When she finds herself back in Sioux Falls on a job, a twist of fate puts Evelyn Marshall in the path of the Winchesters and Bobby Singer. With nowhere left to run, the dark secrets in her past and the creatures who've hunted her are about to catch...
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"Why the hell would you want to help us?" Dean asked.
"This whole situation is your fault," Sam pointed out. "If you hadn't made your deal in the first place –"
"Yes, yes. Decisions. Consequences. I'm well aware," the demon said. "Then again, if I hadn't made that deal, darling Evelyn wouldn't be here in the first place. Don't I get a small dose of thanks for that?"
"Not after the year I just had, you don't," I growled.
The only thanks I would give Crowley would be in the form of a chair to the face. The demon had no idea what I'd been through thanks to his actions. I mean, if he did, he probably would've found it all amusing. Torture was like foreplay to his kind. That's why I couldn't understand why he'd show up and offer his help. I couldn't believe that he was being sincere. Crowley didn't seem the sort of man to have employed sincerity once in his entire life, probably even when he was mortal.
Crowley sighed and looked down at the rug before him. He nudged it over with the toe of his boot and raised a brow at Ellen. The devil's trap didn't intimidate him. In fact, with one swipe of his hand, the edge sizzled and burned until it was too damaged to work on anyone. She'd have to draw the lines again once Crowley had left if she had any hope of warding against any other demons who might drop in.
"You said you were here to help." Bobby stepped up to Crowley boldly. "Start talkin', or we start shootin'."
"You hunters are no fun anymore," Crowley complained. "Where's all the banter? The flirting? Where's the dramatic flair?"
"Crowley!" Dean barked at the demon.
The sound echoed through the bar. No one dared speak lest they delay the grand solution that Crowley had come to impart upon us. I had little hope that he'd offer anything we hadn't thought of already. He was, after all, only interested in serving himself. For all we knew, he would say that we should capture Lee and hand him over. Maybe that I should join him as had been his intention from the beginning. I was willing to hear him out on the off chance he proved useful, but I was equally prepared to kill him.
"Fine." Crowley placed a hand against his chest. "I admit that I planned to use Lee as part of an army. He was my most promising soldier. And when I sent him out looking for more of his distant relatives, I accepted that some of those missions would end... unpleasantly."
"That's a polite way of saying that he killed them," I noted.
"Yes, well... A few deaths here and there were unfortunate but something that I'd accounted for. What I didn't consider was that he might decide to go full Highlander."
"I don't understand –" Castiel began.
"He wanted to be the only one of us left standing," I explained.
"Oh."
Satisfied that Castiel had no further questions on that point, Crowley continued, "Thanks to his efforts, all I have to show for my bloody deal are a group of fringe relatives who are about as powerful and intimidating as a teaspoon, a hunter, and a supernatural sponge I can't control. One, might I add, who intends to kill me."
