For Love of Evil (24 page)

"You protected me from extinction itself," she said. "I have no existence apart from my love of You. Now I will serve You utterly, in any manner You require, just as I served the prior Lord of Evil when I loved him."

Parry felt dizzy. "There is something about the way you pronounce-"

She laughed. "You are now a deity, my Lord! Co-equal with the other one. I refer to You always as such."

"And-and I am now to run Hell?"

"And forward the cause of Evil, exactly as Your predecessor did. As You have done these past nine years, serving him." The subtle accent that denoted her respect was no longer on her reference to the prior Lord of Evil.

"I don't think I know how to handle this."

"I will help You in any way I can," she assured him. "You will quickly grow accustomed to the exercise of this power. You will come to understand that Evil is the opposite aspect of, of-may I say the word?"

"Say it," he said, uncertain of his authority in this respect.

"Of Good," she finished. ' "That both are required for either to have meaning. G-G-"

"God," he said. "You may say it"

"God. God is the Incarnation of Good, and Satan is the Incarnation of Evil, and the struggle between the two of you is the essence of mortal existence. Your position is as important as his."

"And I can authorize you to say those words I can say, that no demon otherwise can say?"

"Yes, my Lord Satan. Your power over Your minions is absolute. Your predecessor forbade those words, but Your law governs now."

Parry shook his head disbelievingly. Then she embraced him again, and kissed him again, and his young, strong body responded ardently, and he began to believe.

He had completed his progress from Good to Evil. He had become the Lord of Evil.

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Chapter 9 - HELL

"What now?" he asked Lilah, after a suitable orgy of celebration over his sudden fortune.

"Now You must establish Your mastery over Hell."

"Isn't that automatic, now that I have the Office of the Incarnation of Evil?"

She shook her head in negation. "You have dispatched Lucifer; You have not proved You can fill his boots."

"Oh? What happens if I don't prove it?"

"You have a thirty-day grace period. If in that time You do not demonstrate Your fitness for the Office, You will be dispatched to that fate Lucifer intended for You, and he will be restored as Incarnation of Evil, unless some truly evil mortal preempts the Office first."

Parry was abruptly serious. "You knew this-yet you supported me?"

"A demoness can be a fool; that is one of her few similarities to mortal souls. When I came to love You, I could do no other. Thus I did not warn Lord Lucifer of his danger."

"His danger?"

"He could not banish You to Hell without first separating You from the soul with which You are bound. I would ordinarily have reminded him of that, just as I will remind You of those things You need to know but may on occasion forget."

"The soul with which-" Parry repeated blankly. Then it came to him. "Jolie!"

"In the drop of blood on your wrist," she agreed.

"But she went to Heaven long ago, didn't she? Once you made it impossible for her to be with me?"

"No, my Lord. She merely retreated into her drop and slept. She cannot leave You until her onus is abated-and because she is in balance, she cannot be relegated to either Hell or-"

"Say it. Say any word you need, while you serve me."

"Heaven. She must remain with You, until her balance is changed. She is with You now, though she cannot manifest."

"She is not suffering?" he asked anxiously.

"No, my Lord. She knows nothing now, and will not until she wakes again, which may be only when You retire."

Parry was relieved. "And her invisible presence caused Lucifer's spell to bounce?"

"Your spell did that, my Lord. But Lucifer knew of Your spell, and was contemptuous of its feeble power against the magnitude of his magic. But no amount of magic could send Your wife to Hell with You, so your spell assumed far more force than Lucifer reckoned."

"Like an iron bar hidden in a loaf of bread," he agreed.

"Yes, my Lord. Had I warned him, he would have severed Your hand first, thrown it away, then banished You with his magic."

"But she was with me in Hell when we visited. How-?"

"That was not the same. You may go to Hell of Your own volition, and she may travel with You, because that is not damnation. But she cannot be damned eternally. Lucifer inadvertently tried to do that."

And Lilah had known. "So I owe my salvation-" He paused, reconsidering. "My present situation to Jolie-and to you. What an unlikely collaboration!"

"True, my Lord. But also to Your own effort, which enraged Lucifer and caused him to be careless in his arrogance. He was past his time, I think."

"Because he treated you with contempt," Parry said.

"You might put it that way."

"Lilah, suddenly I want to know more about you."

"Ask, my Lord, and I will answer, as I always have." She smiled and embraced him.

"Exactly who are you? I mean, I know you're a demoness, but what is your history? What is the nature of your association with the Incarnation of Evil?"

She grimaced. "That would be long in the telling, my Lord."

"Are you refusing to answer?"

"By no means, my Lord! But if I told You my complete history, I would be talking for the full month, and You would get none of Your necessary work done."

"Let me put it this way: your defection from Lucifer led to his undoing. I want to understand you well enough to know what would cause your defection from me."

"That much is simple. I will serve You loyally as long as I exist. You have the power to destroy any demon, me included, and to create any demon from ether. If You destroy me, I will not be able to serve You. If You do not destroy me, but treat me with contempt, in time my love may go elsewhere, and then I will serve You less loyally. But I will never truly betray You."

As she had not truly betrayed Lucifer, he realized. She had merely failed to serve him completely. The distinction was worth noting. "Lucifer treated you with contempt?"

"Yes, lately. He took concubines from among the damned souls, and even from among living witches, neglecting me. He assigned me to corrupt a mortal, and did not reward me for my success. He even threatened to confine me to eternal punishment in Hell, and finally with destruction."

