The Damned and The Pure Series: Books 1-4 (The Damned and The Pure Series Box Set)

by J. D. Stonebridge

  “Oh, I feel something, alright…” Caelum grunted. He struggled, trying to pry off Lili’s trap. But it was no use.

  “Aw… Sorry, I can’t let you get away that easily,” Lili said. Caelum felt a tentacle moving along his chest and watched as the shadow that pinned him branched into another, stealing the dagger from his suit. Lili caught the weapon, smiling victoriously as she stared down at the weapon. “Ah, I remember when I got this baby. Such a long time ago.”

  “Back then, I went by a different name. Did you know that?” Lili asked. Then she laughed. “Then, again. After so many centuries, no one has realized what ‘Lili’ is short for."

  Lili raised a brow to him, her face changing slightly to something more sinister. “Honey, please tell me you’ve figured out that my real name is Lilith.”

  Chapter Sixteen: The First Demon

  Lili yanked her hand back, and Caelum was pulled away from the wall and flung against the ground by the shadow tentacle. He gritted his teeth as the icy ground scratched his face while Lili - or rather Lilith - decided to toss him around like a ragdoll.

  Lilith slammed the demon she’d captured into the ceiling and back to the ground, then from side to side, laughing maniacally as she did so. Caelum could bear the pain, having been through worse, but the joy his attacker displayed at his pain was truly getting on his nerves.

  “Where’s that cocky attitude now, sweetie?” Lilith asked when she was done. Caelum lay limp on the ground, unmoving and silent as she dragged him towards her. She reeled the whip back, carrying the seemingly unconscious demon. Lilith dragged him nearer and drove one foot against his side.

  “Oh, please don’t tell me you’ve given up just like that?” She leaned forward to look at him. She pulled him to face her using the foot she’d set on his body; as she did so, Caelum kicked one leg behind him, connecting with her other ankle. Lilith stumbled to the side, loosening the shadows that wrapped around Caelum’s body and the dagger she held in one hand. The blade skittered across the ground just as Caelum pulled himself free from Lilith’s grip.

  Caelum jumped over Lilith and made to grab the dagger next to her. His hand closed on the hilt. Caelum felt a force pull him back, throwing him away from the dagger before he could take it. Lilith tossed him then pulled him to her side of the tunnel again. Caelum skidded along the ground, tearing his suit. The wall of the tunnel halted his progress. He got back up on his feet and made to dash towards the female demon. He ducked under the shadow tentacle she sent for him, but the whip curled back, grabbed his arm, and tossed him up against the wall of the tunnel yet again.

  Caelum smashed against the icy rocks and fell on the ground face first. He lifted himself to his feet but Lilith's shadow whips caught him again around the waist. Caelum tugged it off, but the whips wrapped around his arms. Black things wound from his wrist to his shoulders, and on his legs, until Lilith had created a cocoon with him at the center.

  “Damn!” He muttered as his arms were pinned tight to his torso and his legs were smashed together. The demon thrashed around like a fish out of water in a futile attempt to escape, pulling with his arms and attempting to kick his legs while Lilith laughed maliciously.

  “Look at you. Think you can actually defeat me, huh?” Lilith said. “Well, foreplay is over, I guess. Time is a-tickin’ and we must prepare for the climax.”

  The bindings on his body pulled him to Lilith, forcing him to flop down on the ground on his back as she dragged him forward. Caelum looked around, searching for any means to escape Lilith’s hold on him. He forced his limbs to push out, but the shadows just tightened their grip on him. The dagger was now securely in her possession, so that was no longer an option. He lifted his eyes to Lilith, who pulled him like a pup on a leash as she walked further into the tunnel.

  “Lilith,” he called, using her real name for the first time. Caelum chuckled weakly. “As much as I may be a bit curious about bondage, sad to say I have a date already.”

  “I know, and I’m taking you to him,” Lilith announced without looking back to him.

  “‘Him is not really my type,” Caelum said. “And here I thought you had no loyalties to Hell.”

  This time, Lilith glanced at him over her shoulder. She had a smile on her face and her eyes were full of morbid delight. “Oh, honey. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t give a damn about this… well, land of the damned.”

