‘But I know that deuces are not that thing why you’ve been summoning me for so many days…Tell me, Sunshine, why did you summon me? Why did you make me to push very important business aside to come to you? Why?’

‘You know it better than I do…’ Vic lowered her eyes, reddening in her face.

Lucifer dropped his head and smiled. The situation obviously made him laugh and the only thing he regretted for was why he hadn’t come before to have fun.

‘Correct me, if I’m mistaken,’ he coughed, having sat on the chair again. ‘You, a human child, fell in love with one of my subordinates.’

Victoria cast down her eyes. Lucifer stood up and walked across the room. His moves were so graceful, smoothing, slithering, impossible elastic.

‘Wow! Fell in love with… Do you know whom you are in love with? I mean what his activity is?’

Vic looked at the guest, at his light movements.

‘Kharon… he is…’ hesitantly she started speaking. ‘He’s an incubus.’

‘That’s right, Sunshine! You’re in love with the incubus! But he’s not just an incubus. He is the Sovereign Legionary Demon. He is the King of Incubus in my Kingdom and many legions report to him! It’s very touchable to fall in love with him. And stupid! But it’s not for me to say. What do you want from me?’

Victoria kept silence. She was staring at the floor and kept her tongue between teeth, turning around her thoughts, not knowing how to put it correctly to the guest.

‘Don’t hesitate, my child, you have such a rare possibility to be received in audience by me and I hope you use it sensibly!’

‘I’m sorry…forgive me’ Vic got up from the floor and to be on the safe side, took couple of steps closer to the door. ‘I want to agree a contract.’ She whispered, having mustered up courage.

Having heard “contract” in a blink of an eye, the man became serious and came up to the girl quickly. Being fully afraid of the man, Vic moved back to the door until she bumped into it.

‘A deal?’ Lucifer touched her hair again, set the strand of it behind her ear. ‘The young, blooming Sun, are we speaking about the same deal?’

The girl kept silence, looking at the man’s eyes. Red-burgundy colour in his green-brown eyes became brighter.

‘I’d like to ask your help.’ The girl said in a low voice. ‘What’s the price?’

‘What help do you want?’ he took her by the hands and led her to the bed, seating her on it. The Lord himself sat on the chair near to the bed.

‘I want Kharon… but not only like a lover and obviously not for a night.’

‘You want to make an idiot in love from one of my best friends, do you?’

‘Not really,’ the girl began to jabber, ‘not really. I want him as a man. I want love, I want him to be with me. But I can’t give you my soul because if I give it to you, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy that I would have…’

Lucifer rubbed his chin, sitting on the chair, looking at nowhere. He was perplexed.

‘A hell lover… Tell me, Sunshine, are there really so few men on the earth who would like to give you love that you’ve decided to go down to hell to get it and give something important for you? Maybe you should take a closer look, shouldn’t you?’

‘No,’ she answered firmly, ‘I need only him.’

‘Oh, Kharon… Seducer of female hearts… What should I do?’

The man stopped speaking and went into his thoughts. Five minutes later Lucifer began to speak.

‘Okay,’ he said, ‘What are you ready to give if it’s not your soul?’

Victoria dropped her head silently. She cracked her knuckles nervously, sighed, looked awry at the room interior.

‘I’m ready to give you my voice…’

‘Your voice?’ the guest re-asked in surprise. ‘I’ve heard it somewhere… Well, yes, it was in a perfect childish fairy tale about the Mermaid. It was so romantic!’

The man stood up and looked seriously at the girl. Then he stopped smiling and frowned.

‘Sunshine, you really want to give me your voice in return of I give you my best supreme demon-seducer, plus my friend to live on the earth?’

According to only his tune Victoria guessed that she had said a stupid thing.

‘What can I give except my soul?’ she carefully asked.

‘Bargain?’ the Lord was surprised. ‘That’s interesting. Come on, suggest me something else that you have except you soul.’

All that the girl could give, made Lucifer laugh. He brushed asides her suggestions one by one. Victoria began being nervous when she got that the deal was about to fall through. And who else but Lucifer could help her?

‘Fine. Thank you for making me laugh, but I’ve been here for two hours already. I have to go. Before I leave, I’d like to tell you something: what you suggested is not interesting for me. I’m not a collector and don’t collect people by their parts. I adhere to principles and follow blindly rules that I laid down. I can suggest you next: I’ll take your soul in two years and let your live on, let it be so. Victoria, listen to me very carefully, you will live on, and you will be able to have a company of Kharon within two years. After it I will take your soul.’

‘Why can’t you give me all my life with my soul and take it after my death when I am old? My soul can’t be old, so what’s the difference when to take it? Two years or seventy…’

‘Are you sure that you will face your seventieth? I’m taking a risk now by giving you these two years. If something bad happens to you, I won’t be able to have time to take it. It’ll go there where it should be, not to me. Plus, I can’t allow Kharon to be on the earth for so long period. My last word, Sunshine, it’s two years and after I take your soul and let you live on. So, tell me, yes or no?’

The girl knitted her brows. Two years were so little… 730 days, at the best case 731 if a year was leap…

‘Two years… and there will be no women in his heart, right?’

‘His heart? Incubus’s heart? Sunshine… You’re so funny. I give him a leave for two years. He will be here.’

730 days Kharon will be touching her, looking at her, kissing her… He will belong to her. Damn the soul!

‘I agree.’ Victoria tried to smile.

‘Let’s sum up. I let Kharon go here, make him free from his responsibilities in Hell for two years. In two years, I will take your soul and reserve the right to live on. You will continue living. Right? Is that what you agree with?’

‘Yes.’

Lucifer smiled and came up to the girl so close. Their eyes were staring into each other, the silence stole into the room. The man took off the ring which was getting bigger until it became a size of a standard cup bottom.

Vic was watching the odd attribute, getting nothing what was going on.

‘May I?’ Lucifer, scarcely touching her shoulder, put off the strap of her tank top.

‘What’s going on?’ Vic was nervous, covering her shoulder with her hand.

‘Sunshine, you have concluded the deal. I have to get the confirmation.’ He pulled her to himself, firmly holding her waist.

‘Get lain with me?’ she asked terrifyingly, slightly kicking him off.

‘No, my Me! Does it really look that I’m speaking about sex?’ he pressed her stronger and looked her shoulder blade.

He put his ring to the naked blade and Victoria felt the strongest agony like if red-hot metal was blowing out. It burnt through her skin, making her crazy.

Victoria struggled against him, trying to disarm the pain but Lucifer held her tightly.

‘No, Vic, you must get through it… Stand for it. I know it hurts but the seal has to appear on your body as a mark of guarantee that you owe me and our next meeting not far off…’

‘I can’t take it anymore!’ Vic was screaming, tying herself into knots. ‘It hurts so much! Please, I’m begging you, stop it!’

‘Doesn’t it hurt when you love someone?’ Lucifer asked, let the perished girl out of his severe embraces. ‘It’s done.’

Vic got on her knees, wiping away her painful tears. The man hunkered down near her and put on his ring on his finger.