Nathalia felt the other, the moment Eiran brought her back to the mother’s tomb. She could feel the mind, the receptacle for her thoughts and feelings, somewhere in the cavern. We aren’t alone, she warned Eiran. There is another Nephilim here.

He Who is for the One comes here bringing holy women to speak to the Igigi. He is like us and has chosen the path of the light. He is no danger to me, but… Eiran put himself between Nathalia and the other. He managed to effectively hide her body behind his in the hallway that led to the main room.

He greeted the other in the ancient language that Nathalia couldn’t fully understand. Then the other spoke in turn and stunned Nathalia. She knew him. It was the Guardian who served the Voice of the Council. Margaux had been the voice of the Council while Nathalia was Abbess of the Austin, Texas sect. He had been placed with Maeve, once the French woman chose to join the ranks of the holy Capacitors.

I know him. Let me by.

NO. He has come to inform me of a Justice Circle and to deliver you a message from the Igigi, but should not lay eyes on you. He knows that I found…you, but not who you are. He knows you are the First and therefore dangerous to him.

The Guardian began to speak to the air, having been given permission by Eiran. “You are to meet and serve the Council of Esteemed Elders as their representative with all chapters of the Daughters of Women. You are the long awaited First, and embody hope for all of humanity. Keeper of the Betrayers is your mate and will serve as your Guardian. I have been relieved of that duty. Giving you this message and summons is my last act as Guardian to the Representative. They will see you now.”

Having given his speech, he was gone.

You said he was here to give me a message from the Igigi, but he serves the Council.

Eiran walked forward out of the hall, toward the gisig. Not the one that led to the prison, the other door. “Shinar, the Igigi, the Gregori, Watchers, your Council of Esteemed Elders: they are all different names for the same. They have waited for this moment in human evolution since Yhwy broke their law, gave herself a name, and gave birth to our fathers. You are what they have been waiting on. You will right the wrongs of their betrayer by destroying ours.”

Nathalia didn’t have time to question before the next visitor dropped through the ceiling. Eiran was between them before Nathalia blinked. He hid her again, shielding her presence from the other woman.

Nathalia knew it was a woman by her thought patterns. She felt like a woman. But just as Eiran felt like a man but more, so did this one. Eiran had said that Nathalia was the first female Nephilim, but that was exactly how this woman seemed. Supernatural. The superwoman spoke and something in her voice made Nathalia nervous.

“I am no threat to the Mothers. I was tracking He Who is for the One. He has been many months without a lover. He is gone now?”

Eiran answered her, “He is.”

Nathalia crouched behind a stalagmite.

The woman’s voice melted as she moved toward them. “I can see you have been even longer without, He Who is Keeper of the Betrayers. Maybe my visit can be mutually satisfying.”

Nathalia peeked from around her obstruction and could see the woman. Not exactly. She could see the woman’s light. She glowed and gave off light in the ways other people gave off shadows. Her illumination lit up Eiran’s face. He did not look pleased.

“Not this time, Lamashti.”

“Ah, yes, I had heard that you have found your mate, the first of those that will replace us. If it is true, where is this perfect woman? Why is she not caring for you? Can she not feel your hunger, as I can?”

Nathalia caught a brief glimpse of lust from Eiran’s mind before he banished it. He immediately tabalu’d away from Lamashti’s offer and embrace. It left the two women looking at each other.

Nathalia felt at a disadvantage for a split second before Eiran caught her feeling and gave her clothes. She felt the gown grazing her body and it gave her strength. Nathalia stood up to meet the glowing woman.

The women were eye to eye, but Nathalia was taller by quite a bit. Lamashti hovered. The much smaller woman was light skinned and most of her long blonde hair hung to her waist. The rest of her hair flowed up and around her, as if she were under water and the current had hold of it. She glowed, but her eyes shone black.

“Well, well.” Lamashti licked her lips then smiled when Nathalia focused on that moist red tip between pale pink lips. “Perhaps I can tempt her where you resist. Maybe she will give me what I need.”

Lamashti’s body changed. Nathalia watched as the thin woman’s body became more rounded. Her breasts and hips got full, but her waist stayed tiny. She looked very much like Maeve with someone else’s face.

Lamashti looked pleased with Nathalia’s reaction. “Then I have it right?” She gestured to her body. “This is someone you would like to have sex with?” She rubbed her newly reformed body enticingly. “Oh, Keeper, what a poor choice in mate you’ve made. She’ll never replace any Lilitu. She wants my kind, not yours. If your brethren choose as poorly as you, we will never have any reason to worry.” She reached toward Nathalia.

