by Nancy Madore
“How did you know about the incident in DC,” he asked, suddenly becoming wary. “Nadia, how did you know about that?”
“I was…questioned about it,” she said. “They linked the attack to BEACON.”
“Who?”
Nadia hesitated. She had not lied to her father since she was a teenager. “I don’t know,” she said. “Some intelligence operation out of Washington…I can’t remember the name of it now.” She could feel her face growing hot and felt the lie was obvious.
He took a step closer and examined her face. “Did you tell them any of this?” he asked.
“No!” she said. “I…don’t turn this around! All I want is for you to stop it, Daddy. I want you to tell me how to stop it and I’ll…pass the information on to them.”
“I’m sorry, Nadia,” he said. “I can’t do that.” But he paused, as if considering it. “It’s too late now, anyway,” he said.
“We could try. Just tell me who and where,” she said. “I wouldn’t even have to tell them about you. I’m first response, remember? I have connections. I can make a call and we can stop this thing.”
“You know as well as I do you couldn’t cover up something like this,” he said. “If you tried to, you’d be the one blamed.”
He was far too clever to bluff. “You could start over…somewhere else,” she said. The thought of this horrified her.
“Yes, I could. And to tell you the truth I would have done that already if not for you. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with you before I…moved on. But it’s not that,” he said. “Nadia, this has to happen. You have no idea what the West is messing with here.”
“For me,” she said. “Stop this for me.”
There was a long pause. “I know you don’t understand this now, but it will be better for you in the long run if I don’t. I’m trying to protect you as well as myself. This has to happen now.”
“Please give me the names,” she said.
“I can’t,” he said.
“Why?”
“I’ve already told you why!”
Nadia closed her eyes. She didn’t think she could go through with it. Djinn or human, she loved him.
And she could understand his point of view.
“I’ll give you Lilith,” she said, opening her eyes so she could see his expression when she played her final card.
Chapter 51
Edward’s cool reserve was finally shattered. He staggered backwards, gaping at Nadia in astonishment.
“You’ll…what?” he whispered.
“I’ll give you Lilith,” she repeated.
“Give me…how will you ‘give’ me Lilith?” he asked. He was so pale he looked as if he might faint. “Where is she?” he whispered.
“I give you my word,” said Nadia. “I will produce her if you do this for me.”
“Produce her! How?”
“Don’t ask questions,” she said. “Please, just…how many cells are there and who are they? Please Daddy!”
Edward stared at her for a long time. There was a strange look in his eyes and she wondered if he was contemplating taking what he wanted by force. It would be all over if he did. She would never be able to fight him.
But she realized suddenly that his struggle was not with her. It was an internal struggle. He looked like a man with a gun to his head—and the only question seemed to be how he would take the bullet.
“There are twelve,” he blurted out at last. “And they’ve all infected themselves by now.”
“What have they infected themselves with, exactly?” she asked.
“A new strain of plague. It’s resistant to the antibiotics that have been successful in treating the plague up to this point. In lab rats, the mortality rate was a hundred percent, even with early treatment.”
Nadia listened in stunned silence.
“It takes six hours for the infection to penetrate the lungs,” he went on mechanically, apparently resigned to telling her everything now that the decision had been made. “At that point it becomes highly contagious, but there’s another eighteen hours or so before flu symptoms will develop. The cells injected themselves around three thirty this afternoon so they would still feel well enough to work at the bank meetings tomorrow morning.”
“How long do they have?” Nadia asked breathlessly.
“The flu symptoms last two to three days, and then they’ll start to feel better. But then, sometime before the fifth day, their lungs will seize and they’ll die.”
“My god!” exclaimed Nadia. “Do you have any idea how many people could become infected in that time?” His expression told her that he did, and she recoiled. If not stopped, this could indeed bring the West to its knees. There were politicians, business executives and bankers from all over the world attending those meetings. She looked at her watch. It was a quarter to eight, just over four hours since the cells injected themselves. “Is there an antidote?”
