Holy Sheoly Read online

  “It might be hard to convince one of the supernatural community to pair with a man that hunts our kind.”

  “Ah, I get what you’re saying. It’s like a hardcore vegan dating a butcher.”

  “I do believe that perfectly exemplifies my meaning.”

  I shook my head as I smiled in amusement. “I get ya. But I kinda figured that a supe would be a better fit for my boy Magni. Considering, you know, most humans don’t believe in supes. Might make for awkward conversations about employment and whatnot.”

  “And it will avoid beginning a relationship with a substantial lie.”

  “Oh, damn. Didn’t even think about that,” I said, looking at the ground and nodding my head. “Magni doesn’t strike me as someone who’s a good liar, and it would probably eat at him.”

  “I see your reasoning in suggesting one from the supernatural community,” Taylor agreed. “I suppose it would also do Faerie good to have an outsider with which to diversify future generations, seeing how few of us are left.”

  “Whoa, there, kemosabe,” I burst out with my palms up. “I’m just trying to get the kid a date, not pimp out his, um, man yogurt. Yuck,” I finished with a shudder.

  “Though I have never heard the phrase man yogurt, I think I see your trepidations. However, I am merely trying to agree with your idea of pairing Magni with one from my court.”

  “Oh. Then...good,” I said, relieved. A part of me wondered why I was so concerned over such a trivial aspect of dating. Was this what parenthood was like? If so, it was annoying and I didn’t like it.

  He seemed to think for a moment before adding, “I actually know someone who might be a perfect fit.”

  “Sa-weet!” I exclaimed, shaking my fists victoriously. Wingman of the Year award, here I come.

  “I actually recall hearing her chatter on about the hunter who survived an attack as a child only to grow up and forgive the aggressor after defeating him in battle. That shows true wisdom, and is admired among my people.”

  “I...huh?” I stammered, letting my hands plummet to my sides. “First of all,” I began, lifting an index finger while my eyes drifted upward. Then I dropped my hand again and returned my gaze to Taylor. “Nope. Shit. He did basically kick my booty and had me dead to rights. I mean, Ludvig did help, but the decision to not pop my head like a watermelon at a Gallagher show was all his.”

  Taylor snickered at the reference.

  “You caught that one, huh? Thought I might be dating myself with the whole Gallagher ref. Kids these days, know what I mean?”

  “I am almost as old as humanity, my friend. Dating oneself with a reference from the eighties isn’t applicable to our situation. Wouldn’t you say so?”

  “Ooooh! I’m gonna have to dig into my old floppy disks of jokes then! I think only you might catch them.”

  “Perhaps another time,” Taylor smiled.

  Another thought came to me now that the matter of Magni’s love life had been settled. My excitement was replaced with ravenous worry.

  “What about Depweg?” I asked softly, grabbing at the back of my neck as I shifted on my feet. “I’m really worried about him, man.”

  “Depweg will receive the finest care while in the Seelie Court, much the same way you did.”

  I thought back on my six months in Faerie and how purifying they had been, not only for my body but my mind as well. There was something about running through woods flush with beautiful life that was...freeing. No stress. No worry. You didn’t have to watch over your shoulder in preparation for something coming out of the shadows to attack. That was always my luck. Whenever I was alone in Midworld, there always seemed to be something that tried to get me. Not in Faerie, though.

  “I appreciate you, Taylor. Depweg has been through a lot and needs the rest.”

  A question came to mind and I asked, “Is...is there anyone he can, um, talk to?”

  “There are those of us who have been in existence since shortly after man first walked the Earth. We have accumulated knowledge and wisdom enough that not even the collective of mankind’s libraries could contain what we know; including advanced and theoretical psychology.”

  “Soooo...?” I asked, drawing a circle with one of my hands.

  “Yes, John. There are those of us who will be able to help him grieve his losses and overcome the rampant beast within.”

