Shadow of the Apocalypse Read online

  She nodded, “Yes. The basics anyway.”

  Jacob nodded, “Well Samael truly hates and wanted to destroy humanity. Yet, he was beautiful, and powerful, despite his fall, with a honeyed tongue and far more powers to beguile than all the supernatural races combined. As legend has it, after getting humanity ejected from paradise, he still wasn’t satisfied. He wanted them completely destroyed. He went out and found Lilith who was living apart. He found her filled with pride and anger at what had been done to her, and he set off to seduce her with promises of untold pleasure, power, revenge, and everlasting life.”

  Ugh, was this the wife of Satan bit? Was that the grain of truth?

  “What happened?” she asked in a hollow voice.

  Jacob frowned, “It’s why Emil was calling you mother. I told you Samael was the father of the soul eater race, I just… left out who the mother was.”

  She bit her lip, and fought off a wave of disgust, dizziness, and denial.

  “Is that true?”

  Jacob sighed, “In part at least, you were Samael’s lover for years. That much we’re sure of, we just aren’t sure about all the little details of the story, how it happened. For all we know, Samael had you enthralled and mind controlled the whole time. Point is, the soul eater race was born. Some legends say you joined them in feeding and terrorizing mankind, as a part of your revenge for being ejected from the paradise of Eden. I don’t think that’s true at all, but the point is I don’t know, and people change. I also think if it was true, we would see evidence of it in your life force, in your soul, and while there is some darkness your soul still shines, and it’s far from completely shadowed.

  “This is where we leave human legends behind, and we talk about our legends. Samael was pleased, but it still wasn’t enough. The human population was being fed on and corrupted by his children, but they also flourished. That’s when the second supernatural race was created, the warlocks were born. They sacrificed humans for power, wielded the fire of hell, summoned demons, enslaved humans, made Faustian deals, and otherwise brought hell to earth. That race was intimately connected to Samael, unlike the soul eaters, and he could work through that connection whenever they did warlock magic and further corrupt them.”

  He paused for a minute, to gather his thoughts.

  “Things were a lot worse at that point, and humanity was headed for complete destruction. All we know for sure is that’s when Uriel got involved, either at God’s urging, or on his own depending on what legend you want to believe. He was incensed at his brother Samael’s corrupting and destructive influence on humanity. He taught the humans how to fight back, the signs to look for to identify a warlock. Warlocks are very powerful, perhaps the strongest and most corrupt of the four supernatural races, but humans are clever, and warlocks were vulnerable to normal weapons. A dagger in the dead of night while they slept was all it took.

  “The humans Uriel commanded were very effective, it’s also one of the reasons to this day keeping the secret is so important. They outnumber us, and they wouldn’t just hunt the evil ones. Point is, Samael’s plan of destruction started to fall apart at that point, and he hid from his brother lest he be tossed into the lake of fire and imprisoned in hell for his crimes which made their side far less effective. He ordered his soul eaters and warlocks to find the human hunters, but they failed in that mission. Uriel kept them hidden, perhaps simply by impressing the importance of secrecy.

  “That’s when Samael decided to create the third race, merely to solve that problem in his war against mankind, and he impregnated you with the first witch. Unlike the warlocks, the witches’ power would be rooted in the life of this world. The life-web. He believed the witches would be able to seek out and find the human army that was destroying his warlocks faster than they could be born.

  “By legend, he also hooked in his own influence, the same way he could control and corrupt the warlocks. Except, it was at that point Uriel found him. They fought, and Samael fled in anger. Uriel also by legend, took you in, and severed the corrupting connection to Samael in your unborn child. In essence, Uriel changed the witch race in that moment, and gave them the same free choice of humans. Afterwards, he hid you away.”

  She was mostly in shock, she was the mother of the three demonic supernatural races?