  “Then, why are you doing this?” Caelum asked as another shadow gripped him, curling around his shoulders and lifting him up into a standing position. His feet barely touched the ground.

  “I guess I can finally tell you my story. For old time’s sake.” Lilith winked at him, then turned her back on him while she continued. “I bet you know that little fairy tale about how humans were created, don’t you? Well, what if I told you those humans who supposedly wrote that bit in history left out one little thing. Me.”

  “You?” Caelum asked, quite confused. Granted, he had heard of the legendary Lilith before, many times in many different tales, but never in the story of the creation of man. Admittedly, he had a speculation that his sadistic companion may secretly be that infamous demon, though he had never given it much thought until the night before. “What do you have to do with that?”

  “Oh, nothing much,” Lilith claimed, waving her hand nonchalantly. “Except for that bit where I was supposed to be the queen of the mortal lands.”

  “What?” Caelum looked up at the blonde demon in shock, his head bumping the ground as she continued to drag him.

  “Yup. This sweet feisty girl was here first, before that goody-two-shoes Eve. I was the first lady, you know? Literally speaking, I was the original woman. Before there was an Adam and Eve, there was Adam and Lilith.”

  Caelum’s brow furrowed as he processed what Lilith claimed. He knew the story of Adam and Eve, but he never thought of there being another woman involved.

  “That’s right. God created me first. Adam and I were up playing around in the Garden of Eden like a half-naked fairytale. And then God told me to bow down to Adam.” Lilith’s tone grew contemptuous. “Me, bow down to that Adam? Unbelievable. I asked God why I should bow down. Adam was just like me, he wasn’t superior to me. We were made at the same time and in the same way! With a few alterations, of course,” she added, smirking. “He said because Adam was more similar to Him, I should obey Adam. Seriously? If I met someone who looked like the president, then do I have to do everything he said? Ha!

  “Of course, big daddy got a little angry.” Lilith shrugged. “He wanted to punish me for not being a good girl. And you know what I said?” She looked over her shoulder with a smug look on her face. “I said His name.”

  “His name?” Caelum repeated.

  “God’s true name. You ever wonder why those church people always say, ‘In the name of our Father’, and all that? It’s because to invoke a powerful being’s true name is to invoke their power and authority. Obviously, the mortals don’t know what God’s true name is, but I do,” Lilith said proudly. “I spoke His name and granted myself part of His power. And with that power, I turned myself into a winged beauty.”

  “You turned yourself into an angel?”

  “Yes. Forgive me, I was so naive at the time. I was young! I thought angels were powerful and had authority. But then, God set the archangels on me. Raphael and Michael and all the Ninja Turtles came at me to cast me down from Heaven. But of course, I was stronger. I held the power of God after all.” Lilith pulled the dagger from her pocket. “I got this souvenir from that battle, by the way. The blade was from Michael's spear. I snapped it when he stabbed me with it. I survived the attack, obviously.

  “Sadly, the story ended with me having to face God. He banished me from Heaven and took away my powers, then cursed me from fulfilling the one thing He’d created me for,” Lilith said with a hint of remorse. “He made me barren. Rather, all the children I might bear will always be stillborn. Ironic, isn’t it? God created a curse to disable me from procreatin
g.

  “But that was a long time ago, I’m past that now.” Lilith waved her hand. “Besides, today I’ve made more children than you can even imagine.”

  “How?” Caelum asked.

  “Lucifer.” Lilith said the name with desire. “When those goody archangels fought with me, Lucifer stood back on the sidelines to watch. I remember him watching me with much curiosity; I should have known that he wanted me.” Lilith giggled. “Lucifer came down to visit the mortals and I introduced myself to him. He told me how brave I was, and how unjust my punishment was. So, we made a deal.

  “Lucifer knew God wasn’t pleased with him. He knew what was coming. They are of one mind, after all. So, Lucifer made me a deal. When God imprisoned Lucifer in Hell, I followed him and he turned me into what I am now. The first demon.”

  Caelum’s eyes widened; somewhere in the distance, he could see a faint blue glow. They were nearing their destination.

