The demon bowed his head, and then said, “Yes master,” and disappeared into a swirl of inky shadows that faded away. Which… was kind of cool, in an evil demon way. Unfortunately, there was no way for a warlock to teleport, or travel shadows like a demon, or anything cool like that. Honestly, it was one of the first things I tried to learn from Sal.

  I went back out to the den, and saw Karen and Malina snuggled up on the couch. I swear I totally missed them earlier because I’d been so focused.

  Karen asked in a shocked voice, “You sent a demon to get my car?”

  I shrugged, “Seemed like a good idea at the time. I guess we’ll find out. Is that a problem?”

  She looked startled, “No… not a problem. I was just, surprised is all.”

  “I needed the practice anyway, I think I could control about four of them when we attack. Speaking of which, any idea on the wards issue yet? That’s going to be our biggest problem, unless we can lure Clarissa out.”

  Karen snorted, “Fat chance of that, she never leaves the building, and runs for the council chamber at the first sign of trouble.”

  “The demons could do it probably,” said Malina thoughtfully, “But then you wouldn’t be able to use them in the duel, or as a distraction. It’s pretty simple, they just need to let the wards attack them, and then ground the magic flow through them so they can pull on it and drain all the energy.”

  Karen gasped, “They’d go up like a pyre if they did it that way.”

  Malina shrugged, “Yes, and it would take four or five to do it if you gave us an accurate accounting of the wards. But they’d be fine, simply banished back to hell when their bodies died.”

  I nodded, “Then it would be us four, against the council… nine of them?”

  Karen grunted, “Yes, and whatever guards there are. If they were ready for us we wouldn’t have much of a chance.”

  I frowned, “Can warlocks and mages create a circle? Or will infernal magic screw you up?”

  Karen shook her head back and forth in thought, “I don’t think anyone has ever tried, why?”

  “Well, I was wondering if you could face the council circle with unlimited magic, that’s all.”

  Malina snickered at my dry delivery, “It won’t work. Mage energies are different. They originate on this plane, and the elemental planes. Infernal magic is from the demonic plane, it’s why warlocks don’t have power without a patron and link. Your best bet is to work together, but separately.

  “Karen, you should attack, and Shawn can defend the both of you. Lilliana can keep the security mages busy and defend the door to keep more out if you protect her from magical attacks. I have certain rules, but I can be the last line of defense if Shawn fails and is in danger of death.”

  I asked, “What rules?”

  She sighed, “I’m a greater demon, I can’t just go around killing people, I have to work through you. As your patron I can defend you, and kill if necessary, but only as a last resort. I’d prefer if it never got to that point though, because if it gets that bad you’ll probably die anyway.”

  I grunted, “Fair enough, now how do we get in?”

  Karen thought for a moment, “We can sneak in a side entrance right by the stairs up, but we’ll most likely have to send one of the demons there to kill those wards first, and then use the last three for the wards protecting the council chamber.”

  I nodded, “Right, and we’ll have to stand closely together, and I’ll have to double cast all the protections to cover both us with one set and Lia with the second.”

  Lilliana asked, “Can you do that?”

  I nodded, “Barely, but possible. I’d be holding twelve spells and three inherent magical abilities.”

  I’d have to use all four in each partition to do it instead of just three like I’d planned, but it was doable. There was physical, magic, and four elements. So twelve spells for my three partitioned minds. And then my personal shield, detect magic, and magic connection to Malina in my primary mind along with the actual partition spell. With four there I could even cast an offensive spell or two if I had too, or use balefire, but that would be pushing things farther than I wanted too.

  If I lost concentration we’d be totally fucked.

  Karen shook her head, “I can lower that by two, you won’t need water. None of the guards or council uses it as a primary, and fire and air spells are the most effective in battle.”

  I frowned, “Okay, that will help.”

  It really would, I could move over the magic connection and detect magic, and only have personal shield and partition in my primary.

  I turned to Karen, “How about you, if you don’t have to defend against attacks, do you have the magic to take down the council?”

  Karen nodded uncertainly, “Yes, if they attack a lot. If all they do is defend and wait for the security mages to get passed Lia, then probably not.”

  “I guess that’s where I come in, I can be fairly offensive if I put my mind to it, and I have a feeling Clarissa doesn’t do well with disrespect,” I said somewhat confidently.

  Lilliana asked, “Okay, so we have a plan. When is the best time to attack?”

  Karen immediately answered, “Middle of the night, if we can get to the council chamber first they’ll be off balance when they get there.”

  I asked, “Are you sure they would, if they knew we were in there?”

  Karen nodded, “Yes, the stairs to the council floor where they live, is in the back of their chamber. It’s the only stairwell with access to that floor. If they don’t come together we can easily go after them and pick them off. They don’t even have guards up there. Still, I wouldn’t depend on it, they have a shorter way to go, and they’ll feel it when we put a demon sized hole in their outer wards right away.”

  Malina said, “Sounds like we’re ready.”

  I shook my head, “Not yet, I want a practice run to make sure I can handle it.”

  Lilliana asked, “How?”

