Chapter the Twenty-Seventh

In which a Deal is struck

The cafeteria was crowded as Delia made way to her and Alexander's usual spot. The window looked out over the garden and in the spring and summer, the view could be quite pretty, but it was October and while the trees were colorful, all the flowers in the garden were gone. She took out her lunch, but she would wait for her brother to show up before she ate.

Both she and Alexander brought their own lunches to school. While the food served here seemed to be fine with most of the others, Delia thought it was inedible and at the age of thirteen, Alexander was capable of producing better fare than was made at the school. She spotted her brother making his way towards her, but he wasn't alone. When Alexander eventually got to the table, he was accompanied by a boy whom she had never seen.

"Delia, this is Miles Spenser. Carter asked if I would shepherd the boy around and help make him feel at home in his new school; Miles, this is my sister, Delia."

Miles extended his hand out to Delia, who shook it. "Hello."

"You're English."

"Yes, but my family is originally from here. My parents moved to England for my father's job, and I was born there. Neither one of my parents managed to pick up an accent while they were there, nor did my brother, so I stick out like a bit of a sore thumb at home." Miles spotted Delia's lunch and had gone with Alexander when he had stopped at his locker to get his lunch. "I didn't bring anything to eat. Any recommendation for the cafeteria?"

Delia laughed. "Yes, I recommend that you bring your own lunch. The food here isn't very good. Surprising, really when you think about how much money they extort out of parents to send their kids here. If you have to eat something, I'd go with the junk food, burgers, fries. Not that it's any better than whatever else they have, but at least you know what you're getting."

"Thank-you for the advice. I'll be back." Miles left to go get his food.

"Anything going on there?" Delia jutted out her chin in Miles direction and looked back to Alexander.

"Nope, he's neither smart, nor interesting. I'm trying to think of someone onto whom I can foist him, I don't want to be stuck with him as my 'friend' until the end of the year." Alexander sat; they would wait until Miles returned before they ate.

They talked about school until Delia brought up the topic of one of their recent discussions. "I saw you chatting up Jeannette Parker in the hall today. Is she the one?"

"I think so. She's nice, quiet and wouldn't be expecting a lot. I'd be able to get away with hand holding and some kissing."

Delia leaned closer to her brother. "You're only thirteen. Nobody is expecting you to be some kind of lothario."

"I don't want to be a lothario, but I do want to create a reputation for being a normal guy. This is a good first girlfriend, but if you don't want me to, I won't."

Delia noticed Miles making his way back to them. "We'll talk later?"

"Of course."

He sat and put his tray on the table and picked up his burger and took a bite.

"Bon appétit." Alexander smiled at him and began laughing as Miles now had a look on his face that resembled someone who had just bit the business end of a used Q-tip.

"Told you. Really, bring your own lunch." Delia took a bite of her sandwich and had closed her eyes to savor it…roasted vegetables and chicken breast on sourdough bread drizzled with garlic infused olive oil…swallowing it seemed such a waste, but she did and opened her eyes and looked at her brother. "It's yummy, Alexander, thank-you."

Miles turned to look at Alexander and gave him a puzzled look.

"Our housekeeper is a Cordon-Bleu trained chef so she's been teaching me how to cook."

"Alexander's very good at it. If he doesn't want to go into the family business, he can open his own restaurant."

Miles paused for a minute and Delia and Alexander could watch the decision the boy was making inside his head play out on his face and he broke his own silence. "I wasn't sure if I should say anything, but Damien Thorn, he's your father."

"Yes."

While both Thorn children tried to look as nonchalant as possible in response to Miles' enquiry, inside they had had their proverbial hackles up, wary of this new individual who had an interest in their family and their father.

"Mr. Thorn was Ambassador to Great Britain while my family was there…not me; I was born after your father had already stepped down. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I heard someone call Alexander by his last name and I put two and two together. Over the years, I've heard a lot about your father from my brother."

