She stared deep into his eye, which he found unnerving. “Oh? What did that dear angel say?”
“That you were Adam’s first wife, and Adam drove you off after you slept with the serpent, then married your daughter Eve in your place.”
“Eve was Adam’s daughter, too, which is why Havel is every bit as much of a monster as Qayin. They were born corrupt. My husband didn’t drive me off. I left him because I have a mind of my own, and I wouldn’t allow him to control me. I was created the same way he was, so I demanded to be treated like an equal. He was obsessed with worshipping our creator, and such men tend to treat their women as inferiors.
“Adam was also a lousy lay, not that I had anyone to compare him to in those days. All he ever cared about was getting himself off and procreating, and he even had the nerve to command me to lie beneath him while he shot his seed into me. As for the Serpent, he was beautiful and taught me real pleasure. The great Shaitan”—her tone took on sarcasm—“offered me knowledge of the dark arts in exchange for my body, and he kept his word.”
Jake was not reassured that Lilith had opened up to him. “Satan cast Adam and Eve out of hell and condemned them to suffer here instead. Now that they’re dead again, you’re the oldest being on earth.”
She paused before answering, as if weighing the meaning of everything he said. “Their passing saddened me; it’s possible to mourn a worthy foe, even a pigheaded ex-husband and a twisted daughter. I visited them upstate once to make sure we didn’t step on each other’s toes with our different endeavors. Imagine my surprise when I saw they had no toes, just tentacles the length of telephone poles. Adam was pleased to see me, but my daughter seethed with jealousy. Such monsters. But then they always were, which I’m sure is why Shaitan banished them from the Dark Realm.”
So she didn’t know everything. Had Shaitan shut her out of the loop? “You’re easier on the eyes than they were.”
Her indecipherable smile returned. “Don’t mistake me for being human, and don’t think you can play me.”
Careful, he told himself. She’s mercurial. “Clearly not. The first known Cro-Magnon remains date back forty-three thousand years. If you’re as old as those old bones and fossils, you’re holding up surprisingly well. Old Nick would have been envious.”
Lilith stepped onto her pedestal, sat in the egg, and crossed one leg over the other. “I did Shaitan’s bidding without question, serving as his mistress and pupil. His attentions were extreme, but I must have pleased him because he used his powers to keep me alive during our lovemaking. He granted me eternal life and taught me his dark ways, making me the first witch. I got my powers from him and sowed their seeds around the world as his ambassador, all while catering to his desires. As you can imagine, a fallen angel has quite an ego; satisfying his imagination proved traumatic for me. But I’ve never been afraid to
express myself.
“In time, we both grew tired of his efforts to make me subservient to his whims, and he used me in his games here on earth, sending me to seduce men on different continents and stir the flames of chaos. As I grew more powerful, I also grew more opinionated. Shaitan became weary of me just as Adam had, but I had no intention of subjugating any man, here or in the Dark Realm. Eventually, he lost interest in me and left me alone. I’ve continued to work my magic on earth, while his presence has diminished. Since my goals will never align with those of the Light, he’s allowed me to live as I wish.”
Maybe he didn’t want you in the Dark Realm. “You brought magic into the world?”
“Black magic through Shaitan. Those choirboys on the other side found their own vassals to introduce white magic, which is as impotent as it is boring.”
“Did you know Old Nick?”
She took a moment. “Not in my present guise. In another incarnation we met at a party. He had no idea who I was, and I had no idea he would one day join the Order of Avademe only to strike out on his own. The man he was then didn’t interest me; the pursuit of material wealth alone is crass. And I already had more money than his precious empire ever made.”
“Then you didn’t even miss the money Laurel stole.”
“It doesn’t matter how much she took. It was mine. It’s the principal. Remember how Poseidon punished Odysseus for hurting Polyphemus?”
“They were gods.”
Lilith stared daggers at him. “It would take me a human lifetime to tell you my story, and you don’t have that much time left. I’ve answered your questions. Now you answer mine. How did you discover my secret? Erika never learned it.”
“She knows you’ve lived several lifetimes, and that was enough to start with.”
“Using Tower’s Afterlife project? I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on that.”
You and everyone else who knows it exists. “I focused my search on witchcraft used to control storms, and I struck out until I found a very vague reference to a mythological Mesopotamian creature, a storm demon called Lilith who knew how to control the wind. This led me to an entire section devoted to you: Lilit, Lilitu.”
She tilted her head to one side. “I’m disappointed it was so easy.”
“Tower made it easy, and Abel’s tale supported what Afterlife suggested. It was just a hunch on my part; I wasn’t sure until now.”
She rose from her throne. “There are so many myths about me—so many untruths—from the Babylonian Talmud to the Mesopotamian texts to the Alphabet of Jesus ben Sirach. You must have been overwhelmed in your research.”
Jake shrugged. “It’s funny how each interpretation paints you as a demon.”
“Adam’s ego couldn’t handle that I wanted no more to do with him, even after he took our daughter into his bed. He decided I was Shaitan’s succubus whore, and that’s what he told his scores of children, who embellished his story in tales they told to their children.”