What do I do, Eiran?

What you will, my love. I do not judge.

What exactly were her options? What did Eiran think she would do! She was not about to have sex with a stranger, no matter how lovely and much like Maeve she may look. This thing glowed, for Mother’s sake! Oh, Great Ki, I’m too tired for this right now. Take her away.

Lamashti’s feet fell to meet the ground. They did not stop there. Her ankles, then knees and hips sank into the earth. Lamashti’s face held confusion and ecstasy rolled together. The woman’s waist, elbows, and shoulders went the way of her lower joints.

She was gone. Nathalia and Eiran were alone again.

What in the Mother’s name was that?

“Lamashti is a Lilitu, a child of the light. A Nephilim fell in love with a human woman long ago and, in hopes that she might be his mate, broke the law, fed her his blood and made her darisam baltutu. She lives on prana, like all of our progeny, but cannot take it from the blood nor flesh. If she were to ‘feed’ from a human multiple times, it would surely kill him.”

Lilitu are a race of succubus! They’re real too?

“How did you send her away?” Eiran asked as Nathalia paced the great central room of the Mother’s tomb.

I don’t know. I just wished she would go. I sent her after the Guardian she came here for. Will he feed her?

“Yes, of course. To leave Lilitu unfed would force them to hunt among humans. We have taken vows to protect mankind from all of our creations. Some of our children must be killed, but Lilitu are children of the light and do not burn at Ud’s rays. So we have vowed to provide for them, until…”

Nathalia was getting used to Eiran’s half-finished sentences. Did the one that was here create her?

“It is possible that he was her maker. I do not know.” Eiran seemed to hesitate over some bit of information. “Our names are our most valued secret. To possess that knowledge is to have power over us. Our names can be used against us, to bind and hold us.”

I know your name.

“Yes.” Eiran looked tired, old suddenly, and a little sad.

Eiran, I would never…

“No, of course not.” But she saw in his heart that he knew she would. The Igigi told them all she would come and erase them, good and bad, from the face of the earth. She had just done so. She would destroy even that which the Nephilim could not. Themselves. Their stolen time would soon come to an end.

THEY HAVE wings! Nathalia exclaimed.

The dozen or so nude Guardians stood in a circle around a small building. Some had light hair and some dark, but they were all men of epic proportions. Even so, their wings dwarfed them. Each one had a set attached to their shoulder blades that matched their hair color. They didn’t appear to be made of feathers, like in all church renderings of angels. More like cloth, or canvas.

Or skin.

But you don’t. Nathalia couldn’t take her eyes off them. They were things of legend. Angels and demons all rolled up into one. And they were real. Her life had become a parade of the absurd come to life.

What are they doing?

“This is a Justice Circle.”

Like the one carved on the wall in our mother’s tomb? It’s beautiful, Eiran.

“Yes, my love. It is a sight to behold for all those who have not tasted the blood of a brother. It is quite terrifying to those who have. It means capture, punishment and pain to the betrayers.”

Eiran and Nathalia stood on a small hill some distance from the other Nephilim. They could barely hear the song of justice being sung in that circle. As the two watched, mounds of earth all around the Guardians and throughout the field bubbled up. Like a graveyard scene in a zombie movie, hands and then heads and torsos began to spring out from underground. As soon as light touched their flesh, it set aflame. The decrepit humans began to scream and writhe in what must have been excruciating pain, but they continued to advance toward the Nephilim.

Nathalia looked away. Why does the sunlight burn them?

“They are the Akhkharu’s children. His creations. They have the same strengths and weaknesses as the one who made them. Our blood in its natural state converts sunlight into energy, but when one of us ingests the blood of another the process is corrupted. Ud’s energy is absorbed, but cannot be used, and it consumes their bodies. They provide what their maker hopes to be enough of a distraction to the Nephilim, enough that he might escape his fate. Their pain and the violence of their lives also provide him with added strength as he lays within the structure. The Justice Circle speaks to Ki, their voices and the vibrations of their wings ask Her to hold him once more so that they may bring Ud’s light and justice upon him.”

Nathalia jumped as the building exploded, destroying any shelter the Akhkharu had, leaving him exposed. This was not an angel, nothing like the Akhkharu who’d drank her blood. He stood tall like the others, but twisted. His skin was the wrong color and his hair knotted, sticking out all directions. Ki held his rotten flesh locked in that spot, forcing him to accept the discipline he deserved. The earth grew up around his feet, holding him still as the sun burned him. Talon-like claws scraped the air, searching for something to grab.

