Pinehurst

by Nicole Grane

  Chapter 22

  Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God! I fought the pain that stabbed through me for speaking of the divine being. This was so not good. There had to be away out of this.

  “But, what if I, you know, want to be with someone else?” The question came out as almost a whisper. I could feel red coating my cheeks. Imagine. Me, and the Lord of the Underworld talking about—I couldn’t even think it. This was beyond awkward.

  “You will not be capable of making love to another until you are eighteen. My gift to your father,” he laughed lightly. “A sort of invisible chastity belt if you will.”

  I swallowed air.

  “How many fathers can say they don’t have to worry about their daughter’s virtue?”

  Horrified that he mentioned me and the word “virtue” in the same sentence in front of my dad, I turned back to look at my father to find he had vanished.

  “Where is he? Where are the others?” I panicked. I hadn’t realized we were alone.

  “They’re fine. I thought our conversation should be . . . private.” He actually had the nerve to wink at me.

  “You will not control my body. I can be with whom-ever I want, when I want. It’s not the . . . you know . . . whatever century you were born in. Women have rights now. We're independent thinkers. We even vote!” I announced triumphantly. Why the hell was I talking about woman’s lib with Satan?

  “A downfall of men, to be sure,” he mocked.

  I gasped. “How dare—”

  “You will agree to my conditions or your father and friends die, now!”

  So much for bargaining . . . I folded my arms across my chest in a huff.

  “I am growing impatient with you, Child of Light.”

  I stomped my foot. “Fine! You free my dad, and my friends. You tell me where to find the Oracle . . .” I grimaced, “ . . . and I’ll agree to open your damned gates at midnight.” This was going to put a serious crimp in my sleep time. Not to mention any chance I had getting into Heaven.

  “And . . .?” He prompted; a self-satisfying look plastered to his face. Bastard!

  “And,” I snarled. “I’ll return to you on my eighteenth birthday. But you better not look all old and troll-like or the deal’s off.” I sure as hell hope my dad and friends appreciate what I do for them. Honestly. The thought of spending eternity in Hell . . . saddled to some old demon, made my skin crawl. I had an instant headache just thinking about it.

  “We’re agreed?”

  I wanted to slap that grin off his face. The jerk knew it too. He smiled brightly.

  “Almost,” I took a deep breath. I hated to admit any weakness but it was now or never. “I want to be able to live in the outer world. I can’t . . . stay here all the time. It’s scary . . . and dirty . . . and people are always screaming.” The list went on and on.

  “Of course, you already have the power to travel between your world and mine.”

  “I do?”

  “The moment you began accepting my help, you became tied to this world. You may visit whenever you wish.”

  I smiled. Or like never! Hello loophole!

  “Or when I summon you.”

  Goodbye loophole! Wait. Maybe not goodbye loophole after all: I promised to return at midnight . . . I was born at 11:05pm. That meant I had nearly an hour from the time I turned eighteen to . . . make other arrangements. HELLO AGAIN, LOOPHOLE! Thank you God! I smiled through the sharp pains that struck me. “Agreed!”

  A sonic boom resounded as a blast of power shot through me. The very words of our bargain seemed to brand themselves to my soul, sealing my fate and intertwining it with his. What had I done?