“It was always so simple, Sagarus,” Lucifer said to The Tormentor, “...I had finally managed to have a chance to screw my father and take everything from him. I got him to accept the bet, I got him to put his entire power and control on the line and just when I was about to grab on to it, it slips away as it always has because, as it turns out, there’s another Supreme Being that’s just so conveniently been thrown into the mix and also wants the power for herself,” he vented.
Sagarus wasn’t really known to say much so he just listened to Lucifer and grunted in agreement. They were in Lucifer’s chambers where the Devil was contemplating how to turn the tide back in his favour.
“What am I supposed to do now, Sagarus? How am I supposed to get anything out of this when the real fight starts?” Lucifer asked and turned to his demon for some advice; any advice at all.
“I don’t know, My Lord,” Sagarus replied, much to the devil’s dislike.
“That’s not what I want to hear, Sag. You’re one of my oldest demons. You have a lot of wisdom and you’re the Prince of evil schemes. Surely you can come with something better than ‘I don’t know’,” Lucifer said.
Sagarus turned away and stroked his chin, trying to think of something that would give his sire some advantage in this three-god horse race…then, he thought of something.
“Well, I do have a theory but it’s just a theory, sire.”
“Tell me,” Lucifer said.
“I don’t know anything about this Summum, but what I can be sure of is that Supreme Beings always want to rule over something and from what God told you..,”
“...Verum,” Lucifer interrupted, “We’re addressing my father as Verum from now.”
“Very well,” Sagarus continued, “From what Verum told you, it seems that this Summum can cloak herself away from his eye, isn’t that right?”
“That’s right! Verum can’t locate him and neither can I,” Lucifer said, impatiently waiting for Sagarus to get to the point.
“But what if you can?” Sagarus asked, “Summum wants war with Verum which makes her an enemy and if she’s an enemy, then by definition, she’s evil. You are the devil; You can spot evil anywhere in the world which means you should be able to locate Summum when she does something related to her plans for war.”
“That is true, Sag, but it still wouldn’t matter if I find her. I can’t do anything to hurt or kill her,” Lucifer said.
“That’s only if you find her in a spiritual plane, Sire. By all the natural laws of creation, a spiritual entity cannot physically affect the human world at the highest level unless it dons on a physical form. If you can find Summum on Earth in her physical form, then you can kill her,” Sagarus said.
“That is true but she’s a Supreme. It’s not going to be like killing a Celestial. If I kill her in human form, her spirit will still live on and her plans would not have been affected at all,” Lucifer said.
“But it will, sire. If a Supreme dies in their physical form, their power significantly reduces.”
“And if Summum’s power isn’t at its full might..,” Lucifer said.
“Then you will stand a much better chance at retaining your position without challenge. When the war is over, you’ll remain the Master of Hell and your seat will remain unchallenged,” Sagarus completed his idea.
Lucifer stroked his chin and he had to admit that it wasn’t such a bad idea. It wasn’t the most convenient of plans but it was something; in fact, it was all that he could do and he was going to do it.
“Very well! I believe I have a God to locate,” Lucifer said and looked into the abyss to scan the world of Man to find his rival.
******
Summum had expected the first night of living together to be filled with the sexual act by Josh and Isabelle but those expectations had been quelled by the arrival of Hannah and Garin. Her plans to use them to create the last Nephalem had been stalled by yet another day and she was slowly losing patience. She didn’t want to delay her revolt any longer than it needed to be delayed and this forced some swift action from her path.
She decided that the next night will surely be the one and she would find a way to make the act happen, whether naturally or by force. The time had come and the battle could no longer be delayed.
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“Are you sure you should be going to work today? You should take the day off,” Josh said to Isabelle.
They were about to leave the house for work and Josh was feeling a bit nervous to let Isabelle leave the safety of the house and the sight of the Celestials because of what happened to her the previous night. Isabelle, on the other hand, didn’t seem worried at all. She was ready to get back to the office despite everything and Josh was concerned by the way she was handling the whole thing.
“I’m fine, Josh. There’s nothing to be worried about. Nothing’s going to happen to me,” she replied as she took her car keys from the table.
“At least, let me drop you off at work,” he offered.
“And who’s going to drive me back home?” Isabelle asked with a raised brow.
“I’ll come pick you up.”
“Josh…”
“I could go with her if you want, Josh,” Hannah cut in.
“Really? That would be great,” Josh said gladly but then, he thought of something, “But, what if you get attacked by your sisters again or the demons?”
“They won’t be coming for us anymore,” Garin replied.
“Why not?” Isabelle asked.
“Things have changed. The situation is a lot more serious than before. Knowing my Father, his priorities would have been altered by the reappearance of Summum. He’s got bigger fish to fry,” Hannah said and walked over to Isabelle, “So, what are we waiting for?”
