He lowered his head and grunted like a bull. In each hand, he held a blade.
We knew his intention before he took a step. He figured if he attacked our friends, they’d have no choice but to kill him and themselves in the process. Cain had accepted he would die, but he was going to take all of us with him.
He took two running steps.
We shot out a hand. “Usella mituti ikkalu baltuti.”
He froze.
We raised our hands and slowly inhaled. Cain’s eyes widened. The knives fell to the ground with a clatter.
Our chest expanded beyond all reasonable bounds. Our lungs were endless, hungry caverns. We watched our enemy pale and sweat break out on his skin. His body began to tremble. We enjoyed that part.
“No!” he moaned. “You can’t kill me! I am Master Mahan!”
The air tasted bitter. Cain’s skin began to blacken. Still we inhaled. Smoke rose from the singed patches and danced through the air. Still we inhaled. His face dissolved next. The mass of muscle and bone that remained stretched and emitted a sickening shriek. Still we inhaled.
The rest of his corporeal form dissolved into a million black particles. They flew through the air like beads of oil in water. We gulped down each acrid drop.
Once the body was gone, all that was left was a blackened aura. We consumed that, too, until finally, Cain’s entire essence writhed in our belly like the serpent who tempted his mother, Eve.
We closed our eyes. Cain’s dark power, his seductive energies swirled in our veins. We savored them. Images of torture, memories of his murders paraded through our head. We enjoyed them. His screams echoed in our ears. We treasured them.
“Chosen,” Lilith said quietly.
Maisie and I ignored her. The high was too delicious. The power too intoxicating. The promise of conquest too seductive.
“Sabina?” Adam’s broken cry burst through the haze. “Maisie?”
No, not yet. Maisie pleaded with me to hold on to the moment a little longer. We deserve this. Vengeance is ours, sister.
I smiled and licked my lips. Never had either of us felt more powerful, more absolutely immortal than we did at that moment. We wanted to fly. We wanted to impose our wills on the universe. We wanted to kill everyone who’d ever wronged us. And we could do it, too.
We were the Chosen. We were… invincible.
Chapter 40
I thought I was invincible once, too.” Lilith’s voice cut through the black cocoon of power wrapped around Maisie and me. A warm hand touched our arm. “But my own hubris brought me down.”
Our eyes popped open. The high of defeating Cain suddenly turned on us. Bile rose in our throat and we gagged against the bitter aftertaste of consuming all that evil. We lurched over and struggled to absorb the malevolent energy. But we were not meant to use evil as fuel. Our body lurched over and vomited black, tarry pools onto the marble. When we’d emptied ourselves of the last of Cain, the entire roiling mass was consumed by tongues of flame.
Lilith patted our back. “There, there. All gone now.”
Once we’d recovered, which frankly didn’t take very long given the circumstances, we stood up and wiped our mouth.
“You can separate now.”
We frowned. “What?”
She waved a hand. “You only need to combine forces when you’re threatened. Trust me, it’s for the best. Two souls in one body is hell on the chakras.”
The process of separation was harder than the joining had been. Our spirits were so thoroughly meshed inside my body that it was like ripping apart cosmic-strength Velcro. Only more painful.
I pushed, Maisie pulled. We groaned and strained, until finally my sister’s spirit flew from my body. I collapsed on the ground and she slid across the marble. Maisie’s exit left me feeling hollow, lonely. I’d spent so many years alone inside myself that I didn’t realize how… barren it felt in there.
Adam and Giguhl ran to me. Gentle hands helped me stand. Strong arms enveloped me.
Over their shoulders, I saw Phoebe go to Maisie, comforting her.
“Thank the gods,” Adam said.
“Dude, you guys were f**king awesome!” Giguhl enthused.
I glanced at Maisie and my mother again. Lilith went to speak to them. She reached out to touch Maisie’s arm, and her hand went through her spirit. I froze.
“Hold on!” I called. “Why isn’t Maisie back in her body?”
Lilith looked up and tilted her head. “She’s dead.”
I nodded and walked forward. “Yes, but we’re the Chosen, right? Surely that means she can return to the living now.”
The Great Mother slowly shook her head and shot Maisie an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry, but that’s not how this works. Once someone is dead, they must remain so.”
I slashed a hand through the air. “But she’s a goddess now! The normal rules shouldn’t apply.”
Lilith crossed her arms. “Technically you’re just demigoddesses. Regardless, there are some rules even deities can’t escape. Besides, that’s not how the Chosen works. You and your sister are the Chosen together because you balance each other. Mage and vampire, light and dark, blue and red.” She pointed to me. “Life”—she pointed to Maisie—“and death.”
I blinked at the irony. For so long I’d thought of myself as the death part of this equation.
“If she has to remain a spirit, how can she return to the mortal realm?” Adam demanded.
“You don’t get it,” Lilith said. “She won’t be returning. Sabina will lead the dark races on Earth, and she will lead the dark races in Irkalla.”
My mouth fell open. “That’s bullshit!”
Lilith shrugged. “I didn’t make the rules.”
“Well, who did?” I demanded. “Because I want to kick their ass.”
Lilith pointed up. “Elohim made the rules. Trust me, you don’t want to tangle with him.”
“Wait, what?” Adam said.
Lilith spread her arms. “I struck a deal with him when I married Asmodeus. Elohim was pissed that I created my own races. He wanted to destroy all my children. I promised him that if he didn’t, I would retire to Irkalla and never interfere again. That’s why I could not allow Cain to kidnap me from this realm. It’s also why a war between all of you could not be allowed to happen. Elohim demanded that if either of those events occurred, I would have to return to earth to destroy all of you.”
“But how does the Chosen fit into all that?” Adam asked.