I was at Crazy Henry’s and Veazey was on overwatch when my timer hit zero, meaning it had been exactly seventy-two hours since I shot Lydia and sent her back to Hell. I wasn’t clear how hard that three-day limit was at the time. Did it take that long to grow a body? Did it take that long to make a portal to Earth? Or was it some kind of angel-enforced time-out every time a demon got killed?

I didn’t think Baalphezar would appear exactly as the timer hit zero, but Veazey took a sniper position close to the tower, just in case.

I didn’t call Denise, since even giving me advice might be considered a violation of her faerie stuff, but Evan was willing to sit on a conference call with me and Veazey, while we waited for whatever came next.

Evan seemed to agree that Baalphezar had sent everything he had at me and now had no choice but to come to Earth himself.

“Mister Kovak,” Evan said, “before this begins, I have to confess something to you. Evelyn has been my companion for years, after I helped her get away from her parents. Her father is a disciple of Pythia in the Church of Olympus. When she was a child, she was taken to Parnassus and given certain… infusions, to try and turn her into an oracle. She never received her final treatments, but she has precognitive flashes, glimpses of possible futures.

“She warned me about you weeks before you came to my office. She didn’t know what form you would take, but she said something terrible was creeping up on me, and whoever this person was, they would somehow lead me to my death. She believed we would be bitter enemies, and that you might even kill me in a duel.

“But that was not the only future she saw. She also saw a few, a very few, where you and I were friends; including a few where you saved my life, instead of just putting it at risk. I was suspicious when I first saw you come in off the street, but I wasn’t convinced you were part of this prophecy until you sat in my chair.

“Evelyn’s visions are glimpses into worlds that are traveling just a bit ahead of or behind our own; and in most of these, she saw me discovering you, opposing you, and losing my life to you, shortly after you surrendered your soul to demons.

“She said the only way to protect myself would be to kill you first, before you were truly in command of your powers. She suggested that I invite you to my party and let you die in the rift.

“When I refused and pressed her for alternatives, she admitted there was one path where you survived the rift, and became a force for good in the world, but to achieve that optimal outcome, I had to invite Denise to the party.

“I was prepared to kill you when you got up from my chair, but when I saw how open and honest you were, how quickly you were willing to trust me and take my advice, I decided there was another way. I decided that instead of opposing you, I would do everything I could to help you on your way. I stand by that choice, and I truly believe we are standing in one of your best possible futures.

“You have everything you need to win this fight, Timothy. You just have to let yourself believe it, just long enough to put him down.”

* * *

The hard part, the only thing I wasn’t sure of: could I make Baalphezar angry enough to walk straight into an ambush? I thought I could still win if he didn’t; trap him with a hovering projector or something. But if I could get him in my circle, with the containment spell amplified by the tower itself; if I could do all that, I was sure I could beat him.

I ran through my macros and zipped my jacket up to my neck. I had the projector, the vessel, and the containment spell. All I had to do was wait.

“Tim, he’s coming,” Veazey said in my ear. “Big red portal just opened right next to the rift. This giant purple prick walked through, and he’s got a succubus with him. I guess that’s your girl? They’re walking like they know where you are.”

“Perfect!” I said, unable to contain my excitement.

“You think this is good news?”

“Best news I’ve heard all week. You guys stay on the line, I’m headed for the tower.”

* * *

I ran to Madison Tower and levitated myself to the top in record time. Any other day, I would have benchmarked exactly how long it took me to rise to the roof and made a note of it, so I could try and get a little faster every time I had to do it.

But there was no more time for testing or training or doubt. I had been treating this whole thing like a self-improvement project, without really thinking of it as life or death, until the moment I hit that roof.

Baalphezar didn’t have to stand anywhere in particular to make this work. The motion tracking should kick in as soon as he got close. I had my spells, my equipment, and my gun ready. I just had to stand there, and make this big bastard come to me.