  I said, “Simple, Malina is going to play Karen, I’ll protect us both, and cast the spells on you too Lilliana. And then Karen will play Clarissa and do her best to take down my defenses.”

  Karen smirked, “You sure you want to do that, I’m pretty bad ass.”

  I nodded, “I’m counting on it, I’m hoping if I can defend against you, that means I can handle Clarissa.”

  She nodded soberly at that, and then asked, “Now?”

  I shook my head, “No, you need to finish those phone calls right? And I need to… hedge my bets. We’ll meet up for dinner later and then try it out?”

  Everyone agreed, and I went back into the ritual room, only Lilliana followed.

  Chapter 28

  Lilliana asked, “So, what exactly are we doing?”

  I smiled, “Hedging my bets, I want you to come with me, while I make a pact and knock someone up. I also want you to promise me on the chance I die in the next few days, that you’ll take Sal, Krystal, the pendant, and the woman out of town, and protect them until my son is old enough to come back and take over. As soon as I die she’ll be vulnerable to the mages searches, so you’ll have to move quickly.”

  She nodded, “Of course, it’s what I do, protect the Moore line. You just make sure it isn’t necessary, I haven’t loved you nearly long enough yet.”

  I kissed her softly and cupped her face, my voice was a whispered promise, “I’ll do my best, but it’s more than just my life and soul, I have to do this now to ensure continuity. It will be bad enough if Malina gets stuck in hell for eighteen years. Honestly I’m confident we can do this, and it will work. For the first time my progeny will be safe from the mages, and I’ll be the first Moore warlock to have a wife and family work out for him.”

  I grinned impudently. I hoped all that anyway, it could happen… I damned well would make it happen. But just in case, I needed to do this.

  Lilliana hugged me and kissed my neck. I felt her tears against my skin, but didn’t say anything, and just held her for a while. When she moved back, I casted the spell to find what I needed to find. Then I took Lilliana’s hand, and pulled her toward the garage, it was time to go…

  Malina didn’t meet us, so I assumed she was staying behind. I was sure she knew what we were up to and had some reason to stay with Karen. We were headed to Buffalo Grove, which was northwest of Chicago, to an apartment complex.

  Stephanie Danner, twenty-five years old, recently divorced. Ironically, the reason she was divorced and left by her husband, was she was barren. Her greatest desire was to have a big family, and now she was alone. She was on the average side of attractive, black curly hair, brown eyes, and dark tanned skin. She had a few extra pounds, but that wasn’t the point, I knew she was a good woman and would be a great mother.

  A good woman who would do anything to have a child, including having mine, especially if it meant she could have more afterwards with someone else. Hopefully, she’d meet a nicer guy the second time around, her ex sounded like an asshole, but that part wasn’t up to me, or my problem.

  Because she wanted to be a mother so bad, I already decided not to lay the spell that would push people away, and force her to give him up to the system like I was. Assuming she said yes of course, although I was pretty sure she would, free will or not.

  It was midday, and she was home now which is why we went straight to the car and hit the road after I casted the spell. She was nurse that worked the night shift, and there was no time like the present. I was still working on how to approach her, the book once again was filled with unhelpful suggestions, and I just decided to wing it. Either way, it would be kind of awkward in my mind, especially this first time.

  I really didn’t have a choice but to wing it, since Lilliana pulled into the parking lot and stopped and I still didn’t have a game plan. I just hoped that at the very least, I was her type. Based on my past, there was a good chance, but it was far from certain. I cast another of my memory spells on the car, if anyone too nosy looked at it, they’d forget all about it being here once they looked away.

  I also made sure there were no mages nearby, the last thing I needed right now was for the woman to end up dead tomorrow because I wasn’t paying attention.

  I walked to the woman’s apartment, and considered knocking but rejected it. A quick spell and I was on the inside closing and locking the door. A soft voice rang out from the other room.

  “Chad?”

  Chad was the asshole ex.

  “Hello Stephanie, I’m sorry to barge in like this, but I need to speak to you about something.”

  Yup, that was my smooth move. To be fair, there was nothing but awkward ways to get this going. It’d been easier if I could have used magic, but when it came to a pact, soul on the line or not, bamboozling was off the table.

  By now I was through the living room, Stephanie was in the kitchen dressed in nothing but a tee and a pair of panties, cooking. Well, that wouldn’t make this easier, being dressed like that she’d be feeling more vulnerable with a stranger just walking in. She had a defensive and worried look on her face, and a phone in her left hand.

  “Who the fuck are you? Get out of my house or I’ll call the cops.”

  She also brandished a chef’s knife in her right hand.

  I turned away and walked over to the couch and took a seat, “I really think you’ll want to hear what I have to say, why don’t you put some pants on and we’ll talk. If you don’t like what I say, I promise to leave.”

  I hoped between my calm tone, the fact I was dressed in a suit rather than like a hoodlum, and now that I was farther away and sitting down, that she would give me a chance to explain. I could have pulled the phone out of her hand with magic, but I thought that might make it worse. Maybe I should have knocked?

  She cursed under her breath and then said, “What do you want?”

  Okay, talk in different rooms, and no pants. I tried to roll with it.

