---

For a list of all the Devil’s Pact Chapters and other stories click here

This is a revised version of the story that I published on Smashword starting back in 2014. It is rewritten with much-added material. However, I did have to age up some of the characters so no one is underage in this version.

---

---

Click here for Chapter 1.

---

---

Chapter Two

When the Holy Vizier laid eyes on the Living Gods, she knew her destiny had finally arrived. All her years of study had prepared her to serve Them.

—The Gospel of April 27:51

Samnag “Sam” Soun

I did not want to go to work on a Saturday. But I had to. Without my job at the Institute of Ancient Studies, a part of NYU where I attended as a grad student, I wouldn’t be able to afford tuition or food. It made the difference that my scholarships lacked.

So I was up way too early. I was glad I didn’t have to share my room any more. I even had my own bathroom. It was a small bathroom, but it was all mine. I showered and then stepped out, my petite body wrapped up in a towel. I dried off, combed my short, black hair and pulled on my silver-rimed glasses.

I know. Every Asian student wore glasses. There was a nearsighted epidemic.

I dressed, gathered my books—I was in the early stages in my dissertation on Akkadian cuneiform and its transition to the Phoenician alphabet—and headed out of my dorm, locking the door behind me. I took two steps down the hall when I heard something completely unexpected.

The unmistakable sound of a woman moaning in throaty pleasure.

My cheeks burned. I hugged my books to my chest and tried to ignore the sound. I made it two steps when motion caught my eye. A dorm’s door was half open, giving me a perfect view of a bed and the two girls writhing together.

My eyes widened. Betsy had a girl I didn’t know lying beneath her. My redheaded neighbor, a bi girl that didn’t discriminate on whom she took to bed, pumped her hips, her ass clenching while her boobs bounced before her. She had a vinly harness about her waist, the straps disappearing around her ass and between her crotch.

“What is she…?” I trailed off, my eyes widening. I wasn’t the most sexually active girl, but I knew what a strap-on dildo was.

Betsy fucked the other girl hard. She was Asian, though not Cambodian like I was. She was Korean or Japanese, her blue-black hair flying as she bucked and writhed into Betsy’s thrusts. I stood rooted in place, my cheeks burning, unable to look away.

I wasn’t one for watching porn, but I had watched hentai. I loved Anime, so it wasn’t surprising that I had discovered the porn version of Japanese animation. When I watched one called “Parade, Parade” I discovered a new fetish—futanari.

Dickgirls.

Flashes of Betsy fucking not with a strap-on but her own cock burned through my mind. I squirmed my hips, fighting off my desires. I shouldn’t be standing here thinking such lewd thoughts. What if they noticed me?

They would think I was a pervert.

But I kept watching. “Fuck me,” moaned the Asian girl. “Pound me. Yes, yes. I love your girl-cock.”

“Take it and cum, slut,” gasped Betsy.

And then a door opened behind me. I let out a startled squeak and rushed down the hall to the stairs. I didn’t want to get caught watching them. Betsy should have closed her door. I rushed down the stairs, my heart racing.

A new image popped into my head. Me with my own dick fucking the Asian girl. She would moan and gasp, begging to be fucked hard by my girl-cock. I grew so wet. I soaked my poor panties. Today would be a long, uncomfortable day if I had a hot pussy begging to be satisfied.

I did not have time to masturbate. I had to work on my dissertation.

* * *

Mark Glassner

“Well, well, well,” I grinned when I saw the new Rachel, blonde and sexy, wearing a racy dress which showed off the married woman’s curves. She clearly wanted to dress to please her husband on her honeymoon.

Only Mary and I were enjoying what should have been his. Damn, I loved my powers.

“You look gorgeous,” Mary said, breaking away from me to kiss Rachel on the lips. My dick hardened as I watched. Mary licked her lips after the kiss. “Someone’s been naughty.”

Rachel blushed and glanced at Leah. “Well, I wanted to be wild this morning.”

“You were,” Leah giggled.

“Mmm, I could tell,” purred Mary, her eyes almost devouring both blondes.

“Sir,” 15, a black-haired bodyguard, said, “breakfast has arrived.”

“Thank you,” I nodded, then cupped her fair chin and kissed her on the lips.

