THE FALL (Rapha Chronicles #1) (The Rapha Chronicles) (15 page)

She responded with a shy smile. When Lucifer smiled back, her knees once again felt unable to support her and she looked away, an intense heat flushing her cheeks.

Glory could feel his eyes searching her.
“I do not want to frighten you.”
His voice was soft and low, a caress that made her lean forward to savor every word.
“I know you believe I am a monster.”

She looked up to negate that statement and the force of his presence made the words lodge in her throat. He was so beautiful and his eyes… oh! His eyes stroked her soul, convincing her no one ever had or ever could understand, as he alone understood, what an amazing creature she was. She could not look away. Possibly, she was not even breathing. All that mattered was the connection between them. That would be her sustenance.

“Give me your hand.”
He held his out to her and she looked at it. His hand was the most exquisite, desirable thing she had ever seen. The skin appeared golden and silky, yet firm and—she discovered she was jealous of that skin because it clothed the perfect hills and valleys that traveled up his arms to his muscular shoulders and across his chest and down to—she gasped. Her eyes had followed her mind with a will of their own. Once more she felt heat rush to her face.

She wanted to look anywhere else but he filled her entire vision and inserted a thought directly to her mind.
“Take my hand and
everything
else is yours.”

“I cannot!” she shrieked and the rest of her body rebelled against the words. “Adam!” Her mouth spoke again though she could hardly recall the owner of that name. “Adam said… I mustn’t.” The words were painful to pronounce.

Lucifer turned away to hide his triumphant smile. So the man had tried to warn her about him? Such efforts were futile. Very soon the war would be won. It was all too easy.

And you, Rapha?
In his mind he taunted the faithful angel whose presence hung about Glory like an evaporating morning mist.
Your efforts are just as foolish. She is a ripe fruit longing to be plucked, and you are powerless to stop me.

How he wanted to laugh and dance! He was drunk on the power of pain from a threefold source: the man’s fear and helplessness, Rapha’s impotence, and, the most satisfying of all, the grief of Adonai! If just being close to his victory brought such satisfaction, surely he would explode when…. He breathed in her desire. It emanated from her, intoxicating and satisfying. He would teach her. He would mold her to his hand. He would open her eyes to wonders she could never imagine. He would delve deep into her soul and draw out every treasure Adonai had buried there. With every discovery, every exquisite pleasure, he would possess her more and more completely. Then the
real
fun would begin.

Do you hear me, Adonai?
His hatred flung the thought toward his Maker.
I will savor her torment because, with every pain, every betrayal, every breath of despair, every time she cries out begging for death, You will
feel
it.”

He glanced toward the radiant, pure young woman. How he was going to enjoy devouring her. And this time he would draw forth sons worthy of him, the perfect army to overthrow Adonai’s dominion!

He looked toward Ra-el, the towering queen of the past age. If
that
could be manipulated from Adonai’s original creation, he could not wait to see the heights that would be attained through humans!

Ra-el flinched and Lucifer reveled in her jealousy.
No matter.
He aimed the hateful thought her way,
your usefulness has passed.
He directed another lust-filled wave toward the girl, whose eyes glazed as her young body trembled.
You have been replaced.

But, he had one more task for his former queen. Ra-el’s powerful will ground against his and her eyes narrowed to slits—she had always been a formidable delight! But with one flick of his thoughts he forced her compliance, and through clenched jaws, Ra-el spoke.

“Woman, the delights in store for you are beyond compare. You were told you would die if you touched Lucifer, but I tell you, you will surely not die but instead will gain understanding. I should know. I would be nothing without him.” The hateful glare from the creature would have slain a lesser being, but it only served to heighten Lucifer’s ecstasy.

With another casual toss of Lucifer’s thoughts, Ra-el’s wings fell once, and she began to rise, her malice boiling in the cauldron of her heart into a poisonous bile. How she longed to strike at him! His delight soared as she rose and flew toward the high wall. The combination of the girl’s desire and the ancient one’s hatred formed a dizzying elixir. All that intensity was aimed
toward him
. Good or bad, as long as he was the focus of their idolatry, he had achieved his goal.

