The Falling Tower was the following card and Lilith wrinkled her nose at the sight of it. All of her preconceptions certainly had come tumbling down this morning - a bolt from the blue, just like the lightning bolt on the card, had struck right at the foundations of everything Lilith believed. The house of cards that was her conviction that she and Mitch belonged together had tumbled, not to mention that their entire relationship lay in ruins.
A more apt card to describe this day could not have been found in the deck.
The Star was next, a card of destiny fulfilled, of finding a guiding light, of hanging your hat on a moonbeam and sliding into happiness. Lilith couldn’t figure out what the heck that had to do with anything.
Was that what she was supposed to do with Sebastian? Was his return that ray of moonlight? Although Lilith might once have expected as much, Sebastian’s return to her life - and Mitch’s departure from it - had left her feeling less than enthused about the match. Eternal happiness seemed rather an unlikely prospect, given what she had already learned about Sebastian.
A thief and a womanizer. Maybe this was the lesson of her life - to learn how to love anyone, or how to discriminate between suitable loves.
Lilith half-wished she’d died and gone the cockroach route to atone for her sins instead.
Finally, the Moon was faced up. It was a portent of a crisis of faith, which was something Lilith could really relate to right now. The Moon was a card that hinted at the need to feel your way forward through the darkness, to find the true path with insufficient light.
Well, it was true that Lilith didn’t know what to do. She knew that you couldn’t fight destiny; she knew that the right choice was to cleave her path to Sebastian’s.
But she didn’t like him. Not at all. And she liked what he had done even less. She folded her arms across her chest, sat back and stared at the cards. Lilith’s intuition - solidly within the realm of the Moon, she realized suddenly - urged her to reconcile with Mitch.
But the very thought of defying destiny made Lilith dread the consequences. This wasn’t paltry stuff. She knew the Fates couldn’t be challenged, for if they were, they took a toll of their own invention.
The truth was that Lilith wouldn’t be afraid of paying any price herself. She was pretty sure the Fates would know that.
Which meant that Dame Fortune would take her toll for Lilith’s crime in the one place that would hurt Lilith the most. And Lilith knew where her vulnerability lay in all of this - it lay where she had entrusted her heart.
Lilith feared for Mitch.
The simple fact was that she loved him, regardless of what the cards or his eyes or even destiny had to say about it all. She didn’t want to see him hurt, or his fortune turn to the worst, or anything at all to happen to those darling children.
No doubt about it - as much as Lilith would have liked otherwise, indulging her own desire to be with Mitch couldn’t lead anywhere good.
Lilith was just going to have to get over it.
She couldn’t help it if that prospect was less than inviting.
* * *
It was very early the following morning when a faint sound awakened Lilith. She had fallen asleep on the sofa, both waiting for and dreading the return of Sebastian. Lilith was momentarily disoriented to find herself still in the living room. She just had enough time to wonder what had awakened her, before the answer landed square on top of her.
Sebastian!
He landed with deadly accuracy, his weight knocking the breath out of her as he pinned her to the sofa. Sebastian snatched at her wrists when Lilith started to fight him and kissed her hard. He stank of cigarette smoke, his touch was rough and unwelcome.
“Hey, baby, I’m home,” he rumbled in her ear, loosing a stench of beer. The faint undertone of Shalimar clung to him and Lilith had a very good idea how Sebastian had wiled away the hours he was away.
She fought him, but he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“Easy, baby, you know you want me.” Sebastian grabbed Lilith’s wrists and leaned his full weight on top of her. She was captured and cornered, and she didn’t like it one bit.
Lilith decided in that moment that she’d live out her life alone - however long it might prove to be - rather than put up with having this man underfoot.
Or overtop.
He landed a wet kiss on her, clamping his lips down hard when Lilith tried to turn away. Sebastian slipped his tongue between her teeth and a repulsed Lilith bit it hard. At the same moment, she drove her knee up into his crotch.
