Tears of Blood

by Simone Beaudelaire

  The desert faded into the interior of an ancient, ratty travel trailer. In front of him, on the remains of the bed, Annie sat. The girl glowed with power as she poured her healing energy into his father, who lay, inert and bleeding, on the tattered mattress. His mother clutched his hand and wept, begging him to hold on.

  She looked up at the sound of his arrival. "Josiah. Oh, thank God. Come on. We need your help!"

  He shook his head, not understanding. "What can I do?"

  "It’s your father," Annie said, "I can’t heal him. I need you."

  "No," he said. The women blinked at him.

  "No?" Annie asked, not believing. "What do you mean, no?"

  He shook his head again. "I can’t help. I have no gift of healing. What can I do? If I tried, I’d probably just finish him off. And even if I succeeded, I... It wouldn’t be any good."

  "What are you saying, son?" Sarahi asked.

  "I’ve done too much. I’m evil now, Mother. Look at me." He trailed his finger through his own aura, highlighting the muddy, gray color. It had darkened so much.

  "Evil?"

  He nodded and forced himself to admit the truth. "I’m a murderer. I killed Peter, and I..."

  "I know, son," Sarahi said, her eyes filled with sorrow. I know. But that doesn’t mean you can't help. Please."

  "What do you want me to do? I already told you I don’t know how to heal."

  "You don’t have to," she replied. "Annie does. But she doesn’t have enough strength. Give her your power, your energy. She needs it. She doesn’t have enough. You do."

  "But my energy is tainted."

  From the bed, Lucien groaned in agony.

  "Josiah," Annie said, drawing his eyes to her. "I know you have hard things to face. I get it. But do you really think it will make it easier if you let your father die?"

  A shaft of sheer agony pierced Josiah. Annie had made it clear that if Josiah didn’t act, Lucien’s death, like Peter’s, would be on his conscience. He reached out to Annie through the bonds of love and desire which had bound them since childhood; strengthened in puberty, and cemented in his bed a few weeks ago. With a wince of sympathy, he fed his muddy, tainted energy into his beloved. Instantly, the pure white glow of her aura brightened to a blinding brilliance, like a nuclear blast. Her hands shone like captive stars. She laid her fingers on Lucien’s wounded belly. The black skin glowed with an internal luminescence. Annie began to mutter under her breath.

  "First repair the lacerations to the bowel." She concentrated. "Good. Now clear contaminants from the belly. No infections." There was a flare of light so bright, it burned against Josiah’s retinas like a flash of ignited magnesium. "Repair the muscles. And last the skin...."

  Annie released Josiah’s energy. It snapped back to him with the force of rebounding rubber band. He took several steps backward and ran into the chipped laminate table.

  When his vision cleared, he looked back at the scene before him. Annie had risen from the bed and was walking towards him. Her gait was unsteady, as though she were slightly drunk. Beyond her, his mother had cuddled up against his father’s side and had pressed her forehead against his cheek. No longer groaning, Lucien had wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. They were murmuring unintelligible words. Josiah felt a pang of envy. They were so sweet together, so very connected. He wondered if he would ever be blessed with what they had. His gaze returned to Annie. He wanted that with her, but he didn’t deserve it. Despair quickly turned to rage.

  "I’m so glad you came," she said softly. "I’m so glad you returned to us."

  "Who says I’ve returned," he demanded belligerently.

  "What?" Annie looked at him, confused. It seemed he could do nothing other than confound her. "You can’t be serious. That bitch is the one who did this." She gestured behind her at the bed. "She nearly killed him. You can’t mean to return to her."

  "Well, no," Josiah admitted. "I won’t do that. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to fight for the clerics either."

  "Why not?"

  "Why would I? What have they ever done for me? Annie, you saw. They made my every waking minute miserable my whole life. What possible allegiance do I owe them?"

