by Cassie Ryan
“I know. And so does everyone else.”
Lilith frowned as anger and a protective spurt of fear sizzled through her. “No one is supposed to know. I can’t be seen as helping them.” She huffed out a breath and raised her gaze to his. “Can you help them?”
Uriel’s face remained a mask. “I am forbidden, not officially, but I’ve been warned to not interfere with their paths. Whatever happens with the succubi has to play itself out as it is meant to or we risk changing what is supposed to be.”
Not only were the succubi and incubi like Lilith’s children, they were also an extension of her and helped maintain her energy and her power. Even losing one would physically and powerfully hurt Lilith. Losing four—especially four of the original succubi created—would lessen Lilith’s energy flow and require her to seek out Uriel’s sessions even more often than she did now.
Frustration, sadness, loss, and grief swelled up inside her, threatening to overwhelm her. The nearly weekly sessions were always torture, and especially after the last one with Raphael and Gabriel, she didn’t expect them to get any easier.
Uriel surprised her by pulling her forward into his arms and gently laying her head on his shoulder.
She sank into his offered comfort and let her tears flow.
“It’s all right, nassah. I’m here. I’ve sworn to care for you, and I always shall.” He rocked her softly, rubbing her back as he spoke nonsense in low, soothing tones until her tears were gone.
Finally, Lilith sighed against him, feeling empty and broken. The tears hadn’t helped the situation, and she definitely didn’t feel any better. It seemed so unfair that God had created her specifically as temptation for Adam and Eve, and yet it felt like she was continually being punished for fulfilling that very role.
Uriel brushed her hair back away from her face and gently wiped the tears from under her eyes with his thumbs. “You’re low on energy, nassah. Let me summon someone for you. What do you wish?”
When she stared into his silver eyes she felt nothing but a heavy ache inside her.
“Raphael?”
Lilith thought about the threesome she’d had with Raphael and Gabriel and imagined Uriel watching the scene again. She cringed. “I’m sorry I hurt you, ahuvi.” She laid her palm against his smooth-shaven jaw and brushed her thumb lightly back and forth over the warm skin. “Can you summon Gabriel to meet me at my quarters?”
He pulled back as if she’d slapped him. “Only Gabriel?” he asked slowly. “You don’t wish me there?”
She sniffed back the last of her tears and stood. “I must maintain energy or die, but I don’t have to continue causing us both pain in the process. I’ll work out an arrangement with Gabriel long term.”
A myriad of emotions flowed across Uriel’s features including confusion, hurt, pain, and even panic. He began to speak and she silenced him by laying her fingers over his lips.
“Please, ahuvi. I can’t bear this between us anymore.” Lilith savored the feel of his soft lips just under her fingers and then forced herself to drop her hand.
She wanted to tell him she loved him and beg him not to let her make this decision for the both of them. She wanted him to argue and tell her he would never let himself be cut off from her. But instead, she stepped away from him.
“Good-bye, Uriel.” As soon as the words slipped past her lips, she turned and ran.
As soon as Lilith rematerialized inside her chambers she realized she’d forgotten her shoes back at Uriel’s house. She sighed and dropped her cloak onto the ground at her feet. “Evelin!”
The girl rushed inside Lilith’s quarters smelling faintly of burnt cinnamon and dropped to her knees in front of Lilith.
Lilith waved impatiently, irritated at the show of supplication when her life was falling apart around her. “Get up,” she snapped.
Evelin rose to her full height, which fell several inches short of Lilith’s own five foot nine. The girl had milk-pale skin and long red hair—the coloring of her home country of Ireland. The soft lilt in her voice had faded over the centuries, but she was still as lovely as the first day Lilith had seen her.
Evelin kept her gaze down and nodded once, waiting for further directions from Lilith.
“Who has had access to my marble trunk, now, or in the past?”
Evelin raised her intelligent green gaze to Lilith’s. “Other than yourself, my queen, me, Lord Uriel, Xander, or the cleaning servants.” She paused and then quickly added, “Or anyone else you have invited in.”