“Who do I tell the people at my job that you are? They’ll find it weird that a random woman is following me around,” Isabelle said to Hannah.
“Don’t worry! I’ll stay out of sight,” Hannah replied.
“You be careful, Love,” Garin said to Hannah.
The two women walked out the door, leaving the guys behind and they both stared at each other, worried as their women left but hopeful that they’d be alright.
“Hey, Josh, wait up,” Garin called out to him as he was about to step out also, “I need to talk to you.”
“What about?” Josh turned around.
“I didn’t want to say anything in front of the girls until I was certain,"
“Certain about what? What are you talking about, Garin?" Josh asked.
The look on Garin’s face was making Josh nervous because he knew it could only mean something bad was about to happen yet again.
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“You sure you’re okay?” Hannah asked Isabelle as they drove along the road.
“First Josh and now you? I’m fine, Hannah. I’m perfectly okay,” Isabelle replied a bit aggressively.
“You don’t seem fine, Isabelle. You know you can open up to me. I’m here to help with anything you need,” Hannah said.
“I appreciate that, Hannah! Truly, I do but I don’t need anyone’s help so can we not talk about this?”
“If that’s what you want,” Hannah backed off.
Whatever was making Isabelle so moody was a mystery to Hannah but it was obvious she wasn’t as fine as she claimed. They reached her office and Isabelle parked her car.
“I’ll see you inside,” Hannah said just before she disappeared.
Isabelle grabbed her bag and stepped out of the car. She started to walk over to the entrance and as she got closer to Clinton Corp, she was unaware that someone was following her from behind. The person tailing her seemed to be a woman dressed in a red suit and she was closing in on Isabelle the more she walked.
Isabelle suddenly had a feeling that someone was watching her. She stopped walking and turned around to check but there was no one there. Isabelle couldn’t see the woman that was walking up to her but the woman was certainly there; she was just beyond Isabelle’s perception.
Isabelle kept moving and so did the woman behind her. The lady in red was now standing right behind Isabelle and was about to reach out with her hand to grab Isabelle’s shoulder. Before she could, someone else ran by like a ghost and snatched the woman in red just before she made contact with Isabelle and the both of them vanished.
Isabelle heard the noise but when she swung around, she saw that she was still alone but this time, she was certain that she heard something behind her. Without thinking about it, Isabelle panicked and sped up her movement, practically running into the building for sanctuary from whatever was stalking her.
Isabelle rushed into the elevator and pressed the button rapidly so it would close up and take her to her floor. She was scared out of her wits because of what had happened outside even though she didn't see what it was. She had been trying to keep it together since last night and this morning but she was now starting to spiral out of control and her fears were starting to slip out through the cracks.
Hannah appeared inside the moving elevator and saw Isabelle sitting on the floor with her face in her hands and she was wheezing quite heavily.
"Isabelle, are you okay?" The angel asked and bent down to her level.
"Something... Something was out there. It was following me, Hannah. I could feel it," Isabelle said in a panic.
"I didn't see anything, Isabelle. Are you sure there was something following you?" Hannah asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. I felt it. I could tell that it wanted to hurt me. You have to believe me, Hannah," Isabelle replied, sobbing quietly at that moment.
"It's okay, Isabelle. I believe you. If you say something was following you, I believe you. I'm going to get you to your office, seat you down so you can catch your breath and I'll go and check for what was following you, okay?" Hannah said softly, trying to calm Isabelle down.
"No! I don't want you to go. Don't leave me," Isabelle begged and held on to Hannah's legs.
"Okay, I won't go anywhere. I'll be right here with you for as long as you need," Hannah said and stroked her hair.
The angel knew that whatever had come close to Isabelle must have filled her with fear and dread because she was acting more afraid than usual. Hannah could also sense a strange aura around Isabelle. She didn't know what it meant but knew that it couldn't be anything good. Whatever had been following her was powerful and would have surely taken her without difficulty; So, why didn't it? What made it leave right when it was so close to having what it came for? Hannah wondered.
The elevator bell dinged and the doors slid open. Isabelle was back up on her feet and she had wiped her teary face with some paper towels in her bag. Hannah was standing right beside her but she made herself invisible to everyone else's eyes as she escorted Isabelle to her office.
Isabelle took a seat and before she could even take off her jacket, Gerald dashed into her office with some papers for her.
"Morning Isabelle, nice for you to join us," he said sarcastically because she was a little late.
"Gerald! What's the latest on the proposal I wrote up for you to present to the potential partners?" Isabelle asked, diving straight into her work.
"That's exactly what I wanted to speak to you about. I had them sent out to all the interested parties. Guess how many replies we've gotten so far?" Gerald said, unable to contain his excitement.
"I don't know. Four?" Isabelle guessed.
"Try a little higher. You know what? Let me just tell you," Gerald closed his eyes and held his breath, "All seven companies are interested and they all want the deal."