Veazey shared his POV and let me watch Baalphezar’s approach in a tiny window. I was surprised that a demon prince had been able to open a portal right in the middle of Nergal’s territory, but I guess something about the rift made it easier somehow.

He was walking toward me in a straight line, smashing anything in his way. Most of these buildings were already falling down, but it was still intimidating, watching how easily he tore through them.

“Tim, I’ve got a clear shot,” Veazey said. “Fuck this magic shit. I can end this fight right now, with two squeezes on this trigger.”

“Don’t try it,” I warned him. “Two shots won’t be enough to kill him, and you’ll give yourself away. Any damage you do will regenerate by the time he gets here. You’re my emergency backup, buddy. Please don’t shoot unless I go down.”

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“No way this asshole can survive two Win Mag bullets to the head.”

“He can and he will. Then he’ll cast something to deflect bullets, and we’ll lose the element of surprise. Please don’t jump the gun here. He needs to think this is a negotiation until I can get him in position.”

Veazey still didn’t like it. “You better be right.”

* * *

Veazey’s scope showed Lydia walking three steps behind her Master, stiff and stone-faced, convinced that she was about to lose everything. The contract said she couldn’t physically hurt me, so her Master brought her to be a pawn, a bargaining chip, and if necessary, a hostage.

Baalphezar didn’t just levitate up to the roof. He took Lydia in his arms and flew them both up there, with two flaps of his giant bat wings.

I got excited when I saw Baalphezar take to the air. If it took him too long to fly up here, Nergal might solve this whole problem for me. But they were only in the air for a few moments, before they landed on the roof. Lydia kept her distance as they landed together, standing perfectly still next to a gargoyle.

Jacob drew a dozen sketches of Baalphezar, but nothing could prepare me for the real thing. Seeing him in the flesh, I had to admit it; Baalphezar was beautiful. Deep, dark purple, with jagged purple fire in his eyes. Some demons like to look ugly, but Baalphezar was art.

Perfect muscles under his limbs and naked chest, with a broad black sash around his waist. Jacob’s drawings didn’t show Baalphezar with wings because he hadn’t earned them yet, but he definitely had some now. The edges of his wings were black, framing the delicate purple membrane inside. He was huge - nine, maybe ten feet tall, with every element in perfect proportion. Slightly pointed ears and a head full of hair - black hair, shot with white, purple, and gray.

I saw his face, and I saw his vanity - the terrible vanity of a thing that can choose its own form. I was dazed and frozen with fear for a moment, but my projector acted without me. It sensed the movement, positioned itself over Baalphezar’s head, and projected Jacob’s most powerful containment circle around him. Baalphezar didn’t panic. He just paced around the perimeter, examining the symbols, looking for a weak spot.

Lydia was on the edge of the roof, close enough to watch her Master, but not quite close enough to threaten me.

“You can’t hold him with that,” she said. “He’ll break it in minutes.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he’s real smart,” I said. “Let’s see if he can handle a million changes per second.” I clicked my mouse, and the circle started to dance, changing so fast, I couldn’t identify individual symbols anymore, and neither could he.

Baalphezar stopped and tried to kick it. I watched him struggle with it for five long minutes, roaring and growling and hurling himself against the barrier; but everywhere he charged, the circle forced him back.

I stepped back and perched on the edge of the roof while he raged, using the ledge like a bench. I looked up at Lydia and said, “So, how have you been? You look great! I love what you’ve done with your…” I gestured to indicate her face but couldn’t quite say the word.

Lydia was confused and terrified, unable to understand what was happening. Her eyes flicked from Baalphezar, to the circle and back to me. Baalphezar bellowed murder and threw himself at the circle again. I stretched my legs and yawned like a kitten. Lydia was staring at me like I’d lost my mind.

She wasn’t moving closer, but I spoke loudly into my phone, to make sure she could hear. “Hey, Veazey. Draw a bead on this blonde demon beside me. If her tail moves, drop her.”

Baalphezar punched the circle and started swearing in Latin. I looked up and yawned at him again. “Could we speed this up, please? I have work tomorrow.”