  “Sa-weet!” I exclaimed, holding my hand up for a high five. Taylor did not partake. Instead, I arced my other arm through the air to deliver a crisp self–high five.

  A thought cut through the queue in my head.

  “Hey, why didn’t anyone talk to, um, me?” I asked, not liking how vulnerable I felt by asking such a simple question.

  “You didn’t require it.”

  “What makes you say that?” I inquired, genuinely curious.

  “Your process first involved sleep, which you heartily partook in for two weeks. Next was silent introspection followed closely by the strengthening and acceptance of your delicate relationship with Queen Lilith. During that time, you also improved your body and mind by training with my people. It was all a process that—while not being unique—was fundamentally different to that of another in the same situation.”

  “You mean Depweg.”

  “I have yet to make that distinction, but from what you have told me, it would be safe to assume his process differs from your own. That, and you had Lily to help ease your pain. Forgiveness, in and of itself, can be cathartic in nature.”

  “Forgiving Lily and accepting her helped me heal?”

  “I would have thought that obvious.”

  “Well, I mean...when you say it out loud, it makes sense. I just...I just never thought about it, I guess.”

  “Depweg will not have the same comfort, seeing as how there aren’t many of his ilk left in the world.”

  That caught me off guard. Though it was in line with the dwindling numbers of supes across the world, it just didn’t make sense that weres would have gone through portals to Faerie. They would never leave their homes.

  “What?! What do you mean? I figured there would be, like, hundreds if not thousands across the world.”

  “An unseen force has been removing them from the board.”

  “Who? More hunters like Ludvig?” I asked, crossing my arms and scowling.

  “I was specific in my choosing of the word unseen. We do not know what has taken them.”

  “Taken, or killed?”

  “As we have yet been unable to discover the remains of even a single were on Midworld, we are assuming they have been taken. It is also a possibility that the bodies have been thoroughly disposed of. To complicate matters, there simply aren’t enough of us left to scour Midworld in search of potential allies against the end.”

  “If...if they are being taken, what would be the reason?” I asked, already fearing the answer that was filling my mind like an invisible toxic gas.

  “The most probable theory that I have explored would be for replication.”

  “Replication? Why would someone kidnap all the werewolves in an attempt to make more? I thought it was a simple process that involved transferring the virus through their spit or something, like when they bite someone.”

  My mind played back to watching the twins in that beach as a dried and detached jawbone pierced their flesh, spreading the virus. Apparently, there only needed to be the smallest residue of DNA remaining for its successful transmission. It made sense that the virus that helped keep weres alive in dire circumstances would be able to lie dormant for untold years.

  “What I fear is that the forces of the Dark One will be enhanced with the virus of Gaia, making the fallen army stronger, as well as tying them inexorably to Midworld.”

  “Oh...shit...” I drawled, painting the picture in my mind. “Not only would Satan be taking out Earth’s resistance with the removal of werewolves that would surely defend their territory, but he would be making certain his demons could roam freely on our plane withou
t having to worry about holy attacks, like exorcisms.”

  “That is my fear, yes,” Taylor said, crossing his own arms and nodding with his eyes closed.

  Something else came to me then, and I narrowed my eyes at the king of the Seelie Court.

  “Taylor...you helping Depweg is more than a favor, isn’t it?”

  “If you are referring to the fact that Depweg—especially in his current state of mind—would be considerably safer in Faerie than in close proximity with you, then yes. But, please, do not mistake my generosity as anything other than doing what’s best for people I hold dear. It just so happens that Depweg being in my domain will serve to protect an invaluable ally from the Dark One.”

  I decided to let it go, sensing that if I continued down my current path, I might greatly offend someone I called a friend. So I shrugged my surrender to his point.

  Without thinking, I pulled something from my pocket. My eyes drifted down to my open hand to reveal the purple vial of enchanted liquid that Taylor had said could take me to the in-between.

