The Devil’s Pact, The Tyrants’ Daughter
by mypenname3000
Copyright 2015

Chapter Fourteen: Highway US-12

Note: Thanks to b0b for beta reading this!

Saturday, July 9th, 2072 – Rex Glassner – Longview, WA

I liked Longview, Washington. The city was built along the Columbia River right where it turned back west for the Pacific, leaving the ruins of I-5 behind. And the city of Longview liked us. They worshiped my dad. There were still statues of my dad and his wife Mary around. And a temple full of beautiful women—priestess—in diaphanous gowns set in the center of the town.

But Chase wasn’t letting us stay.

The moment we walked into town, people recognized Chase. The cries of Holy Daughter began to be picked up. The farmers and townsfolk gathered around, laughing and waving. They were a happy crowd. There were no sullen looks, no hate-filled stares. We were the children of their god, and they welcomed us with open arms.

“One hour,” she said to us. “While I get supplies. I want you all back here in an hour. Time is growing short.” We only had eleven days to reach Paradise.

I glanced at Reina and she gave me a grin. We were going to have fun. Women accosted me from every direction, begging me to lie with them, flashing their breasts. I had so many options. My cock hardened.

No wonder my dad pretended to be a god. This was intoxicating.

“Who will you pick to bless, my lord husband?” Aoifa asked as she walked beside me. She had changed into her diaphanous, priestess gown as we neared town when Sister Stella had taken her habit off. It was clear since we crossed into Washington that we were in Glassnerian territory.

“I’m not sure,” I groaned. “There are so many options.”

Sex was quite casual in the town. Some of the women had given up on getting my attention and were being pawed over by the men. They loved it, gasping and moaning as they sucked cocks or were fucked right there in the street.

And no one cared.

The preacher back in Truckee would have a heart attack if he ever saw the orgy breaking out in the middle of the street. Aoifa pressed against me, rubbing her round breasts against my arm as we walked through the crowd. She was definitely the hottest woman around, but I had fucked her many times. I did love my redheaded wife, and my other three, but my dad had it right—variety made everything better.

“My lord,” a man said, his arm around a blonde woman in her late twenties, with a heavy pair of tits hanging out of her undone bodice. “I would be honored if you slept with my wife.”

“Very honored,” his wife purred. “I am ovulating. Give me your seed so I may conceive a holy god.”

I want to fuck her while her husband watches. My cock throbbed hard, agreeing with my subconscious.

Aoifa leaned against me. “She’s the one,” she whispered in my ear. “I can tell.”

I moved to the woman and boldly squeezed her breasts in front of her husband. She let out a liquid moan of delight as I groped her. Her nipple was hard beneath my hand. I pinched it while staring into her husband’s eyes.

“So you want me to fuck your wife?” I grinned.

“Yes!” There was a fervor in the man’s brown eyes. “Please, Lord. Take her. She has fertile soil ready to be tilled.”

“So fertile,” moaned the wife as I massaged her breasts. “And wet. You will be most satisfied if you till me.”

I grabbed her hand and brought it to my cock. “Does this feel more than adequate to the task?”

She gave me a squeeze. “What a large tool,” she shuddered. “Come. Our house is right here.”

Aoifa giggled beside me as the wife led me inside her house, her husband following behind. Their house had worn carpet, threadbare in spots, and even linoleum in the kitchen. It was a house that had been built before my father’s death. Their bedroom was in the back, their marital bed covered by a blue comforter stitched with white flowers.

“Mmm, I am so ready for you, my Lord,” the wife moaned.

“Undress her, Aoifa,” I grinned.

“Yes, my lord husband.”

Aoifa insisted on calling me that.

The wife’s eyes widened. “You are his wife? How fortunate?”

“One of his wives,” Aoifa smiled. “He has his Divine Father’s appetites. He married two of his sisters and a third woman.”

“And are they all as beautiful as you, priestess?” the wife asked, reaching out to caress Aoifa’s cheeks.

“More beautiful,” Aoifa answered.

“They’re all equally beautiful,” I corrected, giving Aoifa’s ass a squeeze.

Aoifa undressed the wife, pulling down the woman’s gown. She was naked beneath, her pussy shaved bare. Her thighs were sleek and beautiful. Aoifa pushed her down on the bed and kissed her, Aoifa’s slim hands playing with the wife’s heavy breasts.