  She took another step, close enough to touch. But she didn’t touch him. She just pinned him with those irresistible brown eyes and spoke softly. "You have a point. I won’t deny it. The clerics did not do right by you, from my grandfather right down the line to Peter. I would hardly expect you to be loyal to them. But what about to us, Josiah. Look around this room. Everyone here loves you, has always loved you. Don’t you owe us your loyalty? Your allegiance? If Lilith wins this fight, being disemboweled will be the least your father, your mother, and I face."

  "You, Annie? Why would she go after you?"

  "Don’t be stupid, Josiah. I was your first. Your unlimited energy, the thing she covets so much, belongs to me. Only I can share it. That alone will earn me a terrible death. And there are... other reasons."

  Josiah lowered his eyebrows, trying to figure out what she meant. He looked down the line of her body and was startled to see how bright the glow of her aura was around her belly. He met her eyes.

  "I don’t deserve you," he said sadly.

  "You don’t," she agreed. "And I intend to make you suffer and grovel for a long time... after the battle."

  "I can’t believe it. I should take you far away from here. Hide you."

  Annie pulled her gun from her belt and waved it casually in his direction. "Try it," she challenged.

  "You wouldn’t shoot me," he said. He hoped she wouldn’t.

  "No," she agreed. "But I’d happily pistol-whip you into the new millennium. Don’t give me a reason."

  He nodded. "Tough chick," he said tenderly.

  "Damn straight, boy. Now get your ass out there and help us fight."

  Josiah fell silent, considering.

  ***

  Lilith stepped forward to the shifting edge of the battle, where a naphil and a drone were locked together in a bone-crushing fistfight. She couldn’t get a clear shot, so she raked her claws along both of them. The drone immediately decomposed into dust. That had been an old one. The naphil howled until she cut off his scream by biting out his throat. She spat the mouthful of flesh onto the ground. He tasted bad. That Lucien, on the other hand, had been awfully yummy. No wonder her faithless daughter had been drawn to him. She moved forward. A succubus stumbled, knocked aside by a heavy blow from a cleric. Lilith slashed, severing the man’s spine and leaving him twitching on the ground. Her daughter stared at her with wide-eyed horror.

  "You’re welcome," she told the succubus. The girl turned and fled. Lilith shook her head. What a bunch of weak, useless creatures she’d birthed. By this point, nearly half had defected, taking their drones with them. Between that and the heavy losses they’d suffered, the armies were about equally matched. Soon she would have to step in more directly. She had no intention of losing this fight. Those ridiculous half-angels and their friends would learn the cost of teasing the queen of demons.

  A strange sight captured her attention. At the edge of the battlefield, near a weathered mesquite tree, an old black man stood, muttering prayers and watching the battle. She stalked over to him, and knew him.

  "Hello there, Moses," she said. He jumped, eyes huge. "Did you forget me?"

  He shook his head. "Of course not."

  "How is your daughter?"

  He gulped, took a deep breath. "She’s dead. You know that. Your... firstborn killed her, along with her husband and son."

  "Ah, yes. My dear Jezebel. My most loyal daughter. She’s here, now. Did you know?"

  "I guessed." Then he muttered under his breath something which sounded distinctly like, "That bitch."

  "What I’ve always wondered, Moses, is how you got away from me. I’ve never had a drone escape. I thought I would be able to keep you."

  He shook his head. "I woke up one day and realized I had a choice. I knew what would happen to m
e if I stayed. I wanted a better life. Death is preferable to slavery, so I left. That’s all."

  "Did you ever miss me?"

  He sneered. "You’re a disgusting creature. My poor late wife, the mother of my daughter, was a hundred times better than you could ever hope to be."

  Lilith laughed. "Trying to earn yourself a quick death, Moses? Keep dreaming. I plan to enjoy every moment of my revenge when this little skirmish is over."

  With that, she tossed out a net of energy which pinned him against the weathered tree trunk. "There," she said, tying off the knot. "Now you can’t sneak away from me again. Be back later, darling." She blew him a kiss and stalked back to the fighting.

  Until this day, the abdication of Moses Smith had been her greatest, most humiliating, most devastating loss. Worst of all, he had left because he wanted to. He would pay for her humiliation with centuries of agony. She could keep him alive to suffer at her hands indefinitely. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to escape, she considered the skirmishing fighters, trying to decide whom to kill next.