Now it was Delia and Alexander's turn to be puzzled.

"My brother Daniel is quite a few years older than I am. He used to be a part of Damien's youth initiative, when your father was also President of the United Nations Youth Council."

But Mile's comment had only served to further pique their interest. What had Daniel told his little brother about Damien Thorn? Delia let her brother handle the questions, since he was better at it than she was.

"Does your brother live in Chicago?"

"Yes, we all moved back here when my father died. Daniel's a lawyer and came over first to take care of things after our father passed away."

"I'm so sorry to hear about your father."

Alexander had smiled kindly at Miles, even though Delia could feel the emptiness behind her brother's gesture.

Lunch progressed with Miles doing most of the talking. First, it didn't take long for Delia to assess that he knew little about Damien, but she kept sensing excitement and fascination from him whenever the conversation was about her father.

Second, Alexander's people skills were in top form as the conversation gradually moved away from talking about Damien, to getting Miles to reveal personal information about himself. Neither Delia nor Alexander cared about what Miles was saying, but Alexander shared his father's ability to make people especially comfortable when the situation warranted it.

While Alexander had been looking forward to disposing of Miles as soon as he could, it now seemed that for the next day or so, both Delia and Alexander would have to include Miles in some activities to keep an eye on him and get a report back on whatever Daniel would say to his brother.

When everyone had eaten, Alexander told Miles that he would see him later and Miles excused himself, after telling Delia that it had been a pleasure meeting her, leaving brother and sister alone.

"Okay, so what do we do?"

"Wait, I guess. Hopefully, he'll come back with some kind of useful information from his brother which will help us decide what we should do. It means I can't dump him on anyone else just yet. We'll eat with him again tomorrow, if that's okay with you."

"Xander, this is family business. It's not what I want, it's what's most helpful for father and since we don't know what his brother is going to say, best to err on the side of caution and be nice until it's no longer necessary. Should we tell Damien?"

"No, we wait to see what his brother says, then we decide what we tell father."

"Offer to provide lunch tomorrow. Too bad it's too cold to eat outside, we could have had a picnic."

"Will do. Walk with me to the doors?" Alexander got up and no sooner had he gotten up than Jeanette Parker spotted him from across the cafeteria and waved at him and Alexander waved back.

At the doors of the cafeteria, Delia and Alexander parted ways and would not see each other again until it was time to go home.

...666...

The next day, as promised, Alexander provided lunch for everyone and had beaten Delia to their spot in the cafeteria. A table cloth graced the wood table and Alexander had provided flowers and a vase. Alexander pulled out Delia's chair for her and when everyone was seated, he put out lunch with began with pâté on Paris toasts. Miles didn't know what to make of Alexander's lunch time feast, though it was too tasty to make any kind of serious objection to the extravagance.

"When your brother offered to bring lunch…"

Delia laughed. "Oh, this isn't the first time he's done this. At first, some of the guys laughed at him…until they ate it and realized that it was better than the crap served here. Now, they just stand and drool and hope Alexander asks them to sit and join him."

Apart from the pâté, Alexander had brought marinated vegetable salad, beef stew with fresh bread. He had also also included soda, which had been kept in the cafeteria's fridge, along with the other food.

As they ate, Delia wanted nothing more than to ask Miles what his brother had said to him, but she left it to Alexander to know when to bring it up.

Miles was stuffed…until Alexander brought out three pieces of chocolate cake.

"The meal was me, but the cake, that's Cecile, our housekeeper/cook." He handed out forks and once Miles was halfway through his cake, Alexander turned to Delia.

"Miles had said he was saving what he wanted to say until we were both here; so here we both are. What did your brother say?" Alexander smiled reassuringly at him.

