Babylon (Eden Saga Book 2) Read online

  Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t register Erzulie’s warning at first. Then, the chill of the wind and the clarity of the angel’s voice grounded her in the present.

  “Get down!” Erzulie yelled as she drew her slender sword. “Fliers!”

  Alexandra scanned the harsh, red-orange sky and slid her own weapon from its scabbard. Then she saw several dark shapes descend and form a tight ring around them.

  Derechi had finally found her.

  Chapter 3

  Koneh and Erzulie had assumed that Derechi would be hunting Alexandra for the secrets to Eden. For some cosmic reason unknown to her, Alexandra was the entry key for those forces looking to conquer Eden. The Crone from her dreams mentioned hiding the power to destroy Eden in Alexandra’s DNA. Perhaps everything was related to her divine genes? Or were they all crazy?

  Whatever the case, after weeks of near starvation and endless trudging through the wasteland, she had received an answer. They were still looking for her.

  Demons attacked them from all directions. Erzulie met a few in the air, but she still wasn’t fully recovered. She could only float for a few moments. With swift strokes, she slashed and cut through her attackers.

  Alexandra ducked beneath her friend and met the closest enemies headlong. Trained by Koneh and hardened by her new world, Alexandra didn’t hesitate. She sidestepped the first demon’s assault and whirled on her heel to slice though both her attacker and an adjacent foe. Their death wails were soon joined by laughter.

  Grating, jarring laughter.

  Lilev.

  A pack of horned demons rushed Alexandra, but she stood her ground. Where was Erzulie?

  “Zhar’a rind,” Lilev said, but Alexandra couldn’t locate the vile creature.

  The demons attempted to encircle her, but Alexandra knew how to defeat that tactic. She dashed through the side of their ranks and sulfurous blood splattered her face as she decapitated one demon and bashed another with the pommel of Koneh’s sword. One of them opened a small gash on her thigh but she ignored the tearing pain.

  The dance of battle rang clear and true. Koneh’s instruction and unyielding lessons prepared her for the violence she needed to deliver. The moment she was forced to slay Ael, Alexandra knew her life had changed course. She would never again be that mid-thirties self-absorbed lawyer. She was the Lioness. She had teeth. Claws. Her enemies had taken far too much from her on her journey to Eden. Now it was her turn. Violence came easily.

  She parried an axe strike from another horned demon and ran it through. Spinning, she dodged the barbed tail of another demon and sliced open its chest. The beast’s gurgled moans filled the area.

  “Bilonhinda,” Lilev said as the hooded female demon came into view. “I see Koneh has instructed you well, but this fight is over.”

  Alexandra panted and readied her weapon as the remaining horned demons regrouped. Blood trickled down her leg from her burning wound.

  “Over?” she asked, nervous of trickery from Lilev.

  The female demon’s smile revealed haphazard rows of jagged, yellow teeth. “Indeed. Look there.”

  Alexandra followed Lilev’s crooked finger to a small rise of gray sand. Several demons struggled with a writhing form, but they had it contained with chains and a cord resembling barbed wire.

  Erzulie was captured.

  Sweat greased her palms and Alexandra gasped. Not Erzulie! She stepped towards her friend, intent upon killing every demon in sight when Lilev raised her hand.

  “We can destroy her before you get any closer, child,” Lilev said in her gravelly voice. “I offer a temporary truce, to discuss your surrender.”

  Alexandra shook her head and attempted to appear strong despite the sinking feeling in her stomach. Not Erzulie.

  “Koneh taught me a few special tricks,” Alexandra said. “Do you really think you are safe, even at this distance?”

  Lilev’s pure black eyes widened for a moment and then she smiled again. “You forget, Lamb. I can read your surface emotions when we are this close. You bluff. Lay down your-” The demon stuttered as she examined Alexandra’s sword. Koneh’s sword. “Where... Where is Koneh? Where is my son?”

  Alexandra attempted to control her thoughts. Not to spite Lilev’s ability, but because the loss of Koneh was still irreconcilable. Erzulie needed her and she couldn’t spiral into an emotional breakdown. Her efforts to keep the events of that day hidden, however, had failed.

