by Maya Daniels
I guess the air around us is not as dry as it seems. With a little effort, I manage to fill up Jezzinta’s hands and she gulps it down eagerly.
“More?” I ask her, but she shakes her head, sighing happily.
Turning to Lucifer, I take hold of his palms, cup them, and fill them up with water.
“Drink.” He brings them to my lips, and I do it because the water starts seeping through his fingers and I don’t want to waste it.
“I could’ve waited.” I frown at him.
“Yes, I know, but I couldn’t watch you wait,” he says simply, pressing his cupped hands again at me. I fill them and watch, fascinated, as his throat moves while he drinks. Jezzinta snorts, and as soon as he is done, he grins at me.
“What?” I glare at them.
“Who would’ve thought I would see the day when you are smitten, sap. I didn’t think it’d ever happen.” She chuckles and skips along as if she didn’t just call me a pathetic idiot.
“I’m not smitten,” I call after her, making Lucifer chuckle, but when I glare at him, he tries to cover it with a cough. Smart man. “What are you? Five? I’m not smitten,” I repeat to her back.
“Aha! And I’m a Victoria’s Secret model.” Jezzinta wiggles her bouncy ass at us, giggling.
“You could’ve been if you weren’t a midget,” I tell her, smirking.
“Who are you calling a midget, you freckled elephant? I’m the perfect height to bite your ankles if you piss me off.” She tries to glare but gives up and starts laughing in earnest. “I crack myself up, I’m so funny.” She gasps.
“I’m not an elephant,” I tell her, and Lucifer is laughing out loud, so I turn and point at him. “He’s the elephant. He has all the body parts to fit the description.” That stops his laughter and he looks at me like I have grown a second head. “What? It’s true.” I chuckle under my breath.
“Holy crap! That’s more info than I needed to know, but it does explain why I wasn’t sure you’d come out alive this morning,” Jezzinta says, looking serious, and I burst out laughing. “I told you I was funny, unlike her,” she tells Lucifer, who is still looking at me, bewildered. It makes me laugh harder and Jezzinta joins me.
“Oh, dear goddess. You’re embarrassed! How adorable.” I look at his cheeks, which are pinking a little.
“I most definitely am not.” He glares at me, and it makes me laugh harder.
Unable to help myself, I go and wrap my arms around him. He hugs me back begrudgingly. Lifting my head, I kiss his neck, and that makes him shudder a little.
“It is adorable, and it makes you seem more human somehow,” I mumble against his skin, and he squeezes me closer to him
“Okay, no hanky-panky now. We must move. You can do that after I go to sleep, not before,” Jezzinta quips as she stomps away from us.
I laugh under my breath, but I move away from Lucifer and we continue on our way. After a bit, it gets difficult to keep going again. The sun glares at us, looking bigger and closer than I have ever seen before. Lucifer pulls his shirt off, and before I make a smartass comment, his wings come out and he pulls me and Jezzinta closer to him, bending them slightly over both of us to shield us from the sun. My heart melts at the gesture, but I keep my mouth shut. My eyes fill with tears and Jezzinta does a double take at my face.
“So … an elephant, huh?” She elbows Lucifer in his side, and he groans painfully—from her words, not her elbow attack.
A sob-chuckle comes from me, and I blink fast to stop the tears from coming down. I nod gratefully at her and she winks, smiling. I think that is the end of it. I am wrong.
“What I would like to know, however, is what was the sap doing to you to get you to beg like you did? I must admit I have new respect for her, because she obviously has a hidden talent,” she says conversationally, craning her neck to look up at Lucifer, her face the picture of innocence.
I stop in my tracks and glare at her, wanting the ground to open and swallow me whole. She blinks at me as if she doesn’t know why I am ready to disappear. We stand like that for a second until Lucifer shakes next to me, and I’m instantly on alert until I realize he is shaking because he is trying hard not to laugh. As soon as I glance at his face, he can’t stop himself. He doubles over, toppling us onto the sand with his wings. A booming laugh comes out from him and Jezzinta joins him, giggling and snorting while rolling around.
