Nephilim’s Captive: A Divine Giants Romance (Sons of Earth and Heaven Book 1)

by Abby Knox

  The bulky giant replied, “Not a hair will fall from her head, brother.”

  Samuel laughed as he walked away. “I trust you, brother. But don’t trust her not to take any pictures of you with her phone.”

  Moments later Ada was with Urek in the kitchen, chopping vegetables and fruit with the most terrifying-looking knife she’d ever held in her unskilled hands. She followed Urek’s instructions to the letter, and she found him to be the kind of person who enjoyed a companionable silence. It suited Ada fine, who was frankly tired of all the shouting. After a time, Urek broke the silence as he dumped a pile of leeks into an enormous pan on the wood-burning stove.

  “Do you understand the enormity of a Nephilim falling in love with a human.”

  She grimaced while she chopped potatoes. “It doesn’t matter though, does it? Michael is going to kill me and then Samuel will move on. Surely, being as old as he is, he’s been through this before.”

  “No, he hasn’t.”

  Ada struggled to keep control of her hands while she worked. “I would never flatter myself to believe that. He’s more than ten thousand years old. The numbers don’t stand up; he’s had to have been in love before.”

  Urek chuckled. “You don't know the first thing about the brain chemistry of angelic beings, so no offense but you should stop applying human science and statistics to all of this. He is completely in love with you, bonded with you, and this changes everything for us. What I’m saying is, we’re all preparing ourselves for him to make some rash decisions that could have a ripple effect on the entire trajectory of human history. Are you prepared for that responsibility?”

  Ada stopped slicing and looked up from the cutting board. “Look, I’m firmly rooted now in the fact that magic exists. My brain accepts this. I still don’t believe I matter that much in the scope of your prophecies.”

  Urek laughed while brushing tiny bugs off of the tender leaf lettuces. “Prophecies are everything. If Samuel is correct, and your existence has been foretold by Shemyaza himself, then your murder could open the first seal.”

  “But why would Michael want that?”

  “He doesn’t. That’s why they’re only going to erase your memory. They’re not ready for the war yet. Too many fallen angels on the earth that haven’t chosen a side. Too many of them to recruit, along with the Nephilim.”

  Ada fought against the shiver that ran through her at his words. “For a race of creatures that spends a lot of time telepathically telling people not to be afraid, you sure know how to give a person the heebie-jeebies.”

  Urek laughed again, this time longer and louder. She enjoyed the richness in his voice and was happy to be the source of mirth instead of consternation for once.

  “Hey, I have a question,” she said.

  “I’m sure you do,” he answered.

  “Why can’t you magically prepare all this food? Same as Reus with the costumes and on and on. I mean, you helped me plant the garden and magically made things grow in it for us to eat.”

  Urek glanced up at her and answered, “That was yesterday. Today is the day before the Bacchanal. We use none the day before. We use up what remains of our magical powers during the orgy. And then we attend the Concert, where we replenish our magic. On the third day, we eat and drink, taking care of our human bodies.

  Ada took several minutes to absorb all this information while she moved the contents of the cutting board into the waiting cast-iron pan on the stove. The pan was about five times the size of hers at home.

  “OK, but Samuel went to the cathedral to replenish his magic the other day. Why have the ritual if you can fix yourself up whenever you want? Why do any of it?”

  Urek took over at the stove and indicated she should start dicing the apples and pears for a fruit salad.

  “It’s just that, a ritual. We Nephilim like symbols and reminders and ceremonies. We don’t need to eat but maybe four times a year, so we turned it into a seasonal sacred celebration.”

  She thought about it. “I don’t get the purpose it serves.”

  Patiently, Urek considered a way to compare it to human behavior as he stirred the soup and she peeled apples. “If I can ask a personal question. Do you celebrate Christmas?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you able to get everything you need and want? Like if you want something special for yourself, that’s not necessarily something you need, but you want. Like a book or a vacation or a movie.”

  “Yes.”

  “And are you a Christian?”

  “No.”

  But you still enjoy getting gifts at Christmas?”

  “Of course, it’s fun.”

  “And,” Urek said, smiling, “do you eat anything at Christmastime that you don’t eat any other time? Or engage in any rituals you don’t normally do, that in the grand scheme of things don’t serve a greater purpose other than to mark the season?”

  “Sure. Egg nog. My grandmother’s boozy fruitcake. Opening stockings on Christmas morning. Going to church on Christmas Eve to appease my other grandmother but enjoying the music and the flowers and the lights and everything.”

  Urek turned and smiled even wider, his white teeth the size of nickels. The sheer size of these people, she would never get used to. If Urek wasn’t so friendly she’d be suffering full-body chills of fright. “So you do get it after all,” he said.

  Ada nodded and continued with her kitchen tasks. After a time, she asked one final question. “Urek?”

  “Yes, lucky penny?”

  “What’s going to happen to me at the orgy?”

  Urek’s smile faded but his face remained soft. He answered, “Nothing that you don’t verbally consent to.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Samuel

  “But why do I need a costume if we’re about to have an orgy?”

