The Magic Number

by Natalie Gibson

  Brian couldn’t allow her to question him without his protection. The Paion would be easy prey for the Nephilim with the information inside his brain. He did the only thing he could think of: he put his cigarette ember out in her eye. It was foolish and futile. It only seemed to hurt her for a split second before the moisture of her eye put it out, and her eye healed before the butt hit the ground.

  What it did do was make her flinch. She snapped his neck with the tiny movement. He wasn’t dead, but he was paralyzed from the neck down. He couldn’t breathe. When she asked him where the DakuAhu was, he tried to answer that he didn’t know what that was, but thankfully no sound came out. He didn’t feel it when she dropped him on the floor.

  “It lies here,” the Nephilim said. “If not with him, then with one of his men. It will be destroyed no matter who has it. It will never taste the blood of an unclaimed Sinnis. It will never be forged into a weapon capable of killing us. Call on the mother and let us be gone.”

  Then, the Nephilim took the woman into his arms, and the ground trembled. The floor of the panic room split, exposing the cement foundations and dirt beneath. The two giants stepped into the chasm and quickly vanished. The earth shook again, and the smell of natural gas filled the tiny room.

  Israel stood over the crib staring at the sleeping child. His son was a miracle. Izzy hadn’t been able to look away from the angelic little face since he brought him into their home. He wondered what they would name the boy. Nothing seemed to fit. A gentle breeze—just a simple change in air pressure—told him that Nanae and Camilla had returned.

  Camilla joined him at the crib. Izzy rested his arm on her shoulders, and she slipped hers around his waist. She was thin again, almost all trace of her pregnancy gone. Her naked, small but perfect breasts were the slightest bit firmer and rounder. He couldn’t help himself. He reached out and felt their increased weight. He knew without asking that they were full of milk and always would be. Nanae had ensured she would always be able to provide for their children. He kissed the top of her head and breathed in her sweet, lemony scent. He sighed a breath of contentment, and all tension melted away.

  Camilla gave him a squeeze and then stepped forward. She reached down and picked up her son. She cried as she held him for the first time. She took him to the glider rocking chair they’d picked out and hummed and rocked. The baby nuzzled her breasts, and she guided him to her nipple. He latched on easily.

  Nanae, as naked as Camilla, took Israel into his arms. With Israel’s head on his maker’s chest and Nanae’s resting on top of his Lilitu’s head, they watched Camilla feed their child for the first time.

  “I only wish my father could have lived to see him.” Camilla’s voice, already beautifully mesmerizing, had been enhanced by her conversion.

  Israel wondered if he’d ever be able to deny that voice what it requested. “I already called him. He’ll be here next week with Tommy for a visit.”

  Camilla stared at him blankly. Her eyes had taken on that opal look of Nanae’s. He was so entranced by their multicolored depths that he didn’t see her confusion. Nanae caught on faster. “Your father lives.”

  Israel shook himself from his daze. “Nanae wasn’t drinking his blood. He was pouring his own into the bullet wound. Your dad is fine. He’s put your mom in an institution, citing her attempt on his life and her psychological abuse on her children. He discovered a box just like yours and a similar letter in Tommy’s room. Turns out she blamed him after you were gone.”

  Camilla cried and hugged her baby tight. She wished she could have saved Tommy from that heartache, but he would be okay. Tommy would grow up knowing his mother was sick. He would have professionals telling him he wasn’t a baby killer and that his mother’s barrenness wasn’t his fault. He would have Dad. And she vowed they both would have her and her family for support.

  “What will you call him?” Nanae broke the silence.

  “I was thinking maybe something that means first or first born or son.” Izzy paused, thinking maybe he’d stuck his foot in his mouth. Nephilim were infertile—maybe Sinnis couldn’t carry children. He looked up at Nanae, who always seemed to know what he was thinking.

  The Nephilim assured him, “Camilla has decided she will have many children. Never mind that it may be impossible.”

  “Pish posh. Nathalia says I’m the third sister. If I’m in charge of deciding births and survivals and I say we’ll have a dozen kids, then we will.” She stomped her tiny foot in the way that melted her men’s hearts.

