Chapter 14 – Lilith #2
I grab my keys off the bar without letting go of him and flick off the lights.
Darkness swallows the room. The door shuts behind us with a dull thud, the lock clicking closed.
The street outside is quiet, too quiet. Thankfully, Sid only lives across the street.
I half-drag, half-carry him to his place and shove the door open.
He barely makes it to the couch before collapsing onto it.
“Night, Sid,” I say, already backing away.
No response. Just silence. I step back outside and pull his door closed.
That’s when it hits me, that feeling, like eyes pressing into the back of my skull.
I freeze. Slowly, I turn, scanning the street.
Shadows stretch long under the dim lights.
Every doorway, every alley, every darkened window feels occupied.
Watching. Waiting. But there’s no one there.
Not a single soul. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that something was watching me.
Hurried and distracted, I fumble with the key more than I should.
The metal scrapes against the lock before it finally gives, the door creaking open like it’s protesting my return.
The moment I step inside, something feels…
wrong. Then I see it: an envelope, stark and pale against the dark wooden floor.
My breath catches, and my brow furrows. Slowly, I bend down and pick it up, my fingers hovering for a second as if it might bite.
My name isn’t written on it, but I know it’s for me.
I kick the wooden door shut behind me harder than necessary, the sound echoing through the empty bar.
Lock. Bolt. Chain. My hands move on instinct, securing every entrance before I even realise what I’m doing.
Only then do I turn the lights on. The sudden glow feels harsh, exposing, like I’ve dragged something hidden into the open.
I sink onto a stool at the bar, the envelope trembling slightly between my fingers. And then I tear it open.
Lilith,
For years, I thought you were dead. For years, I mourned you.
Then I saw you, and my world came crashing down around me.
There is so much you don’t know. So much you deserve to know.
It was never my fault. It was beyond my control.
There has only ever been you: my one true love, my queen, my goddess.
Meet me at the bird-watching shed. Midnight.
Morbius.
The letter slips from my fingers like it’s burned me.
Morbius. The name alone is enough to poison the air in my lungs.
Bile rises in my throat, thick and bitter.
My stomach twists violently with anger, grief, and dread.
The worst. Under the depths of it all, still lingering Love.
Everything collides inside me, clawing for dominance. I can’t breathe.
My eyes stay locked on the letter where it lies on the floor, as though it might move if I look away.
As though he might step out of the shadows attached to it.
Watching. Waiting. A sharp jolt of panic shoots through me.
I jump from the stool and rush to the door, pressing my eye against the stained glass.
Darkness stares back. No movement. No figure lurking.
No violet eyes glowing in the night. Still, I check the lock again.
And again. Only when I’m certain do I back away.
I leave the letter where it fell. I can’t touch it again. I won’t.
Upstairs, I move quickly, almost frantically.
Window after window locked. Latched. Secured.
My hands shake as I test each one twice.
Safe. But the word feels like a lie. My gaze drifts to the clock.
11:35 PM. Too close. Far too close. I start pacing, the floorboards creaking beneath each restless step.
My teeth drag over my bottom lip. Do I want to see him?
No. I hate him. I hate that he made me this, then left me.
So why. Why does the thought of him still make something deep inside me ache?
The questions loop endlessly, tightening like a noose around my mind.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Each second drags me closer to midnight.
Closer to him. He has to know. He has to understand what he did to me, what he destroyed.
My final thought fractures apart as my body moves before my mind can stop it.
And then I’m running. The forest swallows me whole.
Branches claw at my skin, roots threaten to drag me down, but I don’t stop. I can’t.
If my heart were still beating, it would be deafening, thundering against my ribs, desperate to escape.
Instead, there’s only a hollow sickness spreading through me.
Cold and wrong. Anticipation laced with dread.
The bird watching shed comes into view, or what remains of it.
Collapsed beams and wood lie scattered across the ground.
My eyes dart wildly, scanning every shadow.
Nothing, he isn’t here. A bitter laugh almost escapes me.
Of course, he isn’t. Of course, I came all this way for nothing.
I turn, searching the darkness one last time.
Anger surges hot and violent, but not at him.
At myself. For coming. For still being weak enough to answer him.
I squeeze my eyes shut, my nails biting into my palms hard enough to tear skin.
“You came.” His voice, deep, familiar, devastating, cuts through the silence.
My eyes snap open. I spin around, heartless chest tightening painfully as I collide with those violet eyes.
