Chapter 46
Alexa, play ‘V.A.N’ by Bad Omens
Year: 3663 BC
“Cats choose us; we don’t own them.”
—KRISTIN CAST
S hem grew quiet as I led him deeper into Hell. His amused expression turned pensive, and I watched with glee as his wide eyes drank in the starry sky and the endless sea of black. He didn’t comment, but I could tell he was enthralled.
Lilith didn’t come to greet us, and I knew she would be waiting where I had left her. I was sure she was still relaxing and enjoying the afterglow of the time we had spent together.
Shem quietly took in the manor and slid his hands into his pockets as I led him to Lilith’s bedroom. Swinging the door open, I gestured for him to go inside before following him in.
Lilith rolled over in the midnight bedsheets, barely covered in an ebony robe made of silk. They stared at each other in silence for a long moment, and I watched as Shem’s eyes slid over her body, taking in the way the silk peaked over her nipples and her subtle, exposed cleavage.
Lilith slipped out of bed, tightening her robe around her as she swayed toward us. A muscle in Shem’s jaw pulsed as she moved forward, her eyes never leaving his face. She smiled, and a zip of pleasure shot through my heart at the sight of it.
“Hello, you must be Shem,” she said softly. He looked her up and down and cocked his head to the side in consideration. She began to circle him, and he moved with her, always keeping her in his line of sight.
I was enjoying watching them feel each other out. Shem was much more guarded than I was. He had more life experience and knew how dangerous Lilith might be, but the way they circled each other didn’t necessarily feel hostile; it felt more like a game.
“Ramel has said wonderful things about you, Shemhazai,” Lilith purred, and the corner of Shem’s mouth twitched. He glanced at me, then back to Lilith. She slid closer to him, and he allowed it.
“He says that you are also a disciple of Yahweh,” she continued, taking another smooth step closer. Lilith made no sudden movements as if she were approaching a wild animal. Shem tensed but still did not back away. He gave her a slow, even nod, his green eyes shining with excitement. I, too, was on the edge of my seat. I never knew what to expect with Lilith, and the air was filled with anticipation. I wanted to see what she might do.
Slowly, she reached out and laid her fingers on Shem’s cheek. I watched as the skin on his neck turned to gooseflesh, and my mouth began to water.
They both stood completely still for a long moment and then Shem minutely pressed his head into her palm, accepting her touch. She smiled and ran her fingers into his hair, rubbing his scalp gently just over his ear. He shut his eyes and shuddered with pleasure beneath the methodical rub of her gentle hands.
“Why would Yahweh trap such a stealthy predator in the feathered body of something that so closely resembles prey?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper. Shem’s eyes shot open, and I watched his pupils dilate at her words.
She glided closer, running her other hand up his chest, causing him to look down at her. I realized he was barely breathing.
“Yahweh’s angels have always reminded me of little birds… Cats eat birds, you know,” she hummed into his ear, and he met my gaze over her shoulder, a sinister smile curving on his lips. His hands found her hips, and I watched him brush his thumbs in slow, lazy circles over the silk of her robe. She pulled away from his ear, and he looked down at her, his eyes filling with what I was starting to recognize as lust.
“Wouldn’t you rather be a cat than a bird, Shemhazai?” she asked him. I watched him search her eyes, and I held my breath. Finally, he gave her a very small nod, and the smile that spread across her face could have dropped angels from the sky .
The decay from her fingers crept across Shem’s cheeks, and I watched as she forced him into his angel form. He roared in what sounded like a cross between pain and ecstasy as she stripped him of his wings, rotting them out of existence before my eyes. Just as she had melted the jungle cat into the earth, she melted away Shem’s old form and gave him new life. He was reborn as a black cat, and I knew he was no longer of Yahweh. He was of Lilith, and he was no longer an angel. He was a demon.
She bent down and slipped her hands under the crooks of his forearms and lifted him up, rubbing her nose happily against his little black cat nose.
“A cat’s eyes are the windows to the soul,” she told him, her voice soft and full of love. To my absolute pleasure, he began to purr loudly. Curling Shemhazai into her chest, she turned to face me.
“What about you, Ramel?” she asked me, with that ever-present smile still painted on her perfect, pink lips. “Are you ready to shed your wings for something more suited to you?”
“Hell yes,” I whispered, wrapping my hands around her waist and pulling her into me, Shem purring loudly between us.
With a stroke of her hand, I felt the painful burden of Yahweh’s wings burn away, and I was reborn in shadow. My own hands turned black and became stained with death as she shrouded me in night, crowning me her Reaper of Nightmares. I felt the darkness thrum through me and had never felt more complete or alive. This was who I was and who I had always been meant to be.
I was Lilith’s nightmare, and I belonged to her and her alone.