  Lilev staggered backwards. “My son-” the demoness said. “How could you..? You killed him!”

  “He wasn’t your son,” Alexandra said, smothering her grief with wrath. “You delusional bitch.”

  “You killed him!” Lilev repeated, but this time her eyes bore into Alexandra. The demoness was no longer stunned. She shrieked and clenched her clawed fists.

  Then she launched herself towards Alexandra and landed a few feet away. Lilev’s face twisted in agony as she said, “You will know my pain. I will take from you the thing you hold most dear and I will seize the knowledge of the future from you when I see fit. My demons will rape and defile you every night until you forget who you are. Mark my words, child, I will destroy the Mih’darl on this Earth!”

  Alexandra’s heartbeat quickened to an alarming pace as Lilev’s tirade ended. Could she defeat the rest of the demons? Was she in over her head? Koneh taught her to ignore her doubts, but Lilev was overwhelmingly terrifying. The sword became like a cinderblock in her hand. Her knees shook. Her resolve dissipated.

  “Kill her!” Lilev said.

  After flinching, Alexandra realized she wasn’t the target of Lilev’s command. Frozen in place, Alexandra watched a demon bury his sword into Erzulie’s chest. The light from her eyes faded and Erzulie slumped to the ground.

  Chapter 4

  Witnessing the death of another friend should have crippled her. She should have been demoralized. Crushed. Where were her feelings? Instead of overwhelming grief, she felt an emptiness unlike any she had ever known. Then, like a hole dug next to a raging river, that emptiness filled quickly with another emotion.

  Rage.

  They had taken her life from her. They took her innocence in Tampico. They took Father Callahan at the beached cruise ship. They took Koneh, and now Erzulie. Alexandra had nothing left to give her enemy except her hatred.

  The world around her slowed. She gripped her sword. Father Callahan’s rosary dug into her palms as she readied herself. Lilev’s attention remained on Erzulie’s body and the other demons didn’t appear to realize how much danger they now faced. Everything else moved in slow motion – everything except her own body.

  Alexandra struck fast and true. She sliced across the nearest demon’s back and shoved another to the side. Lilev gasped when she realized how close Alexandra was. Before Lilev could take to the air, Alexandra slashed downward and opened a vicious wound along the demon’s thigh. Lilev growled and tumbled backwards, blood spraying in all directions.

  Unrelenting, Alexandra advanced upon the target of her hate. A demon intercepted her, but she decapitated the beast without breaking stride. Lilev’s leg lay twisted at an unhealthy angle and she scrambled to gain altitude. Alexandra swung but only managed to rip Lilev’s wing. Panting and crazed, the demoness escaped into the orange-black sky.

  Alexandra turned to the remaining demons, but they followed behind their mistress. After a few moments, the wind was the only sound in the area.

  It was over.

  She dropped her sword and fell to her knees. No tears came. How could they? She was empty, drained. Now, she was truly alone. The world she despised took the last thing she cared for. Her last friend was gone.

  Moments passed. Endless moments full of nothingness. At some point she became horizontal. She allowed the wind to pass over her body like she was a feature of the land to be eroded by time. Stationary, emotionless, she waited. For what? For her own death? Maybe it was time Eden reclaimed her. She had done all she could, right? What more was demanded of her?
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  “She is your friend.” Koneh’s voice carried on the wind. “I could forgive you if you wanted to give up on yourself. But not Erzulie. Doesn’t she deserve more than this? Doesn’t she deserve everything you have? Won’t you try to save her?”

  “I can’t bring back the dead,” Alexandra said, unsure why she was talking to the wind. Koneh wasn’t there. She was losing her mind. Perhaps that was the last conscious casualty before death’s final, crushing embrace.

  “Won’t you try?” the Koneh-like voice returned. “You tried for Richard.”

  “That was different,” Alexandra said. “Richard was human.”

  The wind whipped over her for a few minutes. Was it considering a counterpoint? Was she finally dead? Bring on Eden, Alexandra mused. I’m done with this world.