  A petite, red-haired figure stepped in front of her.

  "Hello, Mother."

  Lilith raised her eyebrows. "Sarahi? I didn’t expect to see you here."

  "You should have expected it. You tried to kill my husband."

  "Tried?" She laughed. "I did kill him. He may not realize it yet, but there’s no coming back from a wound like that. I don’t blame you for going to him, though. He was delicious." She licked one of her claws with a long stoke of her forked tongue. Sarahi hissed in fury. Her own pale pink nails lengthened into rigid spikes. Fangs extended past her lips.

  "Come on, you useless lump of flesh. Let’s get this over with." Lilith slashed out fast, but Sarahi dodged. Lilith blinked. She was unused to her daughters avoiding a blow. Even a killing blow. "Stop that, you twit. If you fight me, I’ll only kill you slower."

  "No," Sarahi replied coolly, "you cannot have my husband. You cannot have my son. I’ll fight for them both."

  Lilith shrugged. "You can fight, but you’ll lose."

  She struck out again, cobra fast, and again connected only with empty air. "Quit squirming, slut."

  "I’m not the slut here, mother." Sarahi slashed with her own claws and managed to open a wound on her mother’s arm. Lilith stared at the blood in amazement. No one had attacked her directly in millennia, not until today. That this second attacker was one of her own daughters seemed remarkable... and infuriating. This time, she wouldn’t miss. She aimed a powerful blow at the little demoness’s throat, and was brought to a shuddering halt as her claws snared against steel. Lucien stood tall and strong, his obsidian body a silhouette against the low afternoon sun as he blocked her.

  "You," she hissed. "I killed you!"

  "Apparently not," Lucien said. "I feel fine. But I need to have a word with you about my son."

  "Hmm," Lilith moaned in a parody of ecstasy. "He was goooood. Who would have guessed an angel would be so... skilled."

  There was a painful sting in her leg. While she’d been distracted by the naphil, Sarahi had attacked again, attempting to hamstring her. She kicked out, sending the little succubus tumbling. Then she turned her attack to Lucien, driving him back with a lightning-quick series of slashes and jabs. He slowly gave ground, step by step, not engaging, just protecting himself from injury.

  He stumbled, going down hard on the hot sand, and Lilith was on him in a moment, her fangs extending again. This time she would tear out his angel throat. There would be no coming back.

  She gagged as something sharp embedded in the inside of her wide open mouth. Reaching in, she pulled out a steel throwing star. She looked up and saw that same white-clad figure who had interfered with this kill before. This time, though, the mask was gone, revealing the pretty face of a girl... There was something strange about the taste of the young woman’s energy. It tasted like... She flicked her tongue into the air. It tasted like Josiah. Lilith ground her teeth in rage. This was the one, the one who had stolen her prize. Another steel star flew at Lilith, and she dodged.

  Once again, she’d forgotten Sarahi. The intrepid succubus rushed her mother from behind, sinking claws into her back, digging for the spine. Lilith roared and pulled her daughter off her, throwing her across the desert, stalking after her.

  A tall figure approached the fallen succubus and lifted her to her feet.

  "Josiah," Lilith hissed, "get away from her."

  "She’s my mother," he gritted out through his teeth.

  "And she abandoned you as an infant. She deserves nothing from you. None of them do. They all hated and feared you for what you are. They never let you be yourself. Only I did."

  "You let me wallow in my basest urges. That’s not love, it’s temptation. I want no more of it."

  "I didn’t force it on you. You sought me out. It was what you wanted."

  "It was," he agreed, "but it isn’t anymore. Annie!"

  As Lilith watched, a cord of cloudy steel-gray energy shot past her. She turned, seeing it connect to the white-clad girl, who lit up like the sun. In the purity of her diamond clean aura, the dirty-looking energy turned to pure silver.