"Daniel didn't tell me much; he was very enigmatic, which is unlike him, but he was very happy that I was talking to you. Daniel said that he once did something for Mr. Thorn while they both were in England and that you should pass that on to Damien and he would know what it meant. Also, if Mr. Thorn ever needed any help again, he should talk to Daniel." Miles looked from one Thorn sibling to another, hoping for some kind of illumination on the subject, but Delia and Alexander merely shrugged.

Once lunch was finished, Miles thanked Alexander for the meal, but Alexander waved his hand. "Don't mention it. Wait, do you want to come over to our house after school? You can tell my father yourself…you know, what your brother said. Delia, I don't think it's one of father's late nights at work, is it?"

"No, he didn't say anything this morning. Meet us out in front of the school and you can come home with us, and we'll drive you home after."

Miles' excitement swirled around him like bright ribbons and he promised to be waiting for them out in front of the school once the final bell went after he called home and told them where he would be going.

Delia and Alexander looked at each other and made their way to one of only two classes that they had together, philosophy. It was still early and nobody else was in the classroom and so they took up their normal spot at the back of the room. Alexander sat on his desk.

"I'm feeling more than a little useless; some children of Damien Thorn we turned out to be. Shouldn't we be able to do something about this ourselves?" He looked imploringly at his sister.

"Well, if you don't have any idea what we could do on our own, what do you expect me to do?" Delia smiled at him. "This is better. We'll give Miles to father as late birthday present. What do you get the Antichrist who has everything?"

"Another disciple." Alexander smiled back at Delia. "I once did something for you father, are you fucking kidding me?" He began laughing.

"Why, what did Daniel do for Damien?"

Alexander, who had glanced at the door to make sure that no one was coming in during their conversation, turned back to his sister. "You know perfectly well to what Daniel is..." but once he saw the look on his sister's face, he understood the game that Delia was initiating and it would be up to him to make the next move. For now, Alexander got of his desk and sat in his seat.

"You're lucky we're in school right now, Delia."

"I'm holding you to that once we get home."

Unlike most of the other classes they attended at Davenport Preparatory, their philosophy class, which was about moral and ethical issues, was interesting. The teacher seemed bent on having the kids leave his class knowing something and a few of the students, along with Delia and Alexander, seemed genuinely interested in what was being taught. Today's class was on suicide and euthanasia, which was only of minor interest to the siblings. As much as the Thorn children had other stuff on their minds, they forced themselves to participate in the class; they had learned that from their father.

The rest of the day dragged on…more so than it normally did considering that they were extra anxious to get home. When the final bell of the day went, Delia and Alexander went to their respective lockers to get their things and went to meet Miles.

As Delia made her way to the front of the school, she realized that she was finding the process exciting, humbling and arousing.

It wasn't about the manipulating, Delia was horrible at that and would have preferred to be open about what they were doing, but that wasn't going to happen. She felt humble because she felt like she was contributing something. Damien gave both her and Alexander so much, it felt gratifying to be able to give back to him for a change, but there was also a sense of completeness, of fulfilling a deep-seated duty to God, of doing something to make Satan's grasp on the human race slightly more secure than it had been, even if it was only by one person…and one disciple for their side meant one less for them, which was making her feel more than a little turned on. She'd have to ask Alexander to talk to Damien at some point to see if it was the same for him, but as she spotted her brother at the bottom of the stairs, she didn't have to ask if the arousal part was the same for him, but he did not send the desire that he felt towards his sister.

As they met Miles at the front door, their emotions were in check, but they could taste his eagerness and excitement at the thought of meeting one the world's most powerful men.

Thomas pulled up and got out of the car, taking note of the new boy. "Afternoon…who's this?"

Alexander looked at Thomas. "This is Miles; he's new. Miles, this is Thomas; he works for our father."

Thomas smiled at the boy, but then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, walked away from them to give himself some privacy and called Damien. After a few minutes, Thomas came back and opened the car doors and everyone piled in. Delia sat in the front seat with Thomas, as three people in the back was cramped.

On the way home, they all made small talk and once they arrived at the house, Thomas dropped everyone off and went home.

