35. Third Finger, Left Hand

There it was. She’d said it. Out loud, in front of witnesses. Well one witness. Sam Sara, as the only Earthbound in earshot, was in Freeze Frame, so she’d experienced nothing at all for the previous few minutes and wouldn’t until Lilith snapped her fingers, said ‘alakazam’ or just plain thought about it.

I sipped my Clown's Cocktail, grimaced. Bailey's and grenadine? Then I looked Lilith in the eye,

‘What about those cowpokes? Plague, Famine and the other two? Don’t they have to turn up first?’

‘I can outsource that, the Earthbound have their uses. And I’ll make sure the internet does some full-blown shoving. Sometimes a nudge just isn’t enough. The White House has people for that.’ She straightened the lapel of my dinner jacket. ‘Overdressed for this place.’

‘The hell he is,’ Azazael shouted from the other side of the bar. So it was witnesses, after all.

I could have taken Lilith then and there, but the question was, to whom. Uriel, the Director of the CBI, looked to be playing craps whilst the rest of us were playing roulette. There was no point in going right to the top: G-O-D was gaga and might even be this side of the Pearlies for the first time since beholding everything that he had made and saying it was very good. I did have one idea, but I'd need a long spoon. Besides, I wasn’t sure how far I’d have to go in subduing Lilith, or even if I really could.

I stepped back, shaking Lilith’s fingers grip on my lapel, before she patted it. I put my hand in my pocket, started fiddling with the brass and iron rings. Lilith raised her glass, I picked up mine. We both took a drink.

‘We could make a deal,’ I said. ‘You’ll need someone. A strong right hand.’ I slapped my forehead, hoping I wasn’t over-egging the crême brulee. ‘Unless… Uriel?’

She let out a low laugh, husky, full of promises that might be fun to break. ‘No, he’s too… Ambitious. He aims too high.’ She laid a hand on my lower arm, ‘You, on the other hand, are perfect. Your aim is low.’ She pulled my arm until the back of my hand brushed lightly against her Trump Handle. And right there, right that second, I was delivered from temptation. Though I didn’t jerk my hand away, I slipped the brass ring on the third finger of the hand in my pocket. It wasn’t the wisdom of Solomon I needed, but his Seal.

‘Maybe not, Lilith,’ I held up my left hand, brandished the third finger, ‘Get thee behind me, Demon.’ It worked too, she stood behind me and cold-cocked me with the cocktail shaker Azazael had left on the bar-top. Everything went black. As black as her non-Demon’s heart undoubtedly was.