by M. L. Desir
He gave her a sidelong glance. “When Gabriel finds out, he won’t stand for any of this. He shall fight you and your kind.”
She laughed. “Gabriel, I can handle.”
He raised his eyebrows, interested, curious. “What strong influence do you have on him?”
She smiled. “I’ve known Gabriel longer than I’ve known you. He once had a pretty sister—a twin sister. A mother and a father. Tragically, they all died. I know things he wishes no one knew. He shall do what I say or despair.”
The hansom cab came to a halt in front of a two-story home that looked horribly modest in comparison to the castles and mansions that Faron was accustomed to dwelling in. The driver came round and opened Lilith’s door. When Faron placed his hand on her arm, she immediately leaned toward him and kissed him on the forehead.
She slipped out of the carriage and smoothed her long-fingered hands over the wide skirt of her morning dress, probably fussing over superficial wrinkles.
Faron gently lifted Nikolai into his arms before stepping out of the cab. He hoped that Lilith’s spell would keep him asleep long enough. But it would be of no assistance once Nikolai woke up. He hoped that Nikolai’s rebellious spirit would be put on hold.
In his head, he rehearsed the lies that they would tell Gabriel. For Nikolai, a shameless expert at deception, such an event would be like having teatime. Faron on the other hand, didn’t think he had the tongue for deceiving anyone. Especially a demon with an angel’s name.
* * *
Colin wanted to plant a garden. Or at least to revive the one that had given up and died. He noticed that there had been periwinkles and daisies. He wondered why there hadn’t been any roses. He loved roses. They were his specialty. He closed his eyes imagining bubbling fountains and statues made from blue and white marble, carved in the form of goddesses, lions, and angels.
Magnificent, breathtaking angels. Not the chubby babies with wings (which he thought stupid) that people mistook for cherubim, but real angels in the guise of men at least seven feet tall and draped in white tunics. In his garden would be sculptured hedges complemented by rose-wreathed Gothic arches bordering an enormous lily pond, which would sparkle like a blue oasis. The dizzying sweetness of gardenias and roses would be thick in the air.
The moon, barely a sliver in the sky, competed and lost to the deluge of starlight in the sky. Colin turned up the gaslights, giving the night an eerie illumination. An owl’s hollow call syncopated with the howl of the wind broke his concentration, and his daydreams faded away. Two figures striding down the walkway further distracted him: a tall, slender, dark woman dressed in a black morning dress and a man in a white, hooded cloak carrying something. They walked side by side as mist and the glowing gas snaked around them. Her dark hair styled into a knot in the latest fashion accentuated the smooth contours of her dark face and the graceful lines of her long neck. In one of her gloved hands, she held a black, stylish hat decorated with a peacock feather. She cast a discreet glance behind her, and her companion lingered for a second to fall into step behind the woman. Colin closed the space between them, prepared to greet the strangers, whoever they were.
The woman raised her head with grace and pride. “Young man. I’ve come to see Gabriel. I’ve brought him something.”
Colin’s face drew a blank. He tilted his head up to look at her. She stood as tall as a man, nearly as tall as Gabriel, and carried herself with an aura of power. She would make a good study for a sculpture of a goddess. She looked familiar . . . and yet . . .
“But who are you?” he asked.
The woman smiled, and her black eyes sparkled. “Lilith. Surely,” she said, “you must know.”
The hooded man behind her cleared his throat. “He’s the human from last night. Perhaps Nathaniel thought it wise to—”
Lilith shrugged. “Quite wise, Faron,” she agreed without turning around.
Colin guarded his reaction to The Woman, Lilith, and forced a smile. Gabriel had warned him that she was worse than a rabid dog. “Show your fear—even an ounce, and she’ll eat you alive.” He trusted his master and heeded his words. He opened the front door, and stepped to the side to let her pass, avoiding her black eyes as best he could. He feared that he’d see something in those eyes he wouldn’t like.
He looked past her at Faron, who waited in silence.
