Page 168 of Wrath

“So when A died during a mission when I was a little girl...” I swallowed, remembering the death of my adoptive father.

I’d mourned him for months.

“I could no longer hold the form,” Lilith confessed. “I had no choice but to ‘kill him off,’ so to speak.” She tentatively took a step closer to me. “But I was never far away. I was always,alwaysnearby.”

“You were Davia this entire time,” I breathed, and she nodded once.

“It was the only way I could think to help you. I couldn’t…” She squeezed her eyelids shut and took a shuddering breath. “I couldn’t kill Aaliyah. She was my daughter too. Maybe that makes me selfish—because hundreds of lives were lost in this war—but I couldn’t raise a hand to her.” Unbridled grief splayed across her face. “At the end of the day, it didn’t matter, I suppose. I still lost a daughter.”

I felt…disassociated. I could hear everything she was saying, but I could barely process it. I felt like a rag that had been twisted and wrung out, then flung to the side to dry out. It was a miracleI could stand upright when the entire world seemed to press down on my shoulders.

“And Peter… I mean, Gabriel?” I turned my attention towards the corpse on the ground.

Now that Gabriel no longer possessed him, I noticed the differences in appearance. Peter’s cheekbones were slightly lower than Gabriel’s. His hair was shorter as well, and his shoulders weren’t as broad. It was as if Gabriel’s possession had created minuscule changes in Peter’s appearance until he almost resembled the angel himself.

“Gabriel was furious that our…experiment didn’t work. You and Aaliyah were supposed to bring the two realms together, but Gabriel didn’t care about peace. Not really. He wanted a weapon that could change the tide of the war in favor of heaven.”

A feeling too nebulous to define arrowed through me. It almost felt like…rage.

“He said something about that,” I said, curling my hand into a fist. “He wanted someone who encompassed both light and dark traits.”

“Half angelic and half demonic,” Lilith agreed, her gaze dropping to my stomach. “Like the baby growing inside of you. You may be human in this life, but you still possess angelic attributes.”

“So it’s true?” Jax whispered, inching closer to me. “Z’s pregnant?”

“It is.” Lilith’s smile grew.

“Do you know who the father is?” Lupe asked, one of his hands settling on the small of my back.

Lilith shook her head. “I don’t, but does it matter? Would you love your child any less if you weren’t the biological father?”

“Of course not,” Lupe snapped, and the others agreed instantly.

“I can sense the raw power of this child,” Lilith confessed. “He or she will be capable of incredible things. Gabriel knew that as well, which is why he came here in the first place.”

“Gabriel… Is he gone for good?” I placed a protective hand over my belly once more.

“I can’t say for sure.” Lilith frowned. “I sent him back to heaven, but knowing him, he’ll try to return. Fortunately, angelic entities are no longer able to create portals to earth—they haven’t been able to since the war ended centuries ago. And no demon will dare go against me to help him.”

Lilith took another step closer and, ignoring the growls from my mates, cupped my cheek. Her hand felt abnormally cold against my skin. “No one should be able to bother you any longer. Now that I’m in charge, I plan to close the portals, at least for the time being.”

“Wait, wait, wait. I don’t understand.” My head was spinning—or maybe that was the world.

Lilith flashed me a sad smile. “This will be goodbye, my darling daughter. It’s time for me to return home. I did what I set out to do.” Her gaze traveled to my mates before returning to me. “All I wanted was for you to be safe and happy. And now that the war is over, you are. Your mates… They’re good for you. I made sure of that with my trials.”

“Wait, no. I don’t… I just…” For the first time in my life, I was speechless. All I knew was that I didn’t want her to go.

Or maybe I did. I didn’t fucking know, and she wasn’t giving me time to decide.

“I am so, so proud of you.” Her hand lowered back to her side. “I know you will do great things.” She took a step back, then another, then another, and stopped when she reached Aaliyah. Slowly, she lowered herself beside my sister and brushed back her red hair. “I truly do love you, Z. I love you both.”

Lilith shakily cupped Aaliyah’s face, and a single tear ran down the demoness’s cheek.

“Wait, Lilith. Wait. Just wait.” I held both hands in the air, palms facing forward, as if I could fend off her words. “You don’t have to leave. I mean?—”

“I don’t have a choice, darling.” Lilith’s smile shook. “I made a deal, and it’s time I uphold my end of it. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more, couldn’tbemore. But you don’t need me. You’ve never needed me.” She reverently stroked Aaliyah’s cheek. “Maybe in the future, I can try again with Aaliyah. Maybe she can be reborn and have a second chance, just like you did. Maybe the two of you could be sisters the way you should’ve been the first time around.”

My heart… It didn’t just crack. It shattered, hundreds and hundreds of pieces cutting me up.

---