  Izzy shrugged. “Well, I guess she’s put her foot down, what say do we have?” He smiled at her, his eyebrow raised. “A dozen kids?”

  She swept his concern away with a gesture. “Let’s just worry about him first. I like your idea about a name that means first son. That’s exactly what I was thinking too, but I couldn’t find a name in any baby name book that I liked that means first. I was thinking about Eldest.” She asked the baby. “Are you Mommy’s little Eldest?” She looked back up at her men. “I like it. What do you think?”

  “I like it too. Eldest. Eldest Maru. Firstborn Son. Sounds right.” Izzy nodded.

  They were silent for a moment. “I am honored that you would give your son my surname, the name of the Nephilim,” Nanae said.

  “How many times am I going to have to correct you? This is your son too. He is our son, Nanae. Yours, mine, and Izzy’s,” Camilla scolded.

  “She’s right, you know? Nathalia says he is a miracle. Eldest isn’t just our first; he’s the first child born of a Nephilim. Camilla and I might have started him, but your blood flows in his veins. You are his father. He truly has three biological parents.”

  Camilla brought the sleeping baby to her men. They opened to her and stood in a triangle, shoulders touching with the baby in the middle. “I guess we could do a hyphenated last name. A triple hyphenated name.”

  “Not triple hyphenated. My last name is Lovejoy. Same as yours, even though I wasn’t born here. My sister was. Like a lot of Daughters, my mom picked our fathers out of a catalog. Mom was already a Primo level adept when she got pregnant with me, but she had to leave to go back home to take care of her parents when they got too old to live on their own. We grew up in a small town in northeast Texas. Same one as Tara Kay, remember her?”

  Nanae shook his head and Camilla said, “Vaguely.”

  “Doesn’t matter. My grandparents died when I was twelve, and she stayed on in their house so I could stay with my friends. She taught us all about the Daughters growing up, and Isis—my sister’s name is Isis—joined as soon as she finished high school. Mom gave us her last name. I think she considered herself like a nun, you know? Married to the organization. She could have given us her maiden name; she loved her family. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but she always told us we were tied to the Daughters. She said she knew we both had a role to play here.”

  “Your mother was a prophetess,” Nanae concluded.

  Izzy just shook his head. “She was a healer like you, but her ability was more about the brain. She was always great with Alzheimer patients.”

  Camilla and Nanae looked at each other. Something passed between them, but Izzy didn’t know what it was. He assumed that was the way it was going to be from now on. They were Nephilim and Sinnis. They had a bond that Izzy could only imagine. He loved them and knew they loved him too, but he doubted they would make it an eternity as a trio. Eventually, he would feel like the third wheel he was.

  “I think we should honor her memory by giving him the name she would have wanted. We’ll hyphenate. Lovejoy-Maru. Now for a middle name.” Sinnis Camilla was more decisive and assertive than mortal Camilla had been.

  Izzy had been racking his brain the whole time they were away. He was all out of ideas. “It’s impossible to think of something grand and large enough to fit something so small that has become my whole life.”

  Nanae spoke softly so that his large voice did not startle the tiny newborn. “In my first language, D
amuzi means ‘child who is the center of life.’”

  Eldest Damuzi Lovejoy-Maru. It was perfect—a little odd, but fitting. He was the first of his kind, after all. Camilla laid him in the middle of his crib. It looked giant with such a tiny being resting inside its bars. She gestured to either side. “See, there’s room for three, maybe four more newborns in just this one crib.”

  Israel laughed as he left the room. He stopped short. A giant teardrop-shaped ruby on a leather throng lay on the coffee table. It wasn’t cut into a faceted jewel, but appeared smoothed, polished. “Isn’t that the—”

  “Yes, that’s it.” Camilla’s voice came from behind him.

  “Shouldn’t it be on you? Under your skin, like Nathalia’s?” While Camilla and Nanae had been away, completing the Sinnis ritual, Nathalia had spoken to Israel in his mind. She kept her distance, knowing that Izzy was vulnerable to her desires with them away. She had told him many things about the change that was coming, not all of them promising.

