by Maya Daniels
“It’s not funny,” I mumble but I can’t keep 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 while I’m holding my side because it started hurting. Laughing too much hurts like a bitch.
“There is nothing left but to continue. I feel that we are close to something,” Lucifer says, straightening up.
He reaches for me, palm up, and I take his hand, allowing him to pull me up on my feet. He does the same with Jezzinta. We start walking again, and after a while, I think I’m starting 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 around 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 around with a bewildered look on his face, and Jezzinta frowns at me.
“We fuck, and 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 like 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.
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 stand 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 try going 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 at 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 stopped moving towards us. We all watch, waiting, but it looks like it has 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 still stand, unmoving, and it comes a little towards us, making us stumble from the strong winds that slam into us before it stops moving 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 if it comes close enough.
“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 and starts striding towards it without missing a beat. My heart stops.
I hurry after her and grab her arm to stop her from walking 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 looks at her fingers with a frown then turns 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 to it, as if she’s standing next to it.
I was about to tell her it can’t possible hear her soft words, but a rumbling purr shakes the ground, like the creature can hear her and it approves of what she said. I stop whatever I was going to say. As I look towards it, my mind starts coming up with scenarios. 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 starts 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 start walking with her, not letting go of her arm. She tenses up but doesn’t say a word. Jezzinta comes next to me on the other side and we approach the creature slowly.
The closer we get, the more I feel uneasy. The creature towers over us like a small mountain. Its eagle-shaped head doesn’t move, but his 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 the list of potential threats. We walk until we stand far enough from it to be able to look at 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 looking up at it.
Before we realize what she is doing, she walks up to it with her hand raised up towards it. I’m about to spring after her, when Jezzinta stops me by jerking on my arm.
“Look,” she says, pointing with her chin and I follow her eyes. My mouth opens and closes few times but no words come out.
Alexia is standing with her hand raised up and the creature slowly and very gracefully lowers itself to the ground on all fours making sure its wings don’t move. It lowers his head gently, allowing her to run her hand over the side of his face so close to its eye she can poke it if she meant 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 to it 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 anticipatio
n, 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 up his head and the screech-roar sound bursts from its beak, making me grab my ears. The witches do, too. Two seconds after the sound dies out, a slight wind starts picking 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 but 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, me chatting and you being an ass.”
My reply was 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 back towards Alexia and I see Anzu still sitting there.
“There are two of them?” Jezzinta’s words enter my brain and I look back at the new creature.
“Apparently,” Alexia says simply, still looking at the new one.
I feel 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 walk up 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 feel it in my heart. I just didn’t know there are 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 looks at Anzu.
Instead of Anzu, the new creature moves, lifting its front paw. It opens it and there in the center of its paw, 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 stands still, staring at them like she is worried they might bite her.
“You want me to take them?” I ask her, and she shakes her head, still looking at 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 down 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 in and out all over her skin. Words and names appear and disappear in white lights and her body is shaking 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 stop appearing on her skin. I hold my breath, and Jezzinta kneels next to me, wringing her hands and biting her lips as if she is physically stopping herself from screaming. I share the sentiment. Alexia still hasn’t moved.
“Please, my love. Wake up,” I implore her.
Her lashes flutter and slowly she opens her eyes. Those deep oceans bore into mine, searching. I release the breath I was holding, hugging her to me and burying my face in her neck. It is terribly embarrassing that I feel like crying from relief.
“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 got 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.
“Little late for that don’t you think?” A male voice echoes around us and I look behind both women at the male staring at us with his arms crossed over his chest.
41
Alexia…
Looking over my shoulder I do a double take. The man standing there looks so familiar my heart skips a beat but I can’t place him. I feel, deep in my bones, that I know him, but I don’t think I’ve ever met him before.
“Who are…” I start but Lucifer cuts me off.
“Enki! I should’ve known you would not sit this one out. What do you want?” He starts walking towards the man.
“Enki? As in the God of waters?” I frown at Lucifer’s back.
“The one and only, my dear,” Enki answers, arrogance clear in his voice as if I’m an idiot for not knowing that straight away.
“Well, good for you,” I chirp with a cheerfulness I don’t feel, making him raise an eyebrow at me. He looks down his nose as if I’m a stain on his shoe.
“What do you want?” Lucifer is not the one for small talk.
“What is rightfully mine. Nothing more, nothing less.”
While they talk quietly, I stand observing Enki. I still have that feeling that I know him. He is tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired and just as disgustingly handsome as the rest of them. I mean really! Is it too much to ask to see an ugly god or goddess? His voice is deep and melodic and I can almost feel the power behind his words when he speaks, like he is trying to trick your mind into doing anything he tells you. Too bad for him that shit doesn’t work on me. Judging by the heated conversation, it doesn’t work on Lucifer, either. I look at Jezzinta from the corner of my eye, and she’s as cool as a cucumber. Good! It doesn’t work on her, either.
His expressionless face is covered with a long beard, braided and tied up nicely down to his colla
rbone, but it doesn’t make him look wild. It makes him look wise and respectable. I snort at that thought, and his eyes land on my face. Giving him the most innocent look I can muster, I blink at him. He narrows his eyes at me like he can see through my charade, and my lips twitch. Well with everything spinning out of control, I figured that if I go, I’ll go with a bang. Screw all these assholes and their self-righteousness. His lips press into a thin white line betraying his displeasure, and I finally grin at him. Well, bare my teeth is more like it.
“What have you done to her?” He cuts off whatever Lucifer was saying.
Lucifer frowns, looking back at me, and I smile at him, shrugging one shoulder.
“We have done nothing but help her and protect her. You should go have that conversation with Tiamat,” he growls, getting into Enki’s face.
“She is different,” Enki tells him, waving off his comment like it’s nonsense.
“And how would you know?” I ask him in hopes he will say something to make me remember where I know him from.
He takes a step back like I actually slapped him and looks incredulously at Lucifer as if the angel will tell him I’m crazy or something. That actually makes me look at Anzu. I wonder if he knows Enki, too, and that’s why he didn’t warn us of his approach. My heart skips a beat when I see Anzu and the other one whose name I don’t know stand still like they’re frozen in place with a blueish shimmer around them.
“What did you do to them?” I snap at Enki.
“They’re fine. I just didn’t want them getting involved in this.” he sniffs.
“They’re not fine, you asshole. How dare you?” I yell at him and lift my hands to remove whatever he has placed around them.
As I start removing it, it forms again in the same second. I frown and look at Enki. He stands there with his hand raised, too, smirking at me.
“Release them!” I say through clenched teeth.
