I looked at the devastatingly handsome cat demon. He had betrayed me so thoroughly, but he also tried to be there for me when I needed it most. Mylittle human heart cracked as I tried to fit the two versions of him together into something that made sense.
I felt a tear spill-free, and I stepped toward him. He eyed me cautiously as I stood on my toes and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. His stubble grazed my lips, and this close, he smelled like cloves and cardamom beans.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my head on his chest, squeezing him tight.
“I like you a lot, Shem,” I whispered, and he relaxed, wrapping his arms around me to hug me back.
“I like you too, Lilith,” he murmured, dropping a kiss on the top of my head. He held me while I quietly cried, and I realized that I hadn’t just convinced Shem I liked him. I had convinced myself a little bit, too.
“You never felt like a sin.”
—FATHER PAUL, MIDNIGHT MASS
Ispent the day reading ‘Mesopotamian Origins.’The book was massive, and the text was small. I made it through only a quarter before the day was over. Nothing that I read jumped out at me or mentioned anything that I thought might be a clue about my past or why Yahweh might have trapped Lilith in His bowl of purgatory.
‘The Wives of Adam and the Birth of Sin’was a much smaller book, and I quickly found the clue Hazai wanted me to see. Lilith’s name popped up right at the very beginning.
The book claimed Yahweh had made her before Eve, and she had been meant to be Adam’s wife. My blood boiled at the thought. It was a good thing that prick had been dead for a millennia, or I would have had to fucking kill him. His soul was so old that Yahweh had retired it. Lilith had been ordered to obey Adam, and she refused, demanding that she be treated as an equal. My lip twitched at the thought. That certainly sounded like my Lilith.
Yahweh refused, so she left the Garden of Eden, and as a punishment, He condemned her to rule the underworld. My eyes widened at this.
I furiously flipped through the pages, looking for more, but Lilith was not mentioned again. The rest of the book was about Eve and the creationof sin.
I wasn’t mentioned either, and I was left wondering if she had been sent to be my wife or if I had not even been created yet and she had ruled alone.
I had been right. I had known she was not mortal, but I had not expected this. Resolving to get through more of‘Mesopotamian Origins’the following day, I finally resigned.
I made my way back to the room with my head spinning. It felt like one piece of the puzzle had finally been uncovered. It made sense that Yahweh would have wanted her conditioned to take my place here if she was the original ruler of Hell. Why had He taken her from here in the first place? What could she possibly have done? Why was I ruling here in her place?
As I approached the room, I could hear Lilith and Shem speaking through the door, and I smiled. Their conversation was much different than the one I overheard when I had first returned to find them in bed together.
“I fucking love this part when he just sunbeams himself in front of her in the canoe,” Shem said excitedly, and Lilith giggled.She giggled.
“I always thought it was kind of a dick move that he brought her out there with him. Like damn, you didn’t need to traumatize her like that.”
I opened the door just in time to see Shem’s eyes flash with glee.
“That’s why I like it. Fuckingepic.”
Lilith was sitting up against the pillows, and Shem was on his stomach, feet kicking lazily in the air behind him. They were both avidly staring at the TV.
“What are you two watching?” I asked, slipping in and closing the door behind me. They glanced at me before returning their attention to the show.
“Midnight Mass,” Lilith said as I approached the bed, undoing the buttons on my shirt as I went.
How was this tiny little human, with her butterscotch and brandy hair, the original ruler of Hell? I felt myself harden as I finally reached the bed. Picturing her perched on a throne and ruling over my depraved court of demons made me want to fuck the living shit out of her.
She glanced up at me, her gaze falling to where my hands were still working away at removing my shirt. The light in her eyes dimmed slightly, and the little smile on her face fell away. My chest tightened. I wished she wanted it, but if she thought I wasn’t going to fuck my wife senseless every chance I had, she was delusional.
I frowned, reaching out to touch her chin softly. “What’s wrong, deathtrap? You don’t want to please your new husband?” I ran my thumb over her perfect little mouth, and her brow creased.
“Can we finish the rest of the show first? It’s almost done, and this is the finale.”
I glanced over at Shem, who was watching us with a lazy grin on his face.
“Yeah, watch the last episode with us, Ram, we can fuck her after.”
Lilith gave Shem a grateful smile, and my heart warmed. I supposed there was no harm in waiting a little longer.
