The Devil

"She was red, as red as the devil was in those old cartoons. Horns jutted from her head, body tight and trim, not many curves to speak of. What held me were her eyes, pure white with no pupil or iris. I hung on the edge of not-existing, and she brought her lips close to mine, and asked me if I feared ****..." Ella paused to take a sip, and Lois realized her own glass was empty. "...and I said I did."

A waitress refilled their glasses. Lois realized her lips were dry, sipped the drink without really thinking about it.

"The devil made me an offer. Protection for my girls. That your father would never touch you, not that way. And in payment...I would serve her. So I did."

"How?" The reporter asked.

"I was sent back to Earth, as a recruiter. Tempting men and women into sin. Cutting little deals. Many people are willing to sell a piece of their souls in exchange for—oh, trivial things. Mostly it was just giving people a helpful nudge in a direction they were already going."

"Tell me," Lois said, curiosity overcoming her better judgment.

So Ella Lane did. The reporter listened to the stories, told in clinical detail, about how her mother had fucked a governor, to pardon a murderer. Stolen all of a woman's bras and panties, on the day she showed up for her interview—which became a casting couch, but she got the job. Replaced the birth control of a bishop's wife, so her black lover ended up impregnating her; the scandal **** his resignation. Endless small temptations placed in the path of human beings, little incentives for bad behavior. Leaving behind her a trail of sin, misery, human pain...

Lois squirmed in her seat. Whether it was the heat, the drinks, the stories, or some combination of the above, she could feel the wet need of her arousal. Her nipples were hard, and she knew that was obvious. Had seen her mother staring at them.

"...and now I'm here," Ella set the glass on the table. "I've had enough. You and your sister are grown, no more need for her protection. So I want out. But there's a price. There's always a price. One I can't pay."

She stared at her daughter. The same violet eyes that Lois Lane herself had, though scarred and hardened by what she's done.

"But you can. You or Lucy."

Lois sucked in her breath. Here it is.

"What price is that, mom?"

The older woman held her gaze steadily. If the cocktails they had been drinking affected either of them., it didn't show.

"The devil wants a daughter."