Chapter 89
“Friends don’t lie.”
—ELEVEN, STRANGER THINGS
T he look on Rafael’s face was deadly. His choir uniform was tattered and dirty from the time he had spent tortured in captivity. His glasses were cracked, and he looked absolutely manic with rage. An evil smile curled across his mouth as he took in my horror and shock. “Surprised to see me?” he asked calmly, and for a moment, I felt like the Earth tilted beneath my feet.
“How did you get in here?” I gasped, and Rafael gestured to the demons standing behind me.
“I had a little help.” He smirked, and I whirled around.
“Jezebel?” I gasped, but she looked like she was ready to murder Rafael where he stood.
“Fucking run, Lilith!” she screeched. I gasped as she threw me to Art. “Get her out of here!” she snapped at him before launching herself through the air toward Raf.
Instead of looking worried, Rafael’s grin widened.
“Jezebel! No!” I screamed, moving to chase after her, when I heard a snap and a whistle .
Suddenly, there was a long, quivering, golden arrow buried in Jezebel’s back, right between her soft, leathery wings. She screamed and crashed to the ground, black sludge exploding from both her mouth and the wound in her back.
Rafael started to laugh as I rushed toward my mortally injured friend. She pressed her palms into the floor and struggled to push herself up when there was another snap , followed by that deadly whistle . I felt the arrow shoot past me, embedding itself with perfect precision next to the first one.
I screamed in horror, looking behind me to see who had fired the golden arrows, though some part of me already knew before I turned.
Art stood in the doorway with a grave look on his face and a bow clutched in his hand so tightly that his hand shook.
“Art!” I screamed, as Jezebel coughed up more black sludge behind me.
“Lilith… run,” she begged, but there was nowhere for me to go . Art was blocking the only exit.
I dropped to my knees next to Jezebel, examining her wounds. The arrows were long, thick, and designed to kill. The shafts seemed to be made from the same material that the scepters were crafted from. Both arrows had pierced all the way through her body, and their golden tips protruded through her chest. I rolled her onto my lap, unable to stop myself from choking on a sob.
“Lilith… I’m sorry,” she said, her voice wet and raspy as she choked on her own life force.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you.” I was shaking. I didn’t know what to do or say — there was a roaring in my ears — I knew she was going to die. She was going to die, and just like all the other times, there was nothing I could fucking do to stop it.
She chuckled and spit up more thick black sludge.
“Shh… be still.” I stroked a strand of red hair out of her face. If she was going to die, then I wanted to make sure she knew she wasn’t dying alone.
“It was smart to doubt me. I didn’t take it personally,” she reassured me, closing her eyes and attempting to breathe past the wetness that seemed to have gathered in her lungs. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t protect you.” She opened her eyes and reached up a hand, cupping the side of my face gently. “I really wanted to be your friend, you know. I wish we could have had more time together. I’m sorry I failed you.”
“You are my friend! You didn’t fail me — Ramel is coming. He’s going to come, and we’re going to get you a healer? — ”
Jezebel shook her head, giving me a sad smile. “Even Ramel can’t fix this, Lilith. Just… don’t leave me.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Jezebel. I’m right here. I’m right here with you; don’t be afraid.” My throat was burning with grief, and I choked on my sobs as Jezebel stroked the side of my face one last time.
“I’m not afraid of death.” She smiled softly. “Death is my friend. ”
And then she was gone. Her hand dropped from my face, and her breathing stopped. I stared down into her brown, vacant eyes and felt her consciousness slip away. Whatever energy had made her Jezebel was gone, and only her broken body remained.
“Jez?” I shook her, knowing that I couldn’t bring her back but wishing desperately that I could. “Jez, please… no, no, no, no…”
I felt a large, cold hand wrap around my arm, and I jerked away with an angry screech. I spun to find Art looking at me with something close to remorse on his face.
Revulsion and rage exploded through me.
“Don’t fucking touch me! You disgust me!” I spat on him. I scratched at his skin, leaving bloody streaks across his flesh as he effortlessly overpowered me and forced my hands behind my back. Rafael stepped forward, chuckling softly as he wound a golden noose around my hands.