Baalphezar was still struggling, so I hopped down and addressed him directly.

“Give up, man, you can’t break it. I started with a Type IX circle. Twenty-six symbols and every combination is valid. You’re not standing in one circle. You’re standing in fifteen-point five septillion circles. That’s one point five and twenty-five zeroes. That’s a trillion trillion circles, trillions of valid patterns, changing a million times per second. You wanna break that circle? You’ll have to think faster than God.”

* * *

Baalphezar finally stopped and turned to face me. “Your circle is valid, mage. What do you require?”

I said “‘Bout damn time” in Veazey’s voice.

“I presume you want to renegotiate your contract?”

“We’ll get to that, but I have some questions first.”

Fifty yards away, Veazey cursed into his throat mic. Evan heard it and scrambled for his phone. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Veazey cocked his rifle and cursed again. “He’s talking to it!”

“This circle compels you to tell the truth, yes?”

Baalphezar said, “Yes.”

“Did you kill my mother?”

“No.”

“Is my mother in Hell?”

“No.”

“Is she in Heaven?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you kill my father?”

“No.”

“Is my father in Hell?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“Your father was mundane. He is of no consequence.”

That irked me, but I let it go. “You say you didn’t kill my mother, but did you drive her crazy?”

“No.”

“So, what happened?”

“Your mother was a witch. Her mind couldn’t handle the power.”

“We’re both witches. Does that mean I’ll go crazy, too?”

“Eventually,” Baalphezar answered. “If you live.”

“What about the others? Did you collect all the mages from this bloodline?”

“All but one.”

“Really? Who escaped?”

“Tobias recanted on his deathbed. God took him from me.”

I laughed. “God stole one of your mages! I bet that pissed you off.”

“Was that a question?”

“Forget it.” I shifted position and addressed Lydia over my shoulder. “Tobias went to cloister looking for his faith. I guess he finally found it.”

She opened her mouth to answer, but Baalphezar interrupted, “You can’t keep me here forever. What do you intend?”

I turned back to face him. “Isn’t it obvious? You won’t give me my soul back, so I’m gonna take yours.”

“Imbecile. You won’t live through the night. My servants will tear you apart.”

I glanced at Lydia. “Let them come.”

I fished the ring box out of my pocket and called up the containment spell. I had Baalphezar trapped better than any demon had ever been trapped, but he didn’t look worried until he saw the box.

He was about to give the order. Contract or no contract, in a moment, he would tell Lydia to kill me. He opened his mouth, but I caught him before he could speak. I poured magic into the circle and yelled, “Silence! No talking. No moving. No breathing until I give the word. Besides,” I glanced at the image from Veazey’s scope, “she wouldn’t get three steps.”

The containment spell was huge, even larger than the healing spell. The first lines sapped my strength, and the runes made my head hurt. Mages spend lifetimes learning to cast spells like this, and I had only been casting for a few weeks.

Even if I’d finished it, I can’t say it would have worked. When I asked Azael if this next bit was divine interference or just bad luck, he said, “Luck is the planning of things unseen.”

I got halfway through the containment spell before I saw every Imp in the world coming at me like a flock of birds. Too many to count. Thirty, maybe forty demons. The air was alive with Imps - red, black, blue, and green, a little storm of tails and teeth.

* * *

I need everyone reading this to understand, this should have worked.

I had planned for everything. I was ready to handle anything on the ground, and I trusted Nergal to kill anything in the air.

I was absolutely prepared for live Imps, but I was not prepared for a dead one. When Baalphezar’s air force swooped in to rescue him, I knew Nergal would have my back.

I counted down the seconds as they entered the miasma and was delighted to see I had timed it right. The cloud of Imps died and started raining down before they even got to the tower. Only a couple of them even made it to the roof. But one of them died just as he got to his Master, and fell, tumbling from the sky… right into my projector.

The circle winked out, and Baalphezar was free.