  Neither of them spoke but seemed to share that infuriating silent communication. Izzy pressed, “But you’re his Sinnis.”

  “Yes, she is my Sinnis.” It felt good to say it aloud. With his Beast gone forever, contained in the DakuAhu and unable to threaten her again, Nanae vowed to say the word often. “Of that, there is no doubt.” She had survived the tabalu. Only a sufficiently evolved female from his mother’s body could move in the way of the Nephilim. There would be only one who could share that joy with Nanae. “The birthmark was given to us by our fathers—a single tear shed at the birth of their son. We wore them for protection. When they left to make war with their creator, we were told that the stones were a promise that if we could maintain honor, Ki would give us the love we needed to survive.”

  “Will you guys put something on? It’s hard to concentrate on the conversation when you’re nude. Your desires are beating at me.”

  “My desires are what this conversation is about.” Nanae stood his ground. He picked up the necklace and stared at it.

  Camilla silently slipped into the bedroom. She returned wearing a red, silky nightgown. It wasn’t exactly helping Israel think straight. She gave him a coy, knowing smile and sat on the couch. “Nothing’s changed. Can’t you feel how much we both want you, Izzy?”

  He could feel how they wanted him. It fanned the flames of his hunger. The smell of their pheromones and their desire was addictive. That was why he had to do this now. He had to leave before the bond they had grew into something that would kill him when they finally realized they loved each other, not him. “Chickadee, things have changed. Nathalia said they would. I didn’t believe her, but it happened just like she said it would.” Israel took a breath and fought his tears back. “Nanae has found his Sinnis. You two are destined to be together. You will eventually abandon your Lilitu and cling to each other.” He looked at Nanae. “Now that you’ve found her, she’s all you need to satisfy the hunger. I know it’s coming, so just get it done. All this time, I’ve just been projecting. I made all the declarations, all the proposals, all the plans.”

  Camilla looked at Nanae, pleading with him to stop this. She could not. She was the submissive. Nanae, the primary Dominant, was the only one who could end this. He did not speak. He put the necklace on Israel and tied its ends at the nape of his neck.

  Israel sighed. “I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to do the right thing. You feel responsible for me since I’m Lilitu. Don’t worry. I’ll never use my strength to kill humans. I’ll feed only from you two. I’ll give Camilla all the children she wants, but I’m not your Sinnis. She is, and you’re just making this harder for me. I’ll never be more than a burden. I’ll never be what she is to you.” At that, Izzy pulled the leather loop over his head and approached Camilla. He put it over hers. She lifted the hair off her neck and let it fall into place. The leather shortened so that the stone could rest in the hollow of her neck between her clavicles. It did not sink in as Nathalia said it would.

  Nanae spoke finally. “What you say is true. Camilla is my Sinnis, my woman from my mother’s body. She has satisfied my hunger and banished my Beast, but she—”

  “Good. Then I’ll go while you finish the ritual. It’s for you two alone.” He turned and walked to the door, unable to face them any longer. “I’ll always be a part of your lives and Eldest’s.”

  He opened the door a crack before it slammed closed again. Nanae’s hands made an impression in the wood on either side of Israel’s head. His much larger body pressed Israel against the door. “Never interrupt me again,” Nanae growled. Israel could feel the Nephilim’s erection through his pants. “You are mine, and I have not released you.” Nanae wrapped his giant arms around Israel’s torso and backed them away from the exit. “Camilla,” he called.

  Only then did Camilla rise from the sofa. She crossed to stand between the door and her two men. They both looked at her with such love and desire that her womb clenched as did her heart.

  “Remove his pants.” Nanae’s wish was her command.

  Camilla slid her hands along the smooth skin of Izzy’s chest and stomach, tracing every muscle line, moving at a painfully slow pace toward his waistline. She undid the button, and Izzy grabbed her wrists, stopping her. She waited patiently while Nanae freed her hands by pulling Israel’s arms behind his back. Once he was shackled there, Camilla unzipped his pants and slid her hand inside to find Israel’s raging hard-on. She wrapped her palm around his circumcised penis, fingering his balls lightly with her nails. She pulled her hand up, rubbing against his shaft, pulling a groan from deep inside Izzy. She thumbed the head, tracing the ledge and the sensitive spot right under it. With her free hand, she worked his pants down his hips until they fell to his ankles. She ran her thumb across the slit in his head where a pearl of pre-cum glistened. She brought it up to her mouth, letting Israel see how much she wanted to taste him.

