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layers of your desire, and you must accept it."
"What do you offer?" he flared. "Tawdry sex-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 sex 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 damnation," he
said shortly.
"That, too, of course. But damnation is not really that bad. I am damned, but quite satisfied with my
limited existence. Lucifer can be an excellent Master for those who serve Him well."
"You have always been damned, 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!"
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"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 god, 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."
Parry wrenched himself away and dived for the cross. As he touched it, Lilah vanished and his body
reverted to its normal state. He scrambled back into his robe.
"I regret I cannot give you extra life," Lilah said from across the chamber. "Only my Lord Lucifer can
do that, and He really does not have that in mind for you at this time. But you can have much greater joy
of your present life."
"Get away from me, temptress!" he gritted.
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"Now, Parry, you know I do not respond well to that type of demand."
Parry nerved himself and forced a smile. "Please, if it pleases you, depart for a time."
"That's better." She disappeared.
Jolie returned. "I'm almost afraid to ask what happened this time."
"I'm almost afraid to tell you! She-she made me seem young again."
"She is getting to you," Jolie said sadly.
"No!" But they both knew that wasn't true.
Parry wrapped up his documents by nightfall. "Tomorrow morning I go to the Abbot," he said.
Jolie didn't answer. She just gazed at him with love and resignation, and faded out.
He woke in darkness. A warm body was with him. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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