Lilith sighed. She’d restricted access to her personal chambers and very few of her subjects had ever set foot inside—but there had been a few, including the four succubi sisters who were now firmly embroiled in Armageddon prophesies.
She sighed. She’d have to be more careful about who entered her quarters from now on.
“Until further notice, no one enters my quarters unless I accompany them. That includes the cleaning servants. They can clean while I’m here from now on.” An inconvenience, but better than ending the existence of her kind because she couldn’t keep her personal items hidden.
A stray thought that she should destroy Uriel’s letters flashed across her mind, but she shoved it away. If she was never to be with Uriel again, then the letters were all she had to remember him by.
Evelin dropped her gaze and nodded once, but not before Lilith saw the girl wince. She took her position seriously and would most likely see this as a sign that Lilith didn’t trust her. Over the centuries, Evelin had proved more than trustworthy, but with recent events Lilith wasn’t in the mood to trust anyone right now.
“Is there anything else you require, my queen?” The girl’s voice was pleasant as always, showing no sign of her thoughts about Lilith’s sudden announcement.
“No. Leave me. I’m not to be disturbed.”
“Yes, my queen.” Evelin’s gaze remained glued to the ground as she retreated out the door, never turning her back on Lilith—a silly tradition the girl had picked up from human royalty.
When she was gone, Lilith stripped off her dress and tossed it aside as she headed for the large hot spring that sat in the corner of her quarters. She’d heard human women took hot baths when life became too strong. In this, Lilith had to agree with them—things usually looked better after a long soak in the hot springs.
She twisted her long hair into a quick knot and fastened it on top of her head with a clip she kept near the spring for just this purpose. With a sigh, she stepped down into the hot, swirling water and immediately sank to her neck with a hiss and then a long sigh as her body adjusted to the sudden change in temperature.
“Apparently being queen has its perks.”
Lilith’s head snapped up at the sound of Gabriel’s soft voice. The woman stood just at the edge of the spring, her long, silver blond hair spilling around her, making her look every bit the powerful Archangel she was.
“Uriel said you wished to see me. I hope I’m not intruding?”
Lilith raked her gaze over the Archangel’s supple body and a zing of arousal surged through her. Maybe this arrangement wouldn’t be so bad, especially if Uriel wasn’t watching—a constant reminder of what she couldn’t have. “Would you like to join me? I actually have a proposition to discuss with you.”
Gabriel smiled, her ice blue eyes sparkling with amusement and curiosity. Without answering, she unbuttoned her white fitted shirt, peeled it off, and dropped it to the floor next to Lilith’s dress. Her peach-colored nipples puckered as the cool air hit them, and Lilith traced an appreciative gaze over the woman’s full breasts, smooth skin, and trim waist.
Next, the Archangel toed off her shoes and stripped off her pants to reveal a tiny white, lace thong that she slid down her trim hips and dropped on top of the pile of clothes before stepping forward into the churning water. “Mmm, I don’t know what it is about hot water, but it’s one of my favorite vices.” Gabriel lowered herself into the water until she was completely submerged and then surfaced with
a laugh as she wiped water out of her eyes.
Lilith sat on the smoothed ledge that ran underwater around the back edge of the spring where it flowed inside her quarters. “I know exactly what you mean. I spend a lot of time in here. Especially after my visits to Uriel.” Bittersweet memories flowed back to her, tightening her throat with so many emotions she gave up trying to name them all.
Gabriel watched her quietly for a long moment. “Uriel chose these caverns for your lair, didn’t he?”
Lilith swallowed back her emotions. “Yes. After the Garden he wasn’t sure what to do with me, so he found this place.” She glanced around, remembering the first time she’d stepped inside her quarters and seen all the thought Uriel had put into making sure she was happy.
“And he petitioned God to create followers for you so you would have a family of sorts, didn’t he?” There was no judgment in Gabriel’s voice, her words were matter of fact. “And when certain humans were found to have a bent for temptation, didn’t Uriel find a way for you to convert them into succubi or incubi, extending their lives and expanding your family?”