“No.”
“But, what if…,” she stopped herself, not wanting to follow the direction her mind was taking. If one of them was infected they would simply move to another body. She didn’t want to hear him say that everyone else—including her—was expendable. “I need the names of the infected cells,” she said
“Lilith?” he reminded her.
“Write down the names and we’ll trade,” she countered.
“Trade?” He paused, thoughtful. “You have the ring,” he concluded finally.
Nadia didn’t answer. She once again feared he might try and take it from her by force.
“You really have it?” he whispered, as if he couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it.
Nadia couldn’t find her voice. She nodded.
He reached in his pocket so quickly that Nadia flinched. He paused before pulling out a pen, clearly hurt by her reaction. “I would never harm you Nadia,” he said. “I would never even think of it.”
A wave of shame washed over Nadia, but she was confused by it. Her father had just ticked off his reasons for killing thousands of people as casually as if he were listing his favorite dishes in a restaurant. Was it so unthinkable that she should fear him? Yet she believed, deep down, that he wouldn’t harm her. Still, it wasn’t much of a comfort. Even Hitler had loved ones that he would no doubt protect.
Hitler! Why had she compared her father to him? Surely he was not as bad as that.
She watched, virtually anesthetized by grief, as her father scribbled the terrorists’ names on the very envelope that held that fateful letter from Helene. He wrote the names from memory and then held the envelope out to her.
Nadia reached up and unclasped the necklace that Fa’izah gave her. Then she handed it to her father in exchange for the envelope. He examined the necklace for a moment then looked at her, confused.
“Look more closely,” she told him. He did, and then he seemed to falter again, falling back slightly.
“I started to peel it back a little in order to identify the markings,” she said. “It seems like it should be easy enough to detach it the rest of the way if you’re careful.” She referred to a thin strip of metal that had been carefully woven in and around the locket and the connecting chain.
“It’s much smaller than I expected,” he remarked.
“I know. I don’t think it’s the original,” she said. “I suppose it could be…Butch could have hidden it there. But in grandmother’s stories, she talks about putting her fingers through the warm, metal shavings.” She could see by her father’s expression that he didn’t know about the stories—and it suddenly occurred to her that he was never around when her mother told them. Gisele must have known all along. Enta malaki. You are my angel. It would have been just like her to cherish the private joke. "My mother told me that Helene had access to the can of metal shavings before the ritual,” she explained. “She could have found this little strip of metal in there, pulled it out, copied the markings that Butch made on the original and then simply bent it around her finger.”
“Either ring would work!” exclaimed her father.
“That’s what I’m thinking,” said Nadia. “It would explain why Lilith answered Helene’s questions, but not Huxley’s. She said she was only compelled to answer those wearing the ring.” She wondered how her father would get Lilith out of the ring. He may have kept Butch’s notes. Or maybe he didn’t even need them.
Her father’s hand was trembling now as he carefully placed the tiny ring on his pinky. He looked at Nadia.
“I know how confused and hurt you must be,” he said. “I just want you to remember that I love you and I’m proud of you. No matter what, I’ll always love you.”
Nadia nodded, unable to speak.
When Edward spoke again, it was in the ancient language of the Nephilim. He recited the incantation with authority, not awkwardly stumbling over pronunciation, but easily and smoothly elucidating each syllable as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The whole thing took place in a matter of minutes, with less effort than it would take to perform a magic trick, and Nadia remembered Butch’s remark about how easy it was to call out a djinn that was already tied to a talisman. A kind of mist appeared and quickly took shape.
Although Helene had described Lilith in great detail, Nadia was still not prepared for the genuine article. The size of her was intimidating by itself—but when combined with the claws and teeth! Yet there was beauty there too, creating a most disturbing paradox that took Nadia’s breath away. Nothing that happened so far had prepared her for this. She stared up at Lilith in utter amazement.
