Epilogue: A Woman Scorned

"Great demon, I beseech thee, leave thy dwelling, in whatever part of the world you may be, to come speak with me;"

Lois Lane stared out from within her protective circle, body naked, the room lit only by the black candles that burned at every corner of the pentacle. Her voice was full of calm anger, an anger focused by sixteen weeks of lonely study...and other developments.

The belly bulged outwards, unmistakable in her nudity, though Lois could still hide it with a bulky sweaters. A few of the women in the office had noticed her change from the waist-hugging pants and dresses she used to wore, the switch to skirts, ill-fitting jackets, more cleavage than she had shown before...and, somehow, she knew that Clark knew, though he hadn't said anything.

"... if not, I shall thereto compel thee by the power of the mighty words of the Great Key of Solomon, whereof he made use to **** the rebellious spirits to accept his pact. Appear then instantly or I shall continually torment thee with the mighty words of the Key:"

Four months of morning sickness, swollen ankles, strange cravings, and cutting back on her workout...she had not gotten fat, not yet, but her abs had disappeared as her abdomen distended, her tits ached, and, she was miserably certain, she was getting piles. The gynecologist had even warned her that pregnancy-induced diabetes was a possibility.

And she couldn't even drink a glass of wine to drown her sorrows.

"...Aglon, Tetragrammaton, Vaycheon, Stimulamathon, Erohares, Retrasamathon..."

She recited the formula, pieced together from the old grimoires, proved by small experiments as she worked her way up toward her goal. The Daily Planet's star reporter had never had any intention of studying the occult, but each day staring at her changing figure, at the steadily creeping numbers on the scale, feeling the painful absence between her legs, had driven Lois to heights that few occultists would dream of.

"... Clyoran, Icion, Esition, Existien, Eryona, Onera, Erasyn, Moyn, Meffias, Soter, Emmanuel, Sabaoth, Adonai. I call you. Amen."

Something flowed through and out of Lois—a tumult of psychic energy, focused and shaped by her will, anger and lust and other, less easily discernible emotions pouring out of her into the shape of her summons...and in the other circle, a crack formed, spilly smoky red light into the room. A hand, crimson and clawed, achingly familiar, grabbed hold and began to pull itself up. Lois Lane smelled ozone and brimstone...

"Who summons me?" The dark horns emerged before the wild tumult of black curly hair. The succubus heaved her torso into view, wearing some kind of weird orange tunic and a mantel with large, pointed shoulders. The demon stared around in confusion...and then the white-on-white eyes focused on Lois Lane, widening with surprise.

"Er...Lois. This is a surprise." The voice suddenly much more human. "You look...radiant."

"Great Demon, I call you here to engage in a pact!" Lois tossed a folded piece of paper out of the circle, landing right before Blaze. "By the power of Solomon's Key, I do strongly command and beseech you..."

Blaze held up a hand as she finished crawling out of the hole, which began to vanish beneath her. "Enough, enough! Do you know what it is you ask?"

Lois gave a smug grin. "I know that once called, according to the old terms, you cannot disobey."

The succubus scowled. The gravid reporter smiled to see the tunic lift, an **** erection forming at the sight of the naked woman, her swollen tits and growing stomach.

"You know that you too shall be bound by the terms of the pact, correct?" Blaze muttered, unfolding the paper. "When it is complete, I shall have to...have to..."

The words trailed off. There was a moment of deep silence as the demonic eyes scanned the words again and again, at first uncomprehendingly and then with concern. "This is..."

Lois tossed a pen. It landed point first, embedded in the floor an inch from the demon's right foot.

"The wedding license." The reporter grinned. "You, Angelica Blaze, are going to marry me. I am not going through this pregnancy and raising this baby alone."

"But...my enemies..." Jerkily the demon found herself reaching down to pick up the pen, the compulsive power of Lois Lane's spell guiding her limbs.

"Tough titties." The pregnant woman crossed her arms over her belly...a gesture she found herself doing more frequently these days. "I don't care if you have to make peace with Superman, Shazam, the Justice League, the Sentinels of Magic, or anyone else. I don't care if you have to get a job. You and I are going to do this together."

The succubus' hand shook as she scrawled a name on the paper...but Lois noticed the erection hadn't gone down at all. In fact, there was a wet spot leaking through the fabric of the tunic. For a moment, Lois wondered if Blaze had kept to herself all these long lonely weeks too...

Blaze let her hands drop to her sides. The black flames of the candles flared once, great green streamers a foot high, and then went out. They were alone in the dark.

"Now," Lois said stepping out of the circle. "Come to momma."