Colin studied the hooded man and waited, hoping he would continue with what he had planned on saying. He wondered why he wouldn’t show all of his face and what he was holding. It looked like a child. His notions were confirmed when he glimpsed a small white hand lovingly caress Faron’s neck.
“Good evening, sir,” Colin greeted. “Who is the child?”
Faron hesitated and faltered in his careful steps, as if unprepared for the question. He said nothing but grinned and moved passed him. His strides were long, and he moved with such ease it appeared that he glided behind Lilith.
Colin shrugged and walked inside, shutting the door behind him.
“If you’ll excuse me, I shall tell the masters of your arrival.” He bowed once and walked out of the waiting room. He burst through the double doors of an antechamber, making his way down the hallway into the library, all the while wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into.
* * *
“My lords, you have visitors. A woman named Lilith has come. The woman. The one Nathaniel called your Matriarch. She’s dark like an Ethiopian.”
Gabriel folded his arms across his chest. He turned and looked out of the window to the purple haze of twilight. The gray clouds were outlined in a periwinkle haze. He reasoned that he should have gone for a walk earlier and returned late. Perhaps then he would’ve missed Lilith’s arrival. “Was anyone with her?”
Colin went on to describe another visitor, who was hooded. “He was carrying a child. A child, Master Gabriel!”
The raw cheer in Colin’s voice annoyed him.
“Dressed in white, eh? Sounds like Faron, The Fair One,” Nathaniel said. “What could he possibly want?” Then he laughed. “He was carrying someone, Colin?”
“Yes, but I didn’t get a good look. Could be a darling girl or a strapping boy.”
“I don’t know this Faron, but I heard about him last night,” Gabriel said. “Is he friend or foe?”
“Well that’s hard to say,” Nathaniel replied. “That really all depends on you. Faron is somewhat of a coward. He has wanted the Principality for himself, but Lilith knows that he doesn’t possess the aura of a ruler. Regardless, you’ll want him as an ally. So, I warn you to be on your most exemplary behavior. It would be in your best interest to just go along with whatever I say and do.”
Gabriel dropped his arms to his sides, hands clenched into fists. “Lilith said last night that she wanted to give me something. I hope that the child this Faron is carrying is not that something.”
Nathaniel shrugged and walked around the room. “It all seems mysterious to me. Better not keep them waiting.”
Gabriel didn’t like mysteries. Weariness, cold and gnawing like a long winter, began to crystallize in him. Nevertheless, he followed Nathaniel for what he guaranteed would be a confrontation. He took his time walking to the waiting room as Nathaniel and Colin hurried ahead of him.
The door closed halfway behind Nathaniel. Through the partial opening, Gabriel watched Lilith take Nathaniel’s hand and kiss it. He saw the hooded man, Faron, sitting to her left. He didn’t see any sign of a third person. He smiled—maybe Colin had been mistaken.
Nathaniel kissed Lilith’s hand in turn. He sat down on her other side.
This wasn’t a tea party, and Gabriel wanted to make that perfectly clear. He slipped through the door and sat on the chair opposite her, at the far side of the table.
“So, tell me about this child Colin saw,” he stated, jumping right to the topic of interest. His hands rested on top o
f the chair’s polished arms, as he stretched the length of his legs.
“What happened to your manners, my Prince?” Lilith’s voice held a subtle playfulness. He assumed she was amused. Brilliant. At least someone was being entertained.
Nathaniel stood up at the other end of the table. “Gabriel,” he said, “is merely approaching the matter with urgency. He finds it ridiculous to cater to these formalities, Lilith.”
“Formalities?” She turned on Nathaniel, her voice rising. “Now that we’re no longer at war with one another, greeting me with a kiss shouldn’t be a formality.” Lilith looked back at Gabriel. “Or would you rather we still be fighting?”
“I can only answer that question,” Gabriel replied, “if you tell me why you’re here.” He avoided looking at Faron. He didn’t want to have to deal with any other distractions.
Rising from her seat, Lilith glanced around the small room. “Michel,” she began, “Where is he?”
“Mikel? Oh, he’s about,” Gabriel replied.