Lilith didn’t seem surprised to see Nadia. She merely glanced at her and then turned with interest to Edward. Her eyes narrowed with uncertainty as she examined him.
With effort, Nadia tore her eyes from the incredible spectacle to look at her father who, even more incredibly, didn’t seem the least bit put out by Lilith’s appearance. On the contrary, he stared up at her with pleasure, as if this was exactly how he expected her to look.
“At last!” he whispered, and there were tears in his eyes.
Lilith just stared at him in horror, almost as if she was rejecting what she was seeing. She turned her attention back to Nadia and this time really looked at her. “Wait,” she said. “You’re not the same.”
She must have mistook Nadia for Helene! Nadia opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t seem to find her voice. In fact, she felt as if she was frozen to the spot. A peculiar wooziness was creeping over her.
“You recognize a young woman you met only briefly, yet forget the one who made you a warrior?” Nadia’s father asked softly.
Lilith whirled around, attempting to cover herself behind her thick curtain of hair as she peered out at Edward. Her eyes were wide with disbelief. “Who…!” she cried shrilly. “Who?”
“Ah,” he said gently, “I see now why they called you screech owl. No! Don’t cover yourself. I love you as you are!”
Lilith couldn’t seem to accept what she was hearing. “No!” she sobbed.
Nadia stood by, silent and forgotten. She felt like a statue that had been cemented to the spot. A kind of déjà vu came over her, reminding her of another time and place that was eerily similar to this. She was vaguely aware of music playing in the distance—on the beach perhaps—and had the nagging sense that she was forgetting something important.
“Where were you?” cried Edward, giving in to his emotions at last. “I looked everywhere for you!”
“The temple…,” she cried. “I couldn’t get any farther than the temple when it…hit. Everything was gone in an instant! But you survived!”
He’d been moving closer to her, slowly, with a kind of reverence. She towered over him, but he didn’t seem intimidated in the least. He reached out his hand to touch her. She raised hers to meet his touch but then drew back abruptly.
“My hands!” she cried, mortified.
He caught and caressed the claw lovingly. “You’re beautiful,” he said. He traced a line up her arm and shoulder and then along the side of her face, gently running his fingers over her jaw and lips and teeth. “Just as I knew you would be.” But he faltered, stumbling backwards. He was growing pale.
Nadia watched, still dimly aware that she was supposed to be doing something. The names on the list! She had to give them to Gordon!
“Asmodeous!” cried Lilith. “What is it? What’s happening?”
He turned to Nadia, confused. “Na…dia,” he said. “My…daughter.”
Lilith turned to Nadia. “This is your daugh…Asmodeous!” Lilith rushed to his side as he fell. “Help him!” she screamed to Nadia. But Nadia couldn’t move. She felt as if she was under a spell. And then she remembered. The music! She had to get out!
Edward was now looking at Nadia with an expression of incredulity. “What…is…that…mu…sic?” he asked, struggling over every syllable. His gaze moved to the open window, and he stared out of it as if he, too, was struggling to remember something important. He tried to get up but inevitably fell back down. He tried to crawl toward the door.
“Lili…!” he cried.
“What can I do?” Lilith pleaded, frantic. Her efforts to help him were having very little effect. Without a body, her soul—imposing as it was—appeared to have little power to help. She turned to Nadia, whose legs were slowly slipping out from under her as she, too, fell to the floor.
“What is happening?” cried Lilith again. The music seemed to be getting louder, or maybe it was just becoming more sinister—though it was a common enough song that was playing—and then suddenly Nadia remembered everything. She remembered the metal shavings Gordon brought with him to spread in a circle around the outside of her father’s house. She remembered the ring Gordon was wearing, which was cast from the same lot as the metal shavings. There was nothing ominous in the music; it was only a distraction, just like the Israelites’ horns back in Canaan, to cover the sound of Gordon’s chanting. Nadia was supposed to join him outside the house—outside the circle. But now she couldn’t move. She couldn’t do anything, it seemed, except cry. She felt the tears streaming down her face as she watched her father being destroyed.