At home, the three teens made their way to the kitchen where Cecile was preparing the evening meal, lasagna. She turned around when she heard voices and was surprised to find a boy whom she did not know.

"Miles, this is Cecile; Cecile, this is Miles, the most recent recipient of, and convert to, your culinary genius." Alexander began rummaging through the fridge, intent on fixing a snack for everyone.

"The cake was very good…thank-you."

Cecile smiled. "I'm glad you liked it."

Both Delia and Alexander's dogs came downstairs to their respective masters and after receiving little attention from Alexander, who was making food, Alexander's dog, looking for affection, made his way to Delia. Miles looked down at the dogs and back to Delia.

"You're not afraid, are you? I can send them back upstairs. If not, you can pet them, they're fine." Delia sat on the floor and both dogs sat beside her.

Miles sat beside Delia, and her dog turned to him and allowed itself to be touched by the strange boy. "What's his name?"

Delia smiled. "They all answer to Milo, but they know to whom they belong, don't you, Milo?"

And Delia's dog, understanding his mistress, turned to her and nuzzled against her shoulder.

Alexander had made sandwiches and grabbed bags of chips and soda and put the food on the table and Delia and Miles joined him and the three of them ate and talked. After the snack, Delia and Alexander brought Miles out the stables.

An hour after the Thorn children came home, Damien let himself in the house and made his way into the kitchen.

"Good evening, Cecile."

"Good evening, Mr. Thorn. You are never going to believe this, but Delia has brought a boy home. They're outside." Cecile jerked her thumb in the direction of the stables.

"Yes, Thomas called me. I'll have to see him with my own eyes to believe it." Damien looked through the mail.

The kitchen was spotless and Cecile wiped her hands on her apron. "Is there anything else, Mr. Thorn?"

"No. Thank-you Cecile."

She took off her apron and went to the closet and grabbed her bag. Damien walked her to the front door and helped her on with her coat.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, good night, Mr. Thorn."

"Good night, Cecile." Damien closed and locked the door behind her and went back into the kitchen. He helped himself to the extra sandwich that Alexander had made and put it on a plate and added some chips, grabbed a beer and the stack of mail and sat at the kitchen table and began opening it. He was half way through it all when he heard laughing and barking and he got up and went to the window and watched as his children and a boy took their time getting back to the house, pushing and shoving each other with the dogs barking at their heels.

Delia looked up and saw her father in the window and ran towards the house. Damien opened the door and she threw herself into his arms.

"How was work?"

He kissed her on the forehead. "Fun…as usual. Alexander, how did lunch go?"

"Very well, thank-you. In fact, it went over so well, I brought my lunch recipient home so he could thank Cecile in person for the cake." Alexander looked back at their house guest.

Miles was rooted to the spot.

Alexander went over to him and brought the boy forward. "It's okay, he doesn't bite. Father, this is Miles; he's new at school and he wanted to meet you so we thought we'd bring him home. Miles, this is our father, Damien Thorn." Alexander was taking off his coat.

"Nice to meet you, Miles." Damien extended his hand and Miles shook it, looking up at him, little able to contain his awe.

"Hello, Mr. Thorn." Miles pulled away his hand afraid that the handshake had gone on too long. Miles looked at Delia and Alexander. "Your children have been very kind to me since I started at Davenport Preparatory."

"I'm glad to hear it. How long have you been in Chicago?"

Miles went into his spiel about his family being from here but moving to England for his father's work. As Miles, spoke, Damien knew something was going on, but couldn't figure out what that something was because Delia and Alexander were being deliberately unhelpful. Damien could feel excitement and nervousness from Miles, but it wasn't anything that could help him figure figure out what was happening.

"My family was there when you were Ambassador to Great Britain. I wasn't born yet, but my older brother told me about you. Daniel was part of your youth initiative when you were President of the United Nations Youth Council, though I don't think he ever met you, not personally anyway; he's going to be jealous."