“This should keep her contained, even after she gets her powers back,” he said. I struggled against the restraints. Hot, angry tears spilled down my cheeks.
I stared at Jezebel’s lifeless body as Art lifted me up and cradled me against his chest.
“I have to be the one to carry her out. The veil will return to normal at midnight. We only have a few minutes to get her through to Heaven, or we’re going to have to take the bridge.”
Rafael nodded. He dug his fingers into the folds of reality and pulled back the glistening threads to reveal the blinding white of Heaven beyond.
“After you, Arteqoph,” Rafael said, and Art stepped through the hole in the world to Heaven. Rafael sealed the window behind us and dusted off his hands as if being in Hell had disgusted him.
“Where do you want me to put her?” Art asked, looking around the blinding white heavenscape with a stern coldness.
“Follow me,” Raf said, and he stepped forward. We passed what I recognized as Yahweh’s Sorter of Souls from my dream, but Rafael didn’t stop there. He led us deeper into Heaven, and to my surprise, there were several hallways and rooms carved into nimbus clouds in these deeper regions. The white clouds had shielded the rooms from my vision in the dream, but as we passed some of these billowing spaces, I started to see things that sparked deep, hidden memories I knew my other self still held.
We were getting closer and closer to midnight. With each second that passed, I could feel myself getting more and more tense.
There was a sudden sharp burning on my finger, and I tried not to outwardly react as my wedding ring burned white-hot. I jerked in Art’s arms as the ring melted from my finger and disappeared into the clouds beneath my captor’s feet. Tears stung my eyes as I realized my last line of defense was gone. Yahweh must have won the battle with Ramel. Had he unmade him?
A pain was beginning to bloom deep in my chest, and the other Lilith whispered soothing words to me as I writhed in Art’s arms. As we passed one of the cloudy rooms, I noticed what looked like a large clay oven standing next to a massive spinning wheel.
‘That is Yahweh’s kiln; it is where he crafts his angels,’ the other Lilith whispered to me, I think in an attempt to distract me from the rising pain of my ascension. ‘That is where he created Ramel and Shemhazai.’
‘What is the spinning wheel for?’ I asked, and the other Lilith seemed to sigh.
‘Weaving and repairing souls.’
Art diligently followed Rafael deeper into Heaven. He didn’t comment on my relentless writhing. I was sure he assumed I was trying to escape, but truly, I was unable to keep still as the pain of my impending ascension continued to build within me.
‘Why does it hurt so much?’ I gasped in my mind to the other Lilith.
‘Because for you to ascend, your mortal body must first die. You are dying, Lilith.’
My heart rate increased, and I felt my eyes widen.
I was dying?
Fear rushed through me, and the reaction surprised me. I had spent my entire life wishing for death, but now that the prospect of it was staring me in the face, I didn’t feel ready. There was so much I still wanted to do. I thought of Ramel and how he would live the rest of eternity thinking I hated him. I realized with a start that it was quite the opposite.
I had been abducted by the enemy and was dying in a traitor’s arms, and all I could think about was how worried Ramel must be and how much I wished it was him who was holding me as I said goodbye to my mortality.
Tears welled in my eyes as I realized he may never hold me again. You didn’t feel like that about people you hated.
I loved him.
It didn’t make any sense, and I knew that I shouldn’t, but I fucking did. Now, I would never have the chance to tell him… or Shem.
‘They know,’ the other Lilith said gently, ‘they’ve always known, Lilith. You are me, and I am you. We have always loved them, and they have always loved us. You do not need to tell them before you die.’
‘I don’t want this to be the end,’ I whispered to my other self. She flooded me with a sense of calm and peace.
‘Death is not the end, Lilith. It is only the beginning,’ she promised, just as Rafael and Art turned a corner.
Despite the crippling roll of pain that fired through my body, I gasped as we entered a wide open space.