Glory’s eyes were closed as she wandered in a fantastic dream. Lucifer, like a vapor on the wind, appeared behind her. She was his for the taking! His desires were within his grasp! Just one last obstacle to overcome.

“Look at yourself. Open your eyes to what I see in you,”
Lucifer whispered.

The girl sighed with delight at the pleasure of his voice and her eyes were quick to do his bidding. Suspended in the air before her was a sparkling vision of herself, robed and crowned, as all creation groveled at her feet, captivated by her wisdom and beauty. Lucifer stood beside this glorious creature, devouring her with his eyes. But something was missing.

“Adonai,” the girl whispered.

“Adonai has hidden the truth from you.”
Lucifer’s hand was suspended above her head, manipulating her thoughts like puppet strings
. “Where does He dwell when He is not with you? Where do your faithful teachers go every day? Have they ever offered to take you with them? Have they ever offered to
make you one of them
?”

Those words were devastating. Adonai had always been the core of her existence, but was He keeping something from her? With that thought came a rush of anger. Did the heavenly hosts believe she and Adam were not good enough? Did Rapha want to “keep them in their place?”

Lucifer’s voice flowed once more.
“Look around at my handiwork. The horse does not envy the eagle’s flight, the owl possesses the lion’s strength. But Adonai would say they are an abomination.”
When he spoke again it was with a near sob of longing.
“Ah, the plans I have for mankind. They would share celestial glory, would enjoy knowledge of wonders far beyond this earthly realm.

“You are called ‘Glory’ and that is what you will bring to all creation. Your deepest longing is to heal the strife, and end the pain of all the Earth. That is my greatest desire as well. It can be done without forsaking those outside these walls. Our combined power will heal their pain. Join with me. When celestial and earthly are one, there will be no more envy, no more reason for war. The peace of our garden will belong to all.”

Lucifer stepped away with a heartbroken expression,
“My compassion was my undoing. Other celestials were willing to allow mankind to remain ignorant, but I longed to… teach them to fly!”
At that moment the huge, owl-like, horse-sized creature swooped from its perch with a screech, soared low over their heads, then began to circle higher and higher into the deep blue of the cloudless sky.

Glory gazed toward the creature’s graceful arc, her breath coming in sharp, pain-filled gasps. As the longing played across her features, Lucifer reached a hand toward her hair but when his fingers touched the barrier of light a painful jolt threw him backwards. With lightning speed he masked his fury. By the time she turned toward him, he had managed a pitying smile.

“Adonai has even surrounded you in His might to protect you because He knows flesh of the Earth is vulnerable. If you join with me, your body will no longer be weak. You and your offspring would take on invincible, celestial strength.”

He took a step toward her, focusing all his will against that forbidding barrier of light. Sparks flew between them. The tension was fascinating, pure white holding back a fractured array. He laughed,
“Ah well, Adonai insulates His children even when their desires contradict His.”
With a gracious shrug he strolled toward the feast and reached once more for the silver goblets with the shimmering, red liquid.
“We will share a drink. You will agree to ponder my offer and I will try to be patient. It is probably for the best. A decision this momentous should not be rushed.”

Lucifer held a goblet toward Glory. She hesitated, searching his face for one eternal moment. Then she lifted her eyes skyward where the soaring creature was just disappearing into the light of the sun.

With a trembling hand, she reached for the proffered goblet. When her fingers brushed his, a tongue of fire flared from the cup.

The Holy One beside Rapha doubled over with a moan and lost his footing for a moment as a low rumble spread out beneath them.
“The veil is torn. The deceiver will deal the fatal blow.”
With tears flowing down his cheeks, He turned to grasp Rapha by the shoulders.
“Only blood will cleanse his corruption. All creation will groan under his slavery, but Adonai has numbered the years of his dominion.”

