The Unforgiven (30 page)

Human existence—how flat and gray it had been! Unbearable to contemplate. While trapped in her human form, Maddie had never suspected the glory that was her birthright. Now she knew.

A heady rush of power met the spread of her new wings. Her body was flush with the energy of the living blood she’d consumed during the first ravenous hours she’d spent in her Nephilim form. True, it had only been the blood of an animal, but it had been potent enough. At least for now. For now she knew wonder, power, glory. Exhilaration, strength, and freedom. Bliss.

Yes. Now you know. Now you are complete.

How could she have believed her small human existence was anything worth clinging to? How could she have not known that she was meant for so much more? For perfection!

The earth fell away. Each sweep of her dark feathered wings
lifted her higher and higher. The stars hung above her like twinkling diamonds, so close she almost believed she could pluck a handful to encircle her throat, adorn her wrist and fingers.

The earth, the sea, the sky—they offered a vividness her human self had never even guessed at. She’d caught glimpses with her Watcher sight in the past weeks: the auras, the blinding flash of clarity she’d experienced when digging with the American teens. She’d thought it was the tumor. She laughed now at the sheer absurdity of that fear.

She didn’t glance back to see if Cade had followed; she knew he had. He had no choice. She’d locked him in the prison he’d meant for her. The hurt of that betrayal was a lump of acid stuck in her throat. He’d begged her to trust him. And—almost—she had. She’d even fallen a bit in love with him. Only to discover how he meant to use her faith and emotions against her.

But what had she expected? Love was human stupidity. Cade was an archdemon. Nephilim. As was she.

To a Nephilim, power was all. Power to wield over humans. Power to master Nephilim of rival blood. So simple. Maddie was a daughter of Azazel. More than a daughter—
much
more. Cade was a son of Samyaza. Her enemy.

Testing her wings, she flew out over the waves in a wide arc. The charcoal waters birthed white breakers, then, just as quickly, killed their foamy offspring. Maddie’s demonic sight sliced easily through the night, searching out the peaks and valleys of the seascape below.

He is coming. Soon. Very soon.

Maddie didn’t have to wonder at the meaning of the whispered words. She knew. Another fragment of Lilith’s memory had fallen into place.

“
Ezreth is dead,” Lilith told her father. The back of her skull throbbed where it had struck the ground. “I killed him.
”

Flies were already gathering on the corpse, though the sun had hardly moved in the sky since his neck was broken. His aura was dark, but Lilith’s mind had scarcely registered the fact her brother was truly dead until she’d looked up from his body to see her father striding toward her.

“
I killed him,” she said again. “I accept your punishment.” She bowed her head and waited for Azazel’s blow.

“
I see,” was all her father said. Then, “How did this come to pass?
”

She didn’t dare look up, though she wondered desperately what she would see in his eyes if she did. “I was here at the forge. I succeeded in transmuting the prime substance into gold. I formed the metal into the pattern you showed me, the Seed of Life. In the center I set the bloodstone we made.
”

Azazel’s brows rose. “And where is this piece?
”

“
Here.” She held the disc in her hand, thrust it out at him. He took and examined the amulet, his expression inscrutable.

“
You have held nothing back,” he said at last. His voice vibrated with emotion. “You have poured your entire essence into this gold, this gem. You have created with your innocence what I, in all my power, could not.” His fingers tightened on the Seed. “Life. Life itself.
”

“
It is a gift to you,” she said simply, “who gave me life.” She felt his eyes on her but couldn’t bring herself to lift her head. “But . . . just as I completed the spells, Ezreth came. He ordered me to lie with him.
”

“
Did you?
”

“
No!” She did look up then, imploring. “Never would I do such a thing! I . . . I remain pure, Father. As you commanded.
”

A small smile curved his lips. “And so I did.” He gestured. “Continue, my daughter. Tell me all.
”

Haltingly, Lilith recounted her brother’s approach and attack, and the explosion of magic that saved her. “My head struck the
well. I . . . can’t remember exactly what happened while I lay on the ground. But when I rose, Ezreth was dead.
”

Azazel’s thumb stroked the jewel in the amulet. “Life,” he murmured, almost to himself. “And death. Joined in metal and stone. Incredible.
”

Lilith flushed. “I . . . I am not sure I understand.
”

“
Your creation is pure potentiality. And protection of that force. In short, immortality.” His free hand descended to Lilith’s shoulder. It felt heavy and warm. His eyes found hers. “Do you trust me, Lilith?
”

“
Of course, Father! With my life!
”

“And you still wish to gift me with this work of your hands?”

