Page 87 of Lust
“Then why did you tell me that story?”
“Because that’s what happened.”
“Enough of this ridiculous parallel you keep drawing between me and this demon,” I snapped.
It was one thing to joke and make up stories to teach me a lesson. It was entirely another to threaten Sara (potentially the mother of my child) with morbid premonitions.
“You’ve been doing this shit for years, and I let it go because…” Why the hell had I let it go on for so long? I paid this man four hundred dollars an hour to call me a sex-crazed demon on a weekly basis. In the end, I couldn’t think of a valid reason and instead said, “No more make-believe stories to show me the light. I only came here to discuss how to handle Raguel once we told him the truth about us—”
“Raguel is quite an uncommon name,” he said absentmindedly. It took me several seconds to process Michael’s random shift in gear. Did he do drugs before this session? “The only other time I have known that name is from my story. One that you now refuse to hear.”
I scoffed. “Of course, there’s a Raguel in your story. Let me guess. He plays Sarah’s doting father.”
Michael nodded humorlessly.
I shook my head. “What did I just tell you about drawing a parallel between my life and these stories?”
Michael brushed back some of his long, honey-colored hair. “Humor me one last time.” His blue eyes gleamed so purposefully that I felt taken aback. What the hell was going on? “You’ve come so far, and as you said, it’s been years. Don’t you want to hear how the story ends?”
“You just told me how it ends.”
“I didn’t tell you how it ended for Asmodeus.”
Damnit.
I did want to know because I was hoping somewhere along the line laid the answers on how to win Raguel’s approval. I reminded myself that I paid Michael all this money because his advice had proven effective. I had almost everything I wanted in life. I was so close to the finish line that I could practically taste it.
I closed my eyes with a heavy, conceding sigh.
* * *
As the years went by, Asmodeus watched Sarah and Tobias live their lives in peace, have children, and grow old.
The demon would still find Sarah alone in those same gardens and watch her for uninterrupted moments. Sarah felt the same pull toward the unknown manifestation she’d never been able to explain to another. And every day she found herself in the gardens waiting for… she didn’t know what she was waiting for, but she answered the call all the same.
This went on for years until the day Sarah died a mortal death.
A pain like no other gripped Asmodeus’s heart because now that Sarah had died, she’d ascend to Heaven, and he’d never see her again. Broken-hearted, Asmodeus reclaimed his throne as one of the Seven Princes of Hell. He cursed God for sending Sarah to Heaven and spent eons in pursuit of the corruption of men to taunt God’s children.
Asmodeus rarely showed his form and instead could only be heard in a murmured whisper. With a depraved smile, he spoke in the ears of men, tempting them to give in to their wicked desires. He made them long for what one must not ought, so they could be led astray from Heaven and straight into the pits of Hell.
He refused to suffer alone for eternity.
* * *
For several moments, neither of us spoke. I was no longer angry.
“Tell me, Tristan. Did you never find it odd that a name like Raguel could exist in this day and age?”
Michael was all over the place today. Why was he dragging Sara’s father into this again during such a pivotal moment?
It was out of sheer curiosity that I played along. “Not that uncommon. Raguel’s family has a long-standing tradition of passing down first names. Sara was named after an ancestor, as was Raguel.”
“Hmm.” Michael looked thoroughly bored as if expecting the answer. “After their wedding, Sarah and Tobias also started a similar tradition of naming their children after their parents.”
I rolled my eyes. Michael really needed to work on his originality. “I’m shocked. Didn’t see that one coming at all.”
“Tobias was of the Nineveh family. For them, it was a time-honored tradition. Sarah adopted the practice, and names like Sarah, Raguel, Edna, and Tobit, were passed down generation after generation.”
