"Good to know." I smiled. "Now why don't you two give up and go home. I'm sure there's a torture chamber down there calling your names."
"Gladly. Come here, Rafael." Cary crooked his black claw. "Unless you have a surprise for us, Glory?"
"You can't have him." Jerry stepped in front of Rafe.
"Right. You have to go through us." Ray was suddenly shoulder to shoulder with Jerry.
"Give it up, guys." Rafe put his hands on their shoulders. "You can't fight this."
"How do you know? Have you tried?" Jerry glared at Caryon. "Concentrate. All of you. I've had centuries to build my power of mind control. I think I can make these assholes change their minds."
I gasped. To try to manipulate the minds of demons? Was it possible? I focused on Spyte. He and Cary looked bemused, like maybe this was something new to them.
"Rafe, you too. Focus on them and make them think they are going to head home empty-handed." Jerry was in his element, commanding the troops. I didn't mind. I just prayed it worked. But then I looked around. Ray was stone. And those were the last words Jerry uttered. Because he was now a statue too.
"No! Please, can't I do something to make you stop this?" I pressed my back against Rafe, trying to stop him as he walked around Jerry and toward the demons, a zombie and not his usual warm and caring self.
"Sure, there is, Glory. Deliver those souls you promised. Then we'll leave Rafael alone. Forever. Done deal." Spyte shed his disco garb for his clown suit. "Either way, we're taking someone or a signed contract home with us. Time is up."
"I'll do it."
I turned toward the top of the stairs. "Simon?" Leave it to the EV king to wait until I felt like I was on the ropes to make his grand entrance.
"My heart's desire. Gloriana assured me that you could deliver." Simon walked around my statue men and Rafe stopped, now a statue himself.
"Yes, of course. You must be Simon Destiny, king of the Energy Vampires." Caryon grinned. "So deliciously evil. I can smell it from here. Delighted to meet you." Cary waved a hand and a document and red pen appeared. "Let's talk business. I heard Honoria met with a little, um, accident." Cary looked at me. "Unfortunate. It left so many souls adrift."
"Yes, it did. Souls I now have under my control." Simon smiled. "I believe you might be interested?"
"We might. Well, Lucifer might. What do you want, Destiny?" Caryon got right down to details. I could see him quivering with excitement. This was a major coup.
"First, I need clarification." Simon glanced at me. "As I told Gloriana, I want to make sure Honoria is actually gone. I saw some" - he cleared his throat and glared at me and my guys - "wreckage. But I want to be sure she can't be resurrected. The creature was immortal. She would punish me for deserting her."
"Ah, you want protection." Cary nodded. "Consider it done. As far as we know, she's deader than Glory's chances of ever being a size six. But if she does happen to find a second wind . . ." Cary shuddered. "Well, Lucifer is actually a level above that three-headed thing. He can command her to leave you alone. But you will still be stripped of your special powers as an Energy Vampire. Can you live with that?"
Simon took a breath. "As long as you deliver on the promise that I will receive my heart's desire as well. I believe you can see into my soul. I don't want to spell it out here in front of these people." He said that as if Jerry and the other men were inferiors he didn't care to recognize. Simon was nothing if not arrogant.
"Oh, yes. Yes indeed. We can take care of everything. In ways you can't imagine." Spyte capered about the balcony, knocking over chairs and ruffling Rafe's hair. "Who would have thought a man such as yourself would have . . ." He caught a hard look from Cary. "Never mind. Your secret's safe with us." He crossed his heart. "We always deliver. Quickly too. Just wait and see."
"I want it in writing." Simon blinked and I wondered if those had been tears in his eyes. No way.
"Of course." Cary waved his hand. "Now, it's all there. Look it over before you sign. I even threw in a power or two for you, to sweeten the deal. Lucifer takes