“So you haven’t strangled infants in their cribs and stolen children, and you didn’t give birth to one hundred demon babies in a single day?”
“I did many things for Shaitan during our first centuries together. His lust left me barren, and I didn’t want to ruin my figure anyway. Eve was such an ungodly mess by the end. Can you imagine?”
“According to one legend, you have a scorpion between your legs.”
She smiled. “Would you like to see if that’s true?”
Jake formed a mental picture. “No thanks.” I like to leave something to the imagination.
“I’m flattered by the stories told about me, that I’ve been credited with inspiring men’s wet dreams and women’s miscarriages, but these are old husbands’ tales.”
“In medieval times the church advised people not to sleep alone or you might get them, and monks slept with their hands over their genitals, clutching crucifixes.” Jake had been tempted to do the same the night before, but he didn’t own a crucifix.
“I’m delighted with my place in culture: the paintings, the statues, the literature. Did you know there’s a sculpture of myself, Adam, and Eve in the base of Notre Dame? Or that there’s a music festival named after me? I’m a symbol of feminism—so richly deserved.”
Jake had to drag her away from her reverie for herself. “Children may be safe, but apparently female icons in the entertainment world aren’t.”
Lilith’s demeanor cooled. “I’m curious how you’ve survived this long. How can you possibly believe that revealing how much you know about me to me is a smart tactic?”
“The only thing that matters to me is the hurricane that’s on the way. I don’t want any more innocent people killed.”
“Then you’re running out of time to turn Erika over to me.”
“I don’t plan to do that.”
Her irises flashed like lightning and thunder exploded outside. “That bitch stole from me.”
“We’d like to make good on that.”
“How can you? She gave most of my money away to charity.”
“She has at least two million left, and there’s still the
building.”
“That building’s worth five million at best. What about the other ninety-three million?”
“Write it off as a bad investment.”
“You must be joking.”
“I’m sure you already claimed it on your taxes, so you’ve already broken even. Nothing good will come of this war.”
“War? Try massacre . . . an extermination. You’re insects to me. I wouldn’t let Erika go even if she had the whole hundred million. I’m angry to have lost that money but not as angry as I am to have lost her. I want her body back alive.”
Jake drew a breath as he would when aiming a gun. She wasn’t giving him a choice. “I don’t think so.”
“Do you know how easy it would be for me to relieve you of your skin right now? You’re in no position to bargain with me.”
“I think I am.”
Lilith wiggled her fingers before her like snakes. “Give me a peek into that brain of yours.”
“Knowledge is a dangerous weapon in the right hands.”
“You don’t know one hundredth of my story, and what you do know you could never prove; no one will believe you. If I allow you to live and you try to expose me, they’ll lock you away until your dying day.”
“You ordered Laurel—Erika—to murder a man at your mansion.”
“She committed that murder, not me.”
“Under your direction, after you got her drunk or high. Then all of you kept quiet about it. That’s conspiracy. The RICO Act put Charles Manson away. It could do the same to you. I’m sure you could do a life sentence standing on your head.”
“There’s no body.”
“There’s at least one witness.”
“A thief. Erika would go down with me.”
“She wants to atone for her actions. Do you?”
“I’ll never give her that chance.”
“There’s also the matter of industrial espionage committed against The Love Book. You destroyed Alicia Dormeyer’s livelihood.”
“I’ll do worse to you.”
Time to push some buttons. “Oh, and there’s the matter of your being a centuries’ old witch who’s committed God only knows how many atrocities against men.”
“I’d like to read that police report. Too bad you’ll never get to file it.”
“I’ve already created a report. I stayed up all night writing it. I’m sure Laurel—sorry, Erika—can add a great deal to it. As you say, difficult to prove. But can you imagine the publicity? The scrutiny? We live in the age of the twenty-four-hour news cycle when stories are reported with little or no need for hard facts. I wonder how your disciples will react to the news.”
Lilith’s face tightened. “I could level your building, burying her and that account.”
“Destroying her body in the process.”
“I’m more than capable of making difficult choices.”
“Then there’s the matter of who I may have shared that report with before I came over here this morning: lawyers, police officers, reporters. As an ex-cop, I know a lot of people.”
“As a witch who absorbed your memories from a psychic, I can figure out who those people are. I bet two of them left your building last night after the show.”
Don’t let her get to you. “That’s a lot of busywork.”
“It’s too bad I can’t just take them all out in one big storm. Oh, wait. I can and I’ve already created one—the storm of the century.” She looked at a clock on the wall. “It’s due to hit in just about two hours, and it should have been upgraded to category 4 by now.”
Jake offered her a disappointed look. “I guess we’ve reached an impasse.”
“I don’t see it that way.”
“Here’s my proposal. First, you let me walk out of here with all my limbs and organs intact. I go back to my building. As a sign of good faith, Laurel wires the funds she has into your Swiss bank account, and you call off this storm. The next day, from an undisclosed location, Laurel transfers ownership of that building to you. You sell the building or keep it, whatever makes you happy. We go our way; you go yours. Laurel disappears and you remain the Queen of Romance.”
“Just like that?”