“It’s not funny,” I mumble but I can’t stop myself from joining them.
“It’s a little funny! I told you, Sap. I should’ve been a comedian. I’m that hilarious!” Jezzinta gasps.
“This is crazy. We have no idea what we’re doing, and by the sound of you two, I think we’re all going nuts. Well, not me. I was nuts when we started,” I tell them after we stop laughing, holding my side. Laughing too much hurts like a bitch.
“There is nothing left but to continue. I think we are close to something,” Lucifer says, straightening.
He reaches for me, palm up, and I take his hand, allowing him to pull me to my feet. He does the same with Jezzinta. We head off again, and after a while, I think I’m beginning to hallucinate. There is a shape moving towards us from the distance, but it’s moving too fast. It can’t be another person. Squinting, I’m trying to figure out if it’s real or if my mind is playing tricks on me.
“Um, you guys seeing this or have I finally lost my mind?” Jezzinta says slowly, like she’s afraid whoever it is will hear her and run away.
“Something is approaching,” Lucifer says, and folding his wings, he pushes both of us behind him.
Jezzinta is oblivious to the gesture, still focused on whatever is coming our way, craning her neck to look around Lucifer, but I bristle at it. I try to move to stand next to him, but he snakes his arm behind him, holding me there. Pissed off, I place both hands on his back between his folded wings and release enough energy to make him stumble a step without pushing him. He turns with a bewildered look on his face, and Jezzinta frowns at me.
“We fuck, and I guess that gives you the right to my vagina. If I tell you I love you, it gives you right to my heart. You don’t fucking own me. I’m not an object, so stop manhandling me before I fry your balls.” I glare at him.
“I will protect you.” He glares back, turning around to face me fully.
Chapter 40
Lucifer…
The witch will truly drive me insane. I have never before, in my long life, met someone too stubborn for their own good. I do not understand why she pushes everyone away to face danger on her own. I am no mortal male; I can protect her better than anyone in all the realms. Yet she pushes me away, and the harder I try, the more she resists.
“I will protect you,” I tell her, glaring.
“You can stand by my side if you like or get out of my fucking way, Lucifer.”
“Alexia …”
“Not you, too, Jez. Please. I don’t need to hide behind anyone. If I am to die, I will die staring death in the face, not cowering behind someone’s back.” At Alexia’s words, Jezzinta searches her face for a while and nods at her like she understands.
I, on the other hand, do not and tell her as much. It does not go as I expect. It makes her angrier, but I cannot continue talking because whoever it is approaching is getting very close. Begrudgingly, I turn away from her and tense when they both come to stand next to me. I realize now that I will never understand these women no matter how much I try or how many lifetimes I spend observing them. I do not think their minds work like mine. They see things that are invisible to me, hear things in words unspoken and tempt the fates by their very existence. It is almost if they are daring the fates to go after them. After everything that has happened since Alexia opened the gate, I believe they got their wish. I do not voice it because I know it will make Alexia even more angry with me. I don’t like the feeling when she is angry at me, and that makes me the biggest fool there is.
“It looks like Anzu.” Jezzinta gasps, bringing me back to the present.
>
As whatever it is approaches, strong winds pick up, and I have to dig my feet in the sand to remain standing while holding both women’s backs, helping them stay where they are. After a second, the winds stop and, lifting my head, I see that it is no longer moving towards us. We all watch, waiting, but it seems to have no intention of coming closer.
“I think it’s Anzu, and he is waiting on us to approach him,” Alexia says quietly.
Something between a screech and a roar comes from the creature, but it doesn’t move. We stand unmoving, and it comes a little towards us, making us stumble from the strong winds that slam into us before it ceases and we right ourselves again. It’s like it’s trying to demonstrate that we must go to it or it will bury us under the sands.
“It makes sense. The winds always pick up when its wings move,” Jezzinta muses like she’s talking to herself, not us.
“Only one way to find out,” Alexia says, striding towards it without missing a beat. My heart stops.