  A part of me—a large part, actually—had wanted to go see Lily in person. Retrieving her blood to act as a catalyst in my efforts to get to Sheol had only been an excuse to see the woman I loved. The woman who was not a woman.

  “Taylor,” I asked, pocketing the vial again and forcing my heavy gaze to meet my friend’s. “Can you tell me about Lily when she was, um, Lilith? I mean, I know the story, but I’d like to hear it from someone better informed.”

  I didn’t want to hear the story, as I was afraid that it would further push a wedge between the woman I loved and my scarred heart. But I had to know. I couldn’t help myself, even if it meant learning some harsh truths that might frighten me.

  Taylor took the few steps to my false throne and sat upon it as his eyes drifted upward in preparation for the story.

  Queen Lilith was Adam’s first wife, kicked from the Garden of Eden for not being subservient enough to her husband.

  Knowing Lily—because that’s how I knew her and would continue to refer to her as such, except for when she was the literal Lilith—that story was beyond believable. It made me chuckle to picture the opinionated Lily standing in front of Adam and, like, telling him he didn’t need such a large leaf to cover his junk. Heh. Oh, Lily.

  Removed from Eden as Adam was given a new, much more obedient wife, Eve, Lilith stumbled through the plane known as Earth, alone. That is, until she looked up to the sky and saw countless falling angels burning through the air as they had their long fall.

  Lightning cracked the sky as the world was bathed in the light of the fire the countless fallen angels were giving off. From the corner of her vision, she saw the glint of something metallic tumbling to the surface before the sky became as bright as the sun.

  Lilith had to shield her eyes, but kept watching in horrid fascination between splayed fingers. One particular flaming object snatched her attention, making her mouth drop open in pure awe.

  A dragon, seeming to fill the entire sky and shaped like a long snake, coalesced from the flames. Lilith audibly gasped in pure fascination, and it locked eyes with her, turning its massive head and orienting on the woman who stood naked on the planet, alone.

  Lilith did not scream or even take a step back as the snakelike dragon flew toward her, blotting out the sky with its girth. Her curious eyes took in the events as they unfolded.

  Just as the flaming monster was about to slam into the woman who stood unafraid, flames of green, orange, and red shot out in a pillar, smashing into the ground a short distance away. The dragon’s entire length disappeared into the pyre, its tail flicking once before vanishing into the flames.

  Lilith had to shield her eyes again at the blinding light, intense heat, and near deafening roar of the flames, before it receded to a mere hissing where the ground had been seared.

  Removing her hand from her face, Lilith saw the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. It took her breath away, made her nipples stand on end, and her heart pump excitedly.

  A lean, muscular man stood stark naked on the charred, smoking earth where the intense flames had struck. There was no dragon any longer, just the beautiful man with hair that glowed like wheat set ablaze and eyes the same golden color.

  They locked gazes and felt an immediate, undeniable connection that tugged at one another like the gravitational pull of the Earth and the Moon.

  The pair spent years together on Earth until Samael noticed that Lilith was growing older. He knew she would die one day while he would live forever. If only there was a way to share his immortality with the one he loved the most.

  An idea came to him, and he cut open his forearm near the wrist. The red blood of life welled, and Samael asked the woman he loved to drink from his eternal body. Lilith, though hesitant at first, decided to trust her lover and closed her lips around the wound.

  She sucked intensely while trying to separate the cut with her tongue, feeling the raw power slide down her throat and heat her belly. The warmth spread down her limbs until her entire body felt like a glowing ember.

  That’s when the pain started.

  Lily yanked herself free of the arm, feeling her heart begin to dangerously pound in her chest while the agonizing feeling of burning danced up every nerve in her body.

  Samael watched in fascination as Lilith bucked and screamed on the ground, contorting and flexing at seemingly random intervals. He was vaguely aware that the wound on his arm had healed, but that some small part of him was missing, transferred into this human.

  Lilith’s eyes flashed crimson as two of her teeth lengthened into sharp points.

  Then she went still.

