli would make it herself. But before it came to that, she had a plan that would make the next few moments ones she would always remember, whether or not they ended up being her last.

“Are you ready to get started?” she asked, her voice already gone husky with anticipation. She held her hand out toward him and saw him hesitate for an instant before he took it and clasped it warmly in his own.

“Ready,” he smiled.

“Then come into my parlor.” She chuckled as she stepped into the mostly completed circle and tugged him in behind her. She gestured toward the blanket spread on the chilly floor. “Have a seat while I finish this up. It'll only take a minute.”

Once he had folded his long legs beneath him and settled himself on the floor, Lilli turned away and picked up a book of matches, a small bowl of salt, and the chalk she'd used to draw the outline of the incomplete circle. First, she moved around the circle and lit all of the white candles. When she got back to her starting point, she repeated the process with the black ones. The tiny flames didn't look like much, but when they were all lit, their collective warmth began to raise the temperature in the circle by a couple of degrees. She knew they'd be glad for that in a little while.

Lilli pushed back a tickle of nerves and knelt down to close the gap in the drawing, making sure the line was thick and solid with no blank spaces. Then she set aside the chalk, returned to her feet, and began to sprinkle salt along the edge, making her third trip all the way around the circle. She might not be a magician, but even she could feel the way a wall of energy seemed to form around the perimeter of the space, stretching into a dome above their heads. When she glanced back at Aaron, she could see him staring at it with a hint of a smile on his face.

He must have sensed her eyes on him and glanced back at her. “Nice work,” he said. “That shade of blue is a good color for you.”

Lilli looked back at her handiwork, but she could see nothing, just the light of the candles rendering the room beyond them shadowy and indistinct. Still, it was nice to get the vote of confidence.

She completed her binding of the circle by spreading the salt back to her starting point. Setting aside the tools she'd
used, she dusted the chalk off her hands and took a seat on the blanket facing Aaron.

“Okay, so that was the easy part,” she said with a wry smile. “From here on out, things might start to get tricky.”

“Devils and demons and apocalypse, oh my?” he grinned back. “Bring 'em on.”

She laughed. “Down, big boy. You'll get a chance, but first I want to go over just a couple of things.”

He took her hands and held them between their bodies. “Shoot.”

Lilli took a deep breath, blew it out long and slow. Then she looked directly into his eyes and said, “I want you to know that I'm sorry for getting you into this.”

“What? Why? What are you talking about? You didn't get me into anything.”

“Yes, I did. If I hadn't broken into your house and tried to steal the
Praedicti,
you might not be caught up in all of this.”

“That's a stupid thing to think,” Aaron said, squeezing her hands gently. “I got caught up in this, so to speak, the minute my uncle left me his house and the contents. He's the one who got me involved with the
Praedicti
, not you.”

“I know, but I'm the only reason Samael is paying any attention to you. If I'd done the job right or left as soon as I heard you come down those stairs tonight, he never would have known you were alive.”

“Um, hello, but aren't you the person who told me that he's been trying to get back a book that basically warns him about me in four different ways?”

“Actually, I've been thinking about it, and I think it's just as likely that the prophecy was talking about your uncle as about you,” she said, which was at least half true. She did think there was an equal chance for Alistair and Aaron to be the knights; she just thought there might be another knight
in there entirely whom they hadn't talked about yet. “Especially since he's dead. Fallen, as it were.”