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Abaddon escaped the beheading, but Pandora took my distraction as her opening. The ball of fire she hurled at me was massive, deadly and had my name all over it. I tried to dodge it, but my leg hindered my escape. The aggressive push from my right side sent me flying into Abaddon. The explosion was brutal. The building creaked on its foundation.
Dagon’s furious roar made me lightheaded. “What have you done?”
“It’s not my fault,” Pandora shrieked at the accusing Demon. I could swear she was having a panic attack. The evil Goddess pulled on her hair and ran her sharp nails down her arms leaving behind trails of oozing blood.
I couldn’t understand what was happening… until I did.
Lilith had collapsed on the floor where I had been only seconds ago. Her beautiful body was broken and battered. She bled profusely from her mouth and her chest wasn’t moving. The light was gone. Her life was gone.
The realization was hard to comprehend. It didn’t make any sense, but the proof was in front of me. She’d died for me. My mother had brought me into this world, and now she’d sacrificed herself to keep me in it. This was all wrong. I’d never told my mother I loved her. I’d never hugged her. Now I’d never get the chance.
I’d heard about seeing red but hadn’t experienced it until now. My body heated up like a roaring furnace. My tongue felt like steaming hot sandpaper and my vision blurred with hatred. With a scream of rage so raw I was sure my throat would bleed, I slashed my hands through the air. The last twelve flaming assholes combusted into flames while screaming in agony. The six who had been stunned by the lipsticks exploded as well. Good riddance to horrible rubbish.
My lips stretched thin and wide into a wretched smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “Eighteen down,” I hissed at Pandora. “One to go. Get ready to die.”
I ran at her with inhuman speed in a fit of all-consuming anger. My purple fire swords were aimed at her neck. She would pay, and I would exact the payment.
As I swung my swords with all my might, Pandora disappeared in a blast of black glitter. I fell to the ground from the intensity of my blows that hadn’t even touched her. I stared in shock at the ground where she’d stood only moments before.
“No, no, no,” I cried out.
Abaddon’s arms around me from behind felt safe and loving. I pushed him away. I didn’t want, nor did I deserve, safe and loving. My mother had died because of me.
I stood and approached her body slowly. I wanted to peel off my skin to cover my grief with physical pain. I fought back the tears, afraid that if they started, I would cry forever. Dagon wept as he stood guard over his Goddess’s body. Abaddon wept as well.
I was so distraught the tears wouldn’t come.
Getting down on my knees, I wrapped my arms around my mother the way I should have yesterday and the day before. I hugged her lifeless body close and breathed in her scent. Forever be damned, I thought, as flood gates opened. The tears came naturally as my mind raced with all the things I’d miss without her here.
“I was supposed to teach you how to drive,” I whispered brokenly. “You’re a terrible driver.”
I tried to wipe the blood from her face but smeared it instead.
Abaddon gently touched my back.
This time I didn’t pull away. “I never told her I loved her,” I choked out, still desperately trying to clean her up with the sleeve of my shirt. “She told me she loved me, and I didn’t say anything.”
“She knew,” Abaddon said softly.
I shook my head. “But I didn’t tell her. I’ll never get to tell her. I called her Lilith, not Mom.”
Sobs racked my body as I held on to the woman who had traded her life for mine. My guilt overwhelmed me, and I wished I could go back in time. It wasn’t possible. Some things weren’t possible no matter how much you believed or wished on stars.
“We can’t stay here,” Dagon finally said in a hushed and broken-hearted tone. “It’s not safe, Goddess Cecily. We must return Lilith’s body to the Darkness before she turns to dust.”
I glanced over at him. He got down on his knees and bowed to me. Abaddon did the same.
“No,” I said quickly. “No. Don’t.”
Abaddon raised his head and stood back up. His gaze was intense. It made me feel out of control and breathless.
“You’re her heir, Cecily,” he said. “It’s fated.”
I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t scream. I wasn’t the Goddess of the Darkness. I was Cecily Bloom, a former child star who was about to make a comeback in a new TV series. Dagon and Abaddon had lost their damned minds if they thought I could be the Goddess of the Darkness and replace my mother.
“It’s what your mother would want,” Dagon said, standing up as well.
I glanced over at him like he was nuts. “She’d want a forty-year-old actress who just found out she was a Demon to run the show? Lilith might have been a shitty driver, but she wasn’t insane. I’m not fit to fill her shoes.”