  Holding up the diaphanous gown he’d made, Reus looked from Ada to Samuel and back again. “I…well…it’s more than that. It’s not…Samuel, do you want to tell her?”

  Samuel patted her on the head, and she glared. “It’s tradition. It’s all part of the ceremony. You need to be wearing angel-made clothing for the metamorphosis to occur. There can be nothing blocking the waves; it has to be a total immersion into our world. This is why humans usually have to undergo some kind of psychic influence to endure it. It’s a big…adjustment.”

  Ada looked at her lover and then at the other companions in the room who had joined them. “This is a lot of rigmarole for a fuck party,” she said.

  “It’s not just about fucking. It’s about connecting and becoming one with the universe so we can magically connect to each other and to everything around us.”

  “Seems like that’s what I hear a lot of at the beginning of sex cult documentaries.”

  Samuel pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, it’s not that. You have to keep an open mind.”

  “Urek said I would not have to do anything I didn’t consent to,” Ada said.

  “And he told you the truth. But you’ll want in on this. Trust me.”

  “Why would I go into this blind?”

  “Not blind, my little fox. Curious. You’re going to want to know what this feels like.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Ada

  When Ada was a little girl, she never put on pretend bridal gowns and held pretend wedding ceremonies with her friends. While her sister was making veils out of blankets and trying to make the dog wear a pillow to carry imaginary wedding rings, Ada was outside making mud pies. Instead of Barbie nail polish, she would ask her mother for child-size shovels and trowels. Instead of a sticker collection, she asked for a Polaroid camera to collect photographs of animal tracks in the woods behind their house.

  So when Reus handed her her costume for the orgy, she was not expecting to like it. Her mind was ready to keep control of herself. She told herself that if she did like it, it only meant that Reus or Samuel or somebody was doing some Jedi mind trick to get her to like it.

&nbs
p; But when she set her eyes on the gown, she understood. It was so beautiful, she cried. Layers and layers of diaphanous material floated like a beautiful specter on the hanger. “Will you help me put it on?” she said.

  Reus obliged, of course. He carefully draped the fabric around her body, then her waist, and then over one shoulder. It went on forever but felt completely weightless. It was lighter than spun silk and delicate as a spiderweb. “What is this material?” she asked, fingering the edge where it was trimmed with lace so tiny and intricate she didn’t notice it at first.

  “I would tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” Reus joked.

  The other remarkable detail was the color. It was white, and then bled into light gray and then soft heather, and finally, a dark smoky gray where it reached the floor. When he led her to the mirror, where he secured the dress under her breasts with a delicate gold belt, she saw in the reflection a goddess.

  “I look like I’m either about to get married or turn my husband into a toadstool with my mind, I can’t tell which.”

  “Sweetheart, you can do anything you set your mind to. Want me to teach you to turn that boyfriend of yours into a toadstool so I can run away with you?” Reus said with a wink.

  “I don’t think your companion would appreciate you hitting on me,” Ada said playfully, smiling at herself in the mirror as Reus placed a flower crown on her head, decorated with wildflowers and greenery. It felt about ten times the weight of the dress.

  “Well, she’s open to a threesome if you’re into that. Are you guys exclusive or…?”

  “Yes.” Samuel’s voice cut across the room, giving Ada a hint of possessiveness in it. In a flash, he was behind her in the mirror, grasping her around the waist. His grip was firm but gentle.

  “She’s mine. That’s all you need to know.”

  “Samuel. Come on. The first companion you’ve brought to the Bacchanal in decades and you’re not even going to share?”

  Ada flinched. Reus put up his hands. “With your consent, of course.”

  Ada thought about the last time she’d ever dated. Her memories were foggy again. Once more she was having trouble remembering her own name, let alone her life in the human world. When she opened her mouth to speak about her lack of experience, she could not even remember the last person she’d been with. Or if she ever had.

  She should have put a stop to all of it. But holy moly, the way she felt when he touched her. The closer they got, the more her body responded to being close to him. Everything was enhanced when she’d come out of that fountain. She felt as if she had gained a bonus extra life in the world’s most immersive video game. Her giant could be across the room and she could still feel his energy, his breathing, his pheromones. She wanted him, but not only his body. She wanted their souls to connect on another plane entirely. Is that what they’d meant when they had tried to describe this event to her?

  There was so much to absorb.

  Samuel saw her hesitance and lifted her to look her directly in the eyes. “I’ll be with you every step of the way. And if anything makes you uncomfortable, we’ll stop. Now, it’s time to start the ceremony.”

  In the nave in front of the altar stood Ada and only five other companions. Zave, as Samuel explained, chose to sit this one out.

  Each of the companions was dressed similarly to Ada, with handmade costumes by Reus. All of them were twice as pretty as she was.

  Samuel did not need to press into her mind to know what she was thinking. He bent toward her as they all approached the altar. “You are mine, little fox, and that makes you a fucking goddess. Don’t be scared. All of them are as wary as you are. Well, except for Reus’s companion. She’s been here before.”

