Chapter 3 #2
“They have an amazing AB Negative on tap, though I guess you already know that,” Deirdre said. “I’ll get the drinks; you grab a table.”
“Tell them to put it on my tab.” Lilith chose one of the booths and slid onto a bench.
Dee returned with two goblets and sat across from her before taking a sip. “Mmm… If they didn’t charge an arm and a fang, I’d give up hunting and drink this for the rest of my existence.”
“It is a rare type.” Lilith sipped the blood, closing her eyes for a moment as the warm, coppery liquid slid down her throat. “Where did you and Azrael meet?”
Her smile brightened her blue eyes. “Here, at speed dating, but we’re supposed to be talking about you. What’s wrong with your snake?”
Lilith ran her finger around the rim of her goblet. “She’s an extension of me, as is Percival.” She took the crow from her shoulder and set him on the table. “Their bodies can’t handle my emotions. He’ll fall ill as well if I can’t get my act together, and…they both could die.”
“He’s beautiful.” Dee reached toward him but fisted her hand and jerked it into her lap. “He doesn’t like to be touched?”
“Not by strangers, but I suppose that’s an extension of me as well. I’ve grown rather…grumpy over the millennia.”
She rested her elbows on the table and placed her chin on her hands. “Why?”
That was the million-dollar question, and though she hated to admit it, she knew the answer. Leaning back in her seat, she clicked her tongue. “I have no purpose.”
Dee laughed. When Lilith simply arched a brow, her lashes flew high. “Wait. You’re serious? You think you have no purpose? What about your job? What do you do?”
She lifted her hands before laying her palms on the table. “Lucifer took pity on me when I was cursed. After my work with the Adam and Eve apple debacle, he decided I’d contributed enough and has allowed me to stay in The Underworld rent-free.”
Her new friend’s mouth hung open. “When you say the ‘apple debacle,’ do you mean the whole serpent and the tree of knowledge bit? That was you?”
“It was Esther.” She lifted a shoulder. “Well, it was me acting through Esther. I wasn’t allowed back in the garden after my banishment, so I sent my familiar in my place.”
“Wow.” Dee shook her head in amazement. “Talk about getting even. You’re the mother of retribution.”
Lilith blew a hard breath through her nose, and Percival ruffled his feathers in response.
“I wasn’t trying to get even. I was trying to save Eve.
After our creator lost control of me, I feared Eve wasn’t shaped with the same free will.
I simply wanted her to know she was her own person and didn’t have to obey a man.
Her giving Adam the apple wasn’t part of the plan, but Lucifer was pleased with the mess I made of the situation. ”
She took another sip of blood and stroked Percival’s wing.
“Of course, Luce gets all the credit. Everyone thinks he shapeshifted into a snake, but it was Esther who sneaked into the garden. Hell, I don’t even get credit for being the world’s first woman most of the time.
That title usually goes to Eve. It’s like I’ve been swept under the rug. ”
Lilith tightened her lips, her jaw clenching. “Would you listen to me? I sound like a child. I don’t need credit for those things, but I do need to find a new purpose for this existence.”
“I give you credit. Those feats alone sound like a helluva purpose to me.”
“A purpose I had. But what now?”
Deirdre chuckled. “Are you kidding? Lilith, you’re the devil-damned mother of all vampires. You’re the reason I am what I am. The reason I met Azrael. The reason thousands of us exist at all.”
“I haven’t turned anyone in centuries. I could cease to exist, and our species would continue to thrive. Vampires are doing just fine without me.”
“You’re still an icon, though. Hell, they named a whole music festival after you because you’re the world’s first woman.”
Thanks to her refusal to obey Adam, she was occasionally used as the poster woman in the fight for equality, but… “Women have their own momentum. They don’t need me.”
Deirdre drummed her hot pink nails on the table. “I see where you’re coming from. Your contributions to the world, while magnificent, happened long ago, and now you feel lost.”
“Exactly.”
She stilled her hand, tapping only her index finger. “You need a different mindset.”
“And how do I achieve that?”
“Think of it this way. You’ve contributed more to the world than most ever will. Now, you’re in retirement. It’s time to start living your undead life for you.”