Those eyes. Once, I would have drowned in them.
Once, I would have given everything to see them soften the way they do now.
He stands there, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Lips I used to dream about. Lips I used to crave.
Now they only make something inside me fracture further.
“Why are you here?” I snap, my voice sharp enough to cut. “Because I needed to see you.” He takes a step toward me.
I throw up my hand instantly. “Don’t.” The word comes out low, dangerous. “Don’t come any closer, or I will destroy you.” For a moment, something flickers across his face, hurt, maybe, but he raises his hands in surrender.
“I’m sorry,” he breathes. “I just… I can’t believe you’re here. I thought you were gone. I thought I lost you forever.”
A hollow laugh escapes me. “You did.”
His jaw tightens, but he pushes on. “When I saw you at the battle. I wanted to run to you. To take you away from all of it. I’ve dreamed of you for years, Lilith. Longed for you.” His voice softens, almost breaking. “And now you’re here, one of us. More beautiful than I ever remembered.”
Rage ignites. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?” I spit.
My voice rises, shaking with everything I’ve buried.
“My family got slaughtered, and you disappeared. Do you understand that? I watched them burn, Morbius. I heard them scream and beg for their lives.” The words tear out of me now, unstoppable.
“And you bring me here to tell me you still want me?” I take a step forward, fury radiating from every inch of me.
“In what world do you think that’s enough? ”
Silence hangs between us. Then “I didn’t know.” His voice cracks. I freeze. “I didn’t know that would happen,” he continues, tears burning in his eyes now. “I would never have let that happen to you. To them. You were the love of my life. I would never hurt you.”
“But you did,” I whisper, the words more devastating for their quiet. He shakes his head desperately. “You left me.”
“No. I was set up. I went to Silas. I begged him for help. I knew something was wrong; I felt it. But he turned me away.”
“Don’t you dare-.”
“They lied to you!” he snaps suddenly, stepping forward before catching himself. “Silas needed me gone. And you… He wanted you.”
I stare at him, disbelief twisting into something uglier. “Do you hear yourself?” I laugh bitterly. “You expect me to believe he slaughtered my family just to take me from you?”
“Yes.” The certainty in his voice makes my stomach drop.
“The Dominion killed my family. And you disappeared.”
“You have no idea what you are,” he says more quietly now, his gaze burning into mine. “You’ve always felt it, haven’t you? That you didn’t belong. That something inside you was different.”
That has my attention. My breath falters.
“You’re not like them. You never were.”
He steps closer, slow, careful.
“This forest calls to you, doesn’t it?” he murmurs. “Feels like home.”
I don’t answer because it does. How does he know?
“Given time,” he continues, his voice dropping to something almost reverent, “you could bend more than just nature.”
He leans in slightly. “You could bend time itself.” My world tilts.
“Save them.” The words hit like a blade to the chest. My family.
My mother’s smile. My father’s arms. My siblings’ laughter.
Alive, again. I sway slightly, my resolve cracking under the weight of it.
But then, it’s Morbius. Trusting him once destroyed everything.
“You’re lying,” I whisper. Knowing how ridiculous it sounds and yet wanting it so desperately to be true. He reaches out slowly, giving me time to pull away. I don’t. His fingertips brush my cheek, featherlight, like he’s afraid I’ll vanish.
“Come with me,” he murmurs. “And I’ll prove it.”
“I can’t trust you.” The words feel fragile. Weak. Pathetic.
“I know.” He nods. “So let me give you a reason to.” He pulls out my phone from my back pocket, typing quickly before turning the screen toward me.
Silas, Lilith is with me. She is safe. Here is our location. M.
“There,” he says softly. “One message, and they’ll know exactly where you are. I’m putting my life in your hands.”
My eyes fix on the screen.
All I have to do is press send. That’s it. Safety. Backup. A way out. Or… A way forward. My hand lifts slowly, stopping. This is Morbius. This is a mistake. This is a danger. But-.
“Your mother,” he whispers. “You could hold her again.”
My breath shatters.
“Your father. Your siblings…”
My finger trembles. I press send. The message disappears.
Morbius’s face lights up, not with triumph, but with relief.
Something that almost looks like hope. He pockets my phone and takes my hands in his.
His touch is familiar. Wrong. Every instinct in my body screams at me to run.
But I don’t. Deep down…I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve just made a terrible mistake.