I hurry after her and grab her arm to stop her from geting away from me. The roar coming from the creature brings me to my knees, and I release my hold on her to cover my ears. As soon as I let go of her, it stops. She hasn’t moved away from me, and I look up at her. She frowns and reaches for me with her hand. I tense, expecting another earsplitting sound, but silence remains.
“Your ears are bleeding.” She glances at her fingers with a frown before turning her head towards the creature.
“He wasn’t trying to hurt me. He is afraid you will hurt me and he wants to protect me,” she says as if she’s standing next to it.
I am about to tell her it can’t possibly hear her soft words, but a rumbling purr shakes the ground, like the creature can hear her and it approves of what she has said. I press my lips together, my mind running through scenarios as I focus on it. Could it be that the creature is protective of her? She did tell me that Enlil said she helped Anzu steal the tablets from him. Is there more to this story? My mind spins, but she is walking again, and automatically my hand latches onto her arm to stop her. I tense, but again no sound comes from the creature. I lift myself off the ground and go with her, not releasing her arm. She stiffens but doesn’t say a word. Jezzinta comes next to me on the other side and we approach the creature.
The closer we get, the more uneasy I am. The creature towers over us like a small mountain. Its eagle-shaped head doesn’t move, but its eyes track Alexia’s movements, ignoring the rest of us completely. I decide the creature must not be very bright if it dismisses me from its list of potential threats. We amble forward until we can see its face. I will be the first to admit that the creature is intimidating this close. The beak looks big enough and sharp enough to split me in two. If it goes after the women, there will be nothing left of them. I look at Alexia and see her squinting at the creature’s face.
“Can you not see it?” I say softly, trying not to startle it by speaking louder.
“Oh, I can see it, but my mind is trying to bring up a memory of him,” she mumbles distractedly, still staring up at it.
Before we realize what she is doing, she strides up to it with her hand raised. I’m about to spring after her when Jezzinta stops me by jerking on my arm.
“Look,” she says, pointing with her chin. My mouth opens and closes few times but no words come out.
Alexia is standing with her hand elevated, and the creature slowly and very gracefully lowers to the ground on all fours, making sure its wings don’t move. It drops its head gently, allowing her to run her hand over the side of its face so close to its eye she can poke it if she means it harm. It’s a sign of so much trust that all I can do is stare openmouthed. As much as I would like to believe I know everything about Alexia, I realize I have barely scratched the surface. The witch is a puzzle that will take more than a millennium to solve.
“You are beautiful,” she coos, and it purrs like a housecat.
I do not blame the creature; I feel like purring, too, when she gives me her full attention and touches me. But it sure is a sight to behold that this monster acts as if it’s the most harmless thing in all realms under her hand. Jezzinta tightens her hold on my arm in anticipation, and I do not think she is breathing. I jerk my arm slightly, and she gulps air, nodding her thanks before turning towards the scene playing out in front of us.
“Do you know why I’m here?” Alexia asks Anzu, and that makes the creature move.
I tense as it lifts the head and the screech-roar sound bursts from his beak, making me grab my ears. The witches do, too. Two seconds after the sound dies, a slight wind picks up. Before any of us can move, the winds get so strong I cannot get to Alexia and Jezzinta can barely hold on to me. A shadow covers us, and I do my best to look up to see what it is. My heart stops when I see Anzu open his huge paw and wrap Alexia in it. The next moment, Jezzinta and I are pressed together, held in his other paw. As I am about to unleash my power on the creature, Jezzinta’s words stop me.
“I don’t think it’s trying to hurt us.”
“How would you know? Are you an expert on the creature?”
“Don’t be an ass, Lucifer, it could’ve crushed us by now, yet here we are chatting. Well, I’m chatting and you are being an ass.”
My reply is cut off as we are gently dropped on the sand. I roll away and jump to my feet, ready for anything. Alexia is standing where I last saw her, unharmed, and I can breathe again. I frown when I realize she is not looking at me but behind me. Turning around, I jump back when my eyes land on huge paws. I turn my head towards Alexia and I see Anzu still sitting there.
“There are two of them?” Jezzinta’s words enter my brain and I glance back at the new creature.