  “That’s right. I was the first woman, the first who spoke God’s name and became a pain in His holy ass, technically the first feminist too, and the first demon of Hell,” Lilith announced proudly. “And with the power Lucifer gave me, I was able to make children of my own. Granted, they weren’t perfect. But they were all strong and murderous, laying waste in God’s precious mortal land like I wanted them to.

  “And now it’s time for the final chapter of this little fairy tale,” Lilith said as they neared an entryway. “With the event that is about to unfold, I get to have my happy ending with my King.”

  Lilith turned to Caelum again, tugging at the shadows that bound him so that his body drew nearer to her. Like a little girl with a balloon, Lilith hopped through the opening.

  The cave was similar to what Caelum had imagined: wide and open with jagged rocks surrounding it. The soft cries of mortal souls echoed above them, filling the room with an eerie music. On the ground was the largest sigil he’d seen, similar to a Holy Seal with a few alterations. A faint blue light shimmered around the sigil, and it covered the entire ground of the cave.

  “Caelum!” A voice he had longed for called his name. Caelum looked to his right and saw Ariel rising to her feet. Her feet and hands were bound in silver chains, her eyes were wide in surprise. He stared at her and all her beauty, a lump formed in his throat that caught his breath.

  “Ariel…” The name was a whisper on his lips. He studied her face and her body, trying to see if she had been harmed during her captivity. But she looked the same as the day they’d taken her from the cemetery. Her dress was the same cream color with a few tears from the battle they’d fought. Her skin had healed, though her face was bewildered by the sight of him.

  “What is…” Ariel stuttered. She turned to face the other person in the room and demanded. “What is the meaning of this?”

  Caelum followed her gaze, only then noticing the blue flames erupting from the ground. The fire did little to warm the room, only illuminating the room. A being sat near the bonfire, his hands clasped together. Caelum stared at him.

  Average of figure, pale white skin, and pale blonde hair. His eyes were golden and reflected a hint of blue from the flames. His face was square but gaunt. He wore a white robe, his bare feet on the icy ground. When the man stood, Caelum saw that he was tall with lean muscles. The man with golden eyes looked at Caelum, then at Lilith with a strange gentleness.

  “Welcome.” He spread his palms open for them.

  Gravity pulled Caelum to the ground as Lilith released her hold on him. She looked at the man and quietly, almost reverently, said, “Special delivery.”

  Caelum climbed to his feet, his skin stinging from the tentacles and frozen ground. He dashed to Ariel and caught her in his arms. He held her tightly and breathed in her presence. Caelum felt as though a weight in his chest was released. Ariel returned his embrace, a whimper escaping her lips. When they let go to look at each other, he found tears at the corner of her eyes. Caelum’s thumbs brushed them away.

  “Why,” Ariel breathed. “Why are you here?”

  “I came to get you,” Caelum told her. “I- I remember. I remember what happened. Who I was before.”

  “You…” Ariel looked at him in a mix of shock and glee. She smiled. “You do?”

  “Yes,” Caelum confirmed. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked into her eyes. The image of her being taken away by angels returned to him. He saw himself as Cornelius, the man she had loved and who had loved her. He had made many mistakes that led her to where she was now, and he swore to make sure he could help her escape.

  “Wow, I didn’t know there was a soap opera going on here,” Lilith interrupted them. Caelum turned to her and saw the bored expression on her face. His eyes looked to the pocket of her jacket, where he knew the dagger would be. Caelum gritted his teeth, his mind calculating how he could get Ariel out of the cage.

  His eyes darted around and found the man who looked at them with gentle eyes. Caelum studied the man, knowing well who it was. He hissed the name. “Lucifer.”

  “Hey, just because you’re a little jealous, doesn’t mean you get to be rude to our host,” Lilith told him. Caelum shot her a glare, and she returned with a smile.

  “It seems that you have forcefully brought him here, Lilith. I understand why he is displeased,” Lucifer said. His kind tone irked Caelum.

  “Lilith?” Ariel repeated the name, looking at Lilith, then Caelum.

  “That’s right, sister,” Lilith told her. “I’m a lot more special than you thought.”

