“Demetri,” I purr boldly. “You were my lover divine. Our souls were merry as we rode the chariots of God. You were the object of my affection, and I yours, until you thought better of yourself and decided—”
“That I would be like you,” he interrupts before I can finish.
“No,” I say. “That you couldbeme. You had it in your heart to unseat me, just as you have it in your heart to unseat the Sectors. You mirrored the fallen one’s self-exaltation, his manifest pride, and I was the target you desired to annihilate.”
“My love, whoever has filled your ears with such drivel, pay them no mind.” He offers a sideways glance to Sector Marshall, inspiring the Sector to balk.
“Demetri”—Sector Marshall snarls his name out—“you insult Your Grace by alluding to the fact she needs an interpreter to see through your parade of lies. Surely if you truly loved her, you would have enjoyed eternity as her subordinate.” A dry smile glides up his cheek. “As you will regardless. You let a dove of beauty fly from your arms because your heart was concerned with your own honor. Humility was far from your mind, and now you will pay an eternity for it. Though you stand before her, you can no longer have her. Though you crave her touch, you shall know it no more.”
“I shall know it,” Demetri hisses it out like a threat before his eyes narrow over mine. “And though you might deny it, Candace, you crave my touch equally. Your love for me is genuine—a living, breathing entity that you can no more extinguish than I can. It is not a thing of the past, nor is it so insignificant that you can replace me with another. I am the one whom your heart desires. The Eros love we share is unmatched, unequalled, and unachievable with another. You and I both know this. Come with me.” He slithers his arm through the crook of mine and walks us away from the rest of the Decision Council behind us, away from Sector Marshall, and toward the Falls of Virtue where this romance destined for doom began. “Let us revisit the dew of our affection. The way you looked at me through a curtain of rain.”
“A curtain of deceit.” I bubble with laughter at the thought. “You were handsome, strictly forbidden. Although, our kind doesn’t feed off Eros the way humans do. No, there is no propagation of our species spurring us on. We breathe the love of God Himself. For us to have entertained Eros was purely in vain. An error in the making, and now look what’s become of us.”
He pulls my hand to his lips and satiates himself with the feel of my being against his mouth, his cheek.
“Now, Candace, surely we both know love is not a mere feeling, a simple affection as mortals understand it. Love goes beyond the borders of the mind and heart. It is the life breath upon which our very beings exist. To find divinity in passion with you was beyond comprehendible. We both reveled in the glory.”
“We both drank the maddening wine of regret. Demetri, you flatter yourself by alluding to the fact you had the ability to quell me from finding Eros ever again, or believing in it. You don’t hold that kind of power, and you never will. It is to your shame you believe you are to be exalted as if you were me, as if you were the Almighty.”
A peal of thunder crackles through the air and all of Ahava shakes and shimmers. An instant rainbow appears in the expanse above as stars spray out from its tail. The Falls worship His majesty in song as the waters vibrate and dance. They sing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, worthy to be praised,” as all of Ahava shouts a spontaneous praise to the citadel of God which sits just beyond the crystal lake on the Mountain of Congregation.
“See what you’ve done?” I take a moment to glower at the beast before me.
Demetri’s cheeks flex. “My love, though I am loath to point it out, it was you who spoke and roused the thunder.”
“Yes, but sometimes the truths of others must be brought to light no matter how terrible they might be. Now tell me, Fem Demetri, will you always be so cunning? Is there room in the darkness that owns you for redemption?”
A hard laugh rocks through him. “My love, let’s not untangle the universe. Let us marvel at our humble beginnings when you picked me out of the shadows and brought me into your light. How you loved me so from the moment you laid eyes on me.”
“How I lovedeveryonethe moment I laid eyes on them.” I jostle his arm because he knows it’s true. “It was creation day for our kind. The Master in all His wisdom brought us forth at once. And what a time it was.”
“Splendor in the springtime of God.” Demetri gives a wistful shake of the head. “Breathed into existence by the living Word.”
