The third angel I did not recognize, and he stood between the other two. He was taller, and I sensed his powers knew no limits.
The middle angel stepped forward. “My name is Michael. I am one of God’s archangels.” He introduced the other two celestial beings, perhaps unaware that our paths had crossed. “Release Lilith to us, and we will deliver the punishment she truly deserves.” There was a gleaming halo above his cropped blond hair. It shimmered as it rotated in various directions at once.
I tightened my grip on my mother. “What I am about to do will benefit mankind. She is my mother. I do not do this thing for vengeance—not anymore. She is the reason God destroyed mankind with the flood and why He destroyed the twin cities, Sodom and Gomorrah. By ridding the world of this malignant creature, I am saving mankind from God’s terrible wrath.”
Gabriel stepped forward. “Still, it is not up to you. Hand her over to us.”
I took a few steps back, pulling her along. “Why now? Why wait until this moment to make her pay for what she has done? Where was God when she tried to kill me? Why did God not stop her?”
Michael came closer. His dazzling verdant eyes bore into mine and smoldered like green fire. Unable to turn away from his gaze, my eyes remained fixed on his. Suddenly, I was running alongside my mother. I hardly recognized the creature I had become. I sensed I was pure evil, and my abominable form symbolized my corrupt nature. Lilith and I moved side by side, sharing one evil mind as we sought to destroy mankind.
I cried out, shutting my eyes to block the horrible vision.
“That is the creature you would have become had Lilith stayed and mothered you. You would have been no better than the fiend you now hold in your arms.”
Raphael approached me. “God does not answer to me or you. His ways are often mysterious, but in the end He does what is best for us.”
Michael stood straighter and expanded his six powerful white wings. “God chose to give us all free will, without which there would be no meaningful relationships between Him and His creation. Would you prefer to be a mindless puppet, having your every move controlled?”
I furrowed my brow. “Of course not, but—”
“You cannot have it both ways,” Michael said. “If God were to judge and destroy those who choose to commit evil acts, He would have to eliminate all creatures on Earth. You all sin and do wicked deeds. We cannot choose our own way and then blame God for not doing anything about it.”
I felt the heat of shame on my face. Lilith began to straighten up, stirring from her inertness.
Michael stepped closer. “I am here to carry out God’s command and take Lilith away to the deepest part of the underworld, where she will be chained and imprisoned for all time.”
Lilith jerked and I sensed her powers returning.
“You may finish what you have begun, but it will not please God,” Michael said, peering at me.
I looked at Lilith. She gazed over her shoulder at me with imploring eyes, all her arrogance and attitude of grandeur gone. She trembled and whimpered like a coward. I placed my hands under her arms and shoved her away from me.
“It has never been my wish to displease God,” I said.
Michael caught Lilith and handed her to Raphael and Gabriel. “God knows this, and so do we,” he said.
“If God knows I have tried to be good, then He also knows I have failed many times.”
“We all make mistakes, angels included. God sees into your heart, so if you desire in all honesty to be good, He may overlook your mistakes. You must be truly remorseful. Never renounce being good.”
I remained pensive.
When Raphael and Gabriel took hold of Lilith, she began to struggle and scream. “N-no! No! Dracúl, help me! Fight for me! I am your mother! I made you more powerful than you could imagine. Help me! I implore you.
“Kill me, Dracúl!” Her voice was shrill, thick with desperation. “Kill me!”
I looked at her and almost pitied her—almost. There were some acts so unforgivable that they made others easier to forgive.
I watched Michael open a rift to another dimension. I recoiled from the immense heat escaping from the other side of the opening. A heavy, sour stench drifted up from it, and I cringed, covering my nose. I looked inside and saw a massive black mountain at a distance. It threw its shadow over all the land, causing darkness and gloom. Rafael and Gabriel stepped through to the other side, dragging a wailing Lilith behind them.
Michael stood before me. “Inside you there is something with no name. That something is what you are, and it is neither good nor bad. You must choose what you are to be from this moment forward. It does not matter who your parents were or where you grew up. It is still your choice.” With a reassuring smile, he passed a hand on the side of my head. “Choose well.” Then he stepped through the portal into the hellish place where Lilith would be imprisoned for eternity.
As the portal closed, I still heard Lilith’s screams and wails. I shivered, shaking my head, as if a huge weight had been lifted from me. I sauntered out of the house, reborn.
Gadreel stood outside the door. I watched her face change from agonizing to appealing. “You did it. Lilith is no more?”
I nodded, unable to speak. She fell to her knees and sobbed into her hands. I crouched beside her, put an arm around her shoulders, and told her about the angels and everything else.
“And now that you do not have to achieve perfection, you can be good,” she said, sniffing as I helped her to her feet.
“I have had an epiphany,” I said. “I will renounce carnal pleasures and spend each day in the service of God. I will become the enemy of evil and sin. I will be good.”
Gadreel cheered. Her laugh crinkled her eyes and nose, and she rushed into my arms. We embraced each other.
After some time had passed, I held her at arm’s length. “Lilith is no more, so let us go forth and find your family.”
Together, and with great joy in our hearts, we soared off the cliff toward the beach where I had last seen the mermaids.
The Fall of Lilith is the 1st Vol. in the Fantasy Angels Series and contains Book I – Heaven and Book II – Earth
It is available in paperback and as an eBook on Amazon.
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In The Fall of Lilith, Vashti Quiroz-Vega crafts an irresistible new take on heaven and hell that boldly lays bare the passionate, conflicted natures of God’s first creations: the resplendent celestial beings known as angels.
If you think you know their story, think again.
Endowed with every gift of mind, body, and spirit, the angels reside in a paradise bounded by divine laws, chief of which are obedience to God, and celibacy. In all other things, the angels possess free will, that they may add in their own unique ways to God’s unfolding plan.
Lilith, most exquisite of angels, finds the rules arbitrary and stifling. She yearns to follow no plan but her own: a plan that leads to the throne now occupied by God himself. With clever words and forbidden caresses, Lilith sows discontent among the angels. Soon the virus of rebellion has spread to the greatest of them all: Lucifer.
Now, as angel is pitted against angel, old loyalties are betrayed and friendships broken. Lust, envy, pride, and ambition arise to shake the foundations of heaven … and beyond. For what begins as a war in paradise invades God’s newest creation, a planet known as Earth. It is there, in the garden called Eden, that Lilith, Lucifer, and the other rebel angels will seek a final desperate victory—or a venomous revenge.
“[A] compelling narrative that … strays far from traditional biblical text … A well-written, descriptive, and dark creation story.” —Kirkus Reviews
Vashti Quiroz-Vega is a writer of Fantasy, Horror, and Thriller. Since she was a kid she's always had a passion for writing and telling stories. It has always been easier for her to express her thoughts on paper.
She enjoys reading almost as much as she loves to write. Some of her favorite authors are Stephen King, Micha
el Crichton, Anne Rice, J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling and George R. R. Martin.
She enjoys making people feel an array of emotions with her writing. She likes her audience to laugh one moment, cry the next and clench their jaws after that.
When she isn't building extraordinary worlds and fleshing out fascinating characters, she enjoys spending time with her husband JC and her Pomeranian Scribbles who is also her writing buddy.
The next book in the series will be available 2019!
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