Damien smiled, still unsure as to what was going on.

"Miles, why don't you tell my father exactly what your brother told you." Alexander nodded at the boy.

"Daniel said, 'I once did something for Mr. Thorn while we were in England and if he ever needs anything again, all Mr. Thorn has to do is ask.' Though he didn't mention what that something was."

All the time while Miles was speaking, Delia and Alexander had not taken their eyes off their father and the sliest of smiles licked the corners of their mouths and Damien understood. This wasn't some random boy whom Delia and Alexander had chosen to befriend. Miles unknowingly relating how his brother had killed for the Antichrist had given them an idea: if older brother had given himself to Damien, could little brother be far behind?

There were his children, each on either side of Miles, offering their father a potential disciple; and there was Miles, ignorantly unaware that he had been delivered by Delia and Alexander unto their father, a virgin sacrifice being brought before a god.

"We told Miles that we would drive him home when he's done here; I hope that was okay, father?" Delia looked at Damien.

"Of course, Miles would you like to stay for dinner?"

"No, thank-you, Mr. Thorn."

"Please, call me Damien." He gave Miles the same reassuring smile that Alexander had given to Miles when they had first meet…the apple had not fallen very far from the tree. "Did you want to go home now?" Alexander turned to Miles.

"I'd like to stay a while longer, if that's okay with you, Mr. Thorn?" Miles was far too overwhelmed by Damien at this point to call him by his first name.

"Sure, why don't you two take Miles downstairs...play pool, or video games."

"Come on." Alexander and Delia waited for Miles to take off his outdoor clothing and then took him downstairs and the three of them hung out for another hour until Miles decided that he should go home.

"Do you two want to come with me, or stay here?"

Under normal circumstances, Delia and Alexander would have leaped on the opportunity to stay home without anyone else in the house, but this was different. Brother and sister wanted to learn from their father so that next time they would, hopefully, have an idea how to proceed on their own without having to rely on Damien.

"No, we'd like to come with you." Delia spoke for her brother and everyone put on their coats and headed out to the car. The siblings let Miles sit in the front seat with their father, but instead of talking among themselves, as was usually the case, they were paying strict attention to how Damien was handling Miles.

First, Delia and Alexander noticed that Damien offered up more information about himself than Alexander had done, but it was information that could be gotten publicly, so Damien really wasn't really revealing anything personal; and as Miles had done with Alexander, Miles was telling Damien practically everything there was to know about himself.

Damien had told his children much, but had kept the information about who and what made a good disciple to himself. Even Delia, privy to more insider knowledge longer than Alexander, was little better informed than her brother about what to do if they ever encountered anyone willing to offer him or herself up as a follower and disciple of Satan and Damien Thorn.

He pulled onto the driveway, up to the house and all four of them got out of the car. Again, Delia and Alexander would have normally stayed inside the car, but they wanted to see what transpired.

Damien brought Miles up to the door, rang the doorbell and a man in this thirties, and very handsome, answered the door. Delia and Alexander knew that this was Daniel, and it wasn't because Miles had introduced him as such. Emotions poured off Daniel in thick waves, devotion, love, ecstasy, joy all directed at Damien.

Delia and Alexander knew that there wasn't going to be much of a conversation, Miles, Delia and Alexander were all impediments to that, but it was enough for Damien's children to watch their father, who was in his element. Daniel went back inside the house and handed Damien his business card and in return, Damien told Daniel to call and they would get together.

"I'll see you both at school tomorrow?" Miles looked at his new friends, worried that they would abandon him.

"You bet." Alexander gave Miles a wide smile.

"Sure." Delia smiled and gave him a reassuring nod.

Daniel put his arm around his brother's shoulder. It was less about an act of protection, and more a signification of Daniel's intention of introducing Miles to an…alternative way of thinking about things. Daniel and Damien said goodnight to each other, and Daniel thanked Delia and Alexander for having invited Miles over to their house and everyone parted ways.

