Whispers at Witching Hour

Chapter 71

Musical inspiration: Stay – Rhianna ft. Mikky Ekko

Lilith could literally see the light in Zelda's eyes die down and turn to shadow as her witch removed her hands from the demoness, smoothed her skirt, got up and walked away silently. Without even stopping for it, she fetched her drink and emptied it in one go before heading to the other side of the room to come to a halt in front of the window.

Lilith just sat there in her puddle of regret and shame (and arousal), watching Zelda process her words. The carefree lightness that had surrounded them was replaced with thick tension dreading to suffocate them both.

It took quite some time for Zelda to break the silence with a simple, cold, "Who?"

"Lucifer." Lilith moved from her knees to sit on her bottom, leaning against the backrest she had just been fucked on, now defeated, and scared of losing the love of her life.

More unbearably long minutes passed, the heaviness growing in Lilith's chest, knowing there was nothing she could say or do to resolve the situation. How this would play out for them depended entirely on Zelda.

"Lucifer", the redhead repeated to herself with a scoff that faded into a thin whimper, "Lucifer was trapped in Fau...", she took a deep breath, "In Faustus' body. I don't even want to ask you if you did this, because I know the answer and I'm not sure I want to hear it."

Lilith brushed some hair out of her face and looked at the fire, pursing her lips as the flames slowly went out. Only the faint glow of the embers remained when darkness ascended upon them. Zelda did not react to it at all, watching the night outside.

The demoness bit her lip as she tried to save what was left. "I had no choice, Zee. I tried to hide after you threw me out, but he found me, and I'd be dead if I hadn't...", she sighed, knowing there would never be absolution for what she had done, "If it comforts you he wanted to kill me anyway at first."

"Comfort?", she looked at her over her shoulder, "Lilith, I love you", and gone was her beautiful face again, shaking her head, "It almost sounds as if it was my fault you fucked my... rapist because I sent you away."

The images in her head of Lilith and him disturbed her deeply and she could not shake them off no matter how hard she tried. Zelda had made a promise to herself to never let him control her life again, to take what she wanted, especially Lilith, but now... How was she supposed to get over this?

She felt his grip on her again; lurking, menacing, waiting for the right time to strike her down for one last time. And it started to feel as if he already did in this moment.

"No, I never said that... It was just... An unfortunate necessity", Lilith tried to explain, shifting her glare back at Zelda's moonlit body. A few candles were still burning, giving at least a small touch of warmth to the gloomy atmosphere.

"And I didn't treat him all nicely, if it helps. In fact, I broke his dick." She wanted to lighten the mood a bit and ease some of the tension between them but then Lilith noticed Zelda was trembling all over.

She had her back still turned towards her, so she did not notice immediately but now she picked up on the increasing pace of the redhead's breathing, and stopped thinking about what she wanted to say. For a moment, she hesitated, unsure of where Zelda's boundaries were now but the sight of her love being pulled into fear she could not stand. Especially not when it was because of her.

Lilith quietly rose from the ground and took slow steps toward Zelda. The closer she came, the more visible it became to her what was going on, pulling on her heartstrings until they snapped back painfully like a rubber band.

With the utmost care, she slid her arms softly around Zelda's waist, closing them on her tummy and pulling her body back against her. Cheek against neck, shoulders against shoulders, chest against back. Every eruption of Zelda's rapid breaths shuddered through her own body, dissipating them onto herself.

When the attack reached its peak, Lilith moved one hand up and started tapping Zelda's chest again with a flat hand like she had done that one night in the bathroom. Slow and steady taps, her free arm wrapping closely around her waist and soon Zelda let her head fall back on Lilith's shoulder, closing her eyes as she tried to work through it together with her other half as best as she could.

As much as Lilith hated Zelda struggling, she loved being allowed to hold her and help her because she knew exactly, she was the only one with this privilege. She was allowed in like no one else was and that was a gift of pure trust. It gave her hope things were not as bad as they seemed.

"I've got you, Zee", Lilith whispered as Zelda was slowly coming down and she removed her hand from her chest to take Zelda's, planting a loving kiss on the back of it.

She guided Zelda over to the chair and sat her down with her feet up before relighting the fire. Zelda pressed her palm on her forehead fatigued by what her body had put her through. Lilith sat down on the stool and put Zelda's feet in her lap, brushing her ankles absentmindedly while searching the witch's face for any hint of what would happen next – to them.

"So, you're carrying Lucifer's child?", Zelda reiterated after some time.

"As my life insurance, yes."

"And what about when it's born? How are we supposed to manage raising it?"

Lilith frowned thinking she must have misheard. "We?"

Zelda sighed and let her hand fall down, elbow on the armrest. "Well of course we. It's not quite how I had imagined building a family with you, but it'll have to do."

"You've thought about us having a family together?" Lilith's heart melted like sickeningly sweet honey pouring from the combs, putting a tear in her eye.

Zelda nodded without looking at her. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you for this, but I'm willing to forget – with time. You still broke my heart."

"I know... But... See, this might solve one of our more pressing issues... After we dug the hole of the prophecy deeper with 'patience' and now 'heartbreak' we may not have to worry about 'forgiveness'...", Lilith noted, deep in her thoughts. She would never forgive herself either.

"I can't believe how blindly we're rushing through these steps. We try to fight it, but it always finds its way back to us. We're losing a battle we haven't even started fighting", Zelda scoffed.

"That's what I told you when you asked me why I was so calm about it. I simply knew there was nothing to be done. Though, I can't fathom how you can still want to be with me with this mess I've caused..."

Zelda bit the inside of her cheek and watched the warming flames now dancing calmly.

"Lily, I've just come back from the dead and I don't want to waste any more time not being with the people I love. The moment I dropped to the floor, I realised how much I want this, us, and how little our silly fights matter. Which doesn't mean we can just go on like this."

Lilith rose from her seating and carefully let Zelda's feet back on the stool before coming to stand in front of her witch. She cupped her cheek in her palm, establishing eye-contact.

"We'll make it work Zelds, I promise. Somehow", she bent down to put a kiss on Zelda's forehead, "I've got to go now, prepare for your niece' coronation. I'll be back as often as I can with Lucifer lurking on my back."

"But Lilith! I thought you'd stay with me!"

"I can't my love. It's out of my hands."

Lilith walked into the middle of the room to have some space for the transportation. It all happened so quickly; Zelda could not form the words of objection fast enough.

"Love you, Zee." Black smoke emerged from the ground, spinning around Lilith.

"Wait!", Zelda whisper-screamed, her voice giving up on her, "I need you tonight."

But Lilith was already gone, her words travelling into nowhere. All this talk about fixing everything and now she was leaving her on her own, a total mess, after a horrendous day when she had explicitly asked her to stay. It hurt. A lot.