There were thousands of angels waiting silently. So many white wings gleamed in the impossibly bright sunlight reflecting off the crisp white clouds. The sea of angels parted, and Rafael and Art made their way toward a large, raised dais where two massive crosses stood.
The cross on the left was empty, but the one on the right was occupied. As we came closer, I realized with horror that there was a god crucified to the cross on the right.
The god was unconscious, and long golden tubes seemed to have been surgically implanted into his abdomen, chest, and neck. I couldn’t see where the tubes led as they snaked into the clouds and disappeared from sight.
He was nude, except for a shimmering piece of fabric that was draped over his hips. It was midnight blue and speckled with golden stars and moons. His navy hair fell to his shoulders in gentle waves, and he had a strong nose with full lips.
The other Lilith nearly cried out in horror in my mind.
‘Hypnos!’ she gasped.
My eyes darted from him to the empty cross on his left. Several golden tubes lay curled at the base. I realized suddenly that the empty cross was meant for me.
‘They’re draining his magic and using it to keep the other gods asleep…’ I breathed into my own mind. ‘They’re going to do the same to us and use us to manage death.’
‘They can’t use the scythe without a demon’s help, even with our magic.’ The other Lilith pointed out, and I growled, looking up at Art, who stared straight ahead as if he couldn’t bear to look at me.
“What did he promise you, Art?” I asked, forcing the words out despite the mind-numbing waves of pain that rolled through me as my mortal body began to die.
Art tried to ignore me, but a muscle in his jaw pulsed, and I knew he was hanging by a thread.
“Whatever it was, I hope it was worth betraying your family for.”
That got his attention. He finally looked at me, anger flashing in his ice-cold blue eyes.
“My family?” he snarled. “My family is Shemhazai, and ever since you’ve returned, he hasn’t even looked in my direction.”
I raised an eyebrow, trying to play it cool despite how much pain I was in. “You betrayed your people because you haven’t been getting fucked the way you think you deserve?”
Art snarled as he stepped on the dais and dumped me at the base of the empty cross. I could feel the burn of a hundred thousand angel eyes searing into my flesh as I stared up at the demon who had betrayed me.
“I didn’t betray anyone but you, Lilith. When you and Ramel are finally gone, Yahweh will name me King of Hell. I will wield the scythe, and Shemhazai will be forced to see me for what I’ve always been. He loves me. He just can’t see it with you and Ramel constantly getting in my fucking way.”
I snorted, remembering the way Shem had fondly stroked the grave of Hecate in the cemetery of the gods. I remembered how he had put Gabriel on his knees at the feast and claimed him with nothing more than a few simple commands.
“What about Gabriel? What about Hecate? Shemhazai will never be interested in only fucking you, Arteqoph. You’re living in a delusion.”
Arteqoph’s lip curled in anger. “Gabriel’s days are numbered, and as for Hecate, how do you think she ended up in that fucking grave to begin with, Lilith?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. This wasn’t the first time he had aligned with Yahweh. I couldn’t believe how grossly misplaced our trust had been.
I cringed as another wave of pain rolled through me. Rafael came up to stand next to Art, sneering down at me.
“It’s midnight. She’s going to die, and when she’s reborn, I’m going to fuck the snark out of her before we string her up.”
Art glared at Rafael. “Yahweh will not like that. He wants her on the cross the minute she turns. We can’t afford to risk Ramel and Shem getting to her before the procedure is complete.
Rafael scoffed. “There’s a hundred thousand angels between us and them. I would like to see them try to get to her. Ramel will be dead by morning, and we’ll deliver Shem to you bound and gagged, just the way you asked.”
“It would be foolish to underestimate them, Rafael,” Art said, and the other Lilith nearly laughed out loud.
Foolish indeed.
Rafael grabbed Art by the shirt and pressed his face so close to his that their noses nearly touched.
“They made me cut my own fucking dick off. I will be fucking their little bride until she bleeds on my shiny new cock, then I will crucify her on this cross with God’s angels as witness. If you have a fucking problem with it, I will unmake you too.”
Those were the last words I heard before I died.