Her husband lingered at the doorway. “Come in,” I grinned. “I want you to watch as your wife is really fucked. Once I’m done with her, she’ll remember me forever. Every time you fuck her, it’ll be me she’s thinking of.”

The man gave a nervous swallow and stepped into the room. “I love you, Rosie,”

“Love you, too,” Rosie moaned, her eyes locked on me as I pulled off my clothes. She gasped when my hard cock came out.

Aoifa nuzzled at her big tits. “Let me make sure she is ready for you,” Aoifa winked as she kissed down the wife’s body. The blonde squirmed in delight as Aoifa pushed her thighs apart. “Mmm, she has a delicious looking pussy.”

“Better taste to make sure,” I winked at her.

Aoifa giggled and buried her lips between the woman’s thighs. She moaned, her hips bucking as Aoifa tongued her pussy. My cock throbbed. I grabbed Rosie’s blonde locks and guided her lips to my dick. She swallowed, sucking hard.

I glanced at her husband. “She’s eager for my cock. Does she suck you with this much excitement?”

“I…” The husband shrugged.

“Damn, she’s working her tongue around my cock.” Her tongue was hot, swirling about my cock and I shuddered when she moaned, her voice humming about my crown. “That’s it. Suck my cock while your husband watches. Show him how much you love my dick over his.”

Aoifa noisily ate Rosie’s pussy. I watched my redheaded wife dig her tongue in deep. Rosie shuddered and bucked, grinding her pussy on my wife’s face. Aoifa’s green eyes met mine, flashing with delight as she devoured the wife’s pussy.

“Mmm, yes, she’s a hot slut,” Aoifa moaned. “Suck my Lord husband’s cock.”

Rosie moaned loud.

“She loves it,” Aoifa purred and buried her face back between Rosie’s thighs.

The woman bucked, her heavy tits jiggling as she shuddered. Her eyes squeezed shut. Her mouth sucked hard as her orgasm rippled through her. I groaned, savoring the pressure on my cock as she came on Aoifa’s face.

“What a slutty wife you have,” I groaned. “Damn. She’s eager for my cum.” I pulled my cock from Rosie’s lips. “But I don’t want to waste my cum in your mouth. I want to knock you up.”

“Yes!” Rosie moaned. “Fuck me, my Lord. I need it so bad!”

“Damn,” the husband muttered. He fished out his cock, jerking it as he watched me move between his wife’s thighs.

Aoifa grabbed my cock, her face shiny with Rosie’s juices. I kissed my wife, tasting the tart flavor of Rosie as Aoifa guided my dick to Rosie’s hot pussy. The wife moaned as Aoifa rubbed my cock against her hole.

“Fuck me, my Lord! Please! Give me a baby! Make me cum! I need it!”

I broke the kiss. “Your wife is a complete whore!” I groaned and thrust my cock into Rosie’s hot depths.

“Yes!” Rosie shrieked. “A god is in me! Oh, yes! Oh, fuck! Pound my cunt! I need it so bad!”
My hips thrust forward, sliding my cock through her hot sheath. I shuddered with every pump of my hips. Her pussy gripped my cock as her arms engulfed me, pulling me down to her heavy breasts. She gasped and moaned, kissing me as she writhed beneath me.

She came hard, bursting like a firecracker beneath me. Her hot pussy massaged my cock as I slammed into her. She gasped and moaned, bucking up into my thrusts while her fingers clawed at my back.

“Your wife’s already cum,” I groaned, slamming my cock harder and harder into her hot depths. “Your wife’s such a whore. She’s so eager for my cock. I bet she never cums so hard for you.”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Rosie screamed. “I love your cock! A divine cock! I’m being fucked by a god! Watch me, Joe! Watch, Watch!”

“I am, Rosie,” groaned her pathetic husband as he jerked his cock.

“Plow her, my love,” Aoifa moaned beside me, her fingers playing with her pussy.

I rose, wrapping my arms around Rosie’s thighs and throwing her ankles over my shoulders. Her pussy grew tighter, squeezing my cock. Her breasts jiggled with every thrust of my cock, and her head tossed back and forth as another orgasm rippled through her.

My wife deserved better than masturbating. She wasn’t Joe. She wasn’t pathetic.

“Sit on her face, Aoifa. Make the whore eat your pussy.”

