Whispers at Witching Hour

Chapter 96

Musical inspiration: Love The Way You Lie – Skylar Grey (Live on the Honda Stage at The Peppermint Club)

Aware of what her sister would do to her if she found out, Hilda could not do any different than tell Lilith about Lucifer. She had a right to know, to prepare and arrange protection – she knew him best after all.

The student who had been assigned the duty of watching Lilith until she could be trusted with the baby alone came out and told her Lilith was up again and behaving normal as far as she could tell. Hilda thanked the girl and went to see for herself.

Apart from the room being a mess, she walked in on a heartwarmingly peaceful scene of a calm Lilith holding her baby in her arms. It made her think twice about if she should destroy the blissful moment, but it could not be helped. Lucifer was a threat, even if her sister was convinced it was not the case due to their familial relations and the fact, they were on the same side now with the whole cosmic dread thing.

Zelda was sure, since Sabrina was his daughter and she was her aunt, that the family protection would also include Lilith as her fiancé. But Hilda had doubts and was wary of the king of hell, especially regarding Lilith, since they had history that went way back.

Hilda hated every second of it. Watching Lilith's relaxed, warmly glowing face fall, her eyes losing their focus again, the smile fade into nothing. Poor thing, Hilda thought, imagining all the things she must have gone through with Lucifer to cause such a reaction.

Her first impulse was to just get her out of there as soon as possible, she would handle Zelda later, because something in Lilith's reaction got her scared as well. But then the demoness stopped her.

"No. I can't keep running, Hilda. I must face him, talk to him."

She would have expected many things, but not that and she was unsure if she liked the idea or not. On the one hand, she admired Lilith for her bravery and sensibleness, on the other hand she feared for her life both on her own side and Zelda's.

Lilith handed her baby Adam, told her to hide him and it was then she knew the demoness was of clear mind and determination. Hilda had faith in her abilities and intelligence, but her heart was heavy anyway. She wished she could support her more than just by hiding her son.

"Are you really sure?"

"Yes."

Hilda teared up, ready to cry the tears Lilith would have to bite back. It made her realise how much she had let the demoness into her heart; from the very beginning and especially since she had been living with them. She was family and Hilda wanted nothing more than to protect her. And yet, she could not stand against Lucifer, only Lilith was strong enough to do it when not even her sister was.

~

Lilith brushed some strands of hair out of her face, squaring her shoulders to trick mind into making her feel strong and confident when even thinking about him entering the room made her knees go weak.

How could he even be here? She had renewed her chants diligently, always at the required times. Had she missed one? Was this all her fault? And then Zelda – She had sworn to protect them, yet she was not here. In general, she had seemed to care little about the threats she had been busy keeping out. Jealousy. No, she could not trust Zelda with this, she was on her own. But she was a proud mother, and she would fight for her child.

Lucifer and Caliban entered the room, their gazes met, both burning with hellfire of opposite intention but from one shared origin: their son. His mere presence vaporised half her dignity – at least that was what it felt like to her. Small, weak, dispensable Lilith, who needed her saviour to give her life value. It was him who had graciously spared her life, even now. So he must care, must think of her as worthy of something, even if it was just oxygen.

"So this is where you've been keeping yourself, Lilith. A temple of Hecate."

No hello, no etiquette, just mockery without much effort. She chose a calm demeanour, knowing it would enrage him even more.

"Oh, she was the goddess of witches, and I was the first witch."

"And our newly born son? Where is he?", he inquired, unimpressed.

"Spirited away where you'll never find him."

"Lilith", the way he said her name made her swallow thickly, "This is not a fairy tale. When I leave this realm, I will be taking my son."

His face was hard as stone, his voice a ghostly hand around her throat, ready to squeeze. This power play was too familiar, almost a standard procedure, even a little thrilling. She played along and decided to drag the clay prince into the game.

"Caliban sent two kings to kill me. Didn't you, Caliban?"

"The wench lies", Caliban retorted superiorly.

"I couldn't care less...", Lucifer hissed through gritted teeth at Caliban, then turned to Lilith, "...About you."

He had chosen his words with intent, knew what it did to her. No threat, no insult could ever have been worse than being devalued. If not even the evillest creature to ever exist was able to care about her, love her, then how could anyone else ever do so? How could she even exist without his approval?

"I promised you death should you betray me. I should kill you now. But I won't make you a martyr to our son."

As frightened as she was for her son, something deep within her had missed the constant roller coaster of power play; from the high of his promises to the lows of his death threats and humiliations. That was what she knew and what she felt comfortable with in contrast to the insecurity she often felt with Zelda and her gentle devotion; always on the lookout for ulterior motives.

"A son needs his mother."

Lucifer only laughed, the sound reflecting his indifference perfectly and painfully.

"How absurd you are! As Romulus and Remus suckled on the teat of a wolf, so our son shall suckle on the teat of a hell hound. Toughen him up and all that."

It was so easy for him to give her hope and take everything she had in her life away as if it was – meant – nothing. And the worst was he acted as if it were his right, as if she were his possession, his little plaything. And she was, to some extent – willingly so. The things she did just to feel loved and wanted, for any kind of attention.

"And he'll have his father to teach him how to be king. Retrieve him. Make sure he's ready for his trip to Pandemonium. You have six last hours to spend with Adam. Enjoy them."

As soon as the door fell shut behind them, she sunk into herself, nothing left of the straight posture she had built up. Just a numb, hopeless, pitiful creature with nowhere to go from here.