Evil in Me by Brom

Author:Brom
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group

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Lord Sheelbeth paced in front of her throne. She could hear them, Beel, this Ruby, but they were muffled, as if behind a thick door, could even see a little of their surroundings, but as if through stained glass. What was most helpful was that she could sense their emotions, their fear and excitement, and what she sensed now was hope, and that scared her.

“How, Beel, how could you do this to me again? After all I have done for you.” Lord Sheelbeth wondered if the sheid even remembered how she’d saved him all those centuries ago.

It was back when she was at the height of her rule, back when even God’s angels feared her might; the spirits warned Lord Sheelbeth of demons trespassing in her realm. These weren’t ordinary demons, but devils serving God himself. God, emboldened by his growing power, by his rising throngs of disciples, was sending out angels and demons alike to hunt down the ancient ones—the old gods and deities—casting them into the underworld, cleansing his earthly kingdom of any that might challenge his glory. None were safe, not even the magical spirits and beasts that still roamed the earth.

Lord Sheelbeth attacked these demons, destroyed them, and after doing so, released their prisoners: a harpy, a few bags of fairies, a gnome, and two very grateful goblins. There was one other being—a ghostly thing bound in a jug like a jinn. It was Beel, the sheid. They’d tortured him, all but destroyed him. Lord Sheelbeth brought him home and, using her arts, healed him, made him whole again.

And you had been so grateful then, Beel. Had you not? Why? Because you knew your fate. Knew that the demons would have tortured you for endless ages, until they had turned you into one of them, another twisted servant of Satan.

So, where is your gratitude now, Beel? Now, when I need you most. Have you forgotten your oath to me, forgotten how you wished to serve me, to repay me for my favor? What happened, Beel?

Lord Sheelbeth sighed. “The Baalei Shem … that is what happened.”

After the Baalei Shem cast Lord Sheelbeth down, trapped her in her underworld prison, they thought the ring dead and stored it away with other heretical relics. What they didn’t understand was that the ring was part of Lord Sheelbeth, made of her own flesh—alive. That even though Lord Sheelbeth was trapped in another realm, she was still one with the ring. So, none noticed her eye watching them, scheming, waiting for the right moment to strike.

All went well at first. With the help of Beel, they possessed one of the wizards, compelling him to murder several of his brethren and burn the temple to the ground.

After that it was a crusade to gather souls, as many as they could, for souls were the source of Lord Sheelbeth’s power. And with enough, she could weld their song into a spell, open a conduit between their prison and the ring to escape back into the earthly realm.

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