Aoifa shuddered in delight and gave me another hot kiss before she straddled Rosie’s face. The woman moaned, burying her face into Aoifa’s cunt. My wife gasped and moaned, grinding her hot flesh on Rosie’s face.

“So good,” Aoifa moaned, her green eyes squeezing shut. “Your wife loves my pussy almost as much as she loves my Lord husband’s cock.”

“Damn!” Joe shuddered as his wife pleasured us.

I stared into Aoifa’s eyes as I grabbed her ivory breasts with my brown hands. She moaned as I pinched her nipple. My hips kept hammering away as Rosie’s pussy massaged my shaft. The wife was flooding the bed with her pussy juices as my cock throbbed in her hot sheath.

“I’m gonna flood your wife’s cunt!” I growled. “I’m gonna knock her up. You’ll be raising my kid.”

“Yes!” Rosie moaned, her voice muffled by Aoifa’s pussy.

Aoifa shuddered. “Do it! Cum in her! Knock the slutty wife up. Oh, yes! Oh, yes, my Lord husband. Breed her!”

Aoifa tossed back her head as she came. Rosie drank down all her juices. My cock throbbed in delight as I shuddered and erupted into the wife’s pussy. Her hungry snatch milked my cock, eager to be bred by me.

Joe grunted as he came, jerking his pathetic pud.

I pulled my softening cock out of Rosie’s cunt as Aoifa slid off of her. I grabbed the blonde and wiped my cock clean in her hair, leaving it matted with cum and pussy cream. Rosie had a big smile on her flushed face.

“You’ll remember this day forever,” I grinned at her.

“I will,” she panted.

I gave her a hot kiss in front of her husband and then found my clothes. With Aoifa on my arm, I walked out naked. It was a warm day and there were a crowd of women outside, all naked and nubile. I wished I could stay longer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reina Glassner

I wasn’t surprised to find my twin in a pile of feminine flesh. I so wanted to join him. My mouth was smeared with pussy juices. Queenie, Sarah, and I had visited the temple and enjoyed the priestesses in a press of feminine flesh.

I had mouths sucking on every bit of my flesh, and I wouldn’t mind round two.

Aoifa was in there with Rex, her red hair flashing as she writhed with a pair of brunettes. Rex had his cock buried into a blonde’s ass, pumping hard away while two buxom, black-haired twins pressed against his side, rubbing their heavy tits against him. A second blonde was rimming his ass or playing with his balls from behind. I couldn’t tell which.

“Hurry up, Rex,” I shouted. “Chase wants to go.”

“Almost there,” Rex panted, his hips pumping faster.

“Fuck my ass!” moaned the blonde. “Oh, yes! So wonderful!”

Rex groaned, and then ripped his cock out. He stood up, jerking fast and sprayed his cum over the women. They all moaned and groaned as his cum painted their bodies. They fell into an orgy of licking flesh, gathering up all the cum he squirted.

Rex pulled Aoifa out of the mess, throwing her over his shoulder. Aoifa moaned, her pussy flooding juices as she came. I smiled, my own pussy on fire as Rex stepped through the pile. Women grabbed at him, begging him to stay.

“I have to move on,” Rex grinned. “There are so many women out there to bless.”

I smacked Rex’s ass when he moved through, shaking my head. “Get dressed you two. We need to go.”

Rex gave me a kiss, his lips stained with pussy juices.

“That’s not going to work,” I groaned, fighting my lusts. “We need to get going.”

“I think we’ll live here,” Rex decided. “What do you say?”

I shook my head. “Why not Tacoma?”

Rex frowned.

“The priestesses were telling me that Tacoma is an entire city of Glassnerians. The new Theocracy rules out of there. They even have electricity.”

Rex grinned. “An entire city?”

I nodded my head. I knew we were never returning to California. None of us wanted to cross Oregon again. The Christians were bigots and murderers. I never wanted to live among them again. The Glassnerians were more my style. They shared my appetites.

“An entire city of women for you to fuck,” I grinned.

“Ooh, that sounds perfect for our Lord husband,” Aoifa moaned as she pulled on her diaphanous robes, her nubile body bleeding through the fabric.

“It does,” Rex nodded. “Tacoma.”

“The Holy City where the Living Gods were born,” Aoifa purred.

I took a deep breath as we walked away from the orgy to the center of town where Chase, Queenie, Sarah, and Sister Stella waited. “What is going to happen at Paradise? Are we really going to stop our father from coming back?”