Lilith sighed and looked at Gabriel with new appreciation. She’d not had much cause for interaction with God’s anointed messenger over the centuries—Gabriel usually delivered the message and then let the other angels take over during the implementation phases. But Gabriel was proving to not only be beautiful and smart but very intuitive as well as a good listener.
“True,” Lilith finally agreed.
Gabriel met Lilith’s gaze so intently that Lilith expected vertigo to slap at her as the Archangel looked inside her soul, but the intense gaze remained solid and ice blue. “Uriel may not be able to act on it, but he does care for you deeply.”
A small, bitter laugh escaped and Lilith closed her eyes for a long moment. “I have no doubts he cares for me.” She brushed away a tendril of long hair that had fallen out of her clip to dangle over her right eye. “It just gets frustrating that he’s found a way for me to be with pretty much everyone but him.”
“As odd as it sounds, he’s following the rules we’re all subject to.” Gabriel spread her hands wide. “But sometimes it does feel as if the people we truly want to be with are the only ones we can’t. Free will takes a part on both sides, even for the Archangels, but sometimes I do wonder if it’s part of God’s plan to test our endurance and ability to adapt.” The expression on Gabriel’s face made Lilith wonder who the Archangel had loved and lost.
A long silence of understanding fell between them as the hot waters swirled around them.
“Sometimes I envy the humans.”
Gabriel’s soft words surprised Lilith. “But you’re a powerful Archangel. You’re the messenger for God. You’re immortal. How can you envy them?” Lilith had envied them often enough for their ability to love whom they pleased without edicts from God to the contrary. But she’d figured that was because even as Queen of the Succubi, she was very low on the supernatural totem pole. In God’s esteem, humans were actually on top.
“I envy them their mortality.” Gabriel’s ice blue gaze slid to Lilith’s. “After all, they only endure their pain for the span of a human lifetime, but you and I will endure this theoretically forever.”
Lilith hadn’t ever thought about it quite in those terms. But presented like that, she had to agree. “And to think they probably envy us our longevity.”
Gabriel pursed her lips. “Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy quite a few parts of being immortal, as I’m sure you do too.” She tipped her chin to the side, a knowing smile curving her lips. “Now what did you want to discuss with me?”
Lilith chuckled. “I nearly forgot that’s why I asked you here.”
A slow grin spread across Gabriel’s face, making her look like a mischievous pixie.
“What?”
“I think we’re actually becoming friends.” Gabriel grinned. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a friend outside of the Archangels, and they’re more like family.”
Lilith liked the idea of having a friend. She’d had companions, servants, followers, lovers, and many other things, but in her long life she’d never had someone she considered a friend.
Not even Uriel—especially not Uriel.
What would it be like to have someone to call when things weren’t going right, or she just wanted to talk or not be alone? And not because the other being wanted favor in her eyes, but just because they enjoyed her company? Yes, having a friend sounded like a wonderful and novel experience. “I think I’d like that.”
Gabriel skimmed her fingers across the top of the swirling water. “So will that interfere with what you were going to ask me?”
Lilith considered for a long moment. “I don’t think so.” She sat up straighter, the line of churning water bubbling around the tops of her breasts. “Would you be willing to provide me with sustenance on a regular basis?” The words sounded so formal and contractual after their previous discussion, but she wasn’t sure how to ask other than outright.
“Just you and I, without Uriel or Raphael?”
Lilith tensed, not realizing until now how much she wanted Gabriel to accept her offer. “Yes, just you and I. I . . . think it will hurt less if Uriel isn’t always watching. And it will hurt him less as well.”
Gabriel moved forward until she was just inches away from Lilith, the Archangel’s pale breasts bobbing gently as the fast-moving water teased the tempting flesh. “Are you sure about this? My offer of friendship will still stand if you change your mind at any time on this point.”
