The Magic Number

by Natalie Gibson

  The pause and the looks between the two women were enough to tell him they didn’t think the baby was his. The timing was wrong but could be easily explained by Camilla’s frequent proximity to the Capacitors’ power. He didn’t know how much he was supposed to know about the Capacitors, so he didn’t explain it. “That’s why I expanded my apartments. I’m providing for my family. You must know that Camilla moved out of her room and in with me. When I finish the nursery, the baby will have his own room, and Raphael has a room where he can recharge and still be close to us.”

  “So Raphael lives in the sunroom.” It wasn’t said as a question but as an ah-ha, that’s what’s going on over there kind of statement. Kafziel’s voice was like Nanae’s in that it was mysterious and otherworldly, but it was different. Where there was only Nanae when Nanae spoke, Kafziel’s voice contained two.

  “Raphael lives with me and Camilla. We’re all a committed family. My son has two fathers and one mother.”

  Raphael cannot commit to you. He will abandon you both to cling to his Sinnis whenever we find her.

  Israel hadn’t expected disparagement here, certainly not from Nathalia. “You’re wrong. We’re committed to making this work. He loves us both.”

  “If Raphael says he loves you, I believe him. We don’t have a problem with unconventional family units. We’ll do everything we can to protect you from those who do,” Maeve said, then shared a look with Nathalia. Izzy didn’t know what it meant, but there was love there, a longing between the two women.

  Samsiel spoke this time. “Our brother has not said such a thing. He told me before that he will not allow himself to love again.” His voice was like Kafziel’s, though deeper. Izzy could clearly hear that the second voice was Sam’s beast. Somehow, they cohabited in a way Nanae and his Beast did not. Where Nanae and his Hunger were separate beings that took turns using the same body, these Nephilim shared their body with their beasts.

  “No, he hasn’t said he loves us. He can’t. We aren’t allowed to make declarations of love to one another. It always brings his Beast to the surface. I’ve met it, and we do everything we can to keep it down. It wants to hurt and destroy any source of love for Raphael.”

  Genevieve fussed, and Samsiel took her to Maeve. Maeve didn’t bother with a cloth to cover as she nursed the baby while Samsiel stood nearby. “I can tell you from experience that there is no greater source of love than a baby. If what you say about the Beast is true, Raphael will have to distance himself from you when your baby is born or risk the Beast killing it. Even if he can’t admit to himself that he loves you, the Beast will be able to tell he loves the baby.”

  “The Beast can’t hear Raphael’s thoughts. He keeps it locked in a separate place where it can’t get in his head.” The faces of the two Nephilim and Nathalia indicated Izzy was telling them something they didn’t already know. They clearly didn’t understand the relationship between Nanae and his Beast. Israel continued, “It can only see what he does and hear what he says out loud. It only comes out when threatened directly or when Raphael is weakened. I’ve met it twice—once because Raphael allowed himself to become too hungry and once at my declaration of love. Camilla told me that she woke it once with a hummed melody. She sings others all the time, just never that particular song. If his Beast gets out, fear makes it stronger and strengthens its hold. Genuine laughter sends it crawling back to its dark hiding place. Camilla and I keep Raphe well fed and the Beast sedated. Regular and frequent communion with Ud and Ki also help keep it imprisoned.” Exasperated by her blank face, Izzy spoke directly to Nathalia. “This seems to be something the First, the One, and their Nephilim should understand.”

  Israel didn’t plan or think what to do, but he found his body in motion. The two giants advanced on him so quickly that Maeve—the only human in the room—missed the movement. Izzy jumped up to stand with one foot on the seat and the other on the back of the chair he had been sitting on. His weight and momentum brought the chair back. He rode it down and hooked his toes under it, flipping it into his hands before his soles hit the floor. He held it in front of him like a lion tamer and jabbed it at the two men, who’d stopped in their tracks.

  Kafziel’s whole body seemed frozen in place. Samsiel fought against the stone floor blocks that now encased his feet from the ankle down. Nathalia walked to Maeve and leaned down to look at the feeding infant. She brushed her hand over the cherub face, and only Izzy saw her graze the soft skin of that beautiful mammary with her knuckles. Nathalia spoke to Izzy after the brief interlude with Maeve, but this time she didn’t bother to hide her ability. Her mouth didn’t move. Nathalia put her words inside Israel’s brain.

