“Everyone shut up!” Gavin bellowed, the veins in his neck sticking out and his eyes blazing with rage.
“Sorry, Daddy G,” Remi murmured.
Gavin didn’t acknowledge him; instead, he opened the book in his hands. “I found a passage in the Book of Lilith that talks specifically about unmaking immortal beings.”
It was as if all the oxygen was sucked from the room as all eyes snapped in his direction. The angels in particular looked aghast, which made sense since it would apply to their kind.
“Auntie Lilith, is it true?” Merri asked. “Can immortals be unmade?”
Lilith shrugged. “I’ll be honest, I don’t remember everything I wrote down in there. It was so long ago, and at the time, I was simply documenting information. It doesn’t mean I have personal knowledge of the what for and how of the matter.”
“You mean the knowledge you stole from me,” Lucifer muttered, the gag now hanging around his neck like a damp cravat.
“You deserved everything you got,” Lilith spat.
“Mommy and Daddy are fighting,” Remi sing-songed.
“If the goal of this little meeting is to build trust, then I suggest you tell them the truth, Lilith. Tell them what you did.Go on. Confess your sins. We have a priest here to absolve you and everything.”
“You first,” Lilith snarled.
“I’m not the one who wrote a fucking tell-all book like some jealous, spurned lover.”
Lilith made to rise, but Kingston caught hold of her pants and tugged her back down. “Careful, you’re playing right into his hand,” he mocked.
“If you’d care to keep that hand, I’d suggest you let go of her right the fuck now,” Crombie snapped, the scent of ozone flooding the room.
“She started it,” he grumbled.
“Lilith,” Lucifer crooned. “You won’t want me to tell this story the way I remember it. Trust me.”
All eyes were on the succubus, and we waited with bated breath. This was better than a telenovela. Adam and Eve? Old news. But Lucifer and Lilith? That was a story no one knew, andeveryonewanted to learn what really went down between the OG power couple.
“The reason I don’t remember the details is that I put it all in the pages of the book. Not because I wanted to, but because it was too much to carry in my head.”
Lucifer let out a dark chuckle. “And tell them why.”
She sat silently fuming, so he stood and walked to the center of the room for all to see.
“I see my darling ex is as stubborn as ever. Allow me.” He swooped his arms out as though spreading magic across the room. “Once upon a time, there was a woman made by God to be the companion of his first human creation.”
“W-we already know this s-story, bud,” Ben said. “Adam and E-eve.”
See.
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong. It all started with Lilith. Adam’s first wife.”
The angels shared a look and settled in like they were prepared to be here a while. Lilith huffed, but didn’t chime in, granting Lucifer the floor for now. I was seated between Malice and Grim, but neither of them so much as feigned breath, so I assumed they were as in the dark as the rest of us.
“The relationship itself matters not, although I think it’s worth noting that it was doomed from the start. Adam was a sniveling worm of a man who did not appreciate having a strong, independent woman as a partner.”
“Fool,” Crombie muttered, taking Lilith’s hand in his. Her posture softened as she granted him the barest hint of a smile.
“Adam mistakenly thought a woman created from a piece of him would be less willful, more subservient. After casting Lilith aside, he soon learned that he wasn’t destined to find obedience.”
“Eve ate the apple,” Kingston whispered to Lilith, who glared at him.
“She was starving! I did her a kindness!” Lucifer flung up his hands in frustration and then took a long breath. “I took Lilith in, gave her a place with me and the rest of the outcasts. I loved her in the best way I knew how at the time.”
