I stood in the depths of the darkest part of sheol in a long line of other demons. After what seemed and endless wait, I got to the front.

The guard was a burly creature, the size of a rhino, with scaly skin and massive horns like a deer. Both the chair he sat at and the desk he worked at were far too small for him.

"Who are you here to see?" The guard didn't look up at me from the thick codex open in front of him.

"I'm here to see Cassia."

He grunted and shook his head. "Sorry. She's already got a hundred years worth of demonic lovers waiting for a chance to torment her."

"Good," I said. "Put me down for a hundred years from now."

The guard pinched a pen in the fingers of his meaty hand and dipped it in ink well. "Name?"

"Darius."

He glanced up at me. "She keeps howling your name." He grunted out a laugh. "Seems you're the one who got her sent down here. If I were you, I'd wait a few extra hundred years before visiting."

The demon had a point. I stared at my feet, thinking about his suggestion. "No. I'll see her as soon as there's an opening. If anyone cancels, let me know."

"Rank?" Of course, if there was a cancelation, the next ranking demon would get the spot.

"Warlord of the Dark and the Deep."

On hearing that, he looked at me. I drew my sword and held it out for him, allowing it to gush with a little flame.

He let out a grunt of satisfaction, then nodded, squinted, and scanned the page in front of him. "You outrank everyone on the list. If you want, I could pound the next demon flat when he shows up and get you in in about a year."

To be honest, I liked a hundred years better. My Mikal would be dead by then, and I wouldn't have to worry about what was happening to her while I was with Cassia.

What had she said in that cave and Bethlehem? That I was the cause of the fear and anger she needed to bleed out of herself?

"Sounds good," I told the guard. "If you do that, I'll put in a word for you with the High Lords when next I'm called before them."

At this he grined, revealing a large set of yellow teeth. "Much obliged, my lord."

With that I nodded and left, drifting back up to find Jesus. Though I felt some gratitude toward him for healing Mikal, I knew that my job had no place for that sort of emotion. The High Lords would not be pleased if I didn't do my job.

I can't just locate any human whenever I want, but Jesus is special. Since my assignment to him, I can find his exact location whenever I want. Right now, he was in the wilderness, alone, praying. I found him near sunset, weary from his long day of preaching and healing. Clearly, he was on some kind of mission, visiting his people, performing these miracles, giving out all this cryptic advice. Whatever his purpose, he'd only started and seemed it was already getting to him.

This, of course, was an opportune time for temptation. I flew back to where he'd been preaching and scanned the house and people walking in the streets. Everyone was talking about Jesus and what he'd done. It didn't take more than a few minutes. Two beautiful young women, talking to each other as they carried laundry. The taller of the two caught my eye first--there was a glow to her expression as she spoke.

"I spent the whole day wishing I had some kind of sickness so I could have him lay his hands on me." She giggled.

The other girl laughed. "You're so goofy, Bethany."

Yep. Goofy, but with dark eyes, clear skin, and long, shining hair. Just what I needed. I followed her until she returnend home and put her laundry away, then I whispered in her ear.

"You should go for a walk on the hill overlooking the dessert. He's there, waiting for you."

She glanced in that direction, ran a hand through her hair, and headed out the door. To be honest, I hadn't expected it to work that easily. Mortals can't really hear my words when I whisper my temptations, they can only sort of feel them. In this case, though, the fantasy of finding Jesus alone in the wilderness took hold in her imagination at once. She all but glowed as thoughts of staring into his eyes and holding his hands blossomed inside her.

At times, she jogged along the way. That was better than I hoped for.

She arrived at Jesus' location just as the sun was setting. When she saw them, she drew in a breath and called out, "Teacher? Is that you?"

Jesus looked up from where he was kneeling and praying.

"You shouldn't be out here alone, especially at this time."

At this she blushed and looked at the ground. "You're right. I just--I just needed to come out here. You know, to pray." Shyly, she glanced up at him.

Yeah, this girl was good. Had I spent a year training her for this, she couldn't have done better.

Jesus, for his part, seemed to be responding. His eyes were wide, his heartbeat increased.

"The things you said--I just--I mean, praying for people who hurt you?" She clasped her hands over her chest. "When you first said it, the idea just made me cringe. I mean, the guy who's fields we work is so mean to us, and I knew you meant him. I didn't want to do it, but when I tried praying for him I--I just--" She stopped and took a deep breath and gave a nervous laugh. "I felt so much lighter, you know?"

All the while she spoke, she drew closer to him.

I drew near to Jesus. "See how beautiful she is."

To Bethany I whispered, "You knew he would be here. You are destined to be together."

He got to his feet and she closed the remaining steps to him and threw her arms around him. Not what I expected--nor Jesus, for that matter. He responded awkwardly. "I'm--I'm glad you did that."

"Notice how good she smells," I whispered to him.

He inhaled and closed his eyes. I could feel the longing in him, the very human stirring of desire.

"She wants you," I whispered. "You could have her, here. You'd marry her, of course, since you are a good person. She could follow you as you go from town to town and help you with your teaching."

As my thoughts had taken hold in the girl, so they took hold in Jesus. Not quite the burning lustful images I hoped, but the image of her traveling with him, of their children playing with them.

"Kiss her," I urged.

He drew away from her, placed his hands on either side of her head. He stroked her hair with one hand.

"Now. This is the time," I said.

She trembled. Her whole body vibrated in anticipation.

A tear slipped down his cheek. Of all the possible responses he could have had, I didn't expect that one. What could possibly have provoked him to weep.

"You have gladdened my heart, coming to see me, but the Son of Man must be alone. You know that, don't you?"

I didn't see how she could have, but she nodded.

"Tonight you will have a dream," Jesus said. "In it you will see the face of a young man you know. One day, you will marry him and he will make you very happy."

A kind of peace settled in the girl then, quieting the desire that had been in her a moment before. "Thank you," she said. Without another word, she turned and departed.

Jesus watched her go. He stared at the place where she'd been for a few seconds after she'd disappeared from sight, then he sat down and wept.

I sighed. Why couldn't he do one thing that made sense to me?

"Father," he prayed. "I have but sipped, and already this cup of poison burns me. How will I endure the drinking of it? Please, give me strength and peace."

Overhearing a prayer or a thought spoken aloud is normally a boon for a demon, the more knowledge we have of the way our victims think, the better we can tempt them--but I had no idea what Jesus was talking about. All I knew was that he was full of fear and dread.