"You think I won"t answer, but I will," she said smugly. "On condition you put down that weapon and behave yourself."
"What?"
"Parry, you know a girl doesn"t like to act under duress. You would not like it if I demanded information of you at the point of a sword. Why do you think I like it any better?"
"I am not using a sword!"
She sat up, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s shifting and quivering with her motion. She extended her right arm, and a great long sword appeared in her hand. She swung her legs to the floor and stood. The sword glinted. "Talk, miscreant, or I"ll run you through!" she exclaimed.
Parry held the cross before him.
"Ah, so it is that way!" she snarled, and hurled the sword directly at him.
Parry jumped aside-but the sword faded out before reaching his vicinity. It had been illusion, banished by the nearness of the cross.
"The difference is," she said calmly, "that my sword cannot harm you, but your icon is intolerable to me. So if you want to talk to me, you must have the courtesy to set aside your weapon."
Grudgingly, Parry realized that there was merit in her argument. It galled him to accede to even the simplest request of the demoness, but he did want to be rid of her and she had spoken the truth to him so far. "Put on some clothing," he said.
"Anything you wish, Parry." As she spoke, she was garbed in a matronly robe that masked her physical attributes.
He set down the cross and walked to the bed. He sat down on it.
Lilah joined him. "Isn"t this so much more civilized?" she said. "Now, what was it you wanted to know?"
"How do I get rid of you?"
"That is very simple, Parry. You must abolish evil from your heart. Then there will be no point in my presence, for I will have no further hope of corrupting you."
"I have been trying to do that!"
"No. You have been making a show of trying, but you have not truly wished to be rid of that evil-or of me."
He stared at her. "How can you say that?"
"I can say it because it is true. I am a creature of evil; I am attuned to the evil in you. It is small, but persistent; the seed is sprouting, and in due course it will bear its fruit."
He found himself unable to deny it. "Be more specific."
"Your ghost-girl borrowed mortal flesh and reminded you of what you had been missing. Now the desire for that has fixed in your mind. But you know there are hideous complications in the borrowing of the flesh of a mortal woman, for you are no longer in distant foreign territory. A local woman might tell. So you cannot indulge in the flesh while being true to your dead wife-but the urge of the flesh remains. You must have a woman."
Parry started to protest, but she only gave him a knowing glance, and he stifled it. She could indeed read the evil in his heart.
"But you wish to continue the work you have been doing," she continued. "You are no longer young, and you have a comfortable existence here, and you value your reputation and that of your order. So you cannot resign. That puts you on the path of deceit, and I am the realization of that path. I can give you the gratification of the flesh you crave, and I will not betray your secret in any way. Therefore-"
"You are evil!" he exclaimed. "You seek to undo me and my work, to achieve Lucifer"s vengeance on me! Of course you will betray me in any way you can!"
She shook her head, and her robe fell open. She had conjured no underclothing, of course. He tried to avert his gaze, but could not. "I do not seek to undo you, Parry. I want you to remain in your present position, and even to improve upon it."
"That"s impossible!"
"You are not thinking clearly, Parry." She leaned toward him, further clouding his thinking. "Lucifer has need of agents in the enemy hierarchy. The more trusted and powerful they are, the better. You will be ideal. I will facilitate your career in every possible way."
"This is outrageous!"
"This is reasonable." She put her hand on his arm, encouraging further closeness. "What your ghost-girl has done for you, I can do better, for I am not limited in substance. I can become solid, and perform any function, and fade away without leaving any guilty trace. I can advise you on your most effective course, without suffering the restriction of conscience. And this is only the beginning."
"I must be rid of you!"
"Now be fair, Parry. I am not forcing anything on you, ever. My semblance of flesh is yours to enjoy whenever you may desire, but you need not avail yourself of it. The sensible thing for you to do is try me, and if I do not please you, dismiss me."
"I am trying to find out how to dismiss you now!" he flared.
"And I am answering you. Merely ask me to depart for a time, and I will do that."
"But I did-"
"No, Parry. You did not ask, you ordered. Only my Lord Lucifer can order me. Others must enlist my cooperation."
Parry tried it. "I ask you, demoness, to leave me alone."
Lilah stood, drew her robe together and smiled. "I leave you, Parry, for one day. I hope you will consider what I offer in the interim."
She faded out, leaving him amazed.
Jolie reappeared. "That was awful!" she exclaimed. "I couldn"t come out when she was close, and I couldn"t even be near when she was touching you."
"You shouldn"t react like that. You should remain to oppose her."
"It"s not that. It"s-her evil just overwhelms me, like a fire too hot to tolerate. She really is from h.e.l.l, Parry."
"I have no doubt of that. How much of what she said did you hear?"
"After she got you to set aside the cross, I heard nothing. What happened, Parry? How did you get rid of her?"
"I asked her. She said she would depart for one day. She-" He paused, uncertain how much he should tell her.
"I can guess," Jolie said. "She vamped you."
"Yes. She said she wants me to remain in my present position, so that Lucifer will have an agent here, and that-" he shrugged. "It is no secret what such creatures offer."