15 shuddered in delight. All the bodyguard worshiped us. We brought Squad B along to guard us in New York City, leaving 23 and 24 behind to guard the plane while 15, 16, 32, and 34 would protect us in the city.

“Let’s eat then get going,” Mary said. “I want to get my hands on the book.”

I nodded my head. The Magicks of the Book of Endor. Right now, Brandon was in Europe hunting it down. I had Doug Allard on the trail. I hadn’t heard from him in a few days. I needed to remember to call him.

Breakfast was a simple affair: buttered croissants, coffee, strawberry in cream. We ate fast then Mary and I dressed. The bodyguards called down to make sure our limo would be waiting for us out front and we headed to the elevators.

I loved riding elevators ever since I fucked Violet in one.

The moment the doors opened, I grabbed the now-blonde bride and shoved her against the side of the wall. A smile crossed her lips as my hands grasped her smooth thighs and slid up her skirt, exposing her wet, shaved snatch.

“Your husband has no idea he married a blonde slut,” I grinned as I pulled out my cock.

“I’ll educate him,” she smiled.

Before the doors even closed, I had my cock buried to the hilt in Leah’s tight, hot, married cunt. I shuddered in delight as her flesh wrapped about my dick. She let out a loud, low moan, her cunt squeezing down on my cock.

“That’s it, slut,” Mare moaned beside me. She leaned against the wall. Leah knelt before Mary, the chauffeur slut’s head buried beneath Mary’s skirt.

The bodyguard’s smirked as the doors closed.

I fucked Rachel hard. I pounded her cunt as the elevator lurched down. A hot, fast fuck. Quick. My balls already boiled. The excitement of screwing a bride while riding the elevator, not knowing if the elevator would stop and we would be watched made my blood boil.

“I’m going to cum hard into your cunt, slut,” I hissed into her ear. “You’ll enjoy my seed dripping out of your cunt when you go back to your husband. I had your cunt first on your honeymoon.”

“You did,” she gasped, humping against me.

“You’re a nasty fucking slut, aren’t you?” I growled, my balls smacking into her flesh. “A nasty, married slut!”

“Yes, yes!” She panted. “Fuck my newlywed cunt!”

The doors to the elevator opened and there was a shocked gasp. I looked to my right and smiled at an older woman with a younger, eighteen—mother and daughter. My dick ached as a shocked, horrified expression crossed the mother’s face.

But it was the daughter’s flushed red innocence, her blue eyes wide-eyed awe, that made my balls boiled. She was eighteen. Was she a virgin? Probably not. But she had never seen a man fuck another woman so hard. So powerfully.

“She’s staring at us,” Rachel moaned. Her body trembled.

Her cunt exploded about my thick cock as I kept pumping. Her flesh massaged my dick. She gripped me tight, humping against me as her head arched. Her moans echoed through the elevator. Such a beautiful sound.

“Oh, fuck!” Rachel gasped. “I’m cumming! Oh, fuck! Oh, yes!”

Did she say it for the watcher’s benefit. Did she want the mother and daughter to know that she was cumming? Did she want to advertise to the world how much of a cheating slut she was? The daughter responded. Her hips shifted. Her nipples hardened, denting the fabric of her blouse. We made made the barely legal beauty wet.

I almost called out, and then the doors closed.

“Fuck,” I grunted as the elevator lurched down. I thrust one last time. My cum exploded out of me. I grunted and gasped as her pussy milked out every drop. My vision fuzzed. The elevator reached the lobby as the final blast of cum shot out of my dick.

“Damn, that was good,” I groaned, pulling away.

“Uh-huh,” gasped Rachel, my cum running down her thighs.

“See,” giggled Leah, her face smeared with Mary’s juices, “you are a blonde. Look at all the fun you had.”

Rachel joined her in laughing as Mary and I strolled arm-in-arm through the lobby, our bodyguard around us.

* * *

Rachel Goldstein-Blum

The excitement of the elevator fuck dwindled in the limousine. The ride became boring. Mark and Mary stopped being the adventurous couple that had claimed me on my honeymoon. They transformed into tourists.

They gawked as they experienced their first trip to the city, getting excited at all the sights. I had been to New York many times, I even worked in the city once, so I didn’t have the same sense of excitement at seeing the famous landmarks of Manhattan.