“Mikel, is it? I’d like to see him. If that’s possible.”
Nathaniel gave a slight bow. “Of course, Lilith.” He turned to Colin and told him to fetch Mikel. The boy nodded and left.
Gabriel smiled. Colin wouldn’t be present for several minutes. What perfect timing. He hoped that Mikel would give him a hard time. He’d hate to see Colin somehow remember something from last night.
Lilith’s eyes followed Colin out of the room and long after he left before she looked back at Gabriel and Nathaniel. “That young man? When will you Enlighten him?” The words came out soft and guarded.
Gabriel wasn’t sure how much she wanted him to do that. He felt himself growing angry with the thought of her forcing him to act as she had with Mikel. He shrugged and answered as vaguely as he could. “Haven’t thought much about it.”
Lilith smiled.
“Would it please you, Lilith?” he asked, not able to conceal the bitterness in his voice.
“Yes,” she said.
“Excellent. Allow me to tell you what pleases me. You want me to lead, to rule, but to what end? Maybe I’m nothing but a servant to you, and I won’t have that. If I’m indeed immortal, I shouldn’t I fear you or anyone.” He gave her a challenging look, daring her to admit what he already suspected. That she was a liar, some demon, some monster clothed in light and loveliness that couldn’t be trusted. When she merely blinked at him, he sighed.
“You’re angry about Seth. That is understandable. He has the power to irritate.”
“And the power to weave illusions,” Gabriel snapped. “Was it you who taught him? It was you who put him up to it last night, right? No games. Just admit it.”
Lilith shook her head. “If I must admit anything, then I can tell you with certainty I had nothing to do with that. If I had known without a doubt that your stubbornness could be defeated with a bit of rivalry, I would’ve devised something like what happened last night, sooner.” She leered at him, revealing sharp, white teeth. “Much sooner.”
Gabriel smiled. “You’re wrong. No one makes me do anything.”
“We shall soon see.” Lilith stood up. “I’d like to discuss matters further in a more comfortable setting.”
Nathaniel recommended the parlor. Lilith sauntered out the door. First Faron, then Nathaniel followed her like a personal entourage of men. Pathetic. Gabriel followed.
The parlor, with its fireplace, lovely furniture, and a Persian rug at its center, exuded cozy comfort. Characteristics Gabriel didn’t want to display to his current guests. Around the perimeter of the rug, a trio of couches crouched, and along the walls squatted chairs and a chaise longue. An arm’s length from the floor hung gigantic tapestries of golden-haired maidens feeding deer.
Faron looked at the artwork curiously.
Gabriel wondered what he thought of them. He resembled the maidens with his pale, pretty features. Fair One was the perfect epithet for him. He had the fairest, most flawless skin Gabriel had ever seen on a man. Blue veins glowed faintly beneath the surface, no doubt flowing with blue blood. Even his hair retained the nearly white color that some blonde children have at birth before it darkens. Gabriel turned his attention to Nathaniel, who sat on one of the couches, staring at him.
Lilith sat on the adjacent couch, her hands clasped in her lap. She looked ladylike and harmless. If only that were the truth.
While Gabriel had turned to Lilith and Nathaniel, Faron had disappeared. He was nowhere in sight, and there was still no evidence of a third person. What now?
“Colin said that you had brought someone with you,” Gabriel said. “Where is it?”
“It?” an androgynous voice snapped. Too thin to be a man’s, yet an octave too deep to be a woman’s. “You speak as if children are sexless animals. Shame on you, Gabriel. Don’t you know that they’re a gift?” Gabriel turned in the direction of the voice.
Faron stood in the doorway, holding a child in his arms. “Merry Christmas,” he said with a thin smile.
CHAPTER 19
Nikolai
GABRIEL ROLLED HIS EYES at Faron’s dull stab at sarcasm. “Oh, ha, ha, haaa. Most entertaining. But Christmas is more than a month away. So piss off with your unwanted present.”
