BITE ME

Chapter 8- lilith

"Your mother knew about your abilities?" Xeon asked.

"Yes," Her lips twitched. "How about your brother?"

"He suspected much after I accidentally touched his horse, but I know he regarded it as a joke, and my father was way too busy in the company to even notice I even existed. But a few months ago, the drains in my brother’s little cabin backed up, and water was filling his basement. We freaked out when I saw the damage, and suddenly the water was pouring back down the drains and the basement was completely dry."

He touched her cheek with an oddly reverent motion. "You are a force not to be taken lightly, sweetheart."

"Me?" She asked. Xeon’s fragrance was so much more fantastic. Like a tang of sea air that has a way of making her satisfied and at peace; like it was anchoring her other emotions to the briny whiff that has all the callings of home. A fragrance that made her sense like she was safe and safeguarded. So this was what she smelt earlier.

"Yes."

"And something else too. Something else unknown, a hybrid of something else, human but not at all human."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Yes and nope!... Maybe, but I'm not sure just yet."

Her mouth went dry. "Why on earth is that? You are the f*****g prince of the underworld, the devil, and yet you don't have any idea of what I am? What the hell is that?"

The slender fingers slid down the line of her jaw, creating all sorts of unwelcome havoc.

"I’m afraid that I’m not the one to ask for explanations. I’ve only heard rumors of such creatures as yourself...Long before, in ancient times, your ancestors were amongst the first humans to have created with magic, powerful dark magic, the daughter of the first spirit demon, Lilith."

"Seriously? The first wife of Adam? Before Eve was created from his ribs?" Mathena asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, I'm surprised you knew about it."

"Not much,"

"Well, Lilith, the primordial she-demon. The first wife was created at the same time and from the same soil as Adam. She was said to have been "thrown out of the Garden of Eden" because she didn't follow and obey Adam."

"Oh really? Is that for real?"

"Well, yes, because my father, Lord Deveon, is her youngest son."

"Are you f*****g kidding me?" She grumbled.

He nodded. "Nope!"

"Seriously?"

"Yes, Lilith is my grandmother… The story goes like this: After God created Adam, he was alone. God then created a woman for Adam, from the same clay of the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith immediately began to fight. Lilith complained, "I will not lie below," and he said, "I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior one." Lilith responded, "We are equal to each other since we were both created from the earth." But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air.

Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: "Sovereign of the universe!" he said, "the woman you gave me has run away." At once, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent these three angels, Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof, to bring her back.

The God said to Adam, "If she agrees to come back, what is made is good. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day." The angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom they overtook amid the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return. The angels said, "We shall drown you in the sea."

"Leave me!' Lilith said. "I was created only to cause sickness to infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for eight days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days."

When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted she go back. But she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God: "Whenever I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no power over that infant." She also agreed to have one hundred of her children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons perish, and for the same reason, they write the angels' names on the amulets of young children. When Lilith sees their names, she remembers her oath and the child recovers. Then she met Samael, the demon from the abyss. The marriage of Samael and Lilith was not allowed to last. To prevent Lilith and Samael's demonic demon children from filling the world, God castrated Samael and Lilith and sent them back to the abyss for eternity, but their children roamed the earth and became humans with unique and powerful abilities."

"And you thought my ancestors were one of her children?" Mathena asked.

"Yes, I'm not sure, but I know for sure you are not an ordinary human."

"How did you know all of this?"

"Mathena, I have all the knowledge of the world. You can call me the walking Google, or shall I call it the walking encyclopedia?"

"Yeah right, a walking powerless smart ass." She beamed.

"You are below the line, woman," he snickered.

"I know." Mathena stepped back. Xeon might be the most arrogant, aggravating pain in the butt she had ever met, but his touch could still turn her mind to mush.

"I’m not a demon," She sent him a telling glance.

"No, you aren't one, because one command from me and you have been bowing your head, but clearly you are not doing that, so... you are not a demon. But one powerful hybrid of something else."

"At least not until I met you. I was so alone... Now it's just the two of us... the freaks among the flocks of normal."

"We are not freaks, Mathena. We are beyond mortal. The one thing I do know is that demons like me are not born like humans, we are created. But you are born, and you are bound to me. But I had nothing to do with your powers." He studied her skeptical expression before giving a shake of his head.

"So, I really bind you with me?"

"Yes," Xeon sighed. "No one must know... You can’t linger here in the open. There are many otherworldly creatures on earth, and the demon hunter was one of them."

"I am not a demon!"

"But you bond with a demon, a handsome, mighty prince, so technically you and I are one."

"Seriously?" She rolled her eyes.

"Yes."

She stubbornly stood her ground. It had been foolish of her to rush to her mother's party and wait for Xeon. She wasn’t about to make it worse by happily skipping off into the dark with a self-confessed powerless demon.

His bizarro non-existent abilities weren’t nearly dependable enough for that.

"What makes you think that someone might try to kill me if they found out about us?" she demanded.

"No one yet, because no one knew you existed and that I was here on earth…but…"

"But… aren't you missing in the underworld?"

Xeon shook his head. "That problem is already taken care of. So no worries about that. But the thing is, you need to be trained on how to handle your power. We can't risk you being found by some demon hunters."

"Train? Why?"

"Because you are powerful, Mathena, great power comes great responsibility."

"Did you just quote SpiderMan?" She beamed. Xeon was, after all, an ordinary freak like her.

"I'm serious, and know this, those demons who knew about your little visit to the underworld would be hunting you for sure. The council's spies here on earth were creatures not to be taken lightly."

"Do you truly believe that?" she asked.

"I don’t know." He rubbed her aching temples. How long had it been since he had slept? Or eat? He couldn’t even remember.

"Hell, I’ve gone way past my crazy threshold. This day couldn’t get any worse."

"Never tempt fate, little one," he warned softly. "It’s a lesson that I learned at my peril."

She snorted as her gaze skimmed over his dark, knee-buckling beauty. His golden features were just as elegant, just as exquisitely carved as they had been the night before. There wasn’t even a strand of gray in his thick black hair to mar his perfection.

"You don’t look as if you’ve suffered after coming here," she added.

Something dangerous flashed through his dark eyes. Dangerous enough to make her take a hasty step backward.

"You have no idea, sweet Mathena," he said coldly, upon looking at the exhausted human in her arms who just fainted in no time. "Foolish one." Using such mighty abilities drained her energy, he thought this woman needed someone to train her and teach her how to use her power correctly. He carried her with a race and laid her there in her soft bed.

Xeon noticed how creamy and glossy her skin was. Even in the little lampshade of her room, he could see her, like a shining beacon. The white pale complexion of her skin reminded him of whisked milk as the late afternoon light shone through the window and onto her. He couldn't help but wonder if he reached out would she notice? He must be crazy, yet he had it bad for this young mortal. Everything about her got to him. When he caught himself following her jawline with interest, that was a sign. He would admit to being momentarily thrown back to the pit of hell, but when he noticed the enticing vein under, the layer again. He hadn't realized that there was some pink in it. Of course, that only lasted until he noticed her neck again. He wanted to taste her, take her soul, drain her life, and taste her power.

Shaking his head, he stopped his thought.

He might as well sleep beside her. With a yawn, Xeon snuggled right into her warm, soft body and bid her a sweet dream.

And she smiled. Either her dreams made her smile, or she heard him.

Outside the mansion, the roaring wind was raw and unpleasant in an uproar against the sudden winter blasts, the clear skies were silent and a quantity of snow that had been blown in his way was piled up.