by Maya Daniels
“You don’t remember your sisters, witch?” he frowns at me. I don’t like his tone, so I freeze him too.
By the look of surprise on his face, he wasn’t expecting it. Good! That will teach him not to frown at me. I want his smiles and for him to keep saying my name. I don’t like his frowns. He said sisters. I look at the women. They are looking at me with pleading in their eyes. Are they really my sisters? Do I even have sisters? How is it possible for me not to remember that?
“Am I your sister?” I ask them.
“I don’t know what he did to you, Alexia, but you must try to remember. We are sisters in everything but blood,” the dark-haired one in the embrace of one of the men says, extracting herself from his arms. He looks familiar too, but I still can’t remember.
“A-Ma, please, you must remember,” one of the other two women reaches a hand towards me as if she can’t help herself.
“Meda, don’t move,” Lucifer tells her.
I frown at him. Does he think I will hurt her? Why will he tell her not to move otherwise? I don’t think I could hurt those women if I tried. With that revelation, I understand that he must be telling the truth. Just the idea of freezing them twists my heart painfully. No, I don’t think I can. He called the woman Meda. That name stirs emotions inside of me.
“What are your names?” I ask them, but they just stare at me with tears in their eyes.
It makes me want to cry, too, but I can’t do that. Another thing I know I shouldn’t, or can’t do, without understanding why. Everything is very confusing. I feel a shiver again running through my body. I feel so cold, as if I’m frozen inside.
“Remi, Jezzinta, Meda and Faith.” Lucifer indicates each of them with his eyes since he can’t move and no one else answers my question. “And that’s Philip, Will and Archie,” he adds as an afterthought.
“Can we get rid of that arse-hole and then talk?” the green-eyed woman asks with a thick British accent, pointing at the man behind me. Jezzinta is her name. Why can’t I remember?
“He can’t do anything right now, just like me,” Lucifer says angrily, and I smile at him. I don’t understand why this is amusing, but it is. My amusement dies abruptly when we hear a woman speak.
26
“I think you finally met your match, Angel,” a husky woman’s voice echoes and startles us all. Two women step closer. I didn’t hear them approach, like they just appeared out of thin air. They are both so beautiful it hurts to look at their faces for too long. The four other women all drop to their knees and say, “Mother,” in unison. I have a need to do the same, but I lock my knees and force myself to stand. I don’t remember any of these people; maybe they’re trying to trick me. The woman on the right smiles proudly at me, like I’ve done something right.
“You have a strange sense of humor, sister,” the woman on the left tells her. Her voice carries around us with power and it, too, makes me want to drop to my knees. My wrist pulses, like someone has attached a heartbeat to it, so I lift my hand to see why.
“She will be fine, Lilith. That idiot thought I wouldn’t anticipate him trying to steal her light for his own agenda. Pathetic worm. He only managed to make her stronger,” the woman on the right says, still smiling at me.
The men, hearing the name of the second woman, drop to their knees too. How interesting. Lucifer looks more relaxed now, and that’s strange. Who are these women?
“It was about time, Inanna. You’re not looking after your charge as you should,” he tells the first woman. Inanna. My heart speeds up and I feel warm prickles on my icy skin. That name means something to me.
“That’s right, love, you’ll remember. Keep trying,” Inanna says and starts walking closer to me.
“Please keep talking,” I beg her.
Her voice is doing something that is slowly warming me up. Maybe I will not freeze where I stand. She is almost two steps away from me when I remember the ruby. No one touches that until I remember what is going on. I snatch it fast from where it was sitting next to me. My wrist with the apple branded on it starts pulsing harder and I grind my teeth.
“Calm down, love, everything will be fine. Put the ruby on the column. No one will take it.” Inanna talks to me like I’m a child, and that makes me angry.
“No!” I tell her stubbornly.
“Alright. Hold it and suffer the pain. It is painful for you to hold it but not for the keeper,” she says simply.
