“Damn it, Jace.” She winked at me.
Unable to take it anymore, I twisted my hands in her hair, and kissed
her, a kiss of total possession. Our mouths locked, hands and fantasies
roaming uncontrolled. Clothing disappeared. Naked, belly swollen with
child, Lilith had never been more beautiful.
“I love—”
Her finger pressed against my lips stopping the words I longed to
say. “Don’t say it.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not one of your cotton-candy lovers.” She leaned over
me caressing my chest with long, tapered nails. “How many times have you
spoken those words?”
I shrugged, not wanting to have this conversation. “A few times.”
“Wife number one? Did you promise to always love her?”
I nodded.
“Wife two? Three? Mary?” Lilith gazed at me. “Did you tell them
you loved them?”
Again, I nodded. They say the truth will set you free, but it damned
me. I’d said the words too many times, to too many women.
“Your love didn’t last,” she whispered against my neck.
No, it hadn’t. My heart burned with sudden fear. Would Lilith fade
away, my love for her disappear? Would love turn to hate? Would she betray
me as the others had?
She kissed me, her tongue stroking mine with abandon. “Promise me
something.”
“Anything.”
“Never tell me you love me.”
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“Deal.”
~ * ~
“What happened to Mary?” I wiped a bead of sweat from Lilith’s
naked skin. Our lovemaking had surpassed my hospital fantasies, and had
included positions, and visual aids illegal in many southern states. Now, as
we lay side-by-side on the adjustable bed, my mind wandered with loose
ends and worries about our future.
Lilith yawned, showing sharpened canine teeth. “It’s customary not
to bring up past lovers while in bed with the current one. Unless it’s a
comparison, and then only when I come out on top.”
“I’ll remember that.” I kissed her bare shoulder, licking her salt-
slicked skin. “And trust me, she’s got nothing on you.”
Lilith turned to face me, her extended belly between us. The baby
kicked, pushing against my stomach. Something warm, and not unwelcome
filled my heart.
“Mary disappeared, and no one has seen her,” she said, biting her
lower lip.
She’s lying, I thought. But why? Was Lilith afraid I’d choose Mary
over her? Choose my biological child over hers? “Mary means nothing to
me. You know that, don’t you?”
Nodding, Lilith took my hand in hers and pressed it against her
stomach. “She doesn’t, but her child means everything.”
“What are you saying?”
“Jace, by design or accident of birth, you’re the actual Second
Coming.”
“And?” Duh. I’d figured that out two hours ago. But I was a Second
Coming without any cool powers. I couldn’t raise the dead, or smite demon
cats at will. Hell, I couldn’t even do the Sunday crossword in pen.
Lilith rolled her eyes. “Mary originally teamed up with Sid to kidnap
Jesus so she could create the next ruler of Heaven.”
“And when she found out I was really the second coming, she
practically raped me.” I smack myself in the forehead. “She got knocked up
on purpose! That bitch.”
“And God’s not getting any younger.” She grinned. “After all, He’s
ruled Heaven for five billon years.”
My eyes widened. “Five billon years?”
“Yep.” She winked at me. “Don’t believe everything you read. God,
Zeus, Buddha, Allah, and a million other less popular deities have risen and
fallen from power in the last five-billon years. It’s like a fucked up popularity
contest.”
“I don’t understand. The ruler of Heaven is determined by the
amount of followers?”
“Yes. Hell, too, for that matter.” Her yellow eyes flashed. “For the
last two thousand years, God’s been in the lead with two billion practitioners."
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“That’s why Sid wanted to kill me, and he used the kid, and his
kidnapping, as a means to an end.” I nodded. “Without a Second Coming,
God would eventually lose the throne.”
Lilith nodded. “But with Sid roasting in Hell, now Mary holds the
key, or rather the embryo to the throne.”
“But only if I’m dead.”
“Yes.” She agreed with a nod. “We must find out who told Mary
about you in the first place, and where she’s hiding.”
“I did not mean to tell her, but you were locked in a mausoleum.
And...” In a flash of white light, the angel appeared, hovering above our bed
on a fluffy cloud. “The blonde one tricked me.”
“A cloud? A fucking cloud?” I shook my head. Lying angel bastard.
“So you told Mary I was God’s son, huh? What else did you let accidentally
slip?”
The angel hung his head. “The mean one’s plan. The plan to rescue
the Messiah, and protect Nemamiah.”
I pointed to Lilith. “She’s Nemamiah.”
“Oh, I forgot.” The angel frowned. “Nemamiah is a man’s name. It
should be your name,” he said to me.
“Thanks but I already have a name. It’s Jace, remember?”
He nodded. “I did not mean to tell the mean one’s plan to the blonde
one. She tricked me, Nemamiah. She is much smarter than your mean one.”
“You stupid, mother—” Lilith screeched
I held up my hand, cutting Lilith off. “How did she trick you?”
