Shit. Shit-shit-shit-shit-shit! What a mess, what a fucking mess!

Andy was my favorite son, my bloody favorite son, out of Father knew how many! While the odds of me dying were approximately zero, it was always good to have an heir, and I had been considering making Andy mine for several thousand years now. Now this! This!

If it got out that Andy was developing those sorts of feelings, key people might begin to suspect that Andy had a human mother. What if one of my enemies somehow found Amy? Upset, I belched a large ball of hellfire to relieve some of the stress, as I calculated my next move.

I should have known this would happen eventually with my boy! I should have heeded the warning signs! I still remembered, quite clearly, the last time he’d grown attached to one of his marks. It had been foolish of me to brush it off as a learning experience for Andy, I should have told him then about his heritage.

Fuck, even I fell to Cupid’s cursed arrow, and I wasn’t human at all. Some Lord of the Underworld I turned out to be, one look at Amy and I had been a ball of putty and nerves. Hmph!

But Andy wasn’t accustomed to dealing with feeling romantic affection, only manipulating it in others. Now my kid was stuck in a contract to destroy the woman he loved, and he didn’t even realize it yet.

Feeling like an ass, I wondered how badly I had screwed up. Had Andy been in love before, and I had missed the signs, allowed him to flounder and be hurt? I hoped that wasn’t the case, that I wasn’t too late to try and help my son with his first love.

Hastily I reviewed their contract, looking for any detail, any loophole. I wasn’t just an expert at finding ambiguity; I was THE expert.

Fuck. Andy could theoretically find the strength to leave his mark before a month, but that would void their contract. While that option would give Andy the chance to see the girl again, between other hunts, it would also leave her the ability to love and be pleased by someone else. I couldn’t see Andy ever doing that. Like all of his kind, he had a massive ego; he was incredibly possessive about his women. The only other option, (aside from ruining his beloved and leaving her forever, of course), was the classic one: Andy could just never leave her apartment again.

Great. Fucking spectacular. I shook my head and rubbed my temples, blowing away the smoke that had come trickling out of my nostrils. Clearly I needed to go talk to Dad, see if we could work something out. Some kind of atonement or some shit, he was a sucker for that.

In the meantime, I decided to check on Andy and make sure he wasn’t dead already. I performed a simple incantation over my desk. It turned out to be excellent timing, as Andy was, indeed, thin as a wraith! Shit!

I reached through the distance, sensing, again, something darker, something bleak, at play. I rested an ethereal hand on (Y/N)’s head and knew the source was inside.

Hurriedly, but still being cautious, I quested, probing mid-level, looking more thoroughly than I had when I had been in her mind last. I scanned thorough her subconscious. Pangs of guilt shot through me when I found the roots of a nest of pain and lies. Oops. It appeared I had been cock-blocking my own son.

I felt responsible. Over the years, a massive amount of self-loathing, anxiety, and self-doubt had been instilled in (Y/N) by my agents, the world at large, and by her previous partners. Crap. I could sense the near-physical block in her mind. Hoping I wasn’t too late, and also hoping I didn’t put (Y/N) into shock, I reached into her head and grabbed ahold of the larger part of the most appalling portion firmly. I tore a hole that would allow her, at least, to communicate freely with herself, for her mind to circulate. I didn’t want to destroy her personality, but I wanted her to be able to accept affection from my son.

I watched as (Y/N) grabbed her head, swaying, while Andy fell to his knees and then keeled over. Ragnarok, there wasn’t time to wait and see; she needed a push! I decided, just for once, to do something nice, for no other reason. For the love of my son.

I jumped dimensions, pell-mell, rapidly racing the entire distance physically until I alighted on her shoulder, as a very small Jack Nicholson. I had to be quick so she didn’t notice me there. Besides, Andy didn’t have long. I leaned towards (Y/N) and spoke briskly with the most irresistible serpent’s tongue I had used in decades.

“Andy wants your supple body, to fornicate and rut with you, to bring you pleasure. If you deny him a joining with you any longer, he will die. He can think of nothing else, he is consumed by desire for you. Let him gratify you, and quickly, (Y/N), or say goodbye forever, and have his death on your conscience.”

Whatever the outcome was, I didn’t want to be there in person to see it, and so I raced back to my office. I had a terrible ball of fear in my chest. If I lost Andy because that human woman had been too poisoned with self-hatred to give in to his advances, I would never forgive myself!

I was scared for my son, afraid for Amy’s safety! I howled and raised my fist, bolting the door to my office with my mind. Only then, assured of being alone, I let myself quietly break down and cry; from stress and fear that I might lose the son Amy had trusted me to protect, our son! There was nothing else that I, the supposedly mighty Lord of the Dead, could do, to give Andy his heart’s desire, the only thing that could keep him alive.

Notes