"Really? That's amazing," Isabelle said as happily as she could, seeing as she wasn't in the mood for joy.
"It IS amazing and it's all because of that amazing proposal you wrote up. I've already made the calls and set up different meetings for different days. The first of these meetings will be in two days, right here at the company," he said.
"I'll be ready," Isabelle replied.
"This is the most important partner from the potential seven, Isabelle. We have to get the contract with them and Mr Clinton himself will be here for that meeting."
"He will?" Isabelle asked, surprised because she had never done her job in front of Mr George before and she was already finding it a little awkward, seeing as he was her boss and she was also dating his son.
"Oh yeah, so we need to be ready for this one. I'll have someone send you all the details about the company so you can prepare. You're opening up for us during the meeting," Gerald said and dashed out of her office.
"Are you going to be okay?" Hannah asked after Gerald left.
"Yeah, I guess. Work is a pretty good distraction," Isabelle laughed nervously and tried to focus her energy on her work instead of her fear about what happened to her outside.
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"Are you sure about this, Garin?" Josh asked him while they were driving in the car.
"I am," Garin replied from the passenger side.
"But, how can you tell? And how come Hannah couldn't?" Josh asked again.
"I'm not sure about that, man. Listen, even before we went to Salem, I already had a connection with the Nephalems, especially Jasmine's energy. I could feel her and when Cleo and I met, we had a connection too. I don't know why but I'm more aware of things that have to do with Summum or her Nephalems a lot better than Hannah is," Garin said.
"But, why is that?" Josh asked.
"I'm not sure. Maybe demons just have it easier when it comes to sensing this stuff."
Josh didn't like what Garin had told him at all. It bothered him and more than anything, he wanted to head to Clinton Corp and get Isabelle so they could figure things out together but Garin advised against going there.
"What are we supposed to do now? If we have dark Salem magic within us, shouldn't we be working on how to get it out?" Josh asked.
"I don't know how to get it out, Josh. I don't even know what will happen if we do get it out. All I know is that there's a power inside you and Isabelle that wasn't there the last time we saw you. I'm pretty sure it's the same power from the vineyard and right now, it's within you which means that Summum has begun her plans," Garin said.
Garin was contemplating what to do about this in his head. He didn't have any knowledge about Summum except the little he knew and that wasn't enough. He had to find help but where was he to go?
They arrived at Helena's Redness and both of them went inside the company. Garin walked side-by-side with Josh as they found their way through the office. Everyone around couldn't see Garin because the demon had clocked himself away from the eyes of every other person in the company except for Josh. They walked towards his office, passing by Jennifer's desk.
"Good morning, Sir," Jennifer greeted.
"Morning, Jennifer. I take it you're feeling better now?" Josh asked nicely.
"Yes, I'm feeling great, sir. And I wanted to thank you for checking up on me yesterday," she said.
"There's nothing to thank me for. It's just really good to have you back," Josh said and turned away.
Garin was behind Josh and he looked at Jennifer as they walked by. In Garin's mind, she was staring back at him because her eyes were on him but, he ignored it, thinking she must have been looking at something else.
"I see your assistant still has the hots for you," Garin teased Josh.
"I don't think she does anymore," Josh said as he took his seat.
"Oh, don't give me that! You know she still does," Garin replied and sat down in one of the lounge chairs across the room.
Before Josh could focus on his wines and grapes, he had to know that Garin had something planned that could help him and Isabelle soon. He didn't want to leave that part of the problem without a solution.
"So, what's the plan, Garin? How do we fix this one?" Josh asked.
"Well, I think I may be able to find someone who has an idea about Summum and Nephalem magic. Whether they'll help me is where we might have a problem," Garin replied.
"Who are you talking about?" Josh asked.
Before Garin could answer, Jennifer knocked on the glass door of Josh's office and he gestured at her to let herself in. She entered with her tablet in her hand, ready to list all of the company's recent activities since he went on his weekend trip.
"So, tell me all I need to know, Jennifer," Josh said to her.
"Sir, the list is quite long. Would you like me to get you some coffee or something?" Jennifer asked.
"Yeah, coffee would be nice, thank you," Josh replied.
"And would your friend like some coffee as well?" Jennifer asked and stared at Garin yet again.
"Who?" Josh asked with a raised brow, surprised by her question.
"Um, the gentleman that came in with you," Jennifer asked and gestured at Garin.
"Yeah, sure. Some coffee would be nice," Garin replied to Jennifer.
"Coming right up, Sir," Jennifer replied to Garin and left the office.
"Why aren't you making yourself invisible? Do you want everyone to start asking questions about who you are?" Josh said angrily to Garin.
"I am invisible to everyone else right now. She shouldn't be able to see or hear me, but somehow, she can," Garin said suspiciously.
"But, how's that possible?" Josh asked but neither of them knew the answer.