Chapter 61: I Am the One Who Rings Death’s Bell, Part 15

"That's a very, very tempting offer, but we have a small problem that's actually quite important," said Hunger. "How am I supposed to trust you?"

"I was hoping you'd have some way to resolve that. I don't know, some kind of unbreakable demon contract, or at least one with a consequence that any sane person would prefer to avoid. Something like that," Sam replied.

"I'm afraid nothing so convenient exists," Hunger retorted. "For starters, I'm not a demon, I can't make contracts as I please, that's not how things work."

"I see."

Well then this would be a problem, Sam thought.

Hunger had no reason to trust him. If she wasn't given some guarantee, the easiest thing would be to turn around and not fulfill what was promised. He surely didn't seem particularly convincing after having resisted so fervently in that basement, at least in word, if not in deed.

He came to a quick conclusion. He didn't like it, but it was the kind of decision he would make with a cool head. And he had a cool head, despite his nerves. That is, it was the right decision, without a doubt, no matter how much he disliked it. No, precisely because he disliked it.

"I'll give you Violet as a hostage."

Yes, Violet.

He did indeed have a cool head, but that didn't mean he wanted to bet his most prized toy. Hunger didn't need to know which was his favorite. It didn't matter.

"Am I supposed to believe that you care about her at all? Because that's the only way she has any value as a hostage," Hunger crossed her arms under her chest, looking at him as if he were trying to deceive her, as if he thought she was stupid, when it was nothing more than a genuine offer.

Briefly, he wondered if Satan felt that way on the rare occasions he chose honesty, with all that reputation as the prince of lies and all that. Well, it surely always followed him. Anyway, it was funny to think about those things, but priorities, he had to focus.

"I do care, okay? I'm not saying I'm going to kiss her feet, or that I'm going to die if she dies, but I don't want to lose her as a sexual toy. That's something you should understand very well, right?"

Hunger smiled.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"True. My sister, War, is more about making others submit, taking away their will. But I seek pleasure above all. I seek reciprocity, you understand?"

It's funny you say that. Bitch.

"I'm not interested in what you seek. I just hope you now understand that Violet is a valuable hostage."

Hunger nodded several times, slowly.

"We'll do it that way then. It shouldn't need saying, but Violet doesn't have to know anything about the exchange. Nothing, you hear me? I have a reputation to maintain. If you reveal me, I'll lose it. That's what I'm putting in your hands, apart from her life. It's very important to me. So help me get out of this shithole, okay? Then we'll look for her. We'll look for her and I'll give her to you."

"No need to look for her. She's here, with your other sister."

Sam was stunned.

They had come for him, despite the risks.

They had come, defying any common sense.

He didn't understand it and wasn't sure he wanted to understand it. It was good that his toys were so devoted, but it wasn't pleasant, for some reason, to think about that. About the madness they were committing, even though they had made the deal more convenient for him.

"Okay, don't tell her anything. You have to make it seem natural, if not, there's no deal."

"I got you, kid. I got you."

"Okay, alright. We have a deal."

Hunger extended a hand forward. Sam looked at it for a long moment, disgusted. Well, the end justified the means. He shook that disgusting whore's hand as hard as he could, that is, without trying to break her bones or rip off her hand. It was more to send a message.

"Agreed. And if you screw me over, I'll screw you over, but not in the way you want. You hear me?"

"Yes, yes, I'm looking forward to our exchange. An exchange not of hostages, but a hostage for a fuck. It might be the first time in history that something like this happens."

Hunger laughed. She didn't take anything seriously. For Sam, this woman was repugnant in every possible way.

That's why I had to hand over my older sister on a silver platter, just to convince her that I won't back out of fucking her after all.

But there were other ways to resist that deal. He would fuck her, okay. And if her grounds were as fertile as she said, then that monster would get pregnant with his seed.

But he highly doubted the little antichrist would come out so quickly.

She might not be in labor for nine months, but it wouldn't be born in a few days or weeks either. The thing is, he would have time to find her and kill her to get rid of her and the disgusting offspring that should never be born. To open its mother's womb, rip it from the uterus and smash it against the nearest rock until the damn thing stopped moving.

Sam smiled like an angel.

——

Determination was important, no doubt. You couldn't win if you didn't even believe in yourself. But determination was just that, a feeling.

It couldn't perform miracles. It couldn't make the impossible, possible.

Christina already knew that, but she painfully remembered it right away, with the most crushing and definitive defeat of her life. Leaving her completely at the mercy of a monster.

She raised her head to look at her death.

I Am the One Who Rings Death's Bell, Part 15: END