“What is this?” I asked, feeling my eyes widen as we approached the slowly shifting light.
“This is what we callthe catalog,”he explained, waving a ringed hand over the light. Suddenly, a holographic image of a girl a little younger than me appeared.
“You seem to be upset with me for killing everyone you’ve ever known,” he mused, and I snorted.
“You’re right; how unreasonable of me.” I rolled my eyes, and he cut me an amused glance.
“I’m sure from your limited mortal perspective that it seems horrible, and you must think I’m an evil, terrible being for taking their lives.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “I think you’re an evil, terrible being for many reasons, Ramel. Killing everyone I have ever touched is only one of them.”
He chuckled. “Fair enough, deathtrap.” He gestured to the hologram of the girl before us. She had a kind smile and warm eyes and was speaking to someone not depicted in the hologram. He snapped his fingers, and text appeared next to her with several numbers and statistics.
“This is the soul that occupied the body of the woman that birthed you. She’s been reassigned to this body. She’s inhabited this body now for sixteen years. It took Yahweh a few years to get her back out into the world, but she’s been doing well in this new life.”
My jaw hit the floor. “Wh- what? Does that mean this is...?” I gaped, and he turned to me, an amused grin cocking his mouth.
“Yes, this is your mother. Well, in a way.”
He waved his hand, and the hologram disappeared, with a tiny fetus appearing next. He snapped his fingers, and more text and stats showed up next to the little peanut-sized human.
“This is Sam. I felt bad that day I taunted you about his death, so I put a rush on him. He’s already been reassigned.” He pointed to one of the numbers that had manifested next to the little bean. “Sam is a young soul. This is only his third reincarnation. I know you thought the sun shone out of his ass, but he was going to make a lot of mistakes in his life.
“The more times a soul is reincarnated, the more residual knowledge they accumulate and the better their lives tend to be. You likely won’t believe me, but trust me when I say I did him a favor.”
I was absolutely floored. I couldn’t believe what he was showing me. He allowed me a moment to absorb what he had just said before waving his hand again.
“Several of your foster parents have been reincarnated, and several have not,” he continued, his expression darkening.
I swallowed, glancing at him. “Why not?” I whispered, taking in his now cold and angry expression. The next image that manifested before me was an imageof a couple. They had been one of my first placements and had died in relatively brutal ways.
The man, Mr. Hammel, if I remembered correctly, had been a construction worker and had been killed on-site in an accident. Mrs. Hammel had been stabbed by a mugger on her way home from work one day. I didn’t remember much about staying with them. I had been very young.
“What are you doing to them!” I gasped. They were shackled together to a wall, and both of their sparkling, holographic intestines were spilled out over their laps.
I tried to back away, but he snatched up my wrist and pulled me forward. He gripped my chin and forced me to look at the horrifying scene before me.
“I don’t know if you remember, but he came into your room late one night when you were six years old. I watched him stroke you over your blankets several times before he left. He had a conversation with his wife afterward. They discussed their plans for you. Plans that involved a video camera and a padlock.”
My heart skipped a beat in my chest, and my blood ran cold.
“They didwhat?”I was horrified.
“You would have been their first victim. Several of your other guardians were repeat offenders. Those were the homes you spent the least amount of time in. Normally, I am not permitted to take souls that have not yet expired. However, Yahweh made an exception for me when it came to you.”
I turned away from the hologram of the tortured souls and looked up at Ramel. He met my gaze, his eyes swimming with an intense mixture of anger, possessiveness, and something a little more tender.
“Why?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
He slipped a hand around my waist and curled a finger under my chin, rubbing his thumb along my jaw.
“I don’t know. He took you out of purgatory and planted you in this body twenty-one years ago. He told me I needed to condition you because you were to take my place. I resented you for it at first.” He glanced up at the hologram behind me, frowning. “I should have known it was something more when I felt the need to protect you. I told myself that it was because you were mine to torment, and I didn’t want to share your pain.”
“Ramel…”
He looked back down at me. “While that is still true, I have come to decide that you will also be mine to pleasure. I am sorry you have been lonely, Lilith, but I am not sorry for keeping you for myself.” He rubbed a thumb over my cheek. “I don’t trust Yahweh or His plans. He pulled you out of purgatory and spun you into a mortal body, but I don’t think you are mortal.”
My heart was pounding in my chest. “What do you think I am then?” I asked, feeling short of breathsuddenly.