“Ta…ta…ke…re,” her father was trying to tell Lilith something.
“Take you…where?” Lilith cried, trying again to help him up but failing miserably.
“Reee…,” he raised his hand to her, his features twisted in horror. Nadia knew. He was trying to tell Lilith to take the ring from his finger. Even in his final hour he was thinking of Lilith.
He turned to Nadia, as if to apply to her for help. “Na…deeeeee…aaaaaaaaaah!” What began as a plea became a deafening roar so full of anguish it shook the house with its intensity. Her composed, dignified father was suddenly a twisted, writhing mass in the middle of the floor. Nadia could actually see Asmodeous’ soul struggling to remain in Edward’s body, which was being stretched to all proportions and becoming terribly disfigured in the process. The sounds coming out of him were like those of a monster. Window’s shattered and walls cracked, as if they, too, were being ripped apart in the struggle.
Lilith seemed desperate for something to do. Her gaze rested on Nadia, and suddenly Nadia remembered another reason she had to get out.
But now all she could do was watch as Lilith approached with that strange gleam in her large, doe-like eyes. Her expression seemed especially sinister with all of her teeth exposed, and with another flash of déjà vu Nadia wondered if Lilith was about to eat her. But just like in her premonition on the plane, she quickly realized what Lilith really wanted.
Nadia could see that Lilith was hesitant and uncertain, acting on instinct alone without any first-hand experience to draw upon. Her lips moved perilously close to Nadia’s as if she intended to steal the breath from Nadia’s lungs. Meanwhile her beautiful eyes held Nadia’s in a hypnotic trance. Nadia wondered distractedly if it was really possible for Lilith to enter her body while Gordon was casting a spell to remove a djinn from another body, but then she remembered
that Lilith was not a free soul to be called out. She was bound to a ring. Only the one holding the ring could control her. As long as Asmodeous remained inside Edward’s body, he would be her only master. That was why he wanted Lilith to take the ring from him.
Even if Lilith managed to enter Nadia’s body, she would still be bound by the ring to do as Asmodeous—or whoever controlled Asmodeous—wished.
All these thoughts occurred to Nadia as Lilith loomed over her, simultaneously choking and crowding her, practically crushing her, it seemed. Nadia felt suffocated. She tried to assert herself but could not. She had no strength to fight. Gordon’s incantation had weakened her too much. Though her soul couldn’t be captured, it could become separated from her body. And that would mean death.
In the background, Nadia could hear that the fight to remove Asmodeous from Edward’s body was still going on. And she knew that Gordon would never let up. He couldn’t—not as long as he believed he still needed those names. If only Nadia had given him the envelope! Gordon had given her fifteen minutes. He’d made it clear that he couldn’t sacrifice all those people just to save her. Why had she stayed? Was it that, deep down, in the furthest reaches of her soul, she knew she belonged with her father? Had she inadvertently chosen a side?
Nadia could no longer say which side she was on. It was as if her very sense of self was being crushed. She suddenly wished for death, so at least her soul could ascend. She did not want to be buried alive in this body beneath the harrowing influence of Lilith.
Hurry! She cried inwardly to Gordon. Kill me then, but get me out of here!
“Nooooooo!”
Nadia heard the tortured cry in the background and knew that it was her father calling out on her behalf. “Nooooooo!” he cried again. In the midst of his own struggle to survive, he was still protecting the women he loved.
Lilith drew back in confusion. Having tasted life, she seemed reluctant to abandon the opportunity. Yet she could not defy Asmodeous—as long as he remained in Edward’s body.
But it no longer mattered. Nadia was suddenly watching the scene from overhead. She was aware of a bright light behind her, but she couldn’t seem to pull her gaze away from the sight of her father’s body being jerked in all directions and the image of Lilith, hovering menacingly over Nadia’s lifeless body.