He looked up toward Nathalia, noticing her when all other eyes were on him. His eyes glowed red. He snapped his stained teeth at her and then pointed a burning crooked finger her way.

Eiran quickly hid her body behind his camouflage and focused his energy on the betrayer. He pushed at the other’s mind, forcing him to accept punishment but also easing his pain. The Akhkharu’s chest stopped heaving and his shoulders slumped.

Couldn’t he just tabalu away from here to a place that’s dark?

“He cannot go to ground nor tabalu because Ki no longer recognizes him as her child. She will not accept nor protect him. This one betrayed his brethren long ago and Ud’s light will make short work of him. That is why freshly turned Akhkharu are so dangerous and unstoppable. Ki could hold them, as she could hold us all, if she chose, but Ud’s light would not reduce them to ash. It would hurt them, but not enough to destroy them, only enough to give them more strength.”

The Akhkharu died. As he passed from a recognizable shape to a heap, his children dropped to the ground too. The sun and earth would work together and soon there would be no trace of the abominations.

Eiran, Keeper of the Betrayers, attended every Circle but never participated. His duty was to gather the ashes of the fallen brother and carry them back to the prison. He watched over them as their bodies reformed slowly over time and then, when he judged the time was right, he released them back into the world hoping they would choose the path of righteousness. They seldom did. It seemed that a man was either weak or strong in his very core. Even when given a second chance, they mostly chose the same as before. Maybe the arrival of the Sinnis would change that.

Would Ki listen to me if I ask her to hold someone for justice?

“She only answers to the Circle, never a sole Nephilim.” Eiran thought that was to keep one brother from using their common Great Mother against another, but he did not know for certain. She did not explain Herself.

Nathalia closed her eyes. Ki’s soil crept up over Eiran’s ankle and half his calf. It solidified, holding him tight.

Eiran looked at Nathalia with surprise. Ki answered to Nathalia alone. With the weapon made for her to wield, she could obliterate Nephilim and Akhkharu alike. There would be no rejuvenation.

Some would see her as dangerous, some as tempting, some as an escape from this long lonely life. They would want to hurt her, or incite her to hurt them. Neither of those would be pleasant for Nathalia. Eiran intended to keep that from happening. That is why they kept their distance.

“I think that it is more likely, my brother, that you are afraid she might choose one of them instead of you. That is why you try to keep her from us.”

NATHALIA JUMPED at the sound, spinning around to face the voice. Her heart skipped a beat. All the color drained from her cheeks. The man who had feasted on her blood and made a dessert of her bone marrow stood within touching distance.

That face would be etched in her memory forever.

“Come to me.” His voice commanded her. It held a strong compulsion. “I would hold you again, my sweet.” His voice was slightly different than she remembered, but she didn’t think about it for long.

Before she knew what was she was doing, she found herself standing right before him. His arms opened, as if expecting a hug, but her greeting was remarkably less welcoming. He and she both looked down in shock at her hand that pierced his side. She slashed to the left, spilling his guts. Then she pulled it out and stepped back.

When she leaped to him, she unconsciously transformed. She’d pulled the metallic elements in her body and focused them into her hand, changing it to a small dagger. Without planning to, she did what she found impossible when Eiran tried to teach her.

Horrified, she screamed telepathically to Eiran.

Ki released him and he jumped to her, covering her mutated appendage with both hands. Nathalia felt his soothing thoughts even as he changed her hand back to its normal form. Her fingers, her own again, were slick, covered in the other man’s blood. She felt the hunger rise at the sight. She pushed it down but could not keep her incisors from lengthening. She kept her mouth shut so that no one could see.

While Eiran tended to her hand, the man she hurt tabalu’d. He reappeared in the same spot, but without wound. He’d done it so fast that not one drop of his blood hit the ground.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am…” He paused before giving her his name. “Eilam.” Another pause, his eyes locked on hers. She held his gaze and he was the first to blink. “I was wrong to doubt that you were to be feared.” Eilam bowed to Nathalia, but instead of backing away from her, as his words would indicate, he took a step forward. “You are quite tempting and I find myself unable, or perhaps, unwilling to battle my hunger for you. Perhaps that is your strength. We know we should stay away, but are loath to do so.”

Nathalia spoke to him in her way, I would have thought your hunger for me was satiated at our last meeting.

Eiran cleared up the confusion. He said, “Eilam is my brother, as is the Akhkharu that attacked you. They are womb-mates. Two halves of the same.”

