Her brow furrowed. “Lilith? Yes, she’s sewing. Come in. Let me show you Absalom’s bedroom. He was such a good boy.” She darted back inside, beckoning me forward.
I took a breath and tried to fit inside. Grateful no one in my sedge was around to see my clumsy, humiliating attempts, I finally made it through. I’d had to bend nearly double, and lost a few secondary feathers in the process—likely bruising the skin beneath—but I was in.
Lilith came down the stairs as I straightened. She paused on the bottom step, surprise written across her face. “Oh!”
“Lilith,” I said gravely, dipping my head.
“Um, Herald. What, uh, to what do I owe the honor?”
“He’s not here to see you,” her mother chided, a harsh edge beneath the words. “He’s here about Absalom.”
Lilith’s eyes flicked between her mother and me. My heart ached to see the way her eyes shuttered and her body tilted ever so slightly away from her mother—I could read a whole story in how Lilith was shielding herself and her mother didn’t even notice the distance. Based on how Lilith and Jo spoke, it sounded like their mother had always been like that.
I wasn’t sure how to extricate myself from this. Humans had once told me in poor taste to speak ill of the dead, but I had absolutely no interest in Absalom. He had fallen off a cliff while trying to kill Eve, Gabriel’s mate. I doubted anyone missed him except his own mother.
“I’m afraid I shan’t be able to view your son’s belongings,” I said as gently as I could. As much as I couldn’t stand this woman—for how she’d treated Jo, for how she currently treated Lilith—she was still Lilith’s mother. Family was complicated. “I am too large to fit in your home. And I’m afraid the stairs are far beyond my capabilities.” I flexed my wings as proof. “Perhaps soon you could bring me a few items that remind you most of him? We can view them in a larger space.”
“Yes, sir. Of course.” Mrs. Meadows bobbed her head. “Whatever pleases you and Lord Erlik.”
Lilith descended the last step, thread in one hand and clothing draped over her other arm. “Can I help you with something?”
My heart pounded now she was in the room. Now that I wanted to tell her. “Do you have a few moments to retrieve some old psalms for me? They’re tucked in a tight corner.”
She smiled before dipping her head to hide it. “Whatever pleases you and Lord Erlik,” she said in her flat, colorless voice. Only I heard the faint hint of laughter hidden in her tone, and it made me love her even more.
I imperiously turned and forced my way out the back door, refusing to consider how ridiculous I looked from behind.
Lilith followed, picking up fallen feathers from the threshold. She waited until she shut the door behind her to laugh into the bitterly cold air. “What on earth are you doing?”
All the anger and the apprehension drained out of me, leaving behind excitement and hope. “I want to tell you something.”
She straightened, her face going blank. “What do you need to say?”
Her dramatic change surprised me. “What? Oh, no! It’s not bad. I want to show you something, I suppose.”
She gave me a look, but stepped closer. “Where?”
I put my hands around her waist. “May I?”
Her bright blue eyes search mine. She nodded, and with a grin, I pushed upward and into the air, holding her against me.
Nineteen
Castiel
Lilith let out a muffled shriek, burying her face into my chest as her hands wrapped tightly around my neck.
I chuckled, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. “Cirra, you must be quiet or people will look up and see us.”
She growled, and it reminded me of a kitten puffing its tail and extending its claws. I smiled into the wind as we rose high enough her face would not be visible. I kept her body pressed so tightly against mine that people might not even realize there were two of us in the sky.
“Where are you taking me?” Her breath was hot against my chest, and my nipples beaded at the sensation.
I gritted my teeth. I craved her. Every second of every day, I craved her. I hoped it would never end.
My wings ate up the distance, circling high and far around the neighborhood, until I could approach the belltower from the back of the church where no houses lay. My sharp eyesight made sure no one was watching, and I swooped down as quickly as I could.
Lilith yelped, her nails digging into the nape of my neck.