The siblings could barely contain themselves and it took all their effort not to pounce on Damien, both literally and figuratively, and demand that their father explain the ins and outs of what was going on. Instead, Damien quietly led his children back to the car and brother and sister got into the back seat together. The ride home was silent with Delia and Alexander only exchanging glances between each other.

When the Thorns returned back to the house, it was nearly eight.

"Will you two please start dinner?" Damien looked from Delia to Alexander, who both nodded.

"Of, course." They watched their father go upstairs and head to his room and they went to the kitchen.

Delia turned on the oven, set the temperature and waited for the oven to beep, indicating that it was hot enough to put in the lasagna. Alexander and Delia were in the middle of making salad when Alexander couldn't stand it any longer, put down the knife and turned to his sister.

"Did we do something wrong?"

"Are we in trouble? No. Did we do something incorrectly? That's what we want to know. I think we threw him for a loop."

"Why, we're not innocent children. Damien knows that we know what Daniel did, whom he killed for father. What's the big deal?" Alexander shrugged.

"I don't know. It's a big step. We've been sort of focused on us for the past few years. Now it's time to take what we know and use it on other people. Also, he's never made his love and care of us contingent on anything, maybe he thinks that that's what he's done, if not on purpose then subconsciously."

"Should we say something?"

"Let's wait to see what happens at dinner."

Alexander went back to the salad and Delia put the lasagna in the oven. It would now be another hour before they ate. In the meantime, Delia and Alexander set the table in the dining room rather than the kitchen table, complete with the good china and crystal, figuring that their appropriation of Miles for Damien represented an important milestone in their development and they wanted to celebrate. At one point, Delia poured a glass of wine for her father, letting it breathe.

Delia and Alexander sat in the kitchen and waited and talked and realized that their father had come downstairs, but was in his study.

Once everything was ready, Alexander knocked on the door of the study. When Damien came out, he found his children in the dining room waiting for him. A piece of lasagna was on his plate and they had not put salad in his bowl, leaving him to decide how much he wanted.

"Everything looks very nice." Damien sat and took a drink of wine.

"Thank-you," Delia and Alexander both replied to their father and looked at each other.

The siblings picked at their food…the silence was horrible for them and while usually it was Delia who broke down first and said something to their father, tonight it was Alexander who put down his fork and looked at Damien.

"Please say something to us. We know that we didn't do anything wrong and that we're not in trouble, at least we hope that we aren't. But Delia and I don't know if what we did was…correct…what could have been done differently. We need to know for next time."

"We want there to be a next time; we liked what we did."

"It was fun. He was your late birthday present. We figured instead of trying to get you something that you didn't have, we'd get you more of something that you wouldn't mind having." Alexander smirked at his father.

"We don't want you to think that you made us do it; you didn't. You've never made us do anything we don't want to do, or aren't ready to do, or made your love dependent on something. We're telling you we're ready to learn and move on." Delia was quiet. "Aren't we your pups anymore?"

Damien smiled. "Always."

"Then it behoves you as the father jackal to properly instruct your whelps, especially when they want you to teach them."

Dinner seemed to now begin in earnest as everyone dug in and enjoyed their meal.

"Well, let me ask you: what would you have done differently?"

Alexander looked to his sister, who shook her head.

"This is more important for you than for me, you first." Delia ate and listened to her brother.

"Well, if it wasn't for what Miles repeated from his brother, I doubt I would have brought him home to meet you so soon. We wanted to surprise you, and now that that's over with, I don't think we'll be doing that again anytime soon…bring someone home without advance notice. Once we brought Miles home to Daniel and we could feel all the emotion for you, we knew we had done the right thing."

"I'd say that's pretty good. When it comes to disciples, we need to be careful about who and what comes into our home. Do you have anything to add, Delia?"