“Forgive my forwardness, Mother, but we want her back, please. What did he do to her? Is there anything we can do?” Remi asks Inanna, with pleading in her voice.
Somehow, hearing that tone in her hurts me more than anything. Maybe I don’t remember many things, but I remember that. It’s more proof that they were telling the truth. I know these women, I just have to try harder to remember. The second woman, Lilith, comes closer too. She’s looking at me strangely. There is pride and sadness in her black eyes.
“You have made sacrifices, child, now it is our turn,” she tells me.
“Lilith, what are you doing?” Lucifer scowls at her back as if she can see him. “Stay away from her.”
“Awww, come now, love, don’t tell me you feel something for this child,” she tells him without turning around.
She is still looking at me like she expects me to say something or do something. I frown at her. I have no idea what she wants from me, but I’m not going to wait to find out. Flicking my wrist, I freeze her, too, and push her back so fast her body slams into the cages lining the sides of the place ten feet away. Dust and plaster rain from the side, metal clashes on metal from the impact. No one moves for a second, as if everyone is frozen, until we all hear chuckling coming from the wall. Lilith walks out like nothing has happened. Not even her hair is out of place. My jaw drops, how is that possible?
27
“Are you trying to protect him, child? From me?” she asks quietly, but it sounds like she screamed it.
I lift my chin defiantly. I will not answer her questions. Something nags at me in the back of my mind, like an alarm bell telling me to stop doing stupid things before it’s too late, but I ignore it. I have no time for that now. Lilith is still chuckling, and Inanna joins her. Inanna is looking prouder by the second. These people are weird.
“You have grown in your power, love. I’m so proud of you,” Inanna says for my ears only.
“Well, it’s not thanks to you, now, is it? It’s thanks to Lucifer,” I hiss at her, then my eyebrows hit my hairline.
Why did I say that? How is it thanks to Lucifer? My head starts spinning and I’m getting lightheaded. The pulsing pain in my arm from holding the ruby is not helping, either. I sway on my feet and Inanna grabs my arm, holding me up like I’m light as a feather. Lilith is standing in front of me now and I hear Lucifer growling, trying to free himself.
“No!” Jezzinta screams and pushes herself through Inanna and Lilith to stand in front of me. Before anyone else can say anything the other three do the same and circle me. My breath gets stuck in my throat. They will stand up to the ones they call Mother to protect me. I don’t need it, but seeing it warms my heart. No matter if I remember it or not, I have no doubt these women are my sisters. Lilith lifts a delicate eyebrow looking at them.
“You see! I told you I chose well,” Inanna laughs.
“What are we, monkeys in a circus?” I snap at her. “What the hell is going on?”
“You carry my mark, child. I have to see if you are worthy,” Lilith points at my wrist.
“Let me guess. You need the ruby for that,” I tell her dryly. She nods.
“Alexia, release me,” Lucifer growls and unconsciously I do it.
The next second, he is in front of me and all I can see is his perfect back. His shoulders stretch the shirt in such a way that you can see every muscle outlined in it. I want to touch him so badly that my hands are tingling. He looks at me over his shoulder, frowning. To my horror, I realize I am running my hand all over him, so I snatch it back looking a
t my feet like a child caught stealing from the cookie jar. What the fuck is wrong with me? Faith giggles and I frown at her. It only makes her wink and grin at me.
“No one is hurting her, Lucifer. Are you out of your mind?” Inanna snaps from somewhere in front of Lucifer. I still can’t see anything but his back.
“Step away so we can merge. If she lives, you can play the hero,” Lilith tells him flatly.
Something about merging triggers memories, and I remember my merge with Inanna. I was a passenger in my own body. She had full control over me. The idea makes me shiver and it has nothing to do with the coldness I feel inside. I stick my head from behind Lucifer and look at Inanna.
“I remember our merge. You want me to do this?”