“I really don’t think we’re gonna have much say in what happens,” Rex shrugged. “It’s up to Chase.”

“But we’ll get to see him, right?” My heart beat faster. “Our father?”

“Yeah,” Rex nodded, putting one arm around me, the other around Aoifa. “We’ll see him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chasity “Chase” Glassner

I had a smile as we left Longview. It had been nice to be around such open love. Here, the World hadn’t fallen into ugly violence and hatred. Here, the world of my childhood still existed. And they were free. They weren’t slaves of my parents. They chose to continue following my parents’ teachings.

They chose to love each other.

There was hope for the world.

I glanced at my siblings and their wives. They were talking about Tacoma. Rex and Reina sounded like they wanted to live there. And given my siblings appetites, that wasn’t surprising. I didn’t blame them for not wanting to go back home to California. Oregon was a shithole. The Christians had destroyed the once beautiful state.

I cocked my head, glancing at Rex as he boosted of all the women he fucked in the last two hours. He had stamina that rivaled my fathers. A normal man shouldn’t have been able to perform like he had. I frowned in realization. He was keeping four horny women happy with his cock. Rex was conceived at the end of my father’s life, maybe days before he died. My father was brimming with the powers of all the great demons, plus his own wishes.

Had Rex inherited extra-human stamina from my father? And Reina and Sarah also were a pair of horny vixens.

How interesting.

Sarah moved up beside me. “I hope you’ll come with us to Tacoma. You and Sister Stella both.”
“Maybe,” I shrugged. I didn’t know what was going to happen at Paradise, but Sister Stella promised to free me from my powers. Maybe I could finally die.

“We’ll have a nice house. It’ll be the perfect place to write your version of events.”

I blinked.

“About our father.” Sarah smiled. “I would love to know the real truth. And the world deserves to know, too. Both sides have it wrong.”

Tina Allard’s book The History of the Tyrants’ Theocracy offended me. My parent’s weren’t the monsters she made them out to be. They did plenty of evil and plenty of good. But they weren’t the perfect beings the Glassnerians claimed either. They were like any other persons. Not black or white, but muddy shade of grays all swirled together.

“Maybe I will,” I nodded. “But we still need to reach Paradise. We should make it a couple days earlier.”

Sarah nodded. “I can’t wait to see father.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday, July 12th, 2072 – Queenie Glassner – Highway US-12, WA

Thunder crackled on the horizon as we reached Highway US-12. According to Chase, this highway would take us to Mount Rainier. It led off to the northeast, heading towards the white, majestic peak on the horizon. The mountain was a far more impressive sight than the crumbling peak of Mount St. Helens to the southeast, and seemed wider than Mount Hood in Oregon. Even tiny, it loomed.

And it would grow bigger as we marched towards it. We had another seventy-nine miles to go. Another three days of walking. We were going to make it.

Thunder crackled again.

“Maybe we should make camp,” Sarah whispered, glancing at the storm approaching from the southeast. A line of gray clouds covered the horizon.

“We still have a few hours,” Rex objected.

I jumped as lightning flashed down from the clouds. My heart thudded in my chest as Chase counted out loud. The thunder’s crackle washed over us, vibrating through the air.

“Two miles away,” Chase answered. “That’s how far the lightning is.”

“I think we should set up the tents,” Reina whispered, grabbing my hand.

I nodded my head.

The storm grew closer and closer. A strong wind gusted as we hurriedly set up our tents. The gray swelled, engulfing the southern skies. The day grew dark as the sun disappeared behind the clouds. The wind carried that earthy scent of fresh rain.

As we finished setting up the tents, the first drops rained down. I shuddered as the cold hammered my arm. Rex pulled me into the tent. It was cramped with the five of us. The rain pelted the outside and the lightning sizzled and crackled.

I jumped with every bolt.

“It’s okay,” Aoifa whispered as she held me on the right.

“Yeah,” Rex nodded, stroking my hair.

Thunder boomed. I screamed. It was so close.

The wind picked up. The tent’s canvas groaned and swayed, snapping in the breeze. The tent rocked above us. The lightning flooded through the wet cloth, illuminating the tent poles. I squeezed my eyes shut in fear.

Trees groaned outside. Branches crashed to the ground. The wind howled past our tent. I clung to my spouses in fear. Drops of water dripped down on us, bleeding through the canvas. It was a downpour outside.