I was itching to fool around. I had a pussy full of Mark’s cum just begging for Mary or Leah or even one of the bodyguards to lick out of me. I rubbed my hands on my thighs, glancing up front where Leah drove, wishing she was back here eating me out.

I let out a frustrated moan.

Mark and Mary didn’t even notice.

“Oh, my god, we have to go there, Mark,” Mary gushed. “It’s so tall.”

“Yeah, Mare,” he grinned.

I sighed and leaned back in my seat.

They hadn’t told me where we were going, but I didn’t expect their destination to be New York University. I blinked as we stopped before NYU’s campus. Leah climbed out, running around to open the door for Mark and Mary. I hesitated.

Should I go with them?

“Leah, you and Rachel can stay with the limo,” Mary said. “32 and 34 will guard the vehicle.”

“Okay,” I said, glancing at Leah and smiling at her.

Mary giggled and then took Mark’s arm. 15 and 16 appeared from their cop car—it was exciting having a police escort—and the four of them walked into the college campus as Leah slipped into the limo, a big grin on her face.

I wasn’t disappointed that I was left behind. I had Leah with me. She slid down the seat and we kissed hard, passionate. I moaned, holding her. I had missed the adventurous blonde girl for the ten minutes we were apart. And, as her tongue was exploring my mouth, I wondered if I was falling in love with Leah.

But I loved Jacob, right? I certainly missed Jacob and part of me wished he was here. Could I love two people at once? Would Jacob understand my new feelings? Or Leah? It was all too confusing, and Leah’s tongue was too wet and warm in my mouth to think straight.

I shuddered, savoring the heat of her body as it was pressed up against me. Then her hand found my breast, groping me through my top. I shuddered as she pressed me down onto the padded bench, sliding atop me.

“You’re so beautiful,” Leah whispered, her lips moving to nibble at my ear. “I just feel so safe with you.”

“What are you saying?”

“Ever since I laid eyes on you, I can’t get you out of my mind,” Leah answered, her hand slipping down the front of my breast and cupping my tit. “I know we just met, but, I just feel so close to you.”

Was she falling in love with me, too? My heart boomed in my chest. What should I do? “I…I feel close to you.”

“Good.” Leah pulled my dress down to expose my pale bosom. She groped my naked breasts as she scooted down my body. “Good.” Then her lips sucked at my nipple.

“Mmm, your tongue feels so nice,” I moaned as the pleasure rushed through my body. I squirmed and undulated on the seat, my head swimming with excitement.

“Wait until my tongue’s in your pussy!” she said with a wanton smile.

“I can’t wait,” I purred as she kept nipping and sucking at my tits.

She made love to my breasts. That was the only word for the lavish attention she paid to my small mounds. Her tongue circled my areolas. I groaned and shuddered. My eyes fluttered back into my head as I let out soft sigh after soft sigh. She had such a wonderful, teasing touch. I squirmed beneath her, stroking her hair, loving her.

The excitement built. My pussy, flooded with Mark’s cum, clenched. My thighs writhed together, smearing the delightful mess together while she kept playing with my sensitive breasts. Her fingers stroked me. I had so many wonderful nerves in them.

“Leah,” I sighed, my tongue fluttering. “Mmm, yes, Leah. You are so delicious. Oh, wow. Oh, yes.”

“And you have such beautiful…” She sucked hard on my right nipple. “…gorgeous…” She sucked on my left nipple. “…tits.”

I gasped as she sucked hard on my right nipple again. Her lips nibbled on the nub between hard sucks, then she moved back to the left. My back arched with each suck. The tingling sensations ran straight down to my pussy, making me squirm and grow wetter and wetter.

“Oh, yes, yes, yes,” I groaned. “Oh, wow, that’s good. I think…I think I’m going to cum.”

“Good,” she moaned.

Her fingers pinched and rolled one nipple while her mouth made love to the other. I squirmed on my seat, my moans echoing through the limo. It rocked as I moved and undulated. I hoped pedestrians walking by realized we were being naughty in here.

I could hear them walking by and see their shadows on the tinted windows. My neck arched. Joy burst through my pussy. My nipples both ached as a small orgasm rippled through me. I groaned and gasped. My eyes fluttered as the pleasure burned through me.

“Leah, you’re so wonderful.”

“Ooh, you have such sensitive tits,” Leah groaned. “I’ve never cum just from having my tits played with.”

