[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
sluts different bait for different fish, he thought. For a nice girl,
he had to give every appearance of taking his time, of being
interested in her as a person, in wanting to spend time with her that
wasn t related to sex. He knew he was playing Dayne right. He d
gotten the conversation back on track, and made a date with her for
the next evening . . . and when he had, he d seen her whole face
light up. He had her, dammit. She wanted him.
But could he make her want him enough to sell her soul for him?
He d been sure before, but now he had his doubts.
Just getting her into bed wouldn t count. That wasn t a Hellfire
offense. He wished it were he would have had numbers beyond
belief if he d gotten two souls every time two people who weren t
married got laid. It was their intent. . . .
He doubted he could get her to try to get knocked up just to get
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
him to marry her. That was a damnable sin, but she didn t seem to
be enough of a liar or a cheat to pull that stunt. He didn t think
he d have any luck getting her to sleep around on him over years,
with sufficient neglect and bad treatment, maybe, but that was one
of those mitigating circumstances that could sometimes go the
other way. It tended to be forgivable. And as for getting her to
sleep with him, then cheat on him in less than a month not a
chance.
He drove, and glowered, and sulked, and drove some more.
She s really something, isn t she, O Perfidious One?
Agonostis jumped. When he was alone, he preferred to stay
alone. He snapped, What are you doing here, Earwax? You re
supposed to be spying on her.
Your car phone is about to ring. I m going to answer it for
you.
Do and die.
But I like answering phones. I was going to do Walter
Cronkite
The phone rang. Earwax made a stab for it, but Agonostis got it.
What?
Wrong answer. Lucifer s voice cut through Agonostis
reverie.
My apologies, lord and master, Agonostis said, and hoped he
sounded both sufficiently obsequious and sufficiently soothing. I
expected the call of an underling . . . since you don t need phones.
I don t like for you to get too settled. Lucifer laughed, and
Agonostis stomach lurched. The human body, he thought, was
much more prone to those physical expressions of terror. It was
annoying. I don t think I have to worry about it, though, the
Archfiend said. I expect you ll be down here in a month, trying
out life as an imp. That will be so entertaining.
I ll get her, Agonostis said. He sounded confident enough he
wished he felt so confident. I have some plans for expanding our
North Carolina operations, too. I suspect with good management
and persistence, we can affect the whole of the world from right
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
here.
There was a pause. I saw your plans. Well thought-out. I won t
finance you, of course. I ll expect you to achieve that set-up on
your own revenues.
I already anticipated that . . . sir.
It s ambitious, I grant you. He realized that Lucifer begrudged
him the idea its cleverness utilized modern technology and
modern interests and rang some new changes on some very old
sins. The Lord of Evil didn t keep up on modern technology he d
picked up the last of his really vile new ideas from monks during
the Spanish Inquisition. I m sure your successor will find the plan
quite a challenge to implement.
I ll get her soul, Agonostis snarled. If I can t get her to turn
her back on God on her own, I ll leverage her I ll use her friends
or her family. Or maybe even old Torry. I assume we still have
him.
Agonostis glared at the telephone and told Lucifer, She ll curse
God. Before I m through with her, she ll curse God and Heaven
and the day she was born.
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
Chapter 30
It s certainly an interesting experiment, sir, the angel said.
God, in the Event Room to check on progress, had asked for an
opinion. God liked to get opinions, but the angel didn t like to give
them.
The two of them watched the enormous bank of monitors that
scanned the activities and points of interest in North Carolina. The
views of Lucifer s legions racing around causing trouble in all
sorts of ways was fascinating just as the aftermaths of
earthquakes, hurricanes and bad train wrecks could be fascinating.
God raised an eyebrow and smiled slyly. Oh, come now. Just
interesting ? You can say more than that.
But I m not sure that I should, the angel thought. However, what
God asked for, God got. I simply wonder why you would choose
to reveal yourself after all the trouble you ve taken to hide the
obvious signs of your handiwork. If you value both belief and your
people s free choice, why reveal yourself now?
God chuckled. I suspected that had crossed your mind.
He didn t say anything else, and the angel looked at him
expectantly.
You want my reasons?
The angel nodded. If you don t mind.
God said, You assume humanity will take the existence of Hell
as proof of the existence of Heaven.
The angel nodded.
That would be a logical assumption but humans are anything
but logical, and belief is not a thing that can be reached by logic
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
anyway. They see proof of Hell, and so a good many of them will
believe in Hell. In evil.
Not all?
Certainly not. If there are people who believe, in spite of all
evidence, that the world is flat or that televangelists work for me,
there will be people who believe, in spite of all evidence, that Hell
really isn t there.
What about the rest?
God sighed. Some will believe, of course. But some won t.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]