The tent shook harder. Fabric tore as the wind howled.

“It’s not going to hold!” Rex shouted.

With a mighty tear, the tent ripped open and the rain hammered down on us. I was soaked in an instant, my teeth chattering as the wind ripped at us. Everything was gray. A wall of rain surrounded us. Dirty puddles covered our campsite and the highway looked like a river. Evergreen trees violently swayed back and forth as their branches were ripped off to tumble through the air and fall to the ground.

“We need cover!” Rex shouted, standing up. His shirt was plastered to his body and his short hair was ruffled by the howling wind. He pulled me up. “Beneath the overpass!”

Chase and Sister Stella’s tent still stood. Reina rushed over and grabbed Alison the pack mule, leading her with us as we scrambled along the muddy ground and puddles. I shivered as the rain soaked me.

We reached the overpass. The wind howled by, driving the rain almost vertically. Water poured through beneath the highway. We climbed up a sloping, cement hill that led to the highway’s support. We huddled together, shivering as the storm poured out its fury upon us.

Water flowed beneath the overpass. A river had formed, churned browned by debris as it rushed past. Alison the donkey moved higher up the slope, braying in fear at the gushing water. The rain thundered above us. It was deafening. I clapped my hands over my head, praying for the storm to pass.

“It’s okay,” Rex whispered as he held me.

The water’s rose, reaching for us. The storm wanted to kill us. Lightning crashed again. I trembled.

“We’ll be fine,” Rex said again as the water grew nearer and nearer.

The drumming rain slowed. The water gurgled as it flowed by, but it stopped rising. I shuddered in relief watching as the water lowered and lowered, leaving behind muddy silt that painted up the concrete slope towards us.

The sun came back out and birds began to sing as the storm passed. We crawled out. Chase and Sister Stella, looking very bedraggled, waved in delight at us. Their tent still stood, but where we pitched ours, the water had rushed through, caving out a small gully in the soft silt and sweeping our tent away.

“I guess we’re sleeping outdoors,” Sarah muttered.

“Good thing it’s summer,” Reina sighed, peering around at the drenched world. Lightning rumbled in the distance as the storm headed north. I couldn’t see Mount Rainier. The peak was hidden behind the violent storm.

“They happen sometimes,” Chase shrugged. “Not usually in the summer, but the other three seasons. They called it the Pineapple Express.”

“What’s a pineapple?” I asked, wrinkling my nose and glancing at the pine trees. “That doesn’t sound good.”

Chase laughed. “They were the sweetest fruit in the world. Grown out in Hawaii.” My sister-in-law put her arm around my shoulders and talked to me about tropical, Pacific Islands. I had no idea they even existed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday, July 17th, 2072 – Sarah Glassner – Highway US-12, WA

Mount Rainer loomed ahead of us, almost dominating the sky. And we sill weren’t there yet. What should have turned into a three day hike up Highway US-12 was on day four and we still had twenty miles to go.

Twenty slow miles.

Unlike I-5, US-12 was more of a rural highway and it had long been washed away by the storms of Washington. Only patches of it still survived amid the tangle of forests. We were practically walking through the wilderness.

It was rough. We didn’t have enough bedding, just a thin blanket to lie upon. Luckily it wasn’t cold at night, and I did have my four spouses for warmth, but it wasn’t comfortable. Needles fell on you while you slept, and sometimes sap dripped from the pine trees.

We had three days to get to Paradise, and I wasn’t sure we were going to make it. We were all exhausted. Our food was running out, and we didn’t have time to hunt or forage. We had to keep going. The weather had driven huge mounds of debris over the highway we had to go over or around.

It was as bad as the few days we spent detouring Eugene, Oregon.

And there were mosquitoes.

They buzzed around. My arms itched, covered in the stupid bumps. They were feasting on us, the filthy things. Chase bemoaned the lack of insect repellent. One of the many wonders lost. A spray that could drive away the horrid, biting bugs. It sounded like magic.

Aoifa tried to keep us up beat. We talked about religion, and she explained scriptures to me. I would catch Chase looking back at us and shaking her head. I wanted to know the real story. Who was my father really? Why did he do the things he did? The world deserved to know the truth.

The path grew steeper as we entered into the mountains. We passed the occasional signs that were promising, telling us how many miles we had to go before we reached Paradise, a valley on slope of Mount Rainer.

