Lilith: Destined Angels III

Chapter 4: Roads

Cain

I slip back into my apartment and begin pacing in place. I know I shouldn’t have stayed at Lilith’s apartment after I searched it, but it’s like my feet were rooted in place as soon as she walked in the door.

Feeling guilty for what I’ve done, I sit in a nearby chair and try not to remember how beautiful she looked lying in her tub as she brought herself to a pleasurable release. The way she threw her head back and mewled makes me so aroused that I’ve yet to lose my erection.

Jaw tight, I try to snap out of my trance and think about my next step. After thoroughly searching Lilith’s room, it quickly became obvious that Lilith is no longer possessed by the Tenebrous, which means that I cannot bring her into the Divinity yet. Not unless I want the rulers to punish me for not fulfilling my duties correctly.

I hate working for the bloody Divinity Pantheon Rulers. Since I was sentenced to be their guard, I have not been allowed to have a life. I cannot even form an attachment with a woman because the Rulers will end her if I do. My punishment is more internal than those of other guards. Every night, I relieve my worst mistake, over and over, until I awaken to search for any quarry the Rulers send my way. Unfortunately, my main objective, Lilith, is the end game for my redemption.

“Why haven’t you captured Lilith?” Ma’at’s voice rings behind me.

Jaw tight, I rest my guitar on the stand next to my kitchen counter and carefully turn to face her.

As usual, Ma’at’s expression is disdainful as she stands before me in all her finery.

Oromos slinks beside her and glares at me. “He is failing,” the creature hisses.

“For months, you’ve had Lilith within your sights, and I’ve yet to see you cart her to the Divinity Pantheon for sentencing. Why is that?”

I consider the best way to answer for a moment. “After hunting her and finding her in Paris, I discovered that she no longer holds the power of the Tenebrous. She’s basically living like a human. Once I saw that I decided to hold off tracking her until I discovered why. I searched her home and began following her, hoping that she’d lead me to an explanation. Unfortunately, I haven’t been successful.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a god be surprised about anything in my vast immortal life. But she seems to be now. I guess even all-powerful beings can still be surprised once in a while.

“How is that even possible? And why didn’t you tell me as soon as you discovered this news? Do you know what this means?” she screeches angrily.

I fume at her cutting tone, “And just how was I supposed to bloody do that? Last I checked, you did not have a mobile number that I could call you with, and I can only gain passage to the Divinity Pantheon if I capture Lilith and the Tenebrous power.”

I choke as I’m lifted to my knees by my neck and slammed against a nearby wall. Though I can’t die by these means, it’s still uncomfortable. Ma’at’s flaming eyes glow brighter as she leans close and squeezes harder, “Other gods might have tolerated your insolence because of your pretty face, but I do not. Do you understand?”

Oromos snickers with delight as I struggle to breathe, “She asked you if you understood, you insolent boy!”

I swallow my rage and nod, “Yes, I understand.”

She seethes as she gazes intently into my eyes before she steps back and releases me. “How long has she been free of the Tenebrous?”

I rub my sore neck and shrug, “I would say that it occurred the moment she reemerged. However, I’m unsure because it took me some time to locate her, even after the surge. I know she was in California for a brief time, and she lived with the archangel Michael for a while until she moved into her apartment. Unfortunately, I couldn’t surveil her while she was in his home without arousing his suspicion. But when she began venturing out, I finally realized that she no longer held the Tenebrous’ power.”

“Why would she be living with Michael?” she asks incredulously.

“All I know is that she’s the mother of Lucifer’s spawn, Fallon. Perhaps Lucifer asked him to detain her.” I speculate hesitantly.

A pang of strong guilt overwhelms me because I revealed something so private about Lilith. However, I tamp it down quickly. There’s no reason to feel like I’ve betrayed Lilith’s trust when she’s a mere quarry.

Ma’at’s eyes narrow thoughtfully, “I knew she had a son. However, I didn’t know that Michael and Lucifer were on speaking terms after Lucifer’s fall, and I can’t imagine Lilith going to Lucifer for anything, either. It’s a known fact across the Pantheon that she hates Lucifer with every fiber of her being and had been searching for a way to end him until the day of her sudden disappearance.”

I place my hand on my hips and consider every angle for Lucifer, Lilith, and Michael’s sudden alliance but come up with no plausible connection other than Fallon.

“Perhaps they made their peace for their son’s sake.”

I briefly contemplated telling her about Lilith’s daily visits to Arcata, but I quickly changed my mind. I have no reason to bring it up since Lilith never interacts with Fallon.

Ma’at shakes her head, “That wouldn’t make sense. Lilith could care less about her child. No, there has to be another reason. Either way, you must find out what happened to the Tenebrous. If she doesn’t have it, there’s little time before the power becomes unstable.”

“I don’t understand. Isn’t it good that Lilith doesn’t have the power?”

Ma’at’s lips turn down into a grimace, “No, it is not! Once the power gains a host, it creates a symbiotic bond. The only way to safely remove the power is by killing its host.”

“But Lilith is not dead?” I affirm.

Ma’at distractedly nods, “No, she’s not, and that’s a problem because if she’s not dead and the power was removed by another means, then the power will burst out of whatever is containing it and search her out. The longer the power is away from its host, the more unstable it will become. If that occurs, the power will expand until it can no longer be contained, annihilating everything in existence. There will be no heaven, hell, or earth. Nothing will survive its wrath─not even the gods. That’s why the Tenebrous’s power must be harnessed. We are all damned otherwise. I can’t even imagine how the rest of the Pantheon will react once they discover such devastating news.”