Having been duped by Mary myself, I felt an odd sense of camaraderie with
the worthless angel.
“She…” His eyes shifted back and forth. “She promised me my own
cloud. One I don’t have to share with Michael. But then the Lord found out I
told, and he smited me, right there at Bob’s Junkyard, and sent me to
Michael’s cloud. How I wish for my own cloud...”
“You stupid, mother—” I roared, leaping naked from the hospital
bed. I swatted at the floating cloud, fully intending to destroy it, and him.
Sold out for a cloud. How pathetic was that?
Lilith grabbed my hand, tugging me back to the bed. “Kill him later.
Right now, we need to focus on Mary. Once she gives birth to your child…”
“If it’s my child.” I kissed Lilith’s forehead. “And then only over my
dead body will she rule Heaven.”
“I’m guessing that’s part of her plan.”
I scratched my head. “Did you notice it’s part of everyone’s plan? If I
didn’t like myself so much, I’d get a complex.”
Lilith grinned. “If it makes you feel better, it was only after we met
that I wanted you dead.”
“Blasphemy!” the angel squawked. “You dare threaten the Son of
God?”
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“Threatening him is blasphemy, but nearly getting him killed is just
fine, huh?” Lilith twisted the bed sheet in her hands, probably dreaming of
strangling the angel. The babe in her belly kicked violently too, nearly
toppling me from the small bed.
“Unless you ha
ve something vital to say, just go away.” I waved at
the angel and his precious fucking cloud. “You’re completely fucking
useless. Since the beginning, you’ve done nothing right! Not one damn
thing.”
“Fine.” He huffed, blowing out a stream of atmospheric dust. Slowly
he started to disappear, all the while mumbling, “I try to be helpful, stop the
child Jesus from being harmed, but does he want to listen? No, he’s too busy
with the mean one.”
“What did you say?” I yelled.
“You are rude, overbearing, and look like a homeless person.” The
angel crossed his wings over his chest, and waited for my apology.
“No. About the kid?”
“Oh, the son of God is missing, and the Rapture is upon us.” The
angel frowned. “Don’t you watch the news?”
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Sixty Two
“And there you have it folks. The end of days is here, and we are but
moments away from world destruction.” A newscaster with overly bleached
teeth smiled into the television screen. I shook my head, and flipped the
station.
The friendly face of a lowly White House cabinet member reassured
the frightened public. “...No danger... Everything’s fine... The President is
aware of the situation...No comment on the President's current location...”
He’s probably on his knees begging for forgiveness, I thought.
The screen flashed, BREAKING NEWS, in large, terrifying text.
Underneath the words images of packed churches, riots, and falling hamsters
burst from the television. Reports of four headless horsemen approaching the
city had sent frenzied flocks of the faithful into ecstatic peals of joy, and
sinners into the streets screaming for mercy.
I watched, dazed, as the world went mad. What was going on?
Surely, God would’ve mentioned an imminent apocalypse. At the least, he
would’ve sent me a text message. Something like 'btw end o days'. pack lite.
Lilith gripped my hand, her skin cold. “I don’t understand,” she said
for the tenth time. “Why now?”
“Maybe your buddy Satan got tired of waiting.”
She shook her head. “Satan wants Armageddon about as much as you
want a fourth wife. Hell is packed as it is. It cannot sustain billions of newly
dammed. Satan’s even talked about building a fence.”
Interesting. “What about God?”
“Same goes in Heaven. Even the Grim Reaper can’t randomly take
souls anymore. He has to have papers, signed in triplicate. Heaven and Hell
are full-up.”
“So who’s doing all this?” I pointed to the hospital room window.
The streets below swarmed with darkness, and terrified people. Fires burned.
Women and children cried. Men preached salvation on abandoned avenues.
“I wish I knew.” Lilith stroked her stomach. My heart lurched. In that
moment, I vowed to save mother and child. Nothing would take them from
me. Not the end of time, famine, or that dammed Brad Pitt.
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“I plan to find out.” I squeezed her hand. Jumping from the bed, I
pulled on a pair of stolen surgical scrubs and freed Tyrfing from the supply
closet where Lilith had place it after I’d awoken from my coma.
I kissed Lilith goodbye. “Stay here.”
“No.”
“Dammit, Lilith.”
“Dammit, Jace.” She winked at me. “Now’s not the time for foreplay.
Grab your sword and follow me.”
I grinned, and instead of arguing, I meekly followed her to the end of
time.
~ * ~
Lilith and I fought our way north to West 34th Street. Men and
women huddled together in prayer while roaming gangs of the soon-to-be
dammed smashed liquor store windows, and ransacked churches.
“Where are we going?” I jogged to keep up with my enlarged lover’s
quick strides. She was a woman on a mission. A warrior. An avenging angel.
Nemamiah in full glory.
She slowed a step. “Empire State Building. Armageddon starts
there.”