She shook her head. "No, I agree with the both of you."

"Is there a right way to do things?" Alexander sat in rapt attention.

"That's looking at it too simplistically. The way to do things is determined by the type of person coming to you. First, you have those born apostles of Satan, like Paul, like one of the priests who helped deliver me and like my nanny. Once they are...triggered...for lack of a better word, they will find their way to us. We trust no human unequivocally, but we listen to the apostles and let them in. Next, you have those who could be called true believers, but those who aren't born to us."

"Like Thomas."

"Yes, Xander, like Thomas. He believes in our cause and when he came to me, there was very little if any lying and manipulation involved. If damnation and hell-fire were the punishment for his choice, he'd gladly take it. Then there are people whom you need, but don't believe in what we believe and are converted by any necessary means. There are also those who believe what we believe but are unstable. They have to be watched and generally have to be disposed of when we're done with them. Others come to us for reasons that are different than what I've mentioned."

"And then what?" Like her brother, Delia was giving her father her undivided attention.

Damien smiled at her. "Let's finish dinner first and then we'll talk."

The younger Thorns quickly gobbled down their dinner and rinsed their dishes and put them in the dishwasher and once Damien was finished, the conversation was taken up to the chapel.

...666...

It was well after midnight when Damien called it a day. "I would however, like to see you both in my room before you go to bed."

And each went to their rooms and brushed their teeth and changed into their night clothes and came back to their father's room. Damien was in bed reading when they came in.

"I love you both and I am very proud of both of you…and yes, I like my present very much. I've never made my protection and love contingent on anything because that's not what a parent does, that being said, being part of this family comes with duties and responsibilities and that you both have sought out those duties and responsibilities at thirteen...I'm impressed and happy. And I want to make sure you understand something: Miles is not going to show up to school tomorrow signed, sealed and delivered. I will speak with Daniel at some point and I'll help him with Miles…with whom you plan to do what?"

Delia and Alexander looked at each other and then at Damien with confused expressions on their faces. "Keep hanging out with him. Obviously, we'd like to help him make friends with some other kids, so he's not always hanging around us, but we'd be friends with him…bring him here…are we not supposed to do that?" Delia raised an eyebrow at her father.

"Yes, and do you like him?"

"Are we supposed to? Because we don't. The goal is to make him a disciple…it only matters that it looks like we like him…or are Delia and I missing something?"

"Very good, is there anything else?"

"I'm good. Goodnight." Xander walked across Damien's bed and left.

"Goodnight Xander. And you?"

Delia shrugged. "I'm fine."

"Good night, whelp number one"

"Goodnight." And like her brother, she disappeared out the door.

...666...

Delia was in her room for only a few minutes when she heard the light knock on the door. Without using words, she told him to come in.

Alexander came in, shutting and locking the door behind him. He came over to Delia and she reached for him, their hands interlocking and she pulled him to her, their mouths meeting.

She melted against the delicious sweetness of his kiss and her hands moved down Alexander's back, pulling him closer to her. Eventually, Alexander pulled his mouth away from hers, though she could feel him against her.

"I'm here to negotiate…among other things." He began unbuttoning Delia's pyjama top; she, in turn, was unbuttoning Alexander's.

"I see. What are the terms?"

"I give you an erotic telling concerning events surrounding the elimination of the nazarene for father, which will be neither about babies, nor disciples doing things for Damien. If the story is successful, you give me something in return."

"And how, exactly, will we determine the story's success?"

Alexander smirked and tossed Delia's pyjama top to the floor, which was soon joined by his own. "As usual, the next time father is out of the house for a significant period of time, I tell you the story. You will neither force nor hide the intensity of your arousal. I win when you say two words to me."

"And what would those two words be?"

"You win."

"Clever, I'll have to remember that. And what is it that you want?"

Alexander reached down and helped her out of her bottoms; Delia removed his bottoms and they now stood before each other dressed only in their under things.

