She was still chuckling at 11:59 pm, when Tremon Philippe came for her at last.
Shizuka picked up her violin case and walked calmly to Tremon Philippe.
She nodded to Tremon. “I’m ready.”
“Miss Satomi!” Astrid gave her a paper bag.
“From the Aguilars,” she managed to say.
“Thank you, Astrid, for everything. Be happy, okay?”
And then it was midnight.
“Shizuka Satomi, as you defaulted on your contract, I hereby exercise the right—”
“Wait! I forgot something.”
Shizuka fished around in her purse, then tossed something shiny to Astrid.
“Your car. Your keys.”
“M-Miss Satomi!”
“As I was saying,” Tremon continued, “I hereby exercise the right to your soul.”
The demon grinned and licked his teeth.
“Shizuka. It’s finally your turn to pay.”
A surge of orange fire shot from out of the demon’s hands. Shizuka closed her eyes as she was engulfed in a bright green glow.
“MISS SATOMI!”
Astrid grabbed at the air in front of her.
But Shizuka Satomi, the Queen of Hell, was gone.
“Are you happy now?” Astrid shrieked.
But Tremon Philippe did not seem triumphant. He looked around, unsure.
“It’s not supposed to work like that.”
Suddenly, he glared at Katrina, but Katrina shrugged.
“You really do look like a toad, don’t you?”
“SHIZUKA!” Tremon Philippe screamed.
The demon burst into raging hellfire and leapt into the sky.
37
“Are we cloaked?”
“Yes, Mother. Welcome aboard. And you too, Miss Satomi.”
“Good! Shizuka, please take a seat. We need to hurry. Shizuka?”
Shizuka opened her eyes. Why wasn’t she burning?
What was going on?
This was not Hell. And that was not the Devil. That was Shirley?
And Lan?
And they were on a—spaceship?
They were moving very quickly. Shizuka looked in the rearview screen and saw a distant ball of fire.
“Don’t worry. He won’t catch the runabout,” Lan said. She motioned to Shirley.
“Please open a commlink to the control center.”
“Commlink opened, Mother.”
There was a brief pause, and then, “Lanny, are you okay?”
“We’re fine, Aunty. But let’s chat later. Please activate the stargate.”
“Yes, Captain. Stargate activated!”
At that moment, the entire city went dark. Not just the electric lights, but electric cars, cell phones, gaming devices. Everything went silent except for the giant pulsing donut.
On the front screen, Shizuka saw the Big Donut crackle with lavender and blue. Roseate splashes of space-time danced upon plasma sprinkles as the donut began unfolding, expanding.
But then the donut went dark, before weakly sputtering to life again.
“Aunty! What is going on?”
“I’m sorry, Lanny,” said Aunty Floresta. “We’re doing our best here, but the warp field won’t hold steady.”
“The stargate power levels are fluctuating as we feared,” Shirley said.
“Aunty—reinitialize the Big Donut. Shirley, circle the ship around, and let’s do this again. Shirl—”
Lan paused as she saw the viewscreen. The image of the fireball now filled half of the display.
“Mother! The demon is closing fast. He will reach us in four seconds. Three, two—”
How was this possible? There was no way that a ball of fire should catch an Imperial runabout.
Orange flames raked the ship.
“I just felt something touch me!” Shizuka said.
“There’s no place in existence you can hide!” Tremon’s voice roared.
“Evasive maneuvers!” Lan said. “Shields! Where are my shields?”
The runabout lurched wildly as it was grazed by another blast of hellfire.
“Shields at eighty-nine percent and holding. He’s making another pass.”
Why was he still approaching? Lan’s mind raced for an answer. Shit! Of course. The runabout was designed for space, and they were still within the planet’s atmosphere.
This was bad. This was really bad.
“Shirley, more power!” Lan shouted.
“Mother, shields are failing.”
And then the runabout was swallowed by the furious ball of Hell.
Shizuka felt a presence clawing through her, hooking into her chest. It was more than fire, more than Tremon. Her skin blistered with lies. Her stomach festered with guilt and shame. Images of her dead students crawled in her eye sockets; a plague of curses howled in her ears. You belong here, with us. You know you deserve this, have you no shame? Let go … let go. It was fire, but more than fire. It was pain, but more so, a hopelessness, a grayness, a perverse sense of peace …