His eyes fixed on Rapha with deep compassion.
“Never give up hope, son of light. Adonai will not leave them, or you, comfortless.”

Then he was gone.

Chapter Thirteen

Pain

Glory jumped back and looked around as if expecting something to appear and devour her but the scene around them had not changed. When she raised her stricken eyes to Lucifer she encountered his kind smile.

“Do not fear. You are not dead. In fact, with just one touch from the Morning Star, you are more breathtaking than ever.”

She looked down at her own body and gasped. Her simple garment of light had been transformed into a sparkling prism that scattered beams of multi-hued brilliance.

Fascinated, she held up a hand to study the colorful glow.

“Your Maker misled you because He does not want a thought in your head that does not come from Him.”
Lucifer’s voice was quiet and soothing as he glided behind her and reached for her outstretched hand.
“Look how our hands fit together.”
Her small hand somehow rested perfectly in his.

Adam felt Earth’s tremor and, in panic, looked to the Holy One Whose eyes revealed pain but no surprise as a shower of green leaves began to fall from above, covering the ground with a bright emerald carpet.

“Is this because of Glory? Please, take me to her!”

“To help her, you must abide in me.”

“I cannot sit here and do nothing!”

The Holy One shuddered and his face betrayed a momentary spasm of pain. When he opened his clenched fists, each palm bore a bright, freshly torn wound. As Adam stared, horrified, the man’s entire being became blood-drenched and disfigured, covered in angry welts, rips, and filth. Adam recoiled from the grotesque sight as the man, through swollen, bleeding lips, whispered,
“Go to Glory. But you are not the One who will save her.”

Beside the disfigured man, the lamb bleated and nuzzled the abused hand. Quivering with pain, the man opened his arms and the lamb climbed onto his lap where bright drops of blood began to stain its snowy wool.

With a start, Adam realized he was once more prostrate before a stone wall.

The girl’s eyes were wide as a strangled gasp caught in her throat. Lucifer was behind her, one hand gripping her hair so tightly she could not breathe while his other arm was around her waist, crushing her against his body.

He was hissing words, his breath scorching her ear.
“You are mine. You will never be free of me. I own your past, present and future.”

The words continued but she could not hear them over her own screams as something terrible sliced into her soul.

Fire, ice, and pain.

She was flailing, every ounce of her strength straining to break Lucifer’s ever-tightening grip. His hands burned through skin, through bone and into her core, infiltrating and stripping her soul while his mantra pounded through her being.

“You are mine. You will
never
be free. You are mine. You will never be free.”

Then the pain blazed, consuming her from the inside out. Surely she was dying. Please, if death would stop the pain, let her die! “Adonai!” she screamed, and everything went dark.

The enemy forces doubled and then tripled, yet still they waited, sneering and taunting Rapha and the others who had answered his summons—a pitifully small, war-weary crew.

Rapha tried to focus on the battle around him but, now that the connection to Adam and the young woman’s thoughts had been reestablished, the clarity of their emotions—the sights, smells, even physical sensations—was so intense Rapha felt he was living this horrible scene through their eyes. When he tried to escape, to lessen the connection, it was relentless.

For the second time, Battue, one of his generals, was shaking his shoulder. “Fearsome creatures are erupting from the caves, sir,” his fellow angel’s words continued. But Battue’s voice was a distant shout across a storm-tossed sea of pain. “The walls are breached….” Battue continued his report, but Rapha was frozen by Glory’s horror.

“Aaaah!” Rapha fell to his knees, clutching his head as Lucifer’s intended torture, the relentless image of his triumph, ripped through Rapha’s soul.

Glory opened her eyes to find she was lying on the flat stones of the courtyard. Her body throbbed with pain and her nose was filled with a sickly sweet smell. She was shaking so hard her teeth chattered. She sat up, aching with every movement, realizing her face had been in a puddle of red, that most of her body was stained with it, and that something red was oozing from her, mixing with the liquid of the spilled goblet.