Sebastian yowled, Lilith shoved his weight off of her, knowing that she only succeeded in tumbling him to the floor because he was shocked.
Lilith bounced to her feet and wiped Sebastian’s saliva from her lips with disgust. She wanted to scrub every inch of herself to get rid of his filthy touch.
But first she had to get rid of him. Her wrists still hurt from Sebastian’s cruel grip on them and she knew she’d be bruised.
She’d be lucky to have no greater scars.
Sebastian rolled into a ball on the floor and howled, a response that might have been comical if Lilith hadn’t been so mad.
“My tongue! I think you took the end off it!” He glared at her. “It’s your loss, baby. This tongue is worth its weight in gold.”
Lilith spat at him and backed away. Sebastian’s eye flashed, he leapt to his feet and he lunged after her. He was bigger than her, he was stronger, he was drunk, and he was mad.
And he wanted one thing from her that Lilith didn’t want to give.
There was only one thing she could do to defend herself quickly. Before she could change her mind, Lilith called down a hex. Sebastian snatched at her as she started to chant, his handsome features contorted by a menacing snarl.
Lilith danced back, and she sang out the last line of the curse. She felt the power coil within her, she felt the heat of it seeking a direction. Sebastian swore and jumped as Lilith pointed her finger directly at him.
No sooner had the last word crossed her lips than Sebastian froze.
Lilith sank against the doorframe in relief, hearing her heart race. Her hands were shaking.
Just in time.
Sebastian was locked in the act of leaping after her. His hands were outstretched, his fingers distended, and Lilith knew that in another heartbeat, they would have been locked around her neck. His features were dark with fury, and his nostrils were even slightly flared.
And he wasn’t breathing. Lilith listened carefully just to make sure. He wasn’t dead. He was just …stopped. He wasn’t hurt or even uncomfortable.
Sebastian was simply stuck in one second of his life.
Lilith liked him much better this way.
She exhaled shakily once she knew for sure that her spell had worked. Although he was hardly the most tasteful sculpture she’d ever seen, in this state, Sebastian was no threat to her.
At least for the moment.
But Lilith still didn’t know what she was going to do. The hex would last for maybe a day. She couldn’t put this spell on Sebastian indefinitely and she knew he wasn’t going to be a good sport about this incident when he was back to his usual self.
She didn’t even want to look at him.
Lilith hated casting hexes. They were unpredictable, and could easily defy her mandate of harming none. She didn’t think she had had a choice, though. It had been her own safety or the hex.
Happens. She heard Sebastian’s dismissal of the widow’s fate in her thoughts and shivered.
No. She hadn’t had a choice.
Lilith tried to think of what repercussions could come from her casting a hex. Although technically, she hadn’t harmed Sebastian, he was mightily inconvenienced. The Rule of Three did say that all a witch cast out into the world would come back upon her threefold.
It was a fairly serious motivational tool. Lilith had a habit of doing only good – her first curse, even for the sake of saving herself, left her very uncertain of the
ultimate result.
Would she be trapped similarly for three hours, in exchange for every hour Sebastian spent this way? Or would the Fates toy with her another way? Would they twist the hex into something else entirely?
Before Lilith could think any further, the doorbell rang.
* * *
19
The Sun
Mitch had had enough.
A day and a night hadn’t improved his mood over Lilith taking on this Sebastian guy and he figured he’d already given her plenty of time to think things over. There was no way he was going to get anything done at work today with this hanging over his head. Mitch bit the bullet, shoved his pride into cold storage, left the kids sleeping and took a chance.
To hell with how early it was. He went and rang Lilith’s bell.
She answered really quickly, the shadows underneath her eyes encouraging Mitch that he hadn’t been the only one to miss a night’s sleep over this. Relief washed over her features when she found him on her doorstep. Mitch’s heart skipped a beat at this sign that he had done the right thing.
