Lucifer did not take kindly to Dayne's interference. Defections from Hell's ranks of suffering damnedsouls had been high before—people who discovered Hell was a real place were often quick to repent—but the news of Dayne's pointless, redundant do-gooder intervention had indeed spread hope even to the depths of the Pit, and numbers of repenters were surpassing numbers of new meat for the first time in millennia.
Lucifer drummed his talons on the red lacquer surface of his desk and glared. Agonostis was, as far as he could tell, approaching the matter of Dayne's damnation with intelligence and efficiency—and he was doing yeoman work setting up Hell's branch office upstairs, too.
But Lucifer wanted a fail-safe. He wasn't sure what form this fail-safe should take; however, he did have an idea of who ought to be given the job of backing up Agonostis.
He paged Pitchblende, and when the demon appeared, he said, "Find Jezerael and bring her here. I have an assignment for her."
When Jezerael arrived, Lucifer greeted her coldly. "Your enemy does well in his assignment on Earth."
Jezerael said nothing.
"I think he shall, if he succeeds in his work there, become my unquestioned second in command—and I think you shall become his servant." Lucifer saw Jezerael's eyes turn vicious and hard. Still she said nothing; her control was superb. "I might offer you a chance to win the role I would give to him . . . if you dare take it."
"I'll take it," she snarled.
"Yes. I thought you would. If you would be my second, and have Agonostis as your slave, bring me the soul of Dayne Kuttner before Agonostis can get it. You'll go up to Earth, you'll follow the rules there. . . ."
"I thought the total number of Hellspawn who could go to the surface were already there."
"We have had one or two . . . little accidents. There are openings. I'll slide you into one of them." Lucifer shrugged. "You'll find yourself bound by the rules. You'll also still be responsible for improving the Lust and Fornication department—anything you personally do on the surface will count toward your numbers. You can't count the other Hellspawn's activities, I'm afraid. Agonostis will get all the credit for that."
"I don't care. I can make it work. And I can get Dayne Kuttner's soul, too."
"Let's hope so. Things will be quite unpleasant for you if you don't—Agonostis will surely see to that. You have an hour to prepare. Make the most of your time."