  As they lined up in front of the altar, Ada got a good look at all the other companions. Indeed, Reus’s companion looked excited; she knew what was coming. Ada was unsure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  Dev’s companion, however, was a little more relaxed, too. Dev had his arms wrapped around her waist and he was kissing her on the nose, forehead, and all over her face. The giant behaved sweetly for such a severe-looking character, with tattoos on his face. She reproached herself for being prejudiced about face tattoos. The way that young companion and Dev looked at each other, they had about as many secrets as Samuel and Ada had a few short days ago. This was not a one-time tryst for them either if Ada had to guess by watching them. They had been together for a while; it was all in their comfortable body language.

  Her attention turned to the altar, which was unlike anything ever built for an earthly cathedral. There was no wine or bread or holy books anywhere. Just seven crystal spheres, all of which, if she was feeling like cracking a joke, she would say looked like something in between a snow globe and those spheres at science museums that make your hair stand on end when you touch them.

  At that point, Yael said some words. “All you have to do, if you wish to participate, is to touch the glass in front of you. Each one corresponds to your specific partner. You’ll understand why in a moment. If you wish to have multiple partners at any point, and the other companions respond favorably, then you’ll have to touch those corresponding crystals as well. Is everyone clear?”

  Ada nodded her head. “Yes, but this still doesn’t explain how any of us are supposed to be able to handle those big bananas y’all have.”

  One of the other companions tittered. Dev’s companion blushed. Atlas looked amused and Urek’s companion glared at her. She was into the whole ceremony and pomp and circumstance and resented the interruption.

  Yael smiled indulgently. “You’ll understand shortly.” He then amplified his voice and began to sing. Ada watched as the singer’s eyes turned up toward the ceiling and then witnessed with awe when the ceiling slid back with a huge scraping of stone against stone, to reveal the night sky. She stared up in dazzled amazement at what she was watching and could not pay attention at all to Yael’s instructions.

  Ada’s attention was snapped back down to earth when she heard a peculiar noise coming from her fellow companions around her. She looked and saw the other women had their hands on the corresponding crystal, their eyes closed and lips parted. They looked as if they were either experiencing some kind of transcendental experience or the best sex of their lives. She looked around but none of the giants were touching their companions; all of them stood back and watched.

  She glanced back at Samuel, whose head gave the most imperceptible of bows, telling her she could proceed or back out. She still had time.

  She knew she shouldn’t. She was about to let go of all her senses and dive in without having all the facts.

  Ada picked up the sphere, her curious mind unwilling to restrain her grabby fingers.

  Samuel spoke softly, “Uh, no you’re not supposed to pick it up, put it back and touch it. That’s it, that’s all you have to do.”

  But it was too late.

  “Oh, shit,” he hissed.

  The surface of the crystal zapped her skin as soon as she had the sphere in her hands. It was to the point of hurting but she didn’t drop it, did not want to drop it. Bravely she held it against her body.

  Nothing too overwhelming, she thought.

  Behind her, Samuel continued to hiss at her for not following the rules.

  She hissed back, “I’m fine. What’s wrong with you?”

  Then suddenly, their bickering caught the attention of Yael, who was overseeing the ceremony. The singer’s eyes widened, he stopped singing and said, “No. Stop!”

  But her feet were already levitating.

  All of a sudden, the pressure and the zapping feeling was nothing compared to the thrill of what felt like a thousand cellos playing the most pleasing chords, ones she’d never heard before. It felt as if they were chords and tones that no human had ever had privy to. It filled her body with music. Beats of light pulsated from the object into her skin and she felt lit up from inside.

  The orgasm was instant, if it could even be describ
ed as that. It was more like a release combined with a vision. Every part of her body and mind opened and filled with light and heat and sound and vibrations.

  She felt like a completely different being. On a higher plane. She felt three feet taller. But that made no sense, did it? But wait, she was not only levitating, she was falling upward. Not unlike the experience in the woods, when she’d discovered the abbey and the electromagnetic dissonance had given her the sensation of falling as she traveled up. But not the same. Gravity simply didn’t exist. She floated.

  She glanced down at the top of the heads of the other companions below her. None of them were floating.

  That’s because they are following the rules, Ada.

  She gave in to it, relaxed her spine, opened up her mind, and floated. Soon the rhythmic inpouring gradually pivoted her until she was not looking at the walls but the ceiling. Flat on her back, floating like a possessed little creature, she saw through the treetops, through the clouds, the atmosphere. The moon felt terrifyingly close. Bigger than she’d ever seen it at night.

  A screech owl, a family of bats, and other flying nocturnal creatures flew over her, so close. Were they flying too close to her or was she floating too close to them?

  She couldn’t say.

  With all free will gone, she was being filled with the love and the music of the entire universe. Tears fell, but not sad ones. Not even happy ones. They were tears of understanding like all her questions had finally been answered. She was a human capable of closing in on perfection. Not perfection as she’d previously strived for. Not piety or righteousness. Perfection was everywhere, in connecting with the grubs in the dirt and the planets in space.

  Time, the days of the week, the passage of the seasons, none of it meant anything. There was no point in any of the planning, striving, climbing, grasping.

  This is being. This is what we were meant to be. That’s all. What are we even fucking doing on this planet?

  “Ada!”

  The voice came from inside her chest, but it wasn’t hers.