“Lilith, we have to talk,” was all he managed to say before Lilith grabbed his hand and hauled him into her foyer. It put Mitch in mind of their first meeting, an encounter he wouldn’t mind replaying if it could all end more happily.
But Lilith clearly had other things in mind today.
“Look!” she urged and pointed him toward her living room.
Mitch peeked into the room, and jumped in shock to find himself about to be attacked.
Then, he realized that Sebastian wasn’t moving.
In fact, Sebastian didn’t look like he could move.
It was as though he was frozen. Curious despite himself, Mitch wandered into the living room and circled Sebastian. He even touched the man’s clawing hand and found the skin still warm.
The hair rose on the back of Mitch’s neck. Sebastian didn’t even blink, but Mitch had the distinct sense that his rival was in there.
And bloody mad about the whole thing.
Mitch stepped back and glanced at Lilith, suddenly having a very clear idea how Sebastian had gotten this way. It seemed that Mitch’s ideas about spells were doomed to follow the same path as his certainty about magic.
He cleared his throat, and decided that wasn’t so bad.
It was only then that he noticed how Lilith hung back in the foyer, her hesitation decidedly uncharacteristic.
Mitch frowned. “What exactly happened here?”
Lilith bit her lip, her gaze flicking to Sebastian with uncharacteristic nervousness. “He jumped me,” she confessed quietly.
What? Mitch saw suddenly that there were bruises already forming around Lilith’s wrists. He stepped closer and took Lilith’s hand, examining at the marks with a frown. An anger rose within him, a fury that any man could treat any woman with such disrespect, that this man had abused this woman this way.
“He was gone all night, he must have been drinking.” Lilith’s words fell hastily. “I fell asleep on the sofa and he seemed to think I wanted something he had.”
Mitch met her gaze. “Did he hurt you?”
Lilith’s tears welled, then she shook her head and blinked them away. “He frightened me,” she admitted, then glanced at the motionless Sebastian as though she didn’t trust him to stay put. Lilith took a deep breath. “I’ve never cursed anyone before.”
Mitch took a long look at Sebastian’s pose, at the fury in his expression, and slipped one arm around Lilith’s shoulders. “You didn’t have a choice,” he said softly, pleased when she turned into his embrace.
Mitch held Lilith closer when he felt her trembling, his gaze running over her would-be attacker. He would not think about what this excuse for a man had wanted to do to her.
“I wish every woman could cast a spell like this one.”
Lilith looked up at him questioningly. “I thought you didn’t believe in spells.”
Mitch smiled crookedly. “So, you’ve convinced me.”
But Lilith didn’t smile. She eyed Sebastian from the haven of Mitch’s embrace and frowned. “It won’t last a day.”
“Then, what are we going to do before that day is up?” Mitch asked.
Lilith blinked. “We?”
“Yes, we.” Mitch was resolute. “Lilith, I meant everything I said yesterday. I love you and I think you love me. We make a hell of a team and I’m not prepared to let it all go just because this jerk showed up.”
Lilith frowned and avoided his gaze, her move feeding Mitch’s certainty that she was less certain of her path than she would have liked to be. He bent his will on persuading her to his side. “You can’t spend your life with this guy, and you can’t keep hexing him like this.”
“No,” Lilith admitted.
“Lilith,” Mitch said softly, tipping her chin with a fingertip so that she met his gaze. Her eyes were wide and dark, wondrous eyes that Mitch could willingly gaze into for the rest of his days. “I love you,” he insisted, “and I don’t intend to stop.”
Her smile was fleeting, her frown returning when she glanced again at Sebastian. “But he’s my destined lover.”
There was less certainty in her tone than there had been originally and Mitch dared to be encouraged.
But he’d have to argue on her terms.
“Says who? You’re the one who saw all sorts of meaning in my buying the house next to you. Don’t you think that events - not to mention a dog and a cat - have conspired to throw you and I together? Who’s to say that’s not destiny?”