“Apparently,” Alexia says simply, still looking at the new one.
I’m disgusted with myself. It is like living in a different reality, because I jump around at every sound or movement like a woman, while Alexia is standing still like nothing is happening. By now, I would’ve leveled everything around me, but worrying about her and making sure she doesn’t get hurt makes me act out of character. After straightening up, I move to her and grab her hand. If they decide to eat her, they can eat me, too, and I tell her that. She looks at me and starts laughing.
“Oh, dear goddess. You’re serious.” She bends over, placing her hands on her knees.
“I cannot see how this is funny, witch,” I growl at her and it makes her laugh more.
“Come on, Lucifer. They could’ve killed us, but they’re just sitting here. I know Anzu; I can sense him in my heart. I just didn’t know there were two of them. I don’t even know the other one’s name,” she says, looking up at the new creature apologetically. That makes it purr, and I shake my head. Unbelievable!
“Now what? Do we invite them for a cuppa?” Jezzinta chuckles.
“I’m here for the tablets. You know where they are, right?” Alexia glances at Anzu.
Instead of Anzu, the new creature moves, lifting its front paw and opening it. There in the center the stone tablets with glowing golden symbols sit peacefully like they haven’t been the reason for so many lost lives. Jezzinta gasps but Alexia doesn’t move, only stares at them like she is worried they might bite her.
“You want me to take them?” I ask her, and she shakes her head, her eyes still on them.
“Sis?” Jezzinta says the word like a question.
“I got it,” Alexia answers and, releasing my hand, she strides right up to the open paw and reaches with both hands to pick up the tablets.
As she steps away, she gasps, and her body jerks like it’s been pulled on both sides. The tablets glow with a brilliant white light for a second and, as I get into motion to push them off her hands, they disintegrate into a fine sand that enters her skin without a grain falling on the ground. She drops and I grab her in my arms. Her soul is burning a hole in my collarbone and it’s pulsing wildly. I stare at her, trying to think of anything I should do when writing in many languages pulses all over her skin. Words and na
mes appear and disappear in white lights while her body shakes uncontrollably like she is having a seizure. Her eyes move rapidly behind her closed lids and I hold her tight to my chest.
“If she is hurt, I will kill you both,” I roar at the creatures, but they only stare at me with their unblinking yellow eyes.
After what feels like a lifetime, she stops shaking and the words disappear from her skin. I hold my breath, and Jezzinta kneels next to me, wringing her hands and biting her lips as if she is physically preventing herself from screaming. I share the sentiment. Alexia still hasn’t moved.
“Please, my love. Wake up,” I implore her.
Her lashes flutter and she opens her eyes. Those deep oceans bore into mine, searching. I release the breath I am holding, hugging her to me and burying my face in her neck. It is terribly embarrassing that I want to cry from the relief coursing through me.
“What happened?” she says, running her fingers through my hair, but I just shake my head, unable to answer her.
“The tablets turned into sand and went inside you.” Jezzinta does not beat around the bush.
“What?” Alexia jerks in my arms, and I release her only because as long as I see her moving, I know she is okay.
“You don’t remember?” I frown at her.
“No.” She drags the word out like she’s unsure. “I remember taking them in my hands and then feeling like I was pushed into a twister. Everything was spinning …” she trails off, looking at her hands. Lifting her eyes to mine, she takes a deep breath. “I saw crystal cities floating off the ground, pyramids like I have never even read about. There was a small bright sun pulsing with pure energy and water. So much water everywhere. Then I opened my eyes and I saw you,” she tells me.
“It does not matter what you saw. What matters is that no one is going to know this happened. Am I clear?” I growl at everyone around me.
“Why not?” Alexia frowns at me. “I need to tell Inanna.”
“I said no one! Even the walls have ears. Tiamat has gone to great lengths to get these tablets. When she knows they are inside of you, what do you think is going to happen? You will wish for death, I assure you. Even if we deal with Tiamat, there will always be someone stupid enough to want them. And by default, you,” I tell her. “We tell no one!” I repeat, and Jezzinta nods at me.