I don’t know why I feel hurt. Then I gasp. I remember everything from the merge, including the betrayal and rage I felt for Derik and Tiamat. I slowly turn to look at him still standing frozen, playing dead in hopes we will forget about him. When his eyes meet mine, I give him the most evil smile I can muster. He must have seen the crazy in my eyes, because he starts blabbing incoherently about Tomas and Tiamat making him do things. How he never wanted to hurt me, but they would’ve killed him otherwise. It’s just like background noise. I don’t care what he says.
“Time for you to pay,” I tell him sweetly.
“Careful of the ruby,” Inanna says. “Put it on the column so it doesn’t get damaged.”
“I don’t think so,” I tell her, and without thinking, I open my palm towards the four women.
It may take a while for me to remember what is going on, but I know deep inside that I trust them. To my surprise, Remi picks it up, takes Lucifer’s hand and places the ruby in it. I frown at her.
“He will keep it safe, Alexia, we will make sure he does. Go get rid of that asshole. We’ve got your back,” she tells me firmly, the rest of them nodding, and I believe them.
I nod once and turn to look at Derik. Beads of sweat are forming on his forehead and he is visibly shaking. Good, he should be after everything he’s done. I release him and he stumbles back looking at me in shock.
“What? You thought I’d kill you like a coward while you’re frozen?” I ask him, venom dripping in my tone.
He recovers from the shock quickly, and as fast as a snake, throws a green fireball at me. It bounces off me without touching me. Whatever the hell he did with that crystal made sure the green flames couldn’t hurt me. I don’t understand why or how I know this, but I don’t care. I give him a wide smile. Well, more baring of teeth.
“Try again,” I tell him.
He does. For a while he throws fireball after fireball at me with no results. Then, in a blink of an eye, he throws another but misses me. I thought he was getting tired until I hear the hiss behind me. He tried to hit my sisters. Luckily, Will pushed Meda aside and the flame only grazed her hip. She nods at me, letting me know she’s okay.
“Can you get any lower, you weasel?” I snap at him, but I put a shield behind me to cover everyone just in case. “I’m going to enjoy slicing the skin from your bones very slowly.”
He tries to run, bolting for the back of the warehouse, but I uncoil a fiery rope and wrap it around his leg. He screams and drops to the ground. The smell of burning flesh permeates the air. I drag him back slowly, letting his screams echo around us. I know I should just kill him quickly so that he can’t hurt anyone ever again, but I want to make him suffer, at least for a while. When he is close enough, I make smaller whips, one out of fire and one out of ice, and I start hitting him with them. Only his screams can be heard and it’s like music to my ears. I revel in it. Everyone else is deathly quiet. I pause to look at them and my arms drop to my sides. My sisters, Lucifer and the three men are looking at me with gloomy, haunted eyes. Inanna is watching like she is waiting for something and Lilith is grinning from ear to ear. I look back at the people who were doing everything they could to protect me, even when I didn’t remember who they are. The men look a little terrified. My sisters look gloomy but determined to watch and stand witness. Lucifer looks disappointed. That gives me pause.
“Her humanity was stripped by the wizard, she doesn’t see right and wrong the same way you do anymore. She only knows righteousness now,” Inanna says quietly, addressing my sisters. “Betrayal is punished. It’s her right to be the judge, jury, and executioner. It’s the way of the gods.”
“Is she a goddess now?” Meda squeaks and looks worriedly at Inanna.
“Oh, no, dear. Not at all,” Inanna replies, waving her hand dismissively.
“Not unless she’s worthy,” Lilith adds, excitement clear in her voice.
Moaning behind me makes me turn and look at the bloody mess that is Derik. I want to continue flaying him but I don’t want to disturb my sisters. Forming an icepick, I throw it so it pierces his back where his heart is and with one last scream, he goes still and quiet. His body freezes in seconds, the ice spreading everywhere there is flesh and then shatters like a crystal dropped on concrete. In less than a minute, there is nothing left of him or his treachery. Taking in a deep breath, I turn to look at everyone behind me. Before I say a word, a massive cobra springs from the place that Lilith was occupying a moment ago. No one gets a chance to react before she opens her mouth and swallows me whole. Before everything goes dark, I see Inanna looking at me with solemn eyes. All sound and light is cut off from me before the pain starts.