  Samael felt dread rise in his core as he realized that his beloved was no longer breathing, nor was her heart beating.

  “Lilith!” he cried out, dropping to his knees to scoop her beautiful head up and place it in his lap. He stroked her hair, which had been black at the time, while kissing her forehead.

  “Mo...more,” Lilith croaked as eyes now the purple of sunset stared into Samael’s golden orbs.

  Samael smiled, knowing his plan had worked and that his beloved would live on throughout eternity by his side. But she needed more life energy.

  Samael formulated a plan and snuck into the Garden of Eden disguised as a much smaller serpent than he had been when Lilith had first laid eyes on him.

  His Father had outdone himself when straying from creating another Lilith, instead going the complete polar opposite with Eve.

  Eve was obedient, indeed, and easily influenced by design. It didn’t take much to convince the woman to take a bite from the forbidden fruit.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know the difference between good and evil?” he hissed. “What if something evil tries to trick you? What if it hurts Adam? You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

  And thus, humans were cast out of the Garden of Eden to forever roam the Earth.

  Once the cattle had been freed, Samael taught Lilith how to survive on their ample energy, providing her with life eternal.

  The Archangel Michael was understandably enraged at Samael, not even realizing that he alone had escaped the Long Fall, and cast him in with his fallen brothers.

  On behalf of his Father, the Archangel Michael had created Hell as a place for the Fallen to reside away from the purity of Heaven, but after the humans betrayed the will of God, Michael decreed that his rebellious brothers would spend an eternity ruling over the domain of the damned souls of man, punishment for both the Fallen and any mortal who dared turn their back on the one true God.

  Michael thought he was stronger than Samael and was content with the knowledge that his brother would forever be in Hell and away from the defiant Lilith as an added chastisement.

  But Michael was wrong. Samael was stronger than he had let his brother know, and was free to walk between the planes at will. Once this fact was discovered, the vengeful archangel went one step further and put a veil on Lilith so that Samael would n
ever find her on Earth.

  Lilith’s heart ached without her beloved, and she spent centuries gaining strength and solving the problem unjustly put upon her. The answer became clear once the in-between was discovered.

  Powered by the blood of God’s once-favorite son flowing through her veins, Lilith created the Faerie plane parallel to Earth’s, where she could rule as she saw fit, free from Michael’s veil while in her bailiwick and able to be with the one she loved.

  But Samael never returned, shattering Lilith’s heart and leaving her in darkness.

  “That sucks,” I said, unable to eloquently describe the situation. “Lily, ah, never told me...any of that.”

  “Can you blame her? She felt betrayed by Heaven above and Hell below.”

  “Ah, I think I see. That’s around the time she...how do I put this diplomatically...?” I started, having trouble finding the words.

  “Gave life to the citizens of Faerie?”

  “Damn! That’s a great way of wording it! You’ve always been way gooder with words than I is.”

  “Quite,” Taylor said around a half smile. “Well, I must be off. I will prepare for Jonathan Depweg’s stay.”

  The king of Faerie extended his hand, but I moved in for a hug.

  “Sorry. I’m a hugger,” I whispered in his ear.

  “So I’ve noticed,” Taylor remarked, but there was a pleasant tone to his words.

  We broke the embrace and Taylor moved to touch the portal to Faerie. Before stepping through, he turned to me.

  “You have a noble quest ahead of you, and I wish you all the best while in search of those you love.”

  Then he stepped through, leaving me alone with his words. The shimmering portal went still as Taylor shut it off from the opposite side.

  “Those I love,” I mouthed as I looked down and grabbed my bottommost coat button. My thumb grazed over the image of the twins when I first met them in Val’s bar. I felt my heart grow cold as unease settled into my guts. They were dead because of me, and suffering unspeakable torments, with Dawson having it the worst.

  I’m scared, I heard them say in unison. A tendril of sorrow wrapped around my throat and began choking me as I continued to stare at the impossible detail of the wooden button.