  “Mine,” Nanae growled. Israel turned his head to watch as Camilla put her thumb in Nanae’s mouth. All three of them moaned with pleasure as Nanae sucked her thumb clean. “Do you want to taste him?”

  Camilla nodded. With her Dom’s permission, she pressed her breasts against Israel’s abs, unable to reach his chest. Her hard nipples, showing through the satin of her gown, drew two invisible lines down his body as she slid to the floor. She knelt in front of him, happy to worship at his altar. She looked up to find both male faces peering down at her as she reached her tongue out to swipe over Izzy’s mushroom head. She explored every ridge and vein with the tip of her tongue, all while peering up, watching them watch her. When Izzy’s cock jumped, she bent her head, taking his length into her mouth. Her hair fell around her, shielding her actions from view.

  “Oh, fuck, Camilla. Why are you making this so hard?”

  She didn’t respond. She continued laving his length, her head moving back and forth in a hypnotizing way.

  Nanae’s Beast might have left him, but the sight was making him feel more animal than man. He could barely speak but managed, “Tell me.”

  Israel tried to describe it. “Her mouth is so warm and wet. So tiny. My cock is almost too big for her. I can feel the back of her head, her tonsils. Oh, fuck, if my hands were free, I’d force it down her throat.”

  “But they’re not. I’m in control. Would you like me to force your cock down our little Camilla’s tight throat?” Nanae held Israel’s arms easily with one hand, moving the other over Izzy’s skin. He pinched when Izzy didn’t answer.

  “Yes. Yes, please, Nanae.”

  Nanae put his large palm on top of Camilla’s head and pushed her back away from Izzy’s cock. Izzy’s hips tried to follow the warmth of her mouth, but Nanae kept him in place. “I will, but only if you say she’s our little Camilla. Our woman. Our wife. Our Sinnis.”

  Israel hesitated. He wanted this but didn’t want the pain he knew would follow later when they changed their mind.

  “Open your mouth. Show him what he’s missing.”

 
; As always, Camilla obeyed. Nanae put his meaty finger inside the moist, pink opening. He pushed her teeth apart, moving her jaw this way and that to entice Israel. With his finger and thumb, he grabbed her tongue and pulled it out. He pointed to the center. “That’s where you can shoot your load of cum—right there on her pretty pink tongue—but only if you admit that’s what you want.”

  Israel spoke through gritted teeth. “You know that’s what I want. It doesn’t change anything.”

  Nanae nodded to Camilla, and she moved forward. She held Izzy’s aching cock pointed at her face with her small hand. She used the moisture of her mouth to slide up and down his shaft. Her breath was hot against his crown. “I want Izzy to claim me.”

  “Me too, and until he says what we want, he doesn’t get to cum. Izzy, put your hands on the door.”

  He did and was rewarded with Camilla’s continued blow job. Nanae pushed Izzy’s head down while pulling his hips back. Once Nanae had him positioned the way he wanted—bent at almost a 45 degree angle—Camilla adjusted to continue sucking him off. Nanae dropped to sit on the floor behind Israel’s heels. He spread his Lilitu’s cheeks apart. He ran the tip of his tongue around the rim. He dipped his head farther and licked from Israel’s scrotum, over his perineum, and back to his anus. Nanae pushed his tongue inside Israel, stimulating the highly sensitive nerve bundle.

  Israel pounded the door with one fist. They were killing him slowly with pleasure. He watched as Nanae reached through his legs and pulled Camilla’s hand between them. He was unprepared when Nanae pushed her thumb into Izzy’s ass.

  Israel’s hips bucked, and Nanae allowed him to screw Camilla’s face while she finger fucked him. Just before Israel came, Nanae stopped it all. Izzy made a desperate sound in his throat. This was torture.