  “The Alexandra I knew would not be so fast to abandon her friends,” said the voice on the wind.

  “Maybe you never knew me,” she said. “You saw the woman you wanted to see, not the real me.”

  Silence reigned again and Alexandra opened her eyes. “Hello?” she said, not ready to lose the familiar voice again. Not ready to lose Koneh again. Was she dreaming?

  When no answer came, tears finally responded. Only a few escaped, but Alexandra felt each one. Koneh’s voice was a bittersweet reminder of a time when her friends were alive and she still harbored hope for a better future.

  “Hello? Koneh?”

  His voice was gone and she felt even more alone than when she witnessed Erzulie’s death.

  Erzulie!

  Alexandra raised herself from the sandy ground and stumbled to the still form of her friend. Memories of Richard Callahan’s body nudged into her consciousness as if to remind her of her own powerlessness. You tried before, the voice of doubt scolded in her mind. You tried and you failed.

  No more doubts, she decided.

  “Erzulie was never alive,” Alexandra said to herself. “So, I’m not bringing her back from the dead.”

  She placed her hands on Erzulie’s chest like she did for General Ryan, Benjamin and the girl, Medina. She squeezed her eyes shut and attempted to repeat her miracles from the other times.

  Nothing happened.

  After several minutes of inaction, her rage returned. They took Koneh and everyone else, but they weren’t going to take Erzulie. Not Erzulie! Alexandra tried again and she recognized the truth of her own limits - she couldn’t reverse death.

  “Erzulie!” she screamed until her voice was hoarse. It was more a statement than a petulant cry of anguish. She decided she wasn’t going to allow the death of her friend.

  At the height of one of her screams, the ground moaned and cracked beneath her. A small crater formed around the two women and expanded outwards from them at great velocity. Alexandra screamed louder and thunder boomed. She felt her own life draining from her and pouring into her friend. Through monumental effort, she remained conscious despite the tearing she felt along her entire being. The pain passed a threshold and Alexandra no longer felt it. She realized she had permanently and irreversibly scarred her very soul.

  Then, with her eyes still closed, she felt calmness wash over her. She was at the eye of a storm of her own creation and she felt at peace. Knowing her own death was moments away, she embraced it. She was ready. If she could exchange her life for Erzulie’s, she decided it was a fair trade.

  “I finally understand,” Alexandra said, opening her eyes. “I understand love. You and Koneh taught it to me, and I am thankful.”

  Light returned to Erzulie’s eyes and she blinked. “My... Lex?”

  Alexandra nodded and said, “Shhh, no words now. Everything will be all right.”

  Erzulie’s eyes widened in recognition of Alexandra’s miracle, but the fallen angel was already blurring. The world spun and defocused. She was falling and she realized this was death - that great free fall into everlasting darkness.

  Chapter 5

  Vast oceans of time separated Alexandra from when last she opened her eyes. In many ways, it felt like the first time. Slowly, the world gained its sharpness as she blinked. Her eyelids were too heavy to keep open for more than a few brief moments. She digested the world in snapshots until she mustered the strength to squint and keep her eyelids from descending.

  Erzulie’s face smiled back.

  Before Alexandra could analyze anything about her immediate situation, Erzulie cradled her face and kissed her with a passion that reminded Alexandra of her kiss with Koneh. The fallen angel, however, was anything but tender.

  Then, as abruptly as it began, Eruzlie pushed away, turned her head to the side and frowned.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I was just so relieved to see you awake. I… I’m not sure what came over me.”

  The kiss had a sobering effect on Alexandra and she sat upright. In response to her pounding head, she ran her hand through her hair and rubbed her temple.

  “What happened?” Alexandra asked. “Where are we?”

  Erzulie just stared at her. The angel’s pure white eyes spoke volumes - relief, joy, friendship, love. Something was very different about her.

  “I just-” Erzulie interrupted her own words and embraced Alexandra. “I’m so relieved.”

  Was she crying? With a better handle on her world than a moment ago, Alexandra broke the embrace and wondered at the tears on Erzulie’s face. Her friend had never done that before!

