Winter

Originally published in Deals with the Devil, ed. Mike Resnick, Martin H. Greenberg and Loren D. Estheman. Short story of 6k words.

Wealth, fame, power—these are the things out of which devils tempt mortals to trade away their souls. It’s a strictly favor-for-favor bargain. But even devils grow bored, and Aazian is among the oldest. What he wants is the unusual, what he creates are traps for the unwary. Those who want wealth, fame or power are easy to entrap—let others do that mundane work.

He has taken the souls of those who would never otherwise reach his realm, twisting them slowly until they are his, and his alone. And he has been following one mortal—a mortal who asks of him something he has never before been asked.