  You know a lot about our mythology and burdens for an outsider. The things you are talking about so freely are not shared. Knowledge of Nephilim is power over them. They fear you. I do not. If I send them away, will you stay and speak with me? I have something to tell you and a question for you.

  Israel nodded his head once. He didn’t know what he could tell her that she didn’t already know, but maybe she had some information that would help him and Camilla to fight the Beast. Goddess knew Nanae couldn’t talk with them about it. What Izzy did know he’d devised from experience. Experience he didn’t want to duplicate.

  When the others, including Maeve and baby, had left the room, they closed the door behind them. Nathalia asked Izzy to join her on a couch that sat against one wall. He did. She put her hand over his. I am sorry to have to tell you this. Raphael should have done it.

  Izzy didn’t like the insinuation that the Nephilim he loved had done anything wrong. “Nanae tells us everything. He answers every question we ask him. That’s how I know he loves us.” He clapped his free hand over his mouth. He had called him Nanae.

  Nathalia furrowed her brow. You know his true name? You can speak it in my presence because for me, there is no taboo. The First knows all true names. The fact that Nanae Raphael Maru gave his to you means he must love or at least trust you. Maybe he tried to tell you and couldn’t. She paused and took a breath—more out of habit than necessity. She didn’t need air to speak the way she did. By his own words and actions, Nanae is marked for death a mere eighteen years from Genevieve’s birthday.

  “What do you mean ‘marked for death’? I thought they lived forever.”

  They do. They and their Sinnis. Nothing can kill them except a weapon called the DakuAhu and me. Nanae made me swear to end his suffering once the One has reached adulthood.

  Izzy snatched his hand away from Nathalia. “He isn’t ‘marked for death,’” he said in a mocking tone. “You’re planning to kill him. You don’t have to, you know. He isn’t suffering anymore. He has us. He’s happy.”

  It’s not that easy. He swore an oath on the body of his mother. It’s unbreakable for a Nephilim. He will relinquish control to his Beast, and it will force my hand. There is only one way around this, but it is one that will take him from you. If we can find his Sinnis Ina Ummum Zumru, she can put the Beast down into that secret place you spoke of—forever.

  “What is that? Nanae’s never said anything about this woman. Who is she?”

  Nathalia thought of Maeve. That was who she would choose if she could have a Sinnis of her own instead of being a Sinnis. A Sinnis is a mate. The words mean ‘woman of the mother’s body.’ A Sinnis is a daughter of a daughter of the family line of a Nephilim’s mother. They are destined to be together. She must be found, and her blood, once converted, has the ability to satisfy his Hunger permanently.

  “Camilla is from his family tree. Could she be his Sinnis?”

  I thought so, but it seems unlikely. The pull to convert his Sinnis would be so strong that living with her, sleeping with her, for any length of time would make the compulsion too much to resist. Maybe one of her children will be, or maybe it is a woman halfway around the world. The Beast will kill his Sinnis if it can. She’s the ultimate threat to its life. She will come here, if she’s not here already, unless she was never
born, which could only happen if Nanae didn’t protect his family line. Nathalia leaned her head back and closed her eyes. There are those Nephilim who didn’t.

  Izzy didn’t care what she said. Nanae loved him and Camilla. No million-times great granddaughter was going to change that. Israel wanted to be with them. The light shining through the window said they would be getting home soon. He stood, barely registering that his shoes felt oversized. “Ask me what you want. I can feel it beating at you. Just ask and then I need to go. It’s dinnertime, and my family will be waiting for me.”

  How did Camilla get a Nephilim to agree to share? Nathalia opened her eyes. The hungry look on her face told him he wasn’t going anywhere.

  THE DOOR opened and slammed shut. “Hey, Izzy. I can just make some pasta for dinner if you don’t already have something planned.” He ran past the kitchen where Camilla was foraging. “I’m starved, and all I could think about all day was plain pasta with butter and Parmesan cheese.” She followed as quickly as she could, fully expecting a classic comment from Izzy about how he had the butter and cheese she’d been thinking of all day.

