“No,” José said, shaking his head. “It is never too late for Christ.”

Jed watched as the man’s face contorted, the eyes again flaring deep red.

“It is too late!” Rodrigo shouted, the voice once again that of the Dark One. “You have done too much. You have sinned too greatly. God can never love you now after all you have done. Even the sins of before pale compared to all you have done with me! You have served the enemy and now you are ours. We are your only hope.”

José leaned back, folding his hands in his lap.

Rodrigo’s eyes closed tightly, his head shaking as if from a bad headache. “How can it still be true for me?” the softer voice asked, and tears streamed down the man’s cheeks. “I ran from God so long ago. I have fought Him so hard. I have hurt so many.”

José reached out a hand, squeezing the man’s arm in solidarity. Rodrigo looked up at him, brief hope in his eyes, but then winced in pain. José jerked his hand away just before the demon regained control and grabbed for him.

“I’m going to break these chains and then I’m going to kill you, Shepherd. And all your friends. And your family,” the man snarled.

Unmoved by the threat, José narrowed his eyes at the sweaty, snarling, thrashing mess across the table. “Have you heard the parable of the workers in the vineyard?”

“Matthew 20,” the Dark One said, suddenly settling down despite the rancor in his voice. “More proof of your God’s inequity and ineptitude—”

“The kingdom of heaven is like the landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard,” José said, talking over the other. “He rounded up all the available workers he could find, offered to pay them a full day’s wages, and sent them off to harvest grapes. At nine in the morning, while visiting the market, he saw additional workers standing idly and offered to pay them a full day’s wage for working in the vineyard, and so they went. Seeing that there was still plenty of work yet, he went back to the market at noon, at three, and finally at five o’clock in the afternoon, recruiting more workers with idle hands, making them the same offer. When the workday was over, he paid all the laborers the same wage, regardless of the total number of hours each man worked. Many of the workers who’d been hired on early in the day grumbled and complained about the unfairness of the situation, feeling the latecomers did not deserve the same wages as those who’d put in many more hours in the field, but the landowner was undaunted and made good on his promise paying the last the same as the first .”