Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Lilith

His unique power slithers through my blood. I feel him in every pulse: his memories, life, friendships, family.

A tear runs down my cheek.

He’ll miss them.

And now, because his blood is inside me, I will, too. I’ll miss them all so much. And I’ll miss the fact that I knew at one point who to thank for saving my life.

“Stories.” I rub his back. “Are sometimes like nightmares, Tarek.”

His breathing is heavy, his hand weak as he reaches for me. “I have those, too. The nightmares. I see fire and brimstone. I should have asked Timber if that’s the Underworld, but I vaguely remember a girl. I held her hand. She clutched mine back. And what nightmare includes holding a pretty girl’s hand in Hell?” He deliriously chuckles. “So hot. Ice cream would have been nice.”

“Did it even exist back then?”

“Hmm?” He growls, his nails starting to grow as they dig into my skin—his instinct to fight when he knows he’ll die soon. “Sorry.” He retracts them instantly. “My thoughts aren’t alive right now.”

“You mean cohesive?”

“Mm-hmm, that.” I can feel his yawn and look up into his eyes, but they’re closed, and I know that’s how they’ll stay.

I don’t know how long we have, but I assume it’s not long before Danu walks in to a corpse, then steals the very blood she needs me to take to gain more power and freedom.

Will it happen a dozen more times?

A hundred?

I don’t know the answer, but I do know she’s getting more and more powerful. And at some point, she needs to be stopped.

Free will.

Good and evil coexisting.

What absolute tragic bullshit.

I can’t bear it.

I can’t look at Tarek without wanting to cry. Why him? Why did it have to be the very first immortal to save me other than the Council? Why did it have to be someone whose thoughts were so pure it hurt? Why did it have to be a prince of the Earth and someone who will never know how truly special he actually is?

“Eyes,” I whisper.

He blinks at me a few times. “What?”

“Give me your eyes.”

He smirks. “Be more specific. Do you like physically need them, or do you want me to look at you? Because right now, I see a dozen of you. I’m delirious as hell.”

“You’re going to die,” I say as plainly as possible.

He sighs. “Yes, thank you for the reminder. This is a really inspirational speech. Please, go on. Don’t hesitate to detail every horrible moment.”

I cup his face with shaking hands and hold tight. “But before you do, you need to know.”

“Know what? I swear, if Alex did this all as a prank…” We both know he’s just being sarcastic, but I smell no fear on him, only acceptance. Which makes it so much harder to do what I need to do.

I lightly dig my fingers into his temples. “You know I’m the first, and the first was blessed with the power to see things. But because of the wars I caused, because I did not do what I was created for, I was cursed to be guided by the rest of the goddesses. Eris didn’t like it and got into trouble, so was basically linked to me—to constantly be imprisoned to whatever power I get from immortals. Every year, for two days, I feed. And when I do, I go for the most powerful source to seduce, only to wait until it’s time for her to wake me up again. Pitiful existence. And I only gain memories when I drink from that source. But I also gain theirs . And yours were not what I expected. So, before I kill you, do you want to know?”

I sense his hesitation as his head lolls to the side. “What if it’s depressing? I really don’t want to be depressed before I die. Hey, speaking of, you should show me more boob. I can’t even touch you. I should at least get to see, right?”

My smile is sad. It’s painful, it feels horrific, and yet I share it with him because he needs something good to look at before the end.

“I don’t know…am I part badass?” He chuckles and strains against the handcuffs again. “Maybe I have blood from a poet in me. Maybe I’m part demon. Maybe I’m just like you.”

“No.” My eyes burn as I see flashes of Pompeii, holding hands with other children being saved. The ash hurts as memories go in reverse to one of the angels at the banquet.

The angel who said he wanted to help feed the humans.

“He asked for sacrifices.” I could barely keep my tone even as I saw the vision of a man in all black walking slowly through the banquet hall, encouraging the orgy already taking place. His smile was cruel. Cassius was there, trying to stop him—no, he’d been sent to stop him.

I bite into my wrist and hold it to Tarek’s lips. “Drink and watch.”

He opens his mouth, the rich mixture of his blood—like the rawness of the Earth—mixes with the pureness of mine.

One who was first created.

Tarek’s eyes go black like mine as the first drop of our mixed blood falls onto his tongue. He doesn’t need much. Black eyes widen, and then I’m synced with him.

The Fallen Archangel continued to walk down the banquet hall, his hood heavy over his head, his smile still cruel and all-knowing.

I didn’t like it.

I didn’t like any of it, but I could feel myself holding someone’s hand. When I looked over, I saw a small boy close to my age.