  “What’s going on, Erzul?” Alexandra asked, though she had made some assumptions: she wasn’t dead, a great deal of time had passed and something had drastically changed with Erzulie.

  “Much has transpired,” the fallen angel said.

  Alexandra rubbed her temples. “Please just summarize.”

  Erzulie inhaled and exhaled as if to calm herself. A very human gesture.

  “Well, there’s almost too much to summarize,” Erzulie said as she appeared to struggle with some internal conflict.

  “Just take it from the top,” Alexandra said. “Please.”

  “Of course,” Erzulie said. “Pardon my state. I’m still trying to analyze it all.”

  Alexandra nodded.

  “First, how do you feel?” Erzulie asked. “You were unconscious for over two weeks. I tried my best to keep you hydrated and keep your joints loose.”

  “Two weeks?!” Alexandra said. The number seemed impossible. “Well, that explains the hunger-”

  “Here,” Erzulie said as she passed a bag of trail mix to her. “Eat and listen. Unfortunately, we’re out of water, but we are not far from Brasilia.”

  In between mouthfuls, Alexandra asked, “Brasilia?”

  “I flew all the way from Antarctica, and my wings are so tired,” Erzulie said. Was she cracking a joke? Her face lightened and then fell as she continued her internal conflict. “No, really.”

  Alexandra stopped chewing and examined her friend. She was acting damn strange. “Huh?”

  Erzulie waved her hand. “Never mind. Right. Summary. Okay. Know that I’m still trying to understand all that has happened over the past weeks myself.””

  “Are you okay, Erzul?”

  “Oh yes,” Erzulie said. “Better than ever. Let me explain.”

  “That’s what I’ve been waiting for,” Alexandra said. “What the hell happened to you? To me? Why am I alive? Spit it out already!”

  “Okay.” Erzulie paused to exhale again. “I’m fairly certain you performed a miracle on me, not too dissimilar than what you did for the general, Benjamin and that girl in Brasilia.”

  “A miracle?”

  “Indeed,” Erzulie said, her tone serious. “I’m convinced I now have a soul.”

  Alexandra sprayed half-chewed trail mix into the air. “Come again?”

  “I cannot explain it, but I am changed. I feel things. For you, for myself. Alexandra, I-”

  “Wait just a sec,” Alexandra said, “back up a bit. What happened after Lilev attacked? I remember you dying, Koneh’s voice and not much else.”

  “You he
ard Koneh?” Erzulie’s eyes glistened with tears again.

  Alexandra grasped Erzulie’s face with her hands and said, “Focus! Tell me what-”

  “I love you, Alexandra Contreras,” Erzulie said. “I love you.”

  Taken off-guard by the angel’s words, Alexandra wasn’t prepared for another kiss. Erzulie attacked her lips with the fury of a parted lover. She was relentless!

  “Erzulie!” Alexandra pushed her away again and panted. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m sorry, Lex. Emotions are new to me. I will control myself.”

  “Please try to!” Alexandra eyed the embattled angel and touched her lips. There was a different kind of heat there than when she shared lips with Koneh. Just as sweet, yet somehow even more dangerous. “I think I’m starting to believe you, though.”

  “I promise I will regain control,” Erzulie said. “Okay. Lilev’s demons struck my heart, my core. The next record I have in my memory is of your wonderful face. You told me everything was going to be all right, and I believed you. Not because I was designed to follow orders. I believed you because your face told me so. I believed you because in my heart I knew I was safe in your arms. I believed you because I love-”

  Alexandra stopped her friend by squeezing her hand. “Let’s just stick to the facts, like you said before. So, you feel different?”

  “Oh yes,” Erzulie said emphatically. “And I think I know what happened, if you would allow me to explain.”

  “Facts or assumptions?”

  Erzulie smiled. “A well-founded hypothesis.”

  Feeling somewhat recovered from the meeting of their lips, Alexandra said, “I’m listening.”

  The truth was, Alexandra had more confidence in Erzulie’s hypotheses than most people’s facts. However, she refrained from sharing that praise with the angel, lest they go beyond a kiss.

  “Okay,” Erzulie said. “When Elah created Iblis-”