  “But… Why?” Ariel asked, she looked to Caelum, aghast. “How did this happen?”

  “Oh, don’t worry. Your boyfriend over there didn’t even know about me until a few minutes ago,” Lilith assured her.

  “Lilith was turned into a demon by Lucifer, and she works for him,” Caelum explained.

  “Enough.” Lucifer’s voice echoed in the room, and for a moment, Caelum thought even the souls trapped above them were silenced. They watched the angel move around the bonfire and stand facing it. Lucifer held his arms up to his sides and announced, “The time has finally come. After so long in this cage, I shall return to my home, where I belong.”

  Wings suddenly sprang from Lucifer’s back. His wings were different from all other angels’. Though translucent, Caelum could see the pattern of light against his wings, counting six of them. Six wings for the first angel of Heaven.

  A strong surge of energy filled the area around them. A low hum echoed in their ears and the blue fire grew higher and higher, making everything glow in its bluish light. The souls from above started to shriek as Lucifer spoke in the Enochian language. His voice drowned out everything, as if he were speaking directly to their minds.

  Caelum turned to Ariel, panic in his eyes. “I say that is our cue to leave.” He bent to break the chains on her arms and legs. As his hands touched the chains, his skin burned hot.

  “You cannot break them,” Ariel told him. “I have tried.”

  “Well, I’ll try harder.” Caelum took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around the chain. He pulled the chain with the suit covering his hands; they did not budge. He let out a heavy breath. “Perhaps, try something different, then?” He looked around.

  Lucifer stood still in front of the bonfire, his arms extended as if embracing the flames. Lilith watched the angel in amazement. Caelum would never have thought the demon he had been acquainted with, treating her like an annoying friend, was the infamous Lilith. And he never would have thought that Lilith had such a hidden history.

  Caelum weighed his options, choosing the most ludicrous. Before Ariel could stop him, Caelum rushed towards Lucifer. Caelum aimed his shoulder against the angel’s back. A force pushed him back, off his track.

  “Caelum!” Ariel shouted for him.

  Lilith drove her shadows against Caelum once again, throwing him back to the other side of the cave. Caelum dropped hard to the ground, but he immediately got back on his feet and dashed towards the archangel.

 
; Lilith whipped her shadows across Caelum, hitting him in the stomach. But he held on to the shadows, the sharp whips slicing his dress shirt. Lilith gritted her teeth and tossed Caelum to the side, careful not to hit Lucifer, who stood at the center. Then she pulled him towards her, knocking Caelum against the wall beside her.

  The impact knocked the air from his lungs. But as soon as he reached the ground, Caelum rolled over and grabbed Lilith’s arm, pulling her around. He reached for the inside of her jacket, but Lilith turned the tables and grabbed his other arm. She bent forward, throwing him off of her. Caelum landed on the ground on his back, and Lilith pinned him down with her boot against his chest.

  “Now, don’t play so naughty. Your little girlfriend might start to suspect something,” Lilith grinned down on him.

  “Luckily, I don’t think she’s the jealous type,” Caelum replied. He grabbed her leg with one hand and her foot with the other. He twisted both hands in opposite directions and heard her ankle crack. Lilith gasped in pain, jerking her leg from his grasp. Caelum rolled to the side and pushed himself to his feet.

  Lilith sent another shadow at him, and he ducked down, running towards her. He crashed against her, tackling her to the ground. Lilith kicked him in the stomach, sending Caelum off of her. He spun around, lifting himself to a crouch with a smile spread across his face.

  “What?” Lilith demanded. Caelum answered by showing her the dagger in his hand. Lilith groped her jacket, realizing it was now empty. “Damn,” she muttered. She made to reach for the demon again, but a low rumble shook the ground.

  “Wh- What was that?” Ariel looked down, spreading her feet apart for balance. Her eyes widened, looking at the lines that made up the great seal beneath her feet.

  Caelum watched as the sigil glowed brighter. The light branched out from the edge and danced around the lines until it reached the flames in front of Lucifer. The archangel continued his spell, unaware of what was happening around him. Gripping the dagger tightly in his hands, Caelum glared at the archangel.