He held out his hand. “No fuss, no muss.”
Lilith turned her back to him. “That’s some proposition.”
Jake stared at his open hand, so close to his shoulder holster. What would happen if I pulled a John Wilkes Booth on her right now?
His hand tensed, ready to reach for his gun.
That’s what she wants so I’ll tip my hand. He clenched his fist, resisting the urge to act, then opened it again.
She turned back to him. “But I have to reject it.”
Jake swallowed. “Why don’t you at least call off this storm and take twenty-four hours to think about it?”
Lilith made no movement or gesture; she didn’t even blink.
Jake’s legs flew out from under him, and he crashed to the floor and stared up at her.
“For one thing, these things that you promise will be mine anyway after I claim Erika’s body as my own. For another, I know how your mind works.”
With his arms spread apart, Jake flew to the ceiling, grunting as he slammed its plaster with dizzying impact. She had pinned him to the ceiling just as she had Laurel.
No candles are necessary because she’s right here, he thought.
“You know I would never honor such an agreement. You just want me to call off the hurricane to buy you some extra time. Maybe you want to blow up this building with me in it?” She turned away. “I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
Jake plummeted to the floor fifteen feet below, his back absorbing the brunt of the crash, and cried out.
Lilith faced him, her dark eyes ablaze. “How dare you come in here with so little to offer me. It’s insulting. Get up on your hands and knees.”
Wincing, Jake rolled over and got on his hand and knees.
Did I mean to do that?
“Are you a man or a dog? Play like a dog and maybe then I’ll let you play like a man.”
Jake crawled in circles, his disability hampering his movements.
What the hell is happening to me?
“I think you’re a dog but not much of one. You’re incomplete, and maimed animals are usually put out of their misery. Stop playing.”
Turning to face her, Jake allowed his tongue to hang out of his mouth.
“Good doggie. Now beg. Beg!”
Jake stood on his knees with his hand and stump raised to his chest and panted. I’ll kill you for this, lady.
Lilith stepped before him, taunting him with her close proximity. “Good boy.” Leaning forward, she scratched behind his ear. “Good boy. You’re such a good doggie. Yes, you are. What would you like? Would you like a treat?”
Trying to answer her, Jake gagged.
Lilith reached inside his jacket and pulled his Thunder Ranch from its holster. “Why, this is so small. I thought men carried big guns to make up for their small dicks. I don’t want this.” She held the gun out to him. “You take it.”
He took the revolver from her and froze.
“Stand up, doggie.”
Jake rose and faced her, his arm remaining in the same outstretched position the entire time.
“You look angry. Would you like to shoot me?”
His arm straightened, aiming the revolver at her face.
“Go ahead. This is a freebie.”
Jake’s finger tightened on the trigger, but his arm jerked in his direction as the gun fired, the loud shot painful to his ears in the enclosed space. Before he knew it, the smoking barrel pressed against his right temple.
“Too late, too bad. Maybe you’d rather kill yourself than see what I’m going to do to this city because of you.”
The door behind Lilith burst open, and Harla ran in with two other women with alarmed expressions. Jake recognized Chloe Sanderstein and Jada Brighton from World Book Expo and their profile pictures on the Eternity Books web
site.
Lilith didn’t turn to face them. “Close the door, Chloe.”
The blonde closed the door.
“Come here, sisters. Mr. Helman was just about to blow his brains out.”
The three women—Lilith’s angels—moved beside her.
Jake’s hand trembled as his finger tightened on the trigger again. His lips twitched and sweat beaded on his forehead.
Don’t . . . do . . . it!
Tears formed in his eye.
“On second thought,” Lilith said, “why don’t you ladies give him the VIP treatment?”
The three subordinates smiled at Jake and undressed. Nude, they swooped around him, caressing his stomach and back, unbuckling his belt and pulling his trousers down, peeling his clothing like skin from an orange. Still holding his revolver against his head, he stood exposed before Lilith, who shook her head at his slack penis, which had shrunk in his waterlogged pants.
“I’ve sensed something in him since I first met him, something that goes beyond the memories he shared with Erika. He needs some Magic in his life.”
Still smiling, Chloe strutted to the polished bar and opened a stainless steel drawer. Jake ignored her round buttocks and full breasts. She returned with a glass pipe with a round bowl at the end. The bowl contained what appeared to be dark ashes.
Jake’s pulse quickened.
Lilith returned to her throne. “You recognize that, don’t you? Nod.”
Jake nodded.
“I knew it. I saw it in your eyes right away. Hand the gun to Harla.”
He gave the gun to Harla, and she set it down on one of the pedestals displaying the owls. Jada kneeled before him and took him in her mouth. Harla moved behind him, sliding her hands along his sternum and down his stomach muscles. Chloe slid the pipe between his lips and sparked a lighter, holding it beneath the bowl.
“Suck Magic, Jake,” Lilith said.
Jake drew Black Magic into his lungs, igniting his
senses and returning him to life.
“That feels so good, doesn’t it? Your eyes were almost clear. It’s been too long.”
She’s right, he thought.
Releasing his erection, Jada stood before him. Only she had transformed into Katrina.
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