The warm words teased against Lilith’s senses and she found her gaze drawn to Gabriel’s shapely lips. She thought about all the millennia of meeting with Uriel every time she needed energy—the longing for him, the disappointment, and the aching emptiness that always consumed her for up to several days after she left him.
Even the overwhelming joy she’d experienced that one brief night in Uriel’s arms was followed by an endless litany of painful heartbreak. She took a long, slow breath as she met Gabriel’s patient gaze. “I’m sure. It’s time for me to start standing on my own, making my own choices that aren’t fallout from Uriel’s guilt.”
Gabriel’s lips curved and she came forward to kneel between Lilith’s thighs, her breasts brushing against Lilith’s and sending arousal and energy sparking through her. “To a fresh start and a fresh friendship.” She reached up to lay her palm against Lilith’s cheek; the sensation of the wet, hot flesh against hers sent a shudder through her.
Lilith enjoyed the anticipation that curled inside her as Gabriel slowly closed the distance between them until the Archangel brushed her lips across Lilith’s in a gentle caress. The cool lemony taste that was unique to Gabriel combined with a scent that reminded Lilith of the fresh, crisp smell after a snowstorm filled Lilith’s senses, and she sank into the kiss.
She parted her lips as she reached out to pull Gabriel closer so they were breast to breast and mons to mons.
Energy immediately sparked between them and flowed into Lilith in a steady stream, her body regenerating with the strength of the power it fed off of. Within seconds she was fully sated.
She expected a hard slap of arousal, but instead, comfort and contentment curled through her like bright rays of sunshine thawing places inside her she hadn’t realized were frozen.
Gabriel skimmed her fingers down Lilith’s back to caress the sensitive skin at the top swell of Lilith’s ass.
Lilith slowly ended the kiss and pulled back on a long sigh. “Would you like to stay the night? Not necessarily for sex, but just to spend time together and to fall asleep together?”
Gabriel brushed a gentle kiss across Lilith’s lips before pulling back with a smile. “I haven’t slept in centuries. I think I’d love it.”
14
Noah took a deep breath, pulled his backpack over his shoulder, and nodded to Jezebeth and Max that he was ready, even if he still didn’t entirely understand the plan they’d hurriedly discussed and decided o
n. Unfortunately, they both had more supernatural experience than him, so he’d deferred to their combined experience.
Jezebeth’s form diffused back into a Djinn and she slowly floated forward to surround Noah like a large blanket. He had a long moment of panic as he became accustomed to the sensation and weight of her, and then as he sensed her familiar energy, he relaxed.
“I’m okay,” he only partially lied. “Ready for stage two.”
Just as they’d discussed, Max rose into the air and slowly edged downward through Jezebeth’s head, neck, shoulders, and torso to merge with her, careful not to merge inside Noah since the human body couldn’t survive that type of joining.
Noah clenched his fists against the first stirrings of claustrophobia and hoped they could complete this quickly. “Damn, this is like being inside a thick vat of humidity.” Noah’s words were muffled and he sensed rather than heard grunts of agreement from Jez and Max.
“Hold on,” Max’s voice warned inside his head just as the world tipped sideways and Noah’s stomach threatened to permanently lodge inside his throat.
Noah swallowed hard and fought not to throw up inside his suit of two large Djinn as they materialized next to what was left of the truck.
In the soft light of the full moon he could make out that the charred frame had what appeared to be bite marks out of it in several places, and the only sign of their supplies were a few shredded scraps underfoot of what Noah thought might have once been his clothes. He hadn’t expected much more than that once Max had told him the truck was surrounded, but he’d hoped to find at least something. It made him very glad Jez had shoved his backpack into his hands before Max had taken them.
An eerie silence surrounded them. No traffic noise, crickets, or even the sound of the light breeze that Noah saw flutter through the brush that edged the freeway reached him through the thick layer of Jezebeth and Max that covered him.
Just as Noah had decided that the area was deserted, dark shapes moved at the edges of his vision.