Twins?

Yes. This is the one who spoke to you through me when I could not. He is the Guardian of our family line.

Eilam admitted, “I was unaware that you had met my other half. I am sorry you met him first in this life as I am sure to lose favor in your eyes at our likeness. My twin chose the wrong path. I, as second born, took his duty when he abandoned it.”

Nathalia made no acknowledgment that he had spoken, but continued to speak to Eiran. How many brothers do you have?

Just the twins. We are three when most of our kind are the sole offspring. It is both a blessing and a curse.

“I apologize for interrupting your internal conversation, but…my blood.”

It began to run down Nathalia’s hand, forming little droplets at the ends of her fingers. Soon it would drip onto the ground, which Eiran had told her was against the rules.

“I would gladly clean your hand for you, my sweet.” He smiled at Nathalia and she noticed his incisors. He licked his lips as he shared his thoughts of sucking his blood off her fingers.

It was his blood. Do I have to let him, Eiran? She tried not to think about how arousing it had been when his twin brother licked her palm.

Of course not. I can tabalu us and the blood will go back to Ki.

Do it. I don’t want him to touch me. Nathalia shivered, but kept her eyes on Eilam.

As soon as permission was given, Eiran acted on it. He wrapped his arms around her and took them away, reforming them a few steps from Eilam. Nathalia kept her eyes closed, trying not to broadcast her sexual delight to the stranger. Knowing that she found such intense pleasure from tabalu, Eiran tucked her behind his body. Eilam could not see her there and she felt secure. She wrapped her arms around Eiran’s taut stomach, pressing her breasts against his back.

“What’s wrong, Eiran? Afraid she might enjoy the feel of my mouth? Scared of a little competition?” Eilam baited Eiran.

“As always, she commands and I obey. She does not want you to touch her and so I will not allow it.”

“You could not stop me, third-born. She does not wear your mark.”

“Why do you try to anger me? You know I am hers. You were there when she chose me. I gave her my birthmark then. She will wear it again when it is time.”

Nathalia didn’t know what they were talking about. She got a flash of memory: herself wearing a necklace when Eiran said “birthmark,” but she had trouble focusing on anything except her own body after tabalu.

Electrically charged.

Every cell infused with Eiran.

“Maybe she wants to wear another’s mark. Maybe mine or maybe our br—”

A growl coming from deep inside Eiran cut off Eilam’s remarks.

The same sound Nathalia heard from him when she fed for the first time. That shepherd had come out of his stupor for long enough to touch her and, apparently, endanger his own life.

The sound scared and comforted her at the same time. She knew Eiran would never hurt her, but would destroy anyone who tried. The growl signified a line that no man should cross.

When Nathalia opened her eyes, after the joy of tabalu passed, she realized she was protected from view from all angles. Eiran did indeed have wings and they cocooned her, without touching her. He used them to make a little booth for her to stand in. She reached out and fingered one and a shiver went across it. They were indeed made of skin. Soft, sensitive, skin.

How come you never showed them to me before?

Eiran spoke to her in an intimate voice that softly tickled her mind. When you were alive, before, you did not care for my wings. You said they incited devotion when it was undeserved. You said they made men into religious fanatics. Since then, I only appear with them when necessary. I am sorry if they frighten you. I do not want to be worshiped, only loved.

I don’t know if I can love you Eiran, but I certainly owe you devotion, with or without the wings. You saved me from death. Then a thought occurred to her, If Eilam is supposed to be the Guardian of our family line, why didn’t he watch over me? Guard me? Or my parents?

She wasn’t angry at Eilam, just curious why she didn’t illicit protection. Eiran, on the other hand, grew furious. She felt his rage.

He had been betrayed. How had his own brother, this one at least, allowed anything so horrible to befall a woman of their line. This was a woman who could have been, and turned out to be, one of their mates.

“She would like to know, as would I, why you did not protect her from Michael, the man who hurt her and murdered her parents.” He spat out the words.

Eilam stroked his dark beard. “I can see now that she is one of our line, but I knew nothing of her branch in the family tree. I did not know she, nor her mother, existed. There is no record of them in our Great Family Records.” Eilam obviously felt no guilt, only confusion. “Will she not speak to me herself?”

Eiran waited but when Nathalia didn’t, he answered for her. “I see no need for you to become better acquainted with her mind. You should not have a pathway to her thoughts. Our other brother has already forced that on her.”

He did what? Nathalia asked.