“I’m lucky,” I panted as the pleasure washed through my mind. A huge smile crossed my lips. I laid there, letting her move my body.

She slipped to the floor and pushed my thighs apart. I sat up and slouched, my ass on the edge of the seat. She shoved my skirt up and let out a gasp as she stared at my pussy. I looked down, my pussy and thighs stained with white jizz.

Leah smacked her lips. “Mmm, you’re all sticky with Mark’s cum. Let me clean you up.”

I shook and gasped as her tongue licked up my vulva. Her tongue dug into my folds, teasing me. I shuddered on the limo’s seat. Moans escaped my lips as she cleaned up Mark’s cum as it leaked out of my married pussy.

I was such a bad wife.

I closed my eyes, enjoying her tongue. I bet she would love to suck Jacob’s cum out of me. I pictured Jacob growing hard as he watched Leah devour the creampie he made in me. I would smile at my husband, his dick ready to fuck Leah. I would mouth, “Fuck her,” as I shuddered on her lips.

Then Jacob would fall to his knees behind Leah. He would fuck her so hard. He would thrust his cock into the whore’s depths while I writhed on her. My husband would discover such joy as he fucked and plowed the slut’s pussy.

His moans and grunts would grow. He would be so sexy as he fucked her. Then he would slam into her cunt and unload his cum. Leah would moan so loudly into my pussy, cumming as Jacob filled her to the brim. Then she would be dripping with his pussy.

And I would get to lick her clean.

I moaned, seizing Leah’s blonde hair, pulling her hungry mouth tight against my pussy as I imagined the sight of Leah’s pussy dripping with Jacob’s cum. A feast baked just for me. I would spread her open and bury my tongue into her cunt, gathering salty jizz and spicy pussy. I banquet I could dine on forever.

I knew right then and there that I would have to share Leah with my Jacob.

“Oh, Leah,” I moaned as the pleasure swelled through me. “Oh, yes. You wonderful slut. Oh, God, I love it. Lick up all the cum. We’re going to have so much fun together. Me and you. Yes, yes, yes.”

Her fingernails dug into the cheeks of my ass as she moaned into my cunt. I humped against my blonde lover. I bit my lip, loving my wild honeymoon. The limo rocked as I thrashed. I screamed out my bliss as my orgasm burst inside of me.

“Drink it all down,” I moaned. “Oh, I love it when you lick me, Leah.” I almost shouted out, “I love you.”

Leah moaned, tonguing me, keeping my orgasm alive. Just because I came didn’t mean she had to stop eating my pussy. She had Mark’s jizz to find in my depths. She kept exploring, her tongue diving deep, making sure she found every drop of Mark’s spunk while the bliss burned through my body.

My head lolled, staring out the tinted windows at the passersby. They had no idea a pair of wild, blonde sluts were inside having so much fun.

* * *

Mary Sullivan

“Look at them,” I purred as Mark and I crossed NYU’s campus. “Mmm, I bet they know how to suck cock and lick pussy.”

Mark’s hungry gaze whipped around to the pair of barely legal coeds sitting on the steps of a building. The pair laughed as they ate prepackaged yogurt in small cups. Their mirth drifted over while their breasts strained their tops.

“Yes, they would,” Mark grinned. “Shame we have to get the book. Playing can wait.”

“Uh-huh,” I nodded, my hips shifting. Damn, I was so wet.

I glanced over my shoulder at the limo. It rocked. Those sluts wasted no time. Rachel and Leah sent such a giddy shudder through me. It was so wonderful watching the two together. They connected, like Mark and I had.

Soul mates.

I had no idea what that meant for Rachel’s young marriage, but the new love between two people, especially two women, was such a delicious thing to witness up close. Love blossomed in our own harem. Desiree and Abigail were engaged to be married, and I had witnessed the glances and smiles shared by Chasity and Noel. I shuddered, pressing close to Mark. I glanced down at my left hand, my engagement ring sparkling on my finger. The smoky diamond was such an original gem.

Dark and mysterious.

“I love you,” I said, kissing him on the cheek.

He gave me a “what brought that on look” even as he beamed at me. “Love you, too.”

His kiss landed on my lips.

I really wanted to play with those coeds, but we needed to get our hands on the Magicks of the Witch of Endor. Lilith, if that demon could be trusted, claimed the book would teach us magics. We would need all we could to stop Sister Theodora Mariam, the nun who had enchanted Antsy while she was on vacation in Miami.

