AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But, sweet Lily, thanks to you, a blighted place like the Pit can never exist again. You brought clarity not only to me but to all of demonkind when you pulled that council member through the planes. You showed us exactly how they used us for their own greed.
You saved us all, lovely flower, and I will forever be grateful to you.
The warmth I try always to flow to her shifts with my confession. No longer pure warmth, it now has the depth of kindness, of strength, oflovethat only one who’s known great sadness can fathom.
Malphas is wise to remain silent for a great many moments. We both wait, hoping she heard me. Hoping that my offering of pain was enough to soothe her own.
Minutes tick by and still she doesn’t speak, doesn’t free herself.
Lily? My flower, please… Come back to us.
The sound is so distant, so thin I almost don’t recognize it.
You know, I think I hate lilies. Don’t make that your new nickname for me.
Lily
I don’t recommend makingthe demons in your head cry with joy.
It’s…
A lot.
After some whoops and shouts of joy, Malphas is the first to get it together.You’re back!
Please, Lily, whatever you’re going through, promise that you’ll always come back to us.Barbas says.
I promise. And you have to promise never to call me Flower again.
Madam, I will call you anything you wish. My Queen, Goddess on High, Persephone Incarnate.
A surprising giggle forms in my throat.Just my name is fine for now, I think.I throw back the cocoon of blankets and step into streaming harsh daylight.How long has it been?
Only a matter of hours,Malphas says while pumping my brain full of his undiluted glee.
I need to check on Michelle,I say, but not before checking my phone like a true modern-day woman on the earth plane.
Two messages. One from Dad saying Mom is home from the hospital. Finally. And the second from Claudia.
Oh shit.
What is it?both Mal and Barb say simultaneously with equal levels of over-the-top concern.
Claudia sent a message. She thinks she knows what I am. Why I can do so much more than a normal human host.
Oh? Don’t keep us in suspense. What are you?Mal asks.
I shrug, even though they can’t see that.She wants to meet in person to talk about it. Which sounds serious.
Barbas’s warmth soothes my still-forming anxious thoughts.It’s probably complex. But that doesn’t mean bad.
Yeah. Listen to Barbas. He knows a thing or two about a thing or two.
You’re probably right. I’ll swing by her place later. But first, I have some spring cleaning to do.
I can almost imagine Barb’s and Mal’s stares of confusion.
After checking on Michelle, who’s still sleeping off her possession, I startquietlygathering all the lily junk around the condo. The picture over my bed, the lily sheets in the closet, the mugs, calendars, and commemorativeGenus of Lilyplates displayed on the wall behind the dining room table, all of it ends up in a heap next to the front door.