“I am dying,” she whispered.

Despair engulfed her and she collapsed into the cold, unyielding floor.

Cruel laughter echoed around her.
“No my Glory. You are not dying. That is just one of Adonai’s many lies. You are honored above all creation.”

She pulled herself out of the sticky, red goo once again as his voice continued.

“You will bear my offspring, the most magnificent beings that ever have been or will be.”

Glory looked up to the cliffs and trees to the fantastical creatures gazing on her with unblinking eyes. She stood on trembling limbs and moved toward the flowing water with a dazed expression, her teeth still chattering as she tried unsuccessfully to untangle her matted hair.

As Lucifer cackled and cursed Adonai, Glory stumbled into the water and, with trembling hands, began to bathe.

Behind her, a flock of squawking birds descended from the huge, overhanging tree and began pecking at the red-stained stones.

The path was well lit and strewn with blossoms that drifted down from overhanging branches, but Adam could have found her by scent alone. The air was laden with her essence as if the sweetest core of her existence was calling out to him on the breeze.

When he entered the vast chamber he stopped, confounded by the serene scene before him. The girl lounged on a low couch while a magnificent being piled lush fruit onto a gleaming platter. He turned to greet the newcomer with delight.
“Ah! Adam! At last we meet. I, as you have guessed, am Lucifer.”

But Adam could only look at Glory who stared back at him with wounded eyes. “What happened?” Adam demanded, but Glory just looked down so he directed the inquiry to Lucifer.

Lucifer’s eyes gleamed as his gaze caressed the young woman.
“I have simply opened her eyes—to who she is, who she can be, what Adonai has been hiding from both of you.”

Adam strode to place himself between them. “You lie! Adonai hides nothing from us!”

Mocking laughter echoed around him.
“He makes you the caretaker of this entire world, keeps you in a gilded cage, cut off from the depraved state outside your walls, yet you would say He hides nothing!”
Again Lucifer chortled with arrogance while Adam’s face flushed with anger and his shoulders slumped under the weight of Lucifer’s mockery.

In desperation Adam turned to Glory. “Come with me. Leave this place.” He reached for the girl’s hand but the colorful light enshrouding her was a fortress he could not penetrate. To add to his frustration, she did not reach back. Glory just sat there, imploring him to stop as tears ran down her cheeks. Again and again he beat against the barrier but all he accomplished was bloodied knuckles.

“Ahem, if I might be allowed to interject. That’s not going to work.”
Lucifer’s cheerful voice said.
“Glory is now my mate. She belongs to a different realm… mine.”

“No! She is of
my
flesh and bone! She belongs with me!” Adam turned and rushed at Lucifer but his attempts once again proved futile.

Lucifer chuckled as he manipulated Adam’s destructive thoughts. The boy’s panicked mind was especially vulnerable. He would enjoy one more mental stab before progressing to the next phase of his plan.

When Adam peered at the girl through tear-stained eyes, he beheld Lucifer’s mirage. Glory stretched, languid, exposing a tantalizing glimpse of her body through the colorful mist as she directed a private smile toward—Lucifer. The apparent betrayal stoked an inferno of jealous rage. Suddenly, all the anger he had directed toward Adonai and Lucifer was focused with piercing accuracy toward
her
.

Glory blinked with shock. “Adam?”

Lucifer sighed with satisfaction. Toying with his victims before devouring them was one of his greatest pleasures—second only to relishing Adonai’s heartbreak in those moments.

Adam turned his back on the girl and stood to face the enemy. “Exactly what
gift
did you give her?”

“I gave Glory what you could not, what Adonai and that pious tutor
would
not give her. Look around. My way is to lift creation out of the mundane, to teach the earthbound to fly, to make the weak strong. With you, she would bear offspring fit only to grovel through dirt all their days. Adonai would make her a slave, a lowly servant barred from the heavens; but I bridged that gap. Just look at her. Have you ever seen anything more lovely?”