  Camilla froze in the doorway. Maeve was standing in their bedroom staring in the mirror. While the Daughters weren’t modest, barging into someone’s personal quarters wasn’t common. Maeve had her pants down and her shirt halfway up when Nanae stepped in from the sunroom where he’d been doing his Ud salutations.

  Camilla gave him a desperate look. The Abbess was clearly ill. “Nanae, Maeve’s come for a visit.”

  “My beauty, that is not Maeve.”

  “If it was, you wouldn’t be able to say ‘Nanae.’”

  Camilla barely registered that it was Israel’s voice coming from Maeve’s mouth before a door crashed open. She spun around to find Nathalia standing in their living room. The former Abbess was enraged. Something was happening that Camilla didn’t fully understand. She only moved forward when she felt Nanae at her back. Before she could issue a greeting, Kafziel appeared in the doorway beyond Nathalia.

  Israel, come out here. What have you done to Israel, Nanae Raphael Maru?

  Camilla came to her Nephilim’s defense. “It wasn’t him. It was his Beast.”

  Nanae stepped in front of the very pregnant Camilla. “You are welcome to come into our home, but you must watch what you say, or you’ll bring it to the surface. We guard our speech here.” Kafziel stepped in the room before Nanae continued. “Israel is made Lilitu.”

  Abomination! It is against the law to feed a human Nephilim blood. He will have to be killed. You have killed him.

  “I did not wish this, but what’s done is done. He is what he is, and he is mine. No one will harm him while I am alive.”

  Ereshkigal’s Laws were posthumous. Nathalia knew what they were, but she had not been alive for all the years between. Many Nephilim had progeny. They helped Nephilim feed without killing. Her Laws were not as closely followed as she had been led to believe.

  “Impossible. Lilitu are women.” Kafziel spoke softly.

  “Were women.” Izzy’s voice came from the bedroom. “Now there’s me too, and we’re neither men nor women, but all Lilitu.” He came out to join everyone in the crowded living room. He still looked like Maeve. It was uncanny.

  Camilla took his hand and pulled him over to the couch. With Camilla on one side and Nanae on the other, Israel visibly relaxed. Nanae gestured to the remaining chair across from the couch, and Nathalia took it. Eiran Kafziel stood behind her and slightly to one side, putting his body between the door and his Sinnis.

  You can’t be Lilitu. You look normal, not sickly glowing like Lamashti.

  “The first progeny were made after Ereshkigal’s death. If I am not mistaken, you have only seen old Lilitu. Lamashti is very old. Newly made Lilitu retain their human appearance for decades—centuries even—if they can keep from shifting, which they are rarely able to do with desires running rampant as they do among the humans.”

  Kafziel growled. His eyes on the seemingly angry Guardian, Nanae continued speaking to Nathalia. “I take it you were the cause of Izzy’s first shift.” No one moved or spoke, the silence telling him he was right. “Well then, he has more reason to be upset with you than the other way around. You forced him to use his magic, edging him closer to that sickly, glowing image you have of Lilitu. He simply reflects the desires of those around him.”

  “My Sinnis does not desire the Holy Mother,” Kafziel said. The words were ground out through gritted teeth.

  Nathalia went still as stone. It was clear Kafziel did not know. Perhaps she needed someone else to break it to him.

  Nanae could do that. “That is not what Lamashti told me. She said she took on this same form when she met Nathalia for the first time.”

  “I told Nathalia she could be with Lamashti if she wanted, but she refused the Lilitu. She was hungry, and she resisted. She does not—that was before we—”

  “Before what? Obviously nothing has changed for Nathalia. All of her needs are not being met, my friend. She is your Sinnis, but she has desires you know nothing about. See to her or let someone else, but don’t let your pride get in the way.”

  Nathalia’s inability to look at him broke Eiran Kafziel’s conviction. His shoulders slumped slightly. The visiting Nephilim and his Sinnis were embarrassed. Neither said anything, but Nathalia stared at the faux-Maeve in a way that left little doubt about what she wanted.

