The Devil's Pact Pt. 23

"With two of our Priestesses dead," Gabriel pointed out. "Our Priestesses are too few to spend so recklessly."

"By the time they have recruited the twelve soldiers, the Warlocks will have tripled their guard," I fumed with righteous anger. "Let us strike now before the odds are even worst. After Monday, even with twelve, there will only be a twenty-seven percent chance of slaying the Warlocks. And still two of our Priestesses will die."

"The soldiers are only a last resort."

Curiosity drowned out my anger. "What have you seen in the future that I have not, Gabriel?"

"Observe," Gabriel stated and drew up the threads of mankind. He pointed to a silver--the color of a normal human--thread. "This thread belongs to Alice Perry." He lead me into the past, eight mortal years. Alice's silver thread brushed the red thread of the Warlock Mary Sullivan. "At seventeen, Alice develops an infatuation with Mary," Gabriel informed. "But, slowly it is forgotten as she goes off to college." The silver thread spiraled about the red thread, slowly drifting farther apart as the years went on.

I followed the silver thread through the years as it drifted farther from Mary's and became entwined with another silver thread. Then the threads knotted as Alice married a man six months ago. But Alice and her husband's thread drifted apart and then were separated as Alice's thread became deeply entwined for a few weeks about another man's.

"Adultery," Gabriel said with disgust. "The marriage was broken, probably beyond repair, though the husband knows it not."

Alice's thread brushed once more with Mary's. It circling the Warlock's thread. "Here, the infatuation was rekindled," Gabriel explained. "This was almost two weeks ago, on the very day Sister Louise made her disastrous attempt to exorcise Mark." Alice's thread spiraled closer and closer to Mary's. Gabriel pointed to Alice's thread last Tuesday morning. There Alice's thread tried to work its way between Mary and Mark's thread. The two Warlock threads were bound as tightly as any lovers Ramiel had ever observed.

"A declaration of love?" I asked, staring at the pattern. I was not as skilled at reading Love, or other emotions, in the threads. My expertise lay in identifying conflict.

"Yes," Gabriel nodded. "Alice Perry declared her love to Mary and it was ignored. Mary was too preoccupied with her problems that she didn't even hear what Alice told her. Mark was under the effects of the Bond of Avvah, and Mary had just realized his behavior wasn't natural. Alice declared her love, and it was not reciprocated. Unrequited love is a very powerful emotion."

I followed Alice's thread. In the future, Alice would again attempt to get between Mark and Mary. Next Wednesday afternoon.

"Do you see the opportunity the Bond of Avvah has created?" Gabriel asked.

I frowned, shaking my head.

"Alice never would have made her confession to Mary without it," Gabriel explained. "Alice was too afraid of losing Mary. Alice believed it was inevitable that Mark and Mary's relationship would break up. So she waited, biding her time for the moment when it seemed Mary would leave Mark, and then she would act. Now that she made her declaration of love, it is all Alice can think of. On Wednesday afternoon, in the room of the Blue Spruce motel, Alice will try once more to have Mary all to herself. When Mary rejects Alice's love, she will be vulnerable."

"To the Prayer of Qannow?" I asked in shock. "That Prayer is very dangerous."

"Watch what happens when Theodora exploits this opportunity," Gabriel said and drew Theodora's golden thread until it touched April's. I watched in amazement as I followed Alice's thread into the most probable future, studying the variable and calculating the percentage of success.

"Ninety-nine percent chance of the Warlock Mark's death," I said in awe.

"Yes, and Mary's as well," Gabriel pointed out. "The foolish mortal tied her life to Mark's when she made her Pact. When Mark dies, so shall Mary. Then we shall have two less Warlocks plaguing the world."

"So the Bond of Avvah was meant to fail?" I asked in astonishment. "It was all a set up to create this one opportunity?"

"There was good odds of the Bond working," Gabriel answered. "But it also created this opportunity."

"Then why gather the soldiers at all?" I asked in confusion. "Ninety-nine percent. Only the Creator can predict the future with more accuracy."

"Because, Mark Glassner must die or be exorcised," Gabriel stated. "If Alice fails, then it will fall to Theodora and her sisters. And as you said, the odds are slim, and we shall never again have the power to challenge Mark with our diminished resources."

Gabriel showed me the future and he was right. "The Lord shelter us with his mercy," I whispered. The Warlock Mark Glassner must be stopped. "Is that why you dispatched two more Priestesses? You told me that only Theodora was available? What changed?"

"Only when Mary used her last boon was this pattern set," Gabriel admitted. "Our brother, Lucifer, is setting brush fires across the world, trying to distract us from Mark. I could not move Isabella or Agnes until I was sure they were needed here. That these are the Warlocks he is using."

"What do we do if Theodora fails, Gabriel?" I asked.

"Nothing," Gabriel answered sadly. "We will have lost, Ramiel. But Maryām will see that the fire of hope keeps burning in the Wilderness. She is already taking steps. She is not nearly as confident as I am in this plan."

To be continued...