According to Aoifa, my father married his wife there in a field of wild flowers.

Aoifa quoted extensively from both the Gospel of April, The Twin Sermons, and the First Book of Vivian about that day. Chase had been a little baby in Mary’s belly when that day came.

I brushed my own belly. I hoped Rex’s seed had quickened in me. I missed my own, dead child.
Night fell, and we all gratefully stopped.

“We’re not going to make it,” Rex groaned.

“We will,” Chase said. “We just have to keep going. We have two more days before the twentieth, and we don’t know what time the ritual is. Just keep going. We’ll see father and stop his mad plan.”

Chase looked at Sister Stella and smiled, hope in her eyes. Reina frowned beside me. “What is that look about?” she muttered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday, July 19th, 2072 – Reina Glassner – Slopes of Mount Rainier, WA

I couldn’t hold my silence. I had to talk to Chase.

I drifted back, motioning to her. Rex gave me a look. “Just some girl talk,” I told him.

Chase arched an eyebrow. She squeezed Sister Stella’s hand and then joined me. Queenie paused for a moment, but I shook my head. Chase’s eyebrows furrowed as we let everyone walk ahead of us before continuing.

“What’s going to happen tomorrow?” I asked. We were almost there. But it was slow going up the winding road to Paradise. The mountain towered over us. You had to crane your neck to see its glacier topped peaks.

“We’ll stop our father,” she answered.

“No. With you.” I swallowed. “What is it that Sister Stella promised you?”

Chase didn’t answer.

“Are you…going to die?”

“No.” She put her arm around me. “But…she’s going to take away my powers. She needs them to stop father.”

“And then you could die.” I swallowed, gazing into her eyes.

Her eyes grew dark. “You have your spouses. A family. But…my family is gone. I miss them. I…”

“We’re your family, Chase.” Tears beaded my eyes. “Don’t you love us?”

“So much.” Chase shuddered and then she hugged me. “But you can’t possibly understand. I killed them. Every day it weighs at me. I destroyed myself to save the world. I’m bound to father. I should have died with him, but this damned power keeps me anchored to this world. I’m tired of it. Only you and your brother have given me a reason to do more than just lie in a stupor. But I can’t hold back the guilt forever. You and your brother will build a new life.”

“Please, don’t leave us,” I sobbed.

“Please don’t make me stay.” Chase broke away. There was such despair in her eyes.

“What about Sister Stella? Don’t you want to stay for her?”

Chase paused. “I might be able to stay for her. If she’ll have me. But she’s a nun. She’ll leave to go on her missions. And…I don’t know. She won’t promise me that she’ll give it up.”

“She loves you.”

Chase’s smile was sad. “But does she love being a nun more? I don’t know. I’ve loved so many before, and those relationships always ended with me alone. I’m not sure I was ever meant to be happy.”

“Try for her.” I grasped her hands. “Please. For her. Live a normal life with her. I know she’ll give it up. She loves you so much.”

Chase hugged me again. “You are so wonderful. Thank you for saving for me all these years.”

“You’re welcome.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chasity “Chase” Glassner – Paradise

The fields were beautiful, covered in wildflowers. Butterflies darted among them while a gentle breeze swayed. My parents were married here. There was even a shrine built, a golden statue of my parents, father in his suit and mother in her dress. They held each other and looked so happy. The twins, Sarah, and Aoifa stared in awe at the statue.

“Where are the Glassnerians?” I asked Sister Stella. “They have to perform the ritual tomorrow.”

Sister Stella shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe they haven’t arrived.”

I trembled. There was something…special building here. An energy that hummed in the ground.

“You feel it,” the nun whispered. “It’s building. That’s the energy your parents worshipers will tap to summon your parents, and the energy I will use to free you.”

I smiled and took her hand. “I love you.”

Sister Stella’s face lit up. “I love you, too.”

“Will you give up being a nun for me?” I pulled her closer. “Will you…come with me? To Tacoma or wherever. Will you be mine?”

Tears glistened in her eyes. “I’ve been grappling with this decision for the last month. You’re wonderful. I…I do want to be with you.”

“More than being a nun?” I trembled, sucking in my breath. I feared her answer.

“Yes.”

My heart beat for joy. Maybe I did have a future. Tomorrow, I would be freed from the chains of my powers and I could start over. I could be finally happy.

To be concluded…

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