“And blessed by His spirit,” I add. “It’s true, Eros struck me when my eyes feasted on you, but something quickened in my spirit and I knew—sadly, I knew you were not the one that would fulfill me. Don’t be hard on yourself. Eros affection will never fulfill me, Demetri. I’m a Caelestis. I’m charged to operate and manage the fates that God has given men. I have a task, an important one. That is the only reason I can conjecture why the Master has not created me to feed any Eros desires. I thought perhaps with you it could be done, but you looked to the right and to the left and saw that power abounded and you had none of it. You took those days we lounged on the enchanted lilies and turned them into rot and filth. You thought of submerging me under the living waters. You mulled over how to snuff my being out of existence. You had a mind to make me yours, to madden me with affection until I surrendered my post and my people to you. It was always about you, Demetri. Did you learn nothing from the fallen one?”
His eyes flash as he looks to the horizon, past the Falls of Virtue, to the cliff of eternity.
“Yes.” I nod in the same direction where at the moment angels are gathered as they watch their own travel to and fro from the planet the Master loves. “We saw the wicked one fall like lightning out of the heavenlies into disgrace. We watched as a third of the angels followed of their own volition. They chose pride and they damned themselves in the process.” I pull Demetri close and enwreathe my arms around his waist, demanding that he look into my eyes. “You chose yourself—your position over me.” My hands flatten over his chest as I push him away and laugh. “It was folly and even now you cannot see it. Your heart still merits your decisions as if there were no other.”
His expression hardens. It’s such a rarity I take a moment to treasure it.
“Now, Candace, you know that my affection lingers for you. It will never die. It is eternal. We are one. We are threaded together with the weaver’s bow. There is no you without me, no me without you. We were the most fevered brand of Eros that has existed or will ever exist. You cannot discard me like a filthy rag. You must look into your heart. I demand you do it. Find that part of you that longs for me and extract her. Free her from the iron cage you’ve placed around her. You cannot deny your affection lest you let it fester.”
A sharp laugh expels from me. “Oh dear, Demetri, though it is comical, you are a bit delusional. I crave the Sectors more than I do the Fems. But alas, I have let all desires of that sort fall dormant within me. You see, I have been charged with an enormous task—one that encompasses this new delineation of seasons called time. The perimeters of which is laid in stone. Only the Master has the power to make it move forward, make it move back. And as you know, the Earth will not last forever, nor will its inhabitants. I’ve many generations to tend to. And, alongside of the humans I’m to mind, I’ve been charged with those you yourself wrought into existence. How dare you suggest to the angels that they cavort with the daughters of men. Those warriors, those brute beasts—the humans—have regarded them as gods. They have turned from the worship of their true Father and looked to half-breeds to fulfill their spiritual desires. It is a mockery. And now I will be forced to fix this disaster.”
Sector Marshall appears before us, shining and resplendent, his every last inch regal and fierce.
“Come now, Your Grace.” He nods my way before glaring at Demetri. “You’ve entertained devils for far too long. Let’s head for refreshments and discuss my new role with the Nephilim.”
Demetri riots out a laugh, and it sounds like thunder.
“We’ve yet to crest the height of our affection,” he roars my way. “Candace, let us not get bogged down with the details of this new venture so quickly. First, allow me to remind you of the thirst we quenched in one another through the portals, our mouths. We kissed for an Earth’s millennium, we knew no seasons, and we paid no mind to those that laughed at the spectacle we had become. We bore no shame because we were pure. We knew no other way than to pour our affinity into one another. We melded our beings together at the shores of Rockaway, on that ebony sand we lay for hours.”
“That we did.” A stream of giddiness mingles within me. “You built a shelter from palm fronds and we watched as the heavenly hosts paraded out into their desired positions. Stars so close, our hands could touch them. We watched the universe stretch out like a scroll, navy velvet, soft as lambs wool.”
“Your Grace.” Demetri leans in, and I can feel the heat of his desire like a scorching wind licking up my side. “We wrote a love letter in the sand with our bodies, our beings colliding in ecstasy that was witnessed by the heavenly hosts. We were unashamed of our affection—unmoored, untethered, we had lost track of what lay outside the borders of us.”
My entire being burns with a fire of delight and my countenance glows an ethereal blue. But I cannot harness these emotions. Alas, they are not for me.