The child in Faron’s arms stirred in the warmth of his white cloak. “Nikolai is a boy, not an unwanted present,” the Fair One said in a kinder tone. He walked over to the chaise longue and gently lay the child down. He moved back to Lilith and stood beside her, his hand resting on the back of the furniture. His fingers briefly brushed the column of her neck in an intimate touch. Lovers?
“This is the ‘something’ you promised me?” Gabriel asked. “You really shouldn’t have.”
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Lilith replied. “But you haven’t heard the explanation.”
“You may change your mind,” Faron added. His voice had softened even more. “From what I’ve heard about you, yes, I think that you’ll definitely change your mind.”
Faron had a graceful way of flipping the falling hair out of his eyes that women would find very attractive. Gabriel just found it annoying. Maybe if Faron sat down, he’d keep his fingers out of his damn hair. He carried one of the high-back chairs along the parlor wall and placed it directly in front of Lilith before sitting down.
“Please, Faron, have a seat.” He pointed to the empty space beside Lilith on the couch.
When Faron sat down, the child didn’t move.
“Strange that we’re meeting under such circumstances,” he remarked curtly. He hoped that his smile wasn’t as bitter as he sounded.
Faron shook his head. “No, it’s still a pleasure, Gabriel.”
He nodded. “Agreed. And now that the formalities are out of the way, what’s the story behind the child?”
“Nikolai is the son of German nobles. He was kidnapped by gypsies and sold to an ancient Chosen who has a perverted lust for children. He—” Faron lowered his seagray eyes, and his cheeks flared pink. He swallowed hard as if too pained to say something that could be uncomfortable.
“He what?” Gabriel prompted.
Faron’s hands clenched into fists and rose to his mouth, his entire body trembling.
Gabriel glanced at the still body of the child. He saw only the lower part. His legs were sheathed in the white leggings fashionable for little boys and his feet in shiny black shoes with golden buckles. The child hadn’t stirred since they had laid him down. Merely sleeping or Dreaming? He frowned. “You mean to tell me that this Chosen has been Enlightening children?”
Faron looked at him with that pained expression on his delicate face. He nodded weakly. “Nikolai is the first.”
“Well, the first that we know of,” Lilith added quickly.
“This child,” Gabriel said with some difficulty, “in a sense was forced into Enlightenment. Forced. And you want me to d
o something about it.”
Faron’s long fingers flipped the pale, blonde hair out of his eyes. He glanced at Lilith. “Well, obviously.”
Gabriel smiled wryly and crossed his arms against his chest. He fixed his eyes on Lilith. “But wasn’t it you who said that all humans would want to live forever? So how is this a problem?”
Lilith smiled at him, and he wanted to wipe her smile away. “Are you implying that I’m a liar?”
Gabriel gave an openhanded shrug. “No, not at this particular moment. What I’m trying to point out is the lack of logic here. You believe that all humans want to be immortal. Likewise, I’m asking you why should it matter at whatever age?” He hadn’t seen the child’s face yet, but by the look of his hands and the build of his body, he appeared no older than ten. If Gabriel had been Enlightened at such a young age, he would’ve gone mad. Just the thought of being frozen in the body of a child for centuries brought a shiver down his spine. And he’d want the one who did it to him to pay, to suffer—with interest. It did matter.
It mattered a great deal.
“But it should—I mean, it does mean a great deal,” Faron said, echoing Gabriel’s thoughts.
Gabriel smiled. “Exactly. You’ve brought this child here for me to protect. But if it isn’t made clear that only adults—stable adults—will be given the choice, this won’t be the last time a child is Enlightened.”
“Valid points, but how do we go about doing that?”
Gabriel glared at Faron. “If you would be patient enough to let me think, perhaps I could come up with a solution.”
Faron mumbled a soft apology and cast his eyes down.
“First of all,” Gabriel went on, “what’s been done about this deviant Chosen?”
“He’s been chained and imprisoned,” Lilith replied.
“That’s inadequate,” Gabriel expressed his disapproval. “He must be cut into pieces and burned.”
“Come now, my Prince, don’t you think that’s a little harsh?” Faron asked.