My eyes grow like saucers at her grim tone. She doesn’t seem as composed as she was earlier. In fact, she seems a bit mad and panicked, which doesn’t bode well for how the rest of the Pantheon would react.

“I don’t understand. Why would the sodding Pantheon let such power run free in the first place?”

Ma’at scoffs derisively as she sits in a nearby chair and digs her claws into the seat, “The power belonged to the blind Norse god of darkness, Hod. Before humanity’s creation, all of the Pantheons kept to themselves. Unfortunately, Hod was tricked by Loki into killing his brother Baldr and, in turn, was killed by Vali as a form of revenge. When the minor god, Erebus, learned of Hod’s death, he absorbed his power. Around the time that humanity was created, Erebus tried to take The Creator’s throne and was mortally wounded during the fight. Seeing that he was going to die, Erebus chose to pass on the power to someone who hated The Creator more than him─Lilith.”

“How do you know all of this?” I ask, curious about how Lilith gained her powers and why the Pantheon didn’t prevent it from happening.

Ma’at runs her hands down her skirt and adjusts imaginary creases as she uneasily continues. “Back then, the Divinity Pantheon guards did not exist. After all the destruction caused by our war, we chose to live separate from our counterparts, so we only learned about Erebus’s perfidy after he died. Once we learned of his demise, we set out to find and harness his power before it could find a host who would abuse it. That’s when we found Erebus’ scriptures and his plan to infect Lilith. But by the time we found Lilith, she had already been imbued with the Tenebrous. We tried to hunt her for years, but she managed to circumvent our assassins. Seeing that we needed a stronger force to capture her, the Pantheons agreed to create a powerful enforcer imbued with shards of our power. That’s when we created you,” she primly points her finger at my chest.

“Bloody hell,” I curse. This just keeps getting more complicated.

Ma’at tilts her head and scowls, “Change of plans,” she snaps up from her seat and waves her arms around tersely. “This is what you’re going to do. Capture the b***h and torture her until she tells you where the Tenebrous is?”

I shake my head, “What if that doesn’t work. Though I’ve only observed Lilith for a short time, she has proven that she doesn’t care about anything and will cut anyone who tries to hurt her.”

Ma’at crosses her arms in front of her and arches a questioning brow. “What would you suggest then?”

She seems so skeptical of what I might say that I hesitate.

Oromos makes his own suggestion before I can reply. “He can seduce her and gain her trust until she tells him where he can find it.”

At his proposal, Ma’at releases a disbelieving snort. “The boy is conceited enough to do it?”

I shake my head, “That’s preposterous. She’d see right through me. You do know she has been with Lucifer? So, what makes you think she’d want another conceited asshole in her bed?”

Oromos shrugs, “Who better for her to f**k her than the son of Adam and Eve?”

Ma’at’s lip curls with a sneer as she rises and circles around me, “Wouldn’t it be the ultimate irony that Lilith f***s the son of the man who f****d her over.”

I shake my head, “That’s depraved.”

Oromos scoffs, “Don’t act so innocent when in truth, we know you are faithless. Or did you forget that you killed your brother to spite The Creator? I’m sure f*****g your father’s castoff bride would barely prick your conscience.”

At her words, I reel back as if she had struck me. My fists tighten at the reminder of my betrayal. However, she doesn’t know that the story about me killing Abel because I was jealous that the Creator accepted his offer is total bullshit. The truth is that while I was out working the fields, Abel raped and killed my wife because she rejected him for me. Abel was always jealous of how easily I could seduce a woman, and when Charea rejected him, he snapped. When my father and mother learned what he did, they covered up his crime and told me she had run off with another. At that point, Abel and I made an offering to the Creator. After I came home from making my offering, I walked in on my father talking to my brother about his perfidy. In my grief, I went mad and killed Abel. Seeing that he was complicit in my brother’s crime, my father worried that the Creator would punish him too, so he told the Creator I killed Abel because he rejected my offering.

My mother adored me, but my father, Adam, barely tolerated me. He didn’t like how independent I was compared to Abel, who blindly followed our father’s edicts. Regrettably, my mother was too weak to naysay my father’s rule and did not refute my father’s claim. Not even for me, her favored son.

Ma’at gets up and looks out the window thoughtfully, “If she was stripped of her power, it must have been during the blood moon because that’s the only time that the Tenebrous is weak, which means that you have before the next blood moon to find the Tenebrous.”

I reach for my mobile and check the astronomy calendar, “There’s no time for such games.”

“Make time!” she approaches me and slashes her hand in the air with a growl, “Seduce her or don’t seduce her. However, whatever you choose, I expect you to use more extreme measures. Am I making myself clear?”

I resist lashing out at her, “You are.”

“Good,” she says before she tosses something at me. Catching the object, I look down at the crystal flame. “Once you find the Tenebrous, toss this in fire, and I will appear.”

“I will use it,” I say before I tighten my hand around the crystal and place it inside my pocket.

Once Ma’at disappears, I slump down on my seat and stare forward distractedly. I know I should feel bad about what I’m about to do, but all I feel is excitement. I cannot wait to see Lilith. Perhaps I am depraved.