  "Lucien," she called, shooting a bolt of it to the naphil, who caught it in one outstretched hand. He illuminated like a piece of thin obsidian when a light shines behind it.

  "Sarahi," he shouted. Lilith whirled and saw her daughter begin to sparkle like a chunk of rose quartz in the sun. Suddenly, the delicate succubus seemed bigger, taller, stronger.

  "Never come between a mother and her child," Sarahi said, holding her claws before her threateningly, as she stood between her son and the demon who had given birth to her.

  Lilith surged forward across the sand, ready to tear her daughter limb from limb. She reached out both hands and grasped... nothing. Sararhi had dodged her again, rolling beside her. She turned, following the moment, determined to put her long-standing mistake out of her misery. Sarahi surged to her feet and Lilith struck out, but the angle was wrong. The girl had rushed her, and instead of sinking claws into the unguarded belly, she only managed to knock her off her feet. Lilith drew her arm back, ready to finish the job, but she had been distracted once again. A sharp pain flared in her back. In her rage, she had forgotten Lucien. The angel had circled behind her and driven his sword into her spine. She roared, a hissing shriek like steam escaping from a kettle. Another stab. Sarahi had risen to her knees and sunk her claws upwards through the demoness’s belly, scrabbling behind her ribs, trying to get to her heart. A strange buzzing, like a hive full of bees, sounded in her ears. It was the thoughts of all her daughters, all her drones, all chattering and murmuring at once.

  Another movement snared her vision. Before her, that damned girl was there again. Her brown eyes glittered, cold and hard as topaz in the desert sunset as she raised a pistol, pointing it directly at Lilith’s skull from close range.

  She saw rather than heard the full lips form the words "Josiah is mine." And then the finger squeezed. A white light flashed. Lilith’s black aura closed in on her, covering the world in darkness.

  Chapter 22

  From his spot trapped against the trunk of the scrubby tree, Moses Smith watched the desperate fight between his former mistress and his family. The four of them, working in tandem, sharing strength, had achieved the impossible. Lucien severed Lilith’s spine from behind as Sarahi pulled out a throbbing morsel of flesh, which she clutched in blood-soaked fingers just at the same moment his own precious granddaughter finished the job with a perfect head shot.

  Unable to sustain the three moral injuries, the demoness exploded. Whereas succubae burst into golden dust, Lilith’s combustion resembled the force of a volcanic eruption, and the detritus of that blast fell black as ash over the battlefield.

  Stunned by the destruction of their leader, the succubae turned and fled. Drones stumbled away after them, leaving the wounded and dead among the remaining nephilim and Clerics. The battle was over. The powers of light had won.
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br />   He watched awareness dawn on the men he had known, had led. As one they began cheering, hugging each other and jumping up and down. He smiled. But why was he still trapped? Why had Lilith’s energy net not dispersed with her death? No matter. Someone would find him soon enough. For now, he was content to watch.

  The bonds of light which connected naphil, succubus, incubus, and Assassin winked out and Sarahi collapsed to the ground. The poor girl had taken the brunt of the blast, being so close to Lilith when she blew. Lucien also fell.

  Further back, Annie and Josiah staggered but kept their feet. They stood motionless for a long moment before running to each other. The boy caught her up and twirled her around, crushing her in his arms and kissing her. Then, hand in hand, they approached the prone figures of Josiah’s parents. The light flared around the younger couple and Annie knelt, laying her hand on Lucien’s chest. There was a brief surge, and he took a deep breath, sitting up. Annie moved on to Sarahi, pulsing healing energy into Josiah’s mother. She stirred but didn’t wake. Annie pulsed again and drew back, shaking her head. Lucien scooted over to his wife and gathered her into his arms. No one seemed hysterical, so she probably wasn’t dead, but she was clearly still unconscious.

  Annie and Josiah knelt, hugging Lucien and the slumbering Sarahi briefly before rising to walk hand-in-hand across the battlefield. Time and again Annie knelt, sending pulses of energy into prone figures. Some sat up. Some stirred. Others remained still. Not every wound could be healed, even with the help of a healer and an incubus.