  Jacob shrugged, “A lot of different speculation from here, that he tamed you, or converted you, or some say you were freed from the enthralling influence of Samael and were horrified and repented of what you’d done under his influence. Knowing you like I do Lily, I’d have to subscribe to that last point of view. It’s also said you fell in love with Uriel, and he with you. The human hunters were good, and even better when the witches started to multiply, and helped find the soul eaters and warlocks to be destroyed. Of course, some witches were corrupted anyway, and chose the other side. Human nature, as ever, includes free will, good and evil.

  “It was clear at that point though, that humans weren’t strong enough to get the job done, so Uriel took a page from his fallen brother’s playbook. There’s a lot of speculation about your and Uriel’s relationship, and what led to that decision, but ultimately you two joined several hundred years after your rescue, and the first shifter was born. A replacement, a more powerful and supernatural race to counter the two evil ones born of Samael, and to keep an eye on the third neutral one.”

  She shook her head, “How can that be possible?”

  Jacob said gently, “In that part at least, there is no doubt the legends are true. It’s why you have all four sets of powers, and it’s why you’re the only one who does. It was necessary to imbue those powers in you, because of the blood sharing part of things. Samael imbued the first three, and Uriel the fourth.

  “Although I don’t entirely understand why that is, no one argues about that part, or doubts it. The witches understand it. In truth, even the legends about you sharing blood are in conflict. It’s possible Emil would have died painfully if he had managed to take in your blood.”

  He looked at her carefully, “It’s also a sure thing, that the first team of shifters with a witch was created by you and Uriel, and you fought fiercely on their side. Some say you were horrified at being enthralled, and you did it out of vengeance and spite for Samael, others say your heart led you to protect humanity, and forgive the insult of being rejected and ejected from the garden. Legends are all straight forward, and usually worded to create a political or moral point, real life is far messier than that. Only you can tell us what truly happened, but there is no doubt at all that you are the mother of all four supernatural races, through both Samael and then Uriel.”

  She frowned, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear anymore, but there was one thing she had to know.

  “How did I get buried alive?”

  He sighed, “You were extremely effective and successful at forming teams, which pissed off Samael. In a way, you are the founder of our very society’s structure as shifters. According to legend, or oral history, your team was tracked down by Samael himself, and he killed the whole team in revenge for your betrayal, including you. I can only guess at the truth, that he killed all the others, and then entombed you in revenge to make you suffer. It’s why I wasn’t quite sure what you were when we met, none of us had any idea you were locked away deep in the earth below dirt and stone. He obviously never intended for you to get out, considering he buried you in America, and mankind hadn’t moved out of the middle east yet. It was shortly after that, when Uriel finally caught up with him and banished him back to hell for his crimes. With his fallen brother gone, and balance achieved, he had no choice but to return to God’s side in the heavens.”

  She shook her head. Could that possibly be her?

  Jacob’s eyes seemed to soften, “Lily. Most of that might be bunk, until you get your memories back we won’t know what’s true, and more importantly we won’t know the motivations, reasons, or anything like that. You are a stubbornly giving woman, an incredibly fighter, and I know you’re
a good person. The past is the past, and it won’t change that truth. No matter what it is.”

  She wished she could believe that, she wanted too. Still, she wondered. Whatever the truth, her life had obviously been a mess and trial from day one. The idea that it was massacring those humans that was the final straw in that litany of horrific things, gave her a little hope she hadn’t been evil in the past. But then, he’d said it earlier, people change. She imagined spending two centuries with an arch-angel would leave an impression.

  She hadn’t realized just how long she’d been staring at the wall over Jacob’s shoulder in a daze, until he cleared his throat. She looked back at his eyes, and saw compassion, strength, and a burning passion in his gaze that he failed to bank. Damn, she really needed those memories. She also wondered if her own legends were a part of the reason he was keeping her at arm’s length, but she couldn’t really imagine Jacob being intimidated by anything. As absurd as it was, she decided he was just worried she’d change her mind when she got her memories back. He was afraid to date, and maybe fall in love with a woman that didn’t really exist.