Retirement. She’d never thought to look at her life in that way. Perhaps she didn’t have to make another grand contribution to society. She could simply exist.
Her shoulders slumped. She’d been simply existing for the past who-knew-how-long, and look where that had gotten her. “I suppose I could get a job. Serving drinks here at The Fang and Flask could be nice. I’m sure Eve would hire me.”
Dee shook her head. “Do something exciting. Take a vacation; go on an adventure.”
“Perhaps I could learn a new trade. You said you’re a web designer, right? Will you teach me? I could be your protégé. Tell me what it entails.”
Deirdre screwed her mouth to the side. “I sit alone in my living room, staring at a computer screen all day.”
Lilith curled her lip. “That sounds absolutely boring. No offense.”
“None taken. I enjoy it, but I don’t think it’s what you need.” She rapped a finger against her lips. “When’s the last time you had a man in your bed? Or his bed, or the kitchen counter?”
Lilith tilted her head, biting her lower lip as she tried to recall the last time she’d been intimate with anyone. “I don’t remember.”
Dee slapped her palm on the table. “There you go. You need to get laid, sister.”
“It has been a while, but I don’t believe sex will solve all my problems.”
“It’s a good start, though. Wednesday is speed dating night. You should come and find someone to hook up with. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find your soulmate like I did.” She wiggled her brows.
Lilith scoffed. “I have no soulmate.”
“Everyone does.”
“If I couldn’t make it work with the man I was literally created for, I doubt, millennia later, someone will be created for me.
I had my chance at love, and I chose freedom.
” Plus, the idea of one person being made for another—in a mutually compatible way—was total minotaur shit.
Although, Lucifer had never been happier in his entire existence, and the bond between Azrael and Deirdre was palpable. Perhaps it was possible. Maybe…
Oh, get over yourself. You’re cursed, Lil. There is no one out there for you.
“Okay, but you have needs, and I’m sure you can find a man to take care of them. Hell, you’re drop-dead gorgeous. I bet you can snap your fingers, and they all come running.”
She gave her head a tiny shake. Therein lay the problem.
She could have any man she wanted, whenever she wanted.
Well, the ones that didn’t hate her for simply existing, anyway.
Where was the fun in that? Her new friend was right, though.
Lilith did have needs, and her vibrator wasn’t bringing her the joy she thought it was.
Staying cooped up in her house for weeks at a time wasn’t helping either.
“Or… Do you prefer women? That’s a rumor that’s been going around.”
“I can see why people would think that, but no. I adore womankind. I want to be their friend, lift them up, and show them that they’re queens, but I have no sexual or romantic interest in the female form.”
“So you need a big ole dose of vitamin D. Sounds like speed dating is the answer to get things rolling for you.”
Lilith sighed. “I’ve tried it before. There’s far too much testosterone circulating in The Underworld. The entire bar will be filled with alpha males who either hate me for my confidence, want to conquer me for my strength, or both. Honestly, I wish I liked women. Dating would be so much easier.”
Dee took a long drink from her goblet, her eyes calculating. “You need a cinnamon roll.”
She furrowed her brow. “I prefer blood.”
“Not to eat. Well…” Dee laughed. “I mean a cinnamon roll man. A sweetie pie. A nice guy.”
“I’m more likely to find a hellcat that farts glitter and pukes rainbows. Nice guys simply don’t exist down here.”
“There’s always the upstairs…” Deirdre sang as she lifted a finger toward the ceiling.
“You think I should hook up with a human?” Now there was an interesting concept. It had been ages since she’d communed with the living.
“You aren’t looking for love, so why not? At the very least, you can make a nice meal out of him. If he’s not a good match, you can glamour him when you’re done so he doesn’t remember a thing. Then you won’t have to worry about him getting clingy.”
She crossed her legs, shifting in her seat. “I don’t know.”
“I do. It’s either this or you take a vacation. Nighttime skydiving could be fun. I’m happy to go with.”
Adventure, excitement, sex. It sounded like the perfect recipe to turn her from miserable wretch to fun-loving creature of the night and save Esther in the process. She would start with the only one she was familiar with. “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll go speed dating with the humans.”