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"What's her name?" I wanted to know for no particular reason other than to satisfy my curiosity. How ironic would it be if she now belonged to myharem?
"Lilith Vanderkamp," Lorraine said with a questioning look at me. "Why?"
I felt Fay's questioning eyes on me as well but waved both females off. Lilith was Seth's bride, the one he had killed Nergal for. It was interesting but didn't really matter. Still, I filed the information away for possible future use.
"Chosen by who?" Fay asked.
"The Order. They decide which Nayphyllym maidens are of the purest blood," Lorraine said.
I interceded unapologetically, "Fay's blood seems pretty pure to me, yet she wasn't chosen."
"They couldn't have chosen her because Lorraine and I left the Order after Fay's birth. We made it clear we didn't want her to have any part in this," Maxmilian spat out.
"We didn't want you to be taken from us. To be taken by the Daemons for some unspeakable, unknown fate, to have God knows what done to you," Lorraine said tearfully.
"Oh, Mom," Fay rushed into the older female's arms.
I rubbed my chin. "So me basically running into your daughter and her being one of the pure was a coincidence?"
"More like the worst case of bad luck, I say," Maxmilian fumed, staring me down.
I didn't rise to the challenge. My mind was too busy trying to puzzle this out. According to Behlial, the last time he was here, he struck a bargain with the Order. They would have seven maidens ready and waiting for us when we arrived, and he in turn would cease his attacks on Adama. Obviously, Behlial hadn't stuck to his side of the deal, but I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had.
My heart had only awakened for Fay, who would not have been among the chosen. At the thought that I would have never met her, my heart constricted, reminding me of how new the sensation of it beating inside my chest was.
For millennia, us Daemons had ravaged Adama every seven hundred years in search of the perfect seven maidens for the seven Princes of Darkness. I didn't know how many had found their karamia, how many hearts had begun to beat at the sight of their brides, but I began to suspect many. For the first time in my life,Behlial has actually done something for me, I mused. Not that I would thank him for it.
"Well, for me, it was fate," Fay said while still hugging her mother.
"Well, now you know about the Order. They do, after all, keep you supplied with maidens," Maxmilian spat at me.
"What about…" Fay's face turned bright pink. I stared at her curiously, wondering what brought her this kind of discomfort. "All my life, I never felt… sexually… attracted to men."
"But now you do?" Lorraine asked, tenderly stroking Fay's blonde locks.
Fay bit her lower lip and threw a glance at me before she nodded, avoiding her father's eyes.
"Us female Nayphyllym were bred forthem," Lorraine jerked her head in my direction. "Only a Daemon can awaken our lust."
"Oh, Mom." It was easy to see how Fay's heart went out to her mother.
"Oh no." Lorraine smiled. "Don't pity me, child. At a certain age, around twenty-six, our libido awakens for other men, Nayphyllym or human, it doesn't matter. It's nature's way of ensuring our genes don't die out. Sometimes a female Nayphyllym's libido will awaken sooner for a Nayphyllym male, like it was with your father and I." She took Maxmilian's hand. "Those occurrences are rare though, and most end up like ours, where we leave the Order."
"That would decimate the Order's numbers if those pairings all refuse to give up their children," I remarked.
"Others have to sacrifice and deliver more children," Lorraine said unapologetically and defiantly. It reminded me so much of Fay, I smiled.
"Why did you never tell me?" Fay asked.
"Because we left for good. There was no reason to fill you in and scare you," Maxmilian said, winking at her. "Plus, remember you were the one who never believed us when we told you that you weren't human."
Fay shook her head. "But this could have affected me or my children."
"Neither you nor your children would have been affected because we left," Maxmilian reiterated.
"What about Alex?"
My gut churned at the thought of the human male who had been with her when I met her. He had been my rival, but he had also tried to protect Fay, which elevated him somewhat in my estimation.