  “Bed. We’ll talk more again if you have questions about specifics, but like I said I’ve already told you everything I’m sure of, and a lot of it was already speculation and hardly true history.”

  She tilted her head, “Bed?”

  She immediately regretted the flirty challenging tone of her voice, but it’d been a reflex she hadn’t suppressed, because her mind was in turmoil. He was right about one thing, she was stubborn and hardly shy about expressing herself, but she still felt bad because there was a wall between them for now. Still, it had felt good to let her flirty side peek out for once, natural. She only suppressed it most of the time because she wasn’t a tease, and they were stuck circling each other for now.

  She felt guilty, as she picked up his surge of lust and need for her. It was almost like they were dating, just without the physical fun parts. It almost seemed stupid to her, did he think it wouldn’t hurt if she changed her mind and rejected him, just because they weren’t twisting the sheets? Then again, she was partially glad for his restraint as well, her morals as she was now, wouldn’t let her sleep with someone lightly, no matter how frustrating it was not to.

  She cleared her throat, “Good idea. Good night, Jacob.”

  She tried to thank him for telling her the legends, but the words stuck in her throat. Her mind was a whirlwind of emotions, legends, and a few terrifying facts that kept circling each other. She was the first woman to walk the earth, and apparently the mother of supernatural races, a fallen angel’s ex-mate, and an archangel’s ex-lover.

  She didn’t even know where to start with all that, as she trudged up to her room. The after excitement and fun of the night dancing and drinking was completely gone.

  Her mind was numb as she grabbed a t-shirt, stretchy shorts, and went to take a quick shower to get the scents of the club, the people, and the alcohol off before going to sleep. The hot water felt good, and she let it relax her muscles, but it didn’t help with the stress all that much as it usually did.

  She stared at the ceiling a long time, before slumber claimed her.

  Chapter Three

  Cinna’s peals of laughter made her smile, as she looked down at Meri’s incredulous face.

  Meri accused, “That’s cheating.”

  She giggled.

  It was the next morning, she was doing a lot better than the shock of last night, but mostly because she’d been refusing to think about the fact it was her fault humans were hunted by evil. She knew life wasn’t that simple, but it hadn’t taken her long to reach that conclusion and recoil from it.

  She and Meri had been sparring as usual in the morning, while Cinna tried to mess up her concentration or make her freeze from the sidelines with compulsion. She didn’t really have trouble with the latter, Cinna had taken her by surprise at times, but now that she was aware of what her abilities were and could partially direct them, shifting her instincts to the right animal to fight that kind of thing off was almost too easy.

  She wouldn’t get overconfident, she could be tricked or ambushed, but she seriously doubted any soul eater could take her in a straight fight.

  Point was, her and Meri had been going all out, trying to take each other down. Grappling, punches, kicks, dodges, it had gone on and on for about ten minutes straight without either of them getting a strike in. At least, a definitive strike. It was obvious they were both accustomed to the other’s style by then, and very well matched that way. Finally, she’d shifted a long whipping tail that tripped Meri just to end it. Of course, that was cheating, they couldn’t do that sort of thing in front of humans without outing themselves, so they generally stuck to shifting that couldn’t be seen. Like strength and speed enhancements of the human body.

  She said, “Yeah. We need to spar with the men I think, or at least trade off a lot more, we’re getting too used to each other’s styles.”

  Not that there was anything wrong with that, they’d still be practicing and keeping sharp at the top of their game, but it was a little boring. It also wasn’t lost on her that Jacob and her hadn’t sparred at all past that first time, for obvious reasons. She kind of got the idea that them sparring would feel more like foreplay than training. Still, that left Carl and Jace for her to square off with, not to mention Cinna herself.

  Cinna finally got control of herself.

  “Oh, that was too funny, you should’ve seen your face when Lily wrapped