“Are you afraid?” I asked.

He had beautiful, honey-brown hair and dark eyes. “No.” He shrugged. “I don’t remember anything really after…after.” He frowned. “Did they do something to us?”

I nodded. “Yes. Him.” I didn’t point at the dark angel; I just watched him walk until he finally stilled amid the chaos of the party. Slowly, he turned his head and made eye contact with us, freezing us both in place.

“He’s coming.” I gulped. “He’s going to do it again.”

It felt like an eternity until he stood in front of us and then went to his knees, still towering over our small bodies. “Beautiful.” He pulled back his hood. “I never knew you would both turn out so perfect being reborn this way. But it looks…” He tilted my head, then Tarek’s. “It looks like the perfect combination of angelic blood and that of the firsts…”

His white eyes narrowed into tiny slits. “Though we can’t always plan for some things. Can we, Lilith?” He stopped examining us and turned to Tarek. “And others are better than expected. My, my, the age you have in your blood. The wisdom you have in your mind. They’d be smart to keep you hidden from us, for I would feed from you for centuries.”

He laughed. “If I debased myself enough to do so. But still, I’m not fully Fallen yet. I just want you to understand that the Creator doesn’t care. They never did… The stars will fall from the sky because they choose to save immortals and humanity. They choose to fall because that is their purpose given by the Creator. Want to guess yours?”

I started shaking so hard my teeth chattered. Tarek pulled me closer against him.

It’s like I’m inside my small body again, like I’m back in that moment when I thought all would be lost.

“You.” He pointed at me. “Were here in the beginning. You hold the soul of Lilith, the first before Eve—or Eva as some say. And you…” He turned his head to the side. “Are the son of Enoch. Some might say you house one of the only human souls in eternity that never died. Makes you wonder how I was able to do it.”

He leaned in and whispered, “Because, dear child, I was the angel who killed him. I ripped him to shreds in Heaven and then fled, taking that tiny blue remnant of a soul with me and then gifting it to you. You should say thank you.”

“You’re bad,” Tarek said boldly. “And you will be punished.”

Danu walked up behind the angel and laughed. “Playing with children, Phanuel, when you could be playing with me? A goddess?”

Phanuel stood to his full height, his jet-black hair falling down his back. “It’s good that we both like games. Shall we start a new one?”

Danu clapped her hands. “Yes, yes, yes! I’ve been so bored.”

Her white hair bounced around her waist as she clung to Phanuel and wrapped her arms around him, crushing his black tunic.

“A bet, then.” Phanuel’s grin was evil. “I’m going to give them my blood. I’ll gift her to you as punishment for what she possesses and what caused part of the Fall and cursed us all… And I’ll give him a living Hell. What he thinks is his blessing will become his curse and what will end up killing him. The gift he has, the blood he carries, they will be his end. And she will be the one to bring it. After all, she holds the apple in her soul. The minute you’re powerful enough to extract it…”

He turned to Danu. “You’ll be able to control her, only allow her to exist for a certain period of time every year. The same with the rest of the goddesses. I wonder who will die first. Who will survive? So, yes, let’s take some bets. Will she”—he pointed at me—“last because of her origin? Or will she constantly create Discord? Ah!” He snapped his fingers. “What an incredible future you will have.”

He turned to Tarek. “And you, my child. What an incredible end.”

Danu laughed. “We have our own little Adam and Eve. The Fall will be massive, the blood powerful.”

“Why else would I use children and bring down the souls from the Creator? I want power. But what I really want…” He looked around. “Is to be entertained before I die. I can’t wait to—”

A sword suddenly went through his chest, dripping golden blood onto the ground in slow, purposeful drops. Danu moved around and licked the tip of the blade, then moved again and thrust it deeper from behind. “You may be a nearly Fallen Angel, but you were so easy to manipulate, screw, and feed lie after lie. Do you want to know why I caught you unawares?”

His head lolled as she leaned in and whispered in his ear. “Because you wanted. And whenever we want, we lust and tend to forget everything around us. Truly, though. Thank you for this delicious blood. You were one of the best in Heaven before you believed my lies. Now, I’ll send you to Hell and use every drop of your blood.” She turned to Tarek. “On him.”

A sudden explosion happened in the distance. There was so much ash and smoke. Within seconds, I saw Tarek lying on the ground, gold blood pooling in his mouth.

I rushed over and held him up, but it was too late.

He’d already swallowed.

He had been immortal to begin with. Now? Now, he was…other.

Now he’s an abomination with powers only the Heavens can understand. Now, he will forever be in isolation, lost but not understanding why, even with power and a family. He will never love.