“
Yes, Father.
”

His lips touched her forehead. “Then come, my love. It is time.
”

She didn’t know what time he referred to, but she loved and trusted him completely. She went without hesitation, her hand in his.

He guided her to the entrance of his dwelling. In the anteroom, she bathed his feet and hers as she had done that first day. His dark eyes remained upon her all the while. Whenever she chanced to glance up, the fleeting contact of their gazes tightened her chest.

Inside the tent’s main chamber, Azazel placed the Seed of Life on the low table before the couch. He drew Lilith to stand before him. Then, slowly, almost reverently, he touched her bare head, her temple.

His touch felt good. Wonderful. It did strange things to Lilith’s body. She felt alert and languid all at once. His fingers explored the tilt of her cheekbones, the line of her jaw. He spread the long fall of her hair about her shoulders. His thumbs stroked the sensitive skin below her ears. The pads of his fingers massaged the back of her skull.

His eyes did not move from her face. “You are a beautiful woman, Lilith.
”

Her heart thumped wildly. “I . . . thank you, Father.
”

“
A beautiful woman indeed.
”

He bent his head and gifted her with another kiss. This one he placed not on her forehead but full on her lips. She stiffened slightly as his mouth urged hers to open. This was not the kiss of a father to a daughter!

Lilith’s emotions, already raw, spun in confusion. For several long moments she knew nothing but shock. She felt as though she had drifted outside herself. Shame crept like a sickness into her chest. Azazel deepened the kiss. This was wrong! An abomination before Heaven. But somehow, even the knowledge of the perversion in which she was participating did not quite stop the liquid slide of pleasure that sluiced from her breasts to the hidden place between her legs.

She struggled to understand. This was Azazel. Her father. She loved him; she trusted him absolutely. He had laid her deepest emotions bare. He knew how much she loved him. And he loved her. He must! But not, it seemed, only as a daughter. He wanted her as a mate as well.

It was not in her heart to deny him anything. Even this. Tentatively, fearfully, her hands slid up his arms to grasp his shoulders; softly, they slipped around his neck. His kiss was gentle, coaxing, as if he knew just what she needed. Of course he did—he loved her! And he was wise. If he wanted this, it must be right.

His big hand wandered down her back. His palms molded her buttocks. He pulled her into his body, and his man’s desire was hard and long. It pressed against her belly. His voice was rough when he said, “Do you give me your body, Lilith? To do with as I will?
”

A tremor ran through her. One last doubt, urging her to turn away, sounded like a bell in her mind. But then he touched her again, so softly, so lovingly, and something inside her broke.

“
Yes,” she said.

“
And your mind? Will you also entrust that to me?
”

“
If . . . if you wish it.
”

He left her. She felt bereft. But he returned swiftly, the disc in his hand. He pressed the gold to the bare skin just below the base of her throat and warmth seeped into her chest.

“
Will you give me your magic also, Lilith? To use as I see fit?
”

She hesitated but a heartbeat before surrendering. “All that I am is yours.
”

The whispered answer increased Azazel’s smile. “The magic of the Seed, Lilith—your magic—is stronger than death. With it, together, we will live forever.
”

The magic of the talisman flowed over her. Lilith’s body softened, then tensed when a knife appeared in Azazel’s hand; with a deft motion he slashed his right palm. A trickle of crimson oozed free. He placed his palm over the amulet, pressing it into Lilith’s skin, sealing their union with his blood.

It was as if lightning had struck. Lilith jerked; her body sizzled with sensation. A cry burst from her lips. Dark waves of magic filled her being, entranced her mind. But she remained aware
—acutely
aware—of what was happening.