Delia put her hand on Alexander's chest and she backed him up until the back of his legs hit her bed. She pushed him and he sat and moved up until his head was on her pillow. He got up onto his elbows.

She got onto all fours and crawled across the bed until she straddled him.

"I like you on top, Deedle. I'd like it even more if I had something interesting to look at." Alexander reached up and hooked his index finger underneath Delia's bra strap. "As pretty as your matching pink bra and panties are, I want the top part off from now on."

"I don't know Xander, with everything that's gone on today and with you here with me, all the blood in my head is going to other parts of my body. Maybe, if you helped me with that, a couple of times, I might be able to…."

"Think?"

Delia nodded.

"Let me see what I can do." Alexander pulled her down to him and her mouth met his and the two of them succumbed to pleasure.

...666...

Alexander lay in Delia's arms, her fingers entwined in his hair and her thumb brushed against his mark, sending familiar chills through him.

"Did you have fun today?" he whispered into her ear.

Delia moaned and giggled, Alexander's breath tickled. "Which part?"

He propped himself up on his left elbow. "All of it…the thought of making Miles a disciple of Satan's, of handing him over to father. All he was lacking was a big red bow tied around his neck. However, if I know my sister, and I think I know her pretty well, she would have preferred sitting down with Miles and using pragmatism and common sense to explain to him why Satan would make a much better God than theirs. All that manipulation and lying just exasperates Delia."

She held out her hand to her brother.

"We have a bet?" Alexander put his hand in hers.

"But it had better be good, Nander, or else, it's going to be a long time until you see these." Delia pointed at her bra.

"Trust me, I'm up for the challenge." Alexander put on his pyjamas and sat back down on the bed. Delia knelt behind him and kissed his mark. "Do you want me to stay?" He turned to look at her.

"I always want you to stay, but I'm so worried that the night we decide to spend together will be the night of the morning he decides to come looking for us."

"I know." He kissed her forearm, which was draped over his shoulders. He got up, turned and held out his hand and helped Delia out of bed. She wasn't leaving her room so there was no reason for her to put her night clothes back on. She took her brother's hand and lead him to her door.

"We'll be off at school and then every night will be spent together."

"No worrying about being overheard. Just think of it, we can be as loud as we want."

Alexander laughed. "I can be pretty loud. Where do you think we're going to live?"

"Out in the middle of nowhere, so that we can do whatever we want, whenever we want to whomever we want. However, if you at least want to doing things without my bra on, your story had better be good and if Damien says he's going to be late tomorrow night, that's it, that's your opportunity."

Like with most other things, he didn't bother asking her if she were serious. "You just get ready to lose that bra." He didn't want to leave; he wanted to take her back to her bed and climb in beside her and hold her until they fell asleep, but that wasn't going to happen, at least not tonight.

Delia was quiet and then looked her brother in the eyes. "I think Jeanette Parker is perfect and she's a nice girl. She'll make a good first girlfriend."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I don't like it, but we need to make sure you look like a normal, wholesome, all-American boy and it doesn't get more wholesome and normal than Jeanette Parker."

"Then I'll ask her tomorrow." He closed his eyes. "I'll have to kiss her, eventually."

Delia felt his regret. "I know and like I said, I don't like it, but it's what needs to be done." She gave him a wan smile; he had opened his eyes by then.

Alexander leaned forward and put his forehead against his sister's. "I love you, Deedle, forever and always."

Delia closed her eyes, but moved so that her mouth was beside his right ear. "Satan may have your soul, but just remember who owns the rest of you."

She opened the door and Alexander took one step out into the hall.

Delia smiled coyly at him. "Goodnight, Xander."

"Goodnight, nag." He watched as she closed the door.

He would take the longer route back to his room on the other side of the house so he wouldn't have to run into Damien, but he waited and in a few moments, the light that was under her door disappeared. He turned and made his way to the stairs to go to his room and to bed.