Parry nodded. "I was that mortal?"

"Yes."

"So you came to love me when I rescued you from the punishment he inflicted on you."

"Yes. But it was more than that. I do not desert my Lord lightly. He cast me off-and You showed me You were worthy. Now You are my Lord, and I will not desert You unless You treat me as Lucifer did."

"That I can understand and accept. Even in your alienation, you did not oppose Lucifer; you merely failed to volunteer more than he asked."

"He was my Lord."

"If I ever treat you as he did, I will expect the same from you."

"It would be easier for us both, my Lord, if You simply destroyed me and created a new demoness more to Your liking."

"Lilah, I have no intention of destroying you! But if it became necessary for some other demon-just how would I go about it?"

"That I cannot tell You, my Lord. It is a spell that only a very few know, because of the danger of its use. There would be chaos if any demon or soul could destroy any other."

"So Lucifer maintained his power because he could destroy any other, but they could not destroy him?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"An excellent precaution against revolution or coup! I approve of it. But how can I use it if I don't know the spell?"

"You must learn the spell, my Lord. Lucifer did, and all his predecessors."

"But it is not something that a person could guess, or come upon by chance?"

"Never, my Lord. It must be taught by one who knows."

"Can you tell me who knows it?"

"God knows it, and Gaea, and Lucifer. Perhaps others have known it, but I have no notion who they might be."

Parry considered."God surely would not tell his archenemy! Lucifer-he is now confined to the deepest flames of Hell?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"I rather doubt that he would tell me! Especially since he stands to recover the Office if I wash out during my trial period.

That leaves Gaea."

"I believe Lucifer learned it from her," Lilah agreed.

"Then I will have to ask Gaea."

"I fear she will not give it to You, my Lord."

"Why not? If I'm an Incarnation, and she's an Incarnation, shouldn't there be professional courtesy?"

"The other Incarnations oppose You, my Lord. They labor only to frustrate Your ambition."

"But if Lucifer-"

"I don't know how he got it from her. He did not allow me to accompany him. I suspect he charmed it from her, when she was relatively new in office. But now she is old in office, and will not be deceived again."

Parry sighed. "Well, I'll just have to see if I can get along without, then. But first, tell me your history; I do want to know, to set the context for our association. Just make a simple summary that covers what you know will interest me."

"Gladly, my Lord. I am the original demoness, first called Lilith, and sent to be the wife of the first mortal man, Adam."

"You are that one?" Parry asked, amazed. "How old are you?"

"As old as man, my Lord. God created Adam, but forgot to create a woman, so Samael fashioned me from ether to be Adam's companion in Eden."

"Who?"

"Samael. The first Prince of Demons, also known as the Angel of Death."

"But what of Lucifer?"

"The Incarnations of this office have assumed different names, each choosing the one he prefers, as You have also, my Lord. All are the same in significance."

"I-that was why you made me choose? Because each has to have a different title?"

"Once he proves himself in office. Any name will do. But it is best to take a familiar one, the way Your Popes do, so that others understand Your nature."

"I shall keep the one you prompted me to take," Parry said, realizing that it was her desire to see him succeed in his trial period and become permanent that had prompted her to make him choose all his primary attributes-form, title, consort- at the outset. "So you were Adam's first wife?"

"I was, and a good one, too. There was no human blood in me, but I was as soft and sweet as any mortal could be, and considerably more durable. I taught him everything he knew about the joys of copulation."

"I'm sure you did. But didn't God object?" She laughed. "God was not as prudish then as he is now! It varies with the Officeholder. He let it be; after all, it did keep Adam occupied and out of mischief. But then I spoiled it."

"You spoiled it?" She frowned reminiscently. "Adam-well, he had some rough edges. He got this idea that he was superior, just because he was male. Naturally I couldn't go along with that! He might have claimed superiority because he was mortal, but not because he was male. So I told him to cut out that chauvinism or I'd cut out the pleasure. Stubborn fool, he wouldn't give over, so I gave him a taste of no sex. That drove him wild! But would You believe it, he complained to God that I was uncooperative, and God banned me from Eden?"

"How could God ban a creature Samael had made?"

"It was God's garden. He couldn't legitimately destroy me, but he could exclude me from his property. I didn't like it, and my Master was not at all pleased, but there was nothing we could do. So I left, and God ripped a rib out of Adam's side and fashioned that bone into a golem-girl he called Eve, and you bet she had no feminist notions! But I got back at them."

"Oh, no-not the serpent!"

She smiled. "Hell hath no fury like that of a demoness scorned; You know that. Parry-I mean, my Lord. I was new then, and had some rough edges of my own. Samael sent me to corrupt Eve-that was my first negative assignment-so I assumed the form of a serpent and tempted that foolish girl to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. You see, they had not realized that all this nakedness and fornication was sinful. Suddenly they knew, and it changed their lives, and God then threw them out of the Garden. Thus we had our revenge."

"You had your revenge," Parry agreed, amazed. "You are really that same creature?"

"I am, and I have served every Master of Evil since. Some I married, some I only accommodated. Each tired of me after a few centuries, and lost my guidance, and subsequently blundered and lost his position, as You will too, my Lord, inevitably, for it is the masculine nature to be fickle. But meanwhile we shall have an interesting time."

"How is it that you have never assumed the Office of the Incarnation of Evil yourself? Surely you have been in a position to!"