Azazel untied the braided cord at his waist, stripped off his robes.
This is wrong,
she thought one last time. Wrong, but inevitable. She had come from his body. Now she would take him into hers. The circle would be complete, and they would live forever.

Together.

They would live forever. Together. Maddie’s feet touched down silently on cold sand. The beach was narrow and strewn with rocks. The sea churned and eddied. Cade, still in flight, circled above Maddie’s head. Testing his leash, perhaps? With a thought, she jerked him down.

He landed beside her, panting and angry. She was aware of his body, was acutely aware of his aura, burning an angry crimson. It crackled, and sizzling sparks burst across his skin.

He took up an unwilling position at her left elbow. She didn’t turn her head to look at him but kept her gaze riveted on the horizon.
He
was coming.

A small shadow appeared upon the dark water. Maddie’s
heart leaped. In the breathless moments that followed, the blur resolved into solid form: a small boat slicing through the waves. It cast no light on its landward journey; it generated no sound. And yet it passed, deftly and surely, through treacherous water and around deadly rocks to finally reach shore.

A man stood at the bow. When the boat halted, he stepped easily out. His feet seemed to skim the surface of the water as he walked the short distance to the hard-packed sand. His face and form were familiar. The red glow of his eyes was new, as was the dark crimson aura about his head and shoulders. Maddie thought her joy might burst out of her skin.

Cade rasped a sharp inhalation. “Impossible,” he muttered. “That is not Simon Ben-Meir. Ben-Meir is dead.”

“Yes,” Maddie heard herself say. “He is.”

The man who approached had only borrowed Ben-Meir’s body. The cadaver, now bathed with its crimson aura, pulsed with a life that could not die.

She’d seen him, Maddie realized now, below the window of the hotel where Cade had briefly imprisoned her. At the time, she hadn’t understood. Now she did.

Cade’s angry hiss seared her ear. “This is evil, Maddie. Pure evil. You must know that.”

She shrugged, never once taking her eyes from the man who approached. “Good and evil. Life and death. Angel and demon. There’s really no difference. You told me that yourself, Cade.”

“You twist my words. Not all power is subjective. Some powers are evil.”

“And some,” she replied, “cannot be denied.”

He was almost upon her. The awareness of his presence was wonderful and unbearable. He had returned to her.

No. Not to her. To Lilith.

But . . . Lilith was gone. Dead. Maddie frowned. How could
that be? Lilith had created the Seed of Life. Azazel had vowed she would live with him forever.

The moment of Lilith’s death hovered at the edges of Maddie’s memory. When she reached for it, it receded. But, did it really matter? In a very real way, Lilith was still alive in Maddie.

“Is eternity worth your honor? Is it worth your self-respect?” Cade’s cold rage deepened the twinge of unease in Maddie’s gut.

“Quiet,” she hissed, and he fell silent.

The newcomer halted on the sand, close enough to touch her, though he did not. She looked up into his eyes. The red glow of his irises went on forever. They were like flames inside her skull, licking at her thoughts, gently erasing her doubts. Cade was her enemy; she had defeated him. Of course he would try to turn her from her destiny.

He reached out and clasped her hands. His touch was warm. Somehow, she hadn’t expected that. He wore a dead man’s body; she’d expected him to carry a chill.

“I greet you, Daughter. With pride.” His eyes fell to the Seed of Life nestled between her bare breasts. “You have pleased me well. Again.”

A flush stole into Maddie’s cheeks. “Father,” she said. “I thank you.”

“He is not,” Cade hissed, “your
father
. He is Azazel.”

But he was wrong. Azazel was her father—the father she’d never known. He brought with him worlds of possibility when just a short time ago she was convinced her life was at an end. She couldn’t turn away from that.

The ancient Watcher regarded Cade through Simon Ben-Meir’s eyes. “You, slave. You are a son of Samyaza.”

Cade did not flinch. “I am.”

“I once told my foolish brother that my children would
conquer his.” Azazel’s gaze swept Cade from head to toe. “I am pleased to know I spoke the truth. On your knees, slave.”

The command washed through Maddie on its way to Cade. She didn’t resist. Her father’s will was her own.