The nuns were out there. Our enemy. Dangerous, vindictive. We took steps to bind our sex slaves and family to us so they couldn’t be used as weapons like the nun’s had used Mark’s sister. But more needed to be done to keep us and our loved ones safe.

The Institute for Ancient Studies, the part of NYU that held the Magicks of the Witch of Endor, was a white building made of marble. Like the rest of campus, it was an impressive edifice. I admired it while getting ideas for our mansion’s architecture.

Our mansion needed to be grand. Mark and I were important people. The world needed to know.

We climbed the steps and entered the building. It had a hushed air about it, the same vibe of a library. Our footsteps echoed on the floors as we marched up to the reception desk manned by a cute, Southeast Asian woman. She had a round, olive-toned face, framed by short, blue-black hair. A pair of sliver-framed glasses perched on her small nose. A pile of books and notes sat on her desk and she was typing away at her laptop.

“Hi, just one sec,” she said. She typed some more and then turned to face us, smiling. “Sorry, working on my dissertation. How can I help you…?” Her eyes widened, flicking to our bodyguards. The young woman was not amused. “Is this some frat prank? I don’t have time for that crap.”

I hid a smile.

“No,” Mark answered, not bothering to hide his grin. He always love the shock our scantily clad bodyguards brought. “We need the Magicks of the Witch of Endor. Fetch it.”

She frowned. “Everyone’s after that book,” she muttered as she stood up. She blinked and shook her head, giving Mark a confused glance even as she walked around the desk.

“Wait,” I said, freezing her muscles. Her eyes bulged. Her muscles spasmed. She tried to obey two separate commands that conflicted with each other.

“Wait,” Mark said. “You don’t have to get the book yet.”

The woman sucked in a deep breath, her eyes wild. She stared at us, swallowing and trembling. Intelligence flickered in her eyes. “Are you…?”

“Mark Glassner?” I asked. “He’s not as impressive in person.”

Mark gave me a look. I gave him a sweet smile back.

“Oh, shit,” she said.

“Relax,” I told her, “we’re not going to hurt you. In fact, you want nothing more than to be helpful. What’s your name?”

“Samnag Soun, but everyone calls me Sam.”

“So who else has asked about the book, Sam?” Mark asked.

“This guy, Brandon. Or, I think that was his name. He called earlier this week. Um, maybe Tuesday night? I was here working on my dissertation.”

I gave Mark a look. We knew Brandon was after the book. He went to France a few days ago. Doug Allard was on his trail. Or was he? Mark should try and check up on Doug when we finished here. Brandon was headed for Rennes-le-Château where the nun’s motherhouse resided.

“Well, let’s go get the book,” Mark said. “Lead on.”

“Okay,” She nodded, turned, and led us to a security door. She swiped the lock with a keycard she pulled out of her pocket then held the door open for us. Once through, she rushed ahead to lead the wafy. Here the corridors were less ornate then outside. It quickly came to a set of stairs with a sign that read, “Depository One.”

“So, the Magicks of the Witch of Endor is an interesting book,” Sam explained as she led us. “Some think it was written by Gilles de Rais or Paracelsus. Or even by John Dee. No record of the books existence turns up before the 1500’s you see. However, it is written in Aramaic, in a style consistent with an intertestamental apocrypha.”

“What?” Mark asked with a frown. “The intertestamental what?”

My eyebrows furrowed.

“A period of Hebrew writings that date between the time of the Old Testament and the New Testament,” Sam explained. “Like many of the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

“Oh, those are the Gnostic ones, right?” I asked. “The Gnostic Gospel.”

“No, that’s Nag Hammadi,” chuckled Sam.

“And it’s in another language?” Mark asked.

Sam nodded. “Aramaic. The language spoken in Palestine when the New Testament was written.”

“Why am I not surprised it’s in an ancient language I’ve never heard of,” Mark muttered.

I gave him a teasing smile then asked Sam, “Do you have a translation of the book?”

“Nothing published, I’m afraid,” she answered. “I doubt anyone’s ever translated it. Not a lot of research has been done with the book. Our copy was only recently found amid a collection of old books found in a cellar in London and donated anonymously.”

“And can you read it?” I asked.