28
My skin is melting off my bones. That’s how it feels. Someone is pouring acid that covers me from head to toe, and as it slides down, it’s taking skin and muscle with it. Have I been born in this life to only feel pain and to suffer? What is it with everyone, no matter if they are the good or the bad guy, wanting to cause me pain? I don’t think I can go on like this. I need peace because my soul feels tired. I have the body of a woman in her prime, but I feel like I’m thousands of years old and the only thing I wish for is to stop feeling. It doesn’t matter if it’s a good feeling or a bad one. At this very moment, I just want it all to stop and for me to fade into nothingness. All the fight has left me and I don’t mind that; I welcome it. With what little energy I have left, I clear my mind and go to my safe place in my woods.
The next moment, I open my eyes and I’m sitting in a clearing. Tall ancient trees are swaying in a light warm breeze. Birds are chirping in the distance, and an elven song is hummed in the background, feeding my soul. I’m sitting cross legged on thick grass sprinkled with tiny flowers in different colors and my back is pressed against a boulder. Taking a deep breath, I inhale the sweet, wonderful smells from the nature that surrounds me, lifting my face to feel the warmth of the bright sun above. Its rays are caressing my face and arms like a lover’s fingers and I smile. There is no pain or suffering here. It’s just me, at peace. I think I will stay here for eternity.
“What do you think you are doing, child?”
I open my eyes to see Lilith standing with her hands fisted on her hips glaring at me. Her black hair is flowing around her face like she’s underwater, her porcelain skin glowing from the sun above us, and her red dress looks like it’s painted on her body, emphasizing her breasts and hips perfectly. Her red painted lips are pulled into a firm line and her perfectly sculpted eyebrows pull over her eyes that are staring at me with anger.
“How did you get here?” I ask dumbly.
No one has ever come here, not even my grandmother when I’ve tried very hard to bring her with me. This was my safe place; I created it, down to the smallest detail. It’s as much a part of me as my essence. No one should even be able to know about it, little less show up here in all her perfect glory.
“You can’t hide here! Get back this instant. I need to see that you are worthy. Or did you forget you carry my mark?” She arches one eyebrow.
“What made you think I care? I never asked for your mark or for any of it, for that matter. I don’t give a fuck if I’m worthy or not. Go find someone else,” I tell her tiredly and then a thought struck
me. “Anyone else but my sisters,” I add and stare at her with crazy eyes making sure she understands there will be retribution if that is the case.
She throws back her head and laughs. It’s a booming heartfelt laugh that makes me feel uneasy.
“Are you threatening a goddess, child? You can’t be that stupid.” She shakes her head as if she can’t believe my idiocy.
“It’s not a threat, I assure you. It’s a promise. I’ve had enough of your games. All of you,” I tell her flatly.
“It’s not up to you to decide when you’ve had enough. One cannot escape destiny.” She dismisses my comment and I just stare at her, not saying a word. “You think you have a choice in what will come to pass if it’s for the greater good? None of us do, and you had better remember that,” she snaps.
“Good for whom, exactly, Goddess?” I ask, tilting my head.
“The light must prevail, child, you know this,” she tells me. She’s also looking at me curiously, and there is excitement there too, but I have no idea why.
“So, there should only be light?”
“Of course! Love and light is all there is. The rest is just manipulation of souls,” she tells me, sounding like she’s quoting scriptures or something.
“Darkness defines the light; it does not diminish it,” I tell her, looking up at the sun now.
“How interesting.”
“I’m glad I can entertain you, but I’m sure you have better things to do.”
“I am being lectured by a child,” she sighs tiredly. “So, we should let Tiamat and the dark wizards destroy us all. Is that what you want?”
