Page 29 of Witch's Rebirth
"Fuck, Raum. Fuck." He turned from me and raked his fingers through his hair, tugging at his scalp like a madman again. "How the fuck can she be gone just like that? She can't..."
It was a sight to behold, watching one of the most powerful fallen angels come apart with grief and despair. All of us must have felt too close to human in that moment, too vulnerable and shaken. As immortals, we were supposed to bigger than this. But nothing made you realize your humanity more than losing someone you loved.
“I don’t know, man.” My voice cracked, unable to hold my own emotion back any longer. “I don’t fucking know.”
13
DEJA
It felt like forever before I realized I was conscious. Not only that, but I had a body.
My lungs took in air. My fingers wiggled and I felt the touch of a warm, stone floor beneath me. I opened my eyes and blinked a few times, trying to focus on the world that surrounded me.
The sky was dark but the room I was in was bright and well-lit. I slowly sat up and cautiously looked around. I was in a cave, or at least some kind of room that was massive and cavernous. The textured stone walls seemed to disappear as they stretched upward forever. It was impossible to tell if there was a ceiling or sky at all.
The light in the room seemed to have no source. It justwas.And I realized this place was vaguely familiar.
"My dear Lilith. You are awake and well, I hope."
A deep and velvety masculine voice cut through the silence. I turned to see a handsome man who looked to be in his forties approach me. He had golden eyes like mine and dark hair with a small pointed beard to match. If the small pointed horns on his forehead didn't give it away, the raw feral power exuding from him did. It was heavy and smothering and yet at the same time, bright and uplifting.
"Lucifer," I said cautiously. "Where am I?"
"In Hell, my dear." He smiled in a way that was kind, almost fatherly. "I know you have obligations on the surface but damn, it's always lovely to see you down here. You are sorely missed."
"How am I alive?" I climbed slowly to my feet, watching my own body as if it would disappear at any moment. "Or am I? Diana hit me with an angel's kiss bonded to my mother's blood."
“You are most certainly alive, my dear.” Lucifer's smile fell into a scowl. "I hate that wretched angel magic. The last time an angel tried to kill you, I kept a small piece of your soul with me here to use as an anchor. I made it pull you to Hell the instant your soul began to separate from your body again. It seems your mortal grandmother has gone just as mad as Beelzebub.”
"Fuck." I closed my eyes and brought a hand to my chest, marveling at the fact that I could still feel my heartbeat at all. My eyes snapped open, alerted by the other name Lucifer said. "What's going on with Beelzebub?"
"He's been cast to the lower circles." Lucifer sounded a bit sad. "The hell of eternal suffering that humans know about."
"Good," I snapped. "He deserves nothing less."
His eyebrows raised as if amused. "You have strong feelings about his punishment." He said it as a statement, not a question.
"Yes." I met his eyes, fighting every instinct to lower my gaze in submission. Lucifer had the power to kill me with a blink of his eyes but I wanted him to know that I stood with Beelzebub's victim. "Seth had no voice, no control, no one to stand up for him when your brother used him as a puppet."
Lucifer chuckled. "I see why you spend so much time on the surface, dear Lilith. You're needed up there. You stand up for those who cannot on their own."
My gaze dropped to the floor as if physically feeling the weight of Lucifer's magic on my body. I couldn't even perceive an aura around him. His wholebeingjust exuded a force of immeasurable power.
"It doesn't feel that way lately," I admitted. "I'm just trying to kill an evil witch and raise my kids with the men I love." My head snapped up, a sudden burning question on my tongue. "Will my grandmother go to hell? The one that Beelzebub is in?"
"Oh yes," he smiled, answering as simply as if I asked for directions. "For her crimes, her soul is already slated for eternal suffering."
For some reason, that answer didn't satisfy me like I hoped. Eternity, what a concept. I lived for thousands of years and not even I could perceive eternity. My whole existence was a fraction of a second in the scope of eternity. And to suffer for that long, with no end ever in sight. Even for Diana or Beelzebub, I couldn't bring myself to feel joy for their suffering.
"What about my mother?" The words tumbled out of me with no thought. "Is her soul here?"
Lucifer's smile dropped but he observed me kindly. He extended a hand. "Will you take a walk with me, Lilith?"
I placed my hand in his, warm and humanlike, and followed his lead. "If I'm still in my current lifetime, I would prefer to be called Deja if you don't mind."
"Deja, then." He smiled warmly and directed my hand to his elbow as we walked. His bicep felt muscular underneath his suit. "No, your mother isn't here, my dear."
The cavern was empty of people as we walked, but I felt energy and power from everywhere. I realized it was shadow magic, the dark hidden side of everything from the surface. It reminded me of my men, of being wrapped up in their protective embrace. But knowing I wouldn't meet my mother's soul here made me sad. She definitely wasn't among the angels.