  Growing worried, Izzy put his hand on his maker’s knee. “Nanae…” He wanted no part in that inevitable but precarious threesome. Nathalia and Kafziel were unpredictable in their current states of mind.

  “Israel is no prostitute. He is mine. I have not released him from my service and will not until the day he tells me I am no longer able to provide for him. My ancient friend, you must see to this yourself if you cannot allow another to touch your Sinnis. I assure you the experience will not be unpleasant.”

  At that, Kafziel’s eyes shot up to meet Nanae’s. “How can you stand to have another—”

  His question was cut short by a movement of Nanae’s hand. “I would not know. I have no Sinnis. That was not the experience to which I was referring.”

  Recognition painted Kafziel’s face. He raised his eyebrows. “You have…”

  Nanae smiled. “Indeed.”

  Without another word, Kafziel lifted his Sinnis by her arm, wrapped his around her, and they both disappeared.

  Camilla let out a breath. “Well, that was weird and scary.”

  Izzy did his best Nanae voice. “Indeed.”

  Camilla laughed as Nanae helped them both stand. Israel looked down to find Maeve’s body still firmly in place, though Nathalia was gone. “So why do I still look like this?”

  “Kafziel is off to do what I have done many times. He will make love as a woman.” Nephilim had complete control of every cell in their bodies. They could be anything, anyone they wanted. Nanae pulled his two beauties down the hall toward the bedroom. “The shift is done. No point in wasting it. There is no better training for giving a female orgasm than experiencing one.”

  Camilla stopped. “I know I have no right to ask, but I don’t want you to have sex with another woman, even if that woman is really Izzy.”

  This pleased Nanae to no end. He wanted to tell her she had every right to ask that of him, but he couldn’t say such things aloud. Instead he said, “I will only be watching. This is practice for Izzy. If you have one—as Israel says every woman does—I suggest you get out the box. He will need all the help he can get. Israel has his work cut out for him this day.”

  Camilla’s laugh tinkled, dancing through the air. “Not if he’s in Maeve’s body. You may never get him to change back once he sees how easy she has it.”

  FOX LED the small team that approached the side of the Daughters’ compound. Brian would have preferred to send Montana, but his team had the most severe injuries. Without the serum, they were limited to human levels of recovery. Brian couldn’t go himself; he was the only one w
ho knew how to make the serum. He was a scientist, a chemical engineer, first and foremost. He’d been in the military with Montana, but where the black man led troops, the white man had worked in research and development—chemical warfare antidotes mostly.

  During his studies, Brian had discovered the secret files that spoke of an ancient race created through the breeding between humans and aliens. Ancient texts called them angels. He had gobbled up every information morsel he could find on the subject. He hadn’t had the clearance needed for the top files, but he’d found the name Paion. It wasn’t long before he contacted them and got permission to make his own independent cell. Montana, who’d been through basic training with him, was the first man Brian brought in. The Paion had provided him with a multitude of information—some ancient mythology, some actual science. They had given him a sample of Nephilim blood—one drop sandwiched between a microscope slide and cover slip—and he’d designed a formula for making the serum. He hoped it would be a safer, more stable compound than the versions that had come before him.

  There was no sample of blood ample enough to test his theory within the Paion. Brian had to find his own supply. He and Montana had tested the blood of the Nephilim’s lesser children. Theirs could not be used to make serum, but it was useful. Brian had stumbled upon the tranquilizer during his tests. They had searched for a Nephilim and a way to capture one for years. Over that time, Brian had handed over the lab work to lesser men while he worked with Montana on weapons and prisons. That was over now. Brian had taken his place on the science end of things again. He allowed Montana to take over the other aspects.

  The female Nephilim, who had badly hurt his men so easily, was a mystery. She, exceeding even her male counterpart in strength and power, had abilities far superior to that of anything the Paion had ever encountered. This woman was different, and she had put Brian’s most trusted associate out of commission. They were stuck with Fox, who had a shock of red hair with a white spot just over his forehead, hence his nickname.