"Did she tell you how to be free of her?"
"Yes. I must abolish all evil from my heart. Then she will have no power over me. But she is certain I cannot do that."
Jolie nodded. "Because of what I led you into."
He was unable to deny it. "The seed of sin is within me, and I fear I lack the power to banish it."
"Unless you absolve yourself and resign your position, and let all your prior good works be disgraced."
"That is the case. I can absolve my personal evil only by inflicting a greater evil on my career and the Order."
"But what is the alternative, Parry? If this is a mission of Lucifer"s to wreak vengeance on you, you surely must get free of it any way you can."
He clapped his hands in sudden decision. "Yes! Now that I know that Lucifer wants me here, I must depart! I will wrap up my affairs and go to the Abbot."
"Then we can go somewhere and I can find a woman and we can be together again," Jolie said, brightening.
Parry doubted that it could be that simple, but he set about concluding his current business and putting it in order for other friars to take over. His heart was heavy.
There was more of it than he had thought; he was unable to conclude it by the day"s end. He slept, and resumed in the morning. Still it stretched out; every matter had to be organized just so, or it would be bungled by the inheritor. He had forgotten how many heretics he had dealt with, and how many still bore watching, in case of relapse. Jolie was unable to help in this; only he knew the necessary details. "h.e.l.lo, sinner." It was the demoness.
"You said you would remain away for-" Parry broke off, realizing that it was now the same hour that she had left the day before. She had been true to her word.
"Let me help you with that," Lilah said.
Parry smiled grimly. "You can"t, and if you could, you wouldn"t. I am preparing to make my absolution and depart the Order, so that the evil may be gone from me."
"You can"t do it," she said confidently. "The knowledge of what I offer you is percolating through the layers of your desire, and you must accept it."
"What do you offer?" he flared. "Tawdry s.e.x-at the expense of my soul! And even that I can have with my beloved wife, after I leave the Order, without compromising my honor or my soul."
"Tawdry s.e.x has its appeal," she said. "Gaze at me and tell me that you have no interest."
He glanced at her. Sure enough, she was naked again. Her body glistened as if she had just come from a swim in a lake of oil, and every part of her was full and vibrant.
Parry was silent. He knew she would give the lie to any denial he tried to make.
"And this is hardly all I offer," she continued. "I told you it was just the beginning."
Parry knew that he should fetch out his cross and banish her, but he did not. "You offer d.a.m.nation," he said shortly.
"That, too, of course. But d.a.m.nation is not really that bad. I am d.a.m.ned, but quite satisfied with my limited existence. Lucifer can be an excellent Master for those who serve Him well."
"You have always been d.a.m.ned, beyond any hope of redemption; therefore you cannot know the joy of salvation. You are no judge of it."
"By that term you mean residence in the upper region after death?"
He looked at her again-and regretted it. She was now quite close to him, opening her arms in invitation. Her effort to tempt him was obvious-but that hardly diminished its effect.
"You cannot say the words salvation or Heaven?" he asked.
"That is correct. Or the term for your icon, or any number of words relating to the other power. Sometimes I can use variants if I mean them ironically, such as angelic. But I am no more limited than you in this respect."
"I can say any word I choose!"
"Oh? Then try this one." She paused, then spoke a word of such horror and evil that Parry was appalled.
She smiled. "That is too strong? Then let"s make it easier. Say "Curse ****." "
"Curse what?"
"The four-letter name of a variant of your G.o.d, which I cannot say."
"I can"t do that!" he exclaimed, then realized that he had conceded her point.
"But I was about to explain what else I offer you." She stepped toward him.
He grabbed for the cross.
"Wait, Parry! Of course I can"t show you if you do that, any more than you could show me anything if I held you at bay with an infernal talisman! You must be fair."
"Why should I be fair to a demoness?"
"Because if you are not, that is a signal of evil. A closed mind is open for evil; you know that."
He did know that. "What, then?"
She stepped toward him again, and put her arms around him briefly. He tried to suppress his consciousness of her beautiful body, knowing that it was only a construct of ether.
"There," she said, satisfied. "Have you a mirror?"
Mirrors were rare, but he did have one, used occasionally in researches. He brought it out.
"Look at yourself."
He looked at his face. A young stranger gazed back at him. "You have enchanted me!"
"No, only your aspect. I have restored to you the semblance of your youth. Now you look half your present age."
Parry looked down at his body. It felt lighter and stronger, but he could not tell whether it had changed.
"Take off your robe," she said.
"What, in front of a-"
She laughed. "A woman? Parry, you know I am not a woman! I am nothing more than a foul spirit whose presence you may ignore."
She was right again. Overcome by curiosity. Parry doffed his robe and looked down at his naked body.
It was lean and firm-a contrast to his present corpulent and wrinkled one.
"It can perform as youth does, too," Lilah said, stepping into him and embracing him.
"Hey!" Parry reached for his cross, but could not find it.
"You set the icon aside with your robe," Lilah reminded him. "But do not be concerned; I will tell no other person what you do with me." She rubbed against him. "See-you have excellent reaction time now."