Lilith nibbled her bottom lip. “But, Mitch, it doesn’t count. My destiny was sealed before I met you. We can’t defy destiny.”
“Why not?”
“Because we can’t.” Lilith’s lips set stubbornly.
Mitch gripped her shoulders, sensing that the tide had turned against him again. “Why the hell not? We just do it, we just get rid of this loser - we’ll FedEx him to Kashmir, if we have to - then we’ll live happily ever after. It’s not that complicated!”
But Lilith shook her head. “No, it doesn’t work like that.” Something flickered in the depths of her gaze when she looked up at him and Mitch thought it might be fear. He caught at her chin, but Lilith danced out of his grip, refusing to look into his eyes.
“What are you afraid of?” Mitch demanded. “What can go wrong? What do you know that you aren’t telling me?”
Lilith’s lips tightened, then she folded her arms across her chest, and she looked hard at Mitch. “Why do I get the impression that you’re not going to leave without an answer?”
Mitch grinned. “Because I’m not.” He sobered, his gaze locking with hers. “There are things,” he said softly, “that are worth fighting for, and this is one of them.”
Lilith held his gaze for what might have been an eternity and Mitch could almost hear the wheels turning in her mind.
Then the defiance melted out of the set of her shoulders. “Challenging destiny comes with a price,” she said softly.
“What kind of price?”
“I don’t know.” Lilith licked her lips as though choosing her words carefully. “I’m not afraid of paying any toll the Fates charge. I’m afraid that they’ll hold me responsible, if you and I decided to challenge their edict, because I should have known better. I’m afraid that they’ll bring misfortune down upon you to teach me a lesson.”
Lilith was refusing Mitch to ensure his own future. He was humbled by her concern – even though he was certain it was misguided. He stepped back to her side.
“But Lilith,” he argued with quiet conviction, “if we’re together, we can face anything the Fates toss our way. I don’t want to be lucky if it means being without you.”
Tears welled in her eyes as Mitch continued. “Be with me, Lilith, and we’ll surmount any obstacle before us.”
“I love you,” Lilith confessed. “I love you in a way I never imagined I could love anyone. I was wrong about Sebastian. I saw what I wanted to see in him ins
tead of what was really there.”
Mitch smiled. “Been there, done that,” he acknowledged. “It’s not fatal. Besides, I’m starting to think that the only people who never make mistakes are people who never take chances.” Mitch offered Lilith his hand and his voice dropped to an urgent whisper. “Let’s take an chance on happiness, Lilith.”
And Lilith smiled fully, for the first time since Sebastian had arrived. Her eyes glowed as she took Mitch’s hand. “There’s no gamble between us,” she declared, “just in what the Fates cast our way.”
“Absolutely,” Mitch agreed as he pulled her into his embrace. “Now, do I get a kiss to celebrate this happy ending?”
Lilith just had time to slide her arms around Mitch’s neck before there was a thunderclap loud enough to pop an eardrum.
It seemed to come from the living room.
They both jumped at the sound and turned as one. Mitch had no doubt that he wasn’t the only one suspecting that Sebastian had broken free.
But Sebastian remained exactly as he had been.
It was the assembled multitude behind him that made Mitch’s eyes widen. Clearly the room had been magically enhanced to hold this entire auditorium of guests. More than one steely gaze returned Mitch’s glance and he had a very definite sense that the mood of the crowd was that of disapproval.
Their happy ending suddenly seemed far from assured.
“The Grand Consulting Council of Immortals,” Lilith whispered in wonder.
Mitch looked to her in mingled confusion and alarm. “What?”
Lilith met his gaze, her own expression troubled. ‘Sort of a supreme court for destiny,” she said ruefully. “It looks as though we’ve already attracted attention.”
* * *
20
Judgment
The Grand Council chambers hadn’t changed much in the past few centuries. It was still a circular and massive auditorium, with tiers of seating for its membership.
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