He took your blood and now is constantly attempting to contact you, to persuade you to his lifestyle. I have been careful to keep your hair bound in a way to keep him out, as well as garnish that effort with my own strength, but still I feel him there. You already felt him and heard him inside your head. He lurks, waiting until you or I or both of us are weakened. If that happens then it will be difficult for you to distinguish your own thoughts from his.

“Yet you speak to her in our way. You have a pathway to her mind. Why you and not us?” Nathalia heard Eilam’s voice inside her head, What do you think, my sweet? Does my presence please you? Would you like to come out and tabalu with someone new?

Could he do that, Eiran? she asked.

I do not know, my love. It is possible, since we share the same blood, that he could. Is that what you want?

Nathalia answered them both, No, only Eiran is for me.

As soon as she said it, she heard Eiran echo her, I am only for you, Ereshkigal.

They both felt something magical in those words. Her last bit of resistance to him disappeared. She felt it go. She and Eiran were together and nothing could undo it.

“You are Eiran’s true mate and I should have protected you from your parents’ murderer. I am prepared to take your judgment. I am prepared to be the first to meet his end by your instrument of destiny.”

“Eilam, she has not yet found the weapon. We have work to do and then a long flight back.”

Flight? Why don’t we just tabalu back? Nathalia asked from her hiding place. Suddenly very anxious to be alone with Eiran, her heart—and other places—ached for it.

Because we will be transporting a prisoner. Come, we need to go down and collect the ashes before the wind carries them away. Would you like to stay hidden?

Can I? Nathalia asked. I didn’t like the way he looked at me, like a cat at a canary.

The others are likely to look at you the same way. You are the most tempting thing alive. I am sorry; I shouldn’t have brought you here. I just thought you should see a justice circle before you make it obsolete. Here, sit. Eiran adjusted his mammoth wings. One swept around and made a hammock type seat. The other moved to completely block the view of her as she sat. As her bare backside and thighs touched the wing, she thought it might be the softest thing she’d ever felt.

Eiran started walking. Nathalia saw the grass rushing by under her dangling feet. She leaned her head back and looked up to see the bluest sky. Eiran adjusted his wings again so that she could see more of the sky. She chuckled to herself at how silly Eiran must look to everyone else. He was carrying the world’s largest leather backpack. With a woman inside.

She felt him bend down, but, whatever he was doing, Eiran was careful not to jostle her. Why did you use that name before when you spoke to me? When you said you were only for me?

“Ereshkigal was your name when we met. We said those same words to each other on our wedding day. I…it just felt proper to use your old name. I hope it did not upset you, Nathalia.” The tip of his wing curled up and stroked her cheek. She leaned into the caress, even laying a soft kiss on the tender skin. Eiran stiffened.

I’m sorry, was that wrong to do?

“Not at all. It was very right. I would have every kiss you wish to bestow. It is only that a little of you given, forces my thoughts to taking more. I want all of you.” Eiran spun around, shifting her from the hammock. They stood face to face within the privacy his wings created.

His thirsty gaze drank her in. “I have a great need to be alone with you.” He gently brushed a stray hair over her shoulder. His finger traced her collarbone, leaving a warm trail. He leaned in and Nathalia felt his breath on her neck. He wrapped his arms around her, resting them on the curve of her backside, forcing their bodies together.

She hardly knew what she was doing, so filled with sexual tension as she was. The words they had spoken did something. She closed her eyes and angled her head to the side to give him a better angle at her neck. She actually heard his incisors lengthen at her offering. She should have been scared but she wasn’t. Eiran gently scraped that sensitive skin over her pulse with his teeth. Her breath hitched and held. His touch turned her skin inside out, left her nerves completely exposed. She shivered as Eiran laid a soft kiss there where her neck met her shoulder.

He asked, “Are you afraid of heights?”

What an odd question. No. Well, maybe a little. Why?

“Then I would not look down.”

She looked down.

The ground passed under them faster than she thought possible. Then again, she’d been doing a lot of things lately that she never thought possible. She laughed. When you said we had a long flight, I assumed you meant on an airplane. I didn’t think you meant you were “flying” me home.

“We could take a flying machine, but it would take some time to procure. The Igigi have summoned you and they do not like to wait.”

That sobered her quickly.

From what Eiran told her, the Igigi would have answers. The Igigi could explain. Her first thought, after being told that her death quickly approached, had not been that it was too soon to leave the ones she loved but that this world held too many mysteries yet to solve for her to die. She had died, but maybe that was the only way she could decipher the great secrets of the world.