“She… mated with you?” Adam’s voice was a strangled whisper and all color drained from his face.

“Adam! Please! I didn’t mean to. There was this enormous s… serpent and I st… stumbled over it and, and it told me….”

Adam sneered. “Where is this
enormous serpent
?” His eyes took in Lucifer’s magnificent form. “I
see
the serpent that convinced you. I doubt any talking was necessary.”

The girl burst into heartrending sobs. “Please, Adam. Do not hate me. I never meant to hurt you.”

Lucifer watched them, licking his lips with anticipation. The girl’s powers of persuasion were formidable indeed, the desperate eyes, the lovely breasts heaving with sobs, the imploring reach of her hands toward the boy. Lucifer practiced the graceful hand gesture. He’d have to remember that. Well, his work was done. All he had to do was sit back and watch the girl’s performance. The boy didn’t have a chance.

Rapha wept even as they organized the defense. Much more than water and air was corrupted this day. The very seed of mankind was on the verge of ruin. For ages to come earth and light, mortal and immortal, would strive in their flesh.
“Please, Adonai!”
Rapha’s heart cried out,
“Surely You can intervene! Or give me permission to storm the fortress—the boy’s flesh remains uncorrupted but he is caught in the snare. Please!”

But Adonai was silent. There were no words to answer Rapha’s plea—just grief. As evil beings flooded the garden, the angel strove to prepare his forces for attack, but a greater war raged in his heart. He knew Lucifer had allowed his connection to the humans’ thoughts and emotions in order to torment and goad him to intervene. He knew also that to allow emotions to dictate his actions was exactly what Lucifer desired, but his love for the young man and woman defied logic.

There was Michael! The Warring Angel’s presence gave Rapha hope. As enemy forces retreated, muttering, before Michael’s fierce countenance and his accompanying band of heaven’s most fearsome warriors, Rapha rushed to his side. “New orders, sir?”

The pained look of compassion in the chiseled face did not bode well. Michael placed a hand on Rapha’s shoulder, “We come to remove corruption from the garden.”

“But not to prevent it?” Rapha interjected, though the answer was evident in Michael’s face. “If the man and woman are evicted,
I go with them
.” The words burst from his heart but even as they left his tongue, he realized their implication.

Michael’s penetrating gaze held his. “You would bind yourself to their fate?” Astonishment was etched in the ancient eyes. “Adonai warned me that you might choose this path but I could not believe it. He told me, ‘a father would do no less for his children.’”

For one eternal instant the two angels regarded one another, then a hint of a smile lit Michael’s face. “This should make things interesting,” he murmured. “You do know the barrier is removed. To step through that entrance is to join their corruption.” Michael’s eyes searched his face. “Are you sure, brother?”

Words were unnecessary. In that brief moment Rapha and Michael shared their silent farewells amidst the myriad ties and memories they had experienced through the ages since their dawn.

Finally Michael said, “We will make the performance convincing.”

Rapha wanted to throw his arms around the formidable angel and weep with gratitude but he knew they were being watched. Subterfuge was not his specialty but he would do his best.

“I will not leave them!” Rapha wrenched his shoulder from Michael’s grasp. “There is no time to spare!”

He turned to step through the opening but Michael’s massive form barred the way.

“You would
force
obedience?” Rapha shouted, “That has never been Adonai’s way. Or are
you
in charge of heaven now?”

The hoots and catcalls of opposing forces underscored their playacting. Finally, Rapha, with a wink, wielded a flash of power he had never utilized against any but the fallen of their brethren and melted from Michael’s grasp only to reappear at the fortress’s entrance. He noted the grief, mingled with a gleam of respect in Michael’s eyes, which mirrored his own. As he turned away, the mighty warrior’s parting thought filled his mind.