“Oh yes,” Sam answered. “I’m a doctoral candidate in ancient Semitic languages. I can speak Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic, and I can read Ugaritic and Akkadian cuneiform. I can translate a smattering of other, rarer, Semitic languages. And Koine Greek, of course.” She laughed like we should know why Koine Greek was important.

Mark rolled his eyes, but I found my eyes examining Sam. She was cute. Lithe, exotic.

In the basement, we reached a sealed door that was almost like an airlock. I shuddered as air hissed when she opened the door. It grew cool inside and the air was so dry. I licked my lips as we passed through a second door.

“The library’s climate controlled,” Sam explained as we entered a library. “We keep the oxygen levels lower and there is no humidity to preserve the ancient manuscripts. If you’ll wait here, I’ll fetch it.”

“Sure,” Mark said, looking around.

There were several tables with reading lamps in the center of the room and the walls were lined with tall bookshelves covered with leather bound books. Other shelves had drawers. All were labeled with a complicated catalog system. Sam made a beeline for one shelf and came back holding a slim book.

“Here it is. Bound using techniques common in the fourteenth century and printed on vellum. This book must have been in the possession of John Dee.” She opened the cover and pointed to a strange symbol. Almost like the symbol for a woman, a circle above a cross, but standing on a wavy line with a crescent transfixing the top of the circle and a dot. “The Monas Hieroglyphica, which symbolizes all of creation, was John Dee’s symbol.”

“And who was John Dee?” I asked.

“The court magician to Queen Elizabeth. And an alchemist. Very influential in the esoteric circles. Some say he conjured the storm that smashed the Spanish Armada and saved England from being conquered.”

I flicked my eyes to Mark. He nodded his head, excitement in his eyes. Conjured a storm. I believed it.

Sam turned the page and it was covered in tight, square letters written in fading-black ink. “What does it say?” Mark asked, peering at the words.

“Um, let see,” she frowned, reading silently from right to left instead of left to right. “It’s a summoning ritual. To summon Helel ben-Shachar. That’s the Hebrew name for Lucifer. It literally means the Shining One, Son of the Morning.”

“This is it,” Mark said. “It’s real.”

“And we need a translator.” I reached out and stroked Sam’s face, cutting off an explanation on the origin and etymology of Lucifer’s name. A flush blossomed in the Asian woman’s cheeks, and she looked down. “You are quite pretty. Would you like to kiss me?”

“I…yes,” the girl muttered, her dark eyes flashing briefly to my face before she looked back down at the floor. She hadn’t paid much attention to me, wrapped up in her explanations, but now she had noticed me. My wish affected her, and she became aroused. Her hips twitched.

She had a hot pussy.

I turned the girl’s head towards me, cupping her round, beautiful face. I bent down and kissed the girl on the lips. They were soft and dry. My tongue flicked out, wetting them. She shuddered and let out a soft sight.

“I’ll just get this out of the way,” Mark said, taking the book from Sam’s hand. He gently sat it on the table, folded his arms, and watched us with a big grin on his face.

My hips shifted, my pussy growing wetter as Mark watched. I moaned into the kiss, then sighed when Sam kissed me back. Her lips moved. Her head tilted. Her eyes closed and she groaned, kissing me back with aggression.

My power to make any one desire me took root in Sam. Her hands grew bold, reaching out and touching me. She caressed my body through the sundress I wore, sliding up to brush my breasts or down to rub at my hips.

She would do nicely.

Sam sucked in breaths, her body swaying. She blinked. “Wh-what did you do to me?” She licked her lips, savoring the taste of my sweet mouth. “I’ve never felt so…so captivated before. And never with a woman.”

“Because you love me,” I told her. “You want to be my slave, and Mark’s as well. You want nothing more than to fulfill whatever filthy, depraved acts we can imagine and command. It will make you so happy.”

I loved the transformation that seized a new slut. Her eyes widened and a smile crossed her lips. She shuddered and moaned, “Yes, I want that, Mistress.” She glanced at Mark, swallowed. “How may I please you, Master?”

“Strip,” Mark growled.

To be continued…

Click here for Chapter 3.

You can read my schedule!

If you enjoyed the story, support me on Patreon!

I have released a part 43 of the revamped Devil’s Pact on Smashwords. Read this post for more information if you’re interested!