  I said carefully, “I want to make you an offer, and it’s going to sound kind of crazy actually. But I want to give you something you want very badly, for an equally large… favor.”

  She was quiet for moment, “Right, crazy is it? Why aren’t I surprised. Okay, let’s hear it.”

  “Well, I have the ability to heal what ails you, and make you fertile, for a price.”

  At that point she kind of lost it, and forgot her state of dress. She stalked out in the living room, with the knife, and a livid look on her face. Then she yelled.

  “What kind of sick fuck are you, did that asshole Chad put you up to this? Did he give you a key or something, what the hell is wrong with you!”

  The book had mentioned women can be particularly emotional about this issue.

  I said calmly, “You might want to sit down.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me, I wasn’t sure if she was about to use the phone, or pounce with the knife, but it would have been one or the other. I pulled a little magic, and made the balefire on my hands.

  She screamed, and then fainted.

  Well, that could have gone better.

  I got up and grabbed the knife and phone, and put them in the kitchen, and then picked up Stephanie and put her on the couch. I covered her up with the throw blanket as an afterthought, and then I sat over in the chair and waited for her to come to.

  About a minute later she regained consciousness, “What the fuck was that?” except this time it came out as a scared question.

  Still trying to be calm, I said, “Magic.”

  I wondered briefly just how good Lilliana’s hearing was, and if she was outside laughing at me.

  She asked in an upset voice, “Magic? Magic isn’t real, what is this really about? Why are you doing this to me?”

  I frowned, I’d thought showing her magic would work, but sometimes…

  “It was magic, and if you stay calm I’ll show you something else to prove it.”

  She demanded, “And what is this deal? What do you get out of it?”

  “I… for reasons I can’t explain, I get to be the father of your first child.”

  She laughed, actually laughed at me. I’d expected outrage, or anger, not laughter. And when she spoke it was with mocking contempt. I’d really fucked this up.

  “Does this work for you usually? Break into a woman’s home who desperately wants a child, and is barren. You what, feed us a bunch of shit to get our hopes up, and then fuck us and have a good laugh at the pub over a beer with your sick twisted buddies? What kind of sick asshole are you?”

  In a last ditch effort, I casted a series of spells in my mind. Harsh wind swirled through the apartment, fire moved and danced before her eyes, and then she levitated off of the couch. I let all three go on for a few moments, and then dropped all three spells, and she dropped back down to the couch hard enough to bounce off the cushion before settling back down.

  I said sharply, “Magic is real, and for reasons of my own I need progeny hidden from my enemies. I’m willing to give an equal gift in return. This is not a prank. Do you still wish me to leave?”

  When she didn’t answer for almost a full minute, I stood up and walked toward the front door. Sal indicated sometimes I’d need to just cut bait and try again. But as I put my hand on the doorknob of the front door I heard her voice behind me, weak, strained, and full of desperate hope.

  “Wait…”

  Chapter 29

  Karen made a few phone calls to feel out some more potential allies and she wondered if she was pushing her luck. Malina was sitting at her side, and it felt comfortable. She never in a million years thought she’d ever start a friendship with a greater demon, but here she was doing just that. Shawn had just left, and for some reason Malina was still here.

  “You’re staying here?”

  Malina nodded, “He’ll be fine. None of the mages watching followed, they are here for you. Besides, if he gets into trouble I can get to him very quickly.”

  Karen considered that, “I see, I didn’t realize you could do that. Then why…” she trailed off not sure how to ask. Of course, Malina read the question in her mind.

  Malina replied, “He blocked me. Shawn’s uncle that is, on the day he tried to take over Chicago. The connection between us can be shut down to the point I can only read him if he’s close, like you are now. Shawn either hasn’t learned how, or hasn’t bothered to try yet. It’s hard to say which. They always do toward the end.”

  Karen didn’t want to think about Shawn’s end, or of his intense brilliance sinking into a kind of sanity, of course, she would be dead over a century before that happened, which was a whole other problem.

  “I think I could fall for him, I’d be lying if I said otherwise. But what happens when I start aging in twenty years, and he still looks… the same.”

  Malina patted her knee, and then left her hand there. She decided not to say anything, it felt nice.

  “That’s up to you, I don’t think it will matter to him. Still, it would be foolish to throw away fifty years of happiness because it might not last for a hundred and fifty. Crappy advice maybe, but true. Everything ends, everything dies, that is no reason not to live today, and enjoy it to its fullest extent.”

  She nodded but her comment disagreed with the movement, “I’d always dreamed of growing old with someone.”

  Malina smiled and asked slyly, “Was it really about growing old together, or was it about sharing your entire life with someone? Someone that would always be there for you until the end.”

  She smiled, not from the comment, but because Malina’s hand was slowly migrating farther up her leg with a light touch. Still, the demoness had a point with her words as well.

  She sighed and leaned back into the leather couch, letting her phone drop from her hands. She decided more phone calls at this point would be counter-productive, plus, she wanted to focus on the here and now. Mostly, the very pleasant feeling of Malina’s hand on her thigh, teasing her skin with soft circling touches of the succubus’s fingertips.