“And the kid? Is he still alive?” I ducked a flying hamster.
Lilith closed her eyes. “Jesus is alive.”
I closed my eyes, and prayed, before taking her hand and the lead.
Ten blocks up, the Empire State Building appeared untouched in a blaze of
rioting, fires, and mass hysteria. Like an oasis from the end of the world, it
stood tall and proud.
My eyes scanned the outside of the building, squinting at the
observation deck one hundred and two floors up. I glanced at Lilith. “Think
the elevator’s working?”
She shrugged. “Does hell freeze over during the apocalypse?”
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“Start climbing.” She shoved me toward the fire escape, and pointed
at her extended belly. “I’m right behind you.”
Hefting Tyrfing over my shoulder, I climbed up the first flight of
stairs. No sweat. I was a soldier. I’d battled forty-foot demons, wrestled the
Son of Satan, and ate the angel’s cooking for fuck sakes. One hundred two
floors was nothing.
By the fifty-fifth floor, I’d significantly revised my attitude. Each
step felt like its own brand of hell. My lungs burned, and my stomach
recoiled. The quivering in my legs twenty floors before had twisted into
violent cramps. Blisters formed, bursts, and reformed on my feet.
I stopped, and listened for signs of Lilith climbing below me.
Nothing. Good. I worried the strain might be too much on her and the baby.
Besides, who knew what we’d face at the top. Having her safely on the
ground made my job easier.
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Sucking in oxygen and my nerve, I began my ascent for the second
time.
Ninety-eight. Only four flights left.
Ninety-nine. Was it pain in your left or right arm that signaled a heart
attack?
One hundred. If this was God’s way of fucking with me....
One hundred one. Was that the smell of sulfur? Or did I stroke out?
One hundred one and a half. Where the hell was Tyrfing? Shit. I
glanced over the stairwell railing, and spotted the wayward weapon six
flights below.
Fuck it. I ran up the last six steps, and shoved the observation deck
door open. An icy wind knocked me back, and brought tears to my eyes. The
stench of burned city, and rotting fall leaves swirled around me, but I focused
on another scent. One that chilled me more than the frozen atmosphere.
Fresh blood, exotic tobacco, and sin.
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Sixty Three
“Glad you made it. By the way, the elevator works just fine.” From
across the rooftop, Lilith gave me a three-fingered wave. She leaned against
a metal heating vent, my nine-millimeter held loosely in her hand. Steam
rose around her, obscuring her rounded body, and giving her an untouchable
glow. A deadly glow. A demon glow.
I took a step toward her, unsure. A lingering fear I’d harbored since
my first marriage swelled inside me. Had I trusted the wrong woman yet
again? Was Lilith nothing more than she appeared, a devil in a black dress,
sent to destroy the world?
No, I refused to believe it. Shoving ins
ecurity aside, I jogged closer,
my eyes scanning the rooftop for hidden dangers. To the right of Lilith, a
wrought iron cage, like a cat carrier, teetered on the opposite side of the
protective railing. A mewing echoed from the container. A familiar sound. I
strained to peer into the cage through the rising steam.
Lilith smiled sadly. “Yes, the Messiah in a glided cage. But we don’t
know yet why he sings.”
“I have a pretty good idea.” I motioned to the ever-approaching
darkness, and the sound of hoofs thundering in the distance. “Hey, kid, you
okay?”
“Mine?” came a muffled reply.
“Yeah, kid, it’s me. You just hang tight, and I’ll get you down.” I
stepped toward the cage, which swayed in the icy wind, teetering back and
forth. One strong gust, and the kid would die.
“Stop.” Lilith pointed my gun at me.
I froze, the bitter taste of fear in the back of my throat. My eyes
focused on her pale face, watching for a sign. A show of weakness.
Something. Anything to erase the flavor of betrayal inside me.
Vapor obscured her for a second or two. Giving me enough time to
charge the ledge and grab the kid, but something held me back. Instead, I
crept closer to Lilith. Close enough to feel the heat from the vent, and smell
the tangy scent of sage.
“Before we die, I have something to tell you,” Lilith’s voice rose
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from the steam cloud.
“Yeah, what’s that?”
The cloud surrounding her shimmered, slowly disappearing in a gust
of icy wind. She cleared her throat. “I love you.”
I swallowed hard. “Son of a bitch.”
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Sixty Four
With a prayer, I lunged into the darkness, throwing myself at Lilith.
My arms wrapped around her swollen middle, cradling the child against me
as we hit the rooftop. From behind us, a burst of gunfire cracked in the air. A
bullet whizzed by the spot Lilith had occupied moments before. The acidic
scent of gunpowder tickled my nostrils.
Lilith squirmed in my grip, her hands clutching her stomach. “I
didn’t mean a word of it,” she whispered in my ear before letting out an ear-
shattering scream. “I don’t love you, damn it. And you better not get yourself
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