Chapter 15 by Zeebop

How Does Blaze Answer?

Or You Lose Your Soul

The woman gave a strange half-smile...and just for a moment, Lois Lane saw her differently. Skin like fresh blood on parchment, dark horns that jutted out of her broad forehead, pure white eyes without pupil or iris that looked like holes poked into a white space. There was something subtly but terribly inhuman about her features, the way the leathery skin was stretched too tight over bones that were too sharply defined, a skull too elongated, an almost animalistic jaw...and the rest of her body was the same way, like a human being built on the scale of a greyhound, a lean predator...

Lois Lane didn't blink, but the image faded, and the much more human woman stood over the busty reporter.

"I am a demon, Lois Lane, and you have used my power—but without any specific contract agreed to beforehand. Which means you are subject to the default contract. As of right now, I have a claim on your soul. By demon law, by midnight I will have to claim it."

Lois grimaced. The reporter's head throbbed as she slowly stood up.

"You could just take my tits back."

Blaze's smile grew a little broader. "I can't, actually. But I can offer you an escape clause: return the gem to me, and I will accept it in place of your soul."

The demon stuck out her hand. "Deal?"

Lois frowned. She didn't like this. She had nothing but Blaze's word for any of this...and she had no idea where Maria was.

"Why can't you just find her yourself, if you're so powerful?"

Blaze's smile died. "Rules. While she holds my heart, I cannot affect her directly, unless she wishes it. That includes a simple location spell."

Lois reached back and felt the lump on the back of her head. Two other lumps, hanging off her chest, also demanded attention...but Lois wasn't about to feel herself up in company.

"One condition," Lois said. "You might not be able to use your powers on Maria, but you can and will provide me with whatever other help and information I ask for."

"Deal," the demon said, after a moment.

Lois reached out and shook the hand. The reporter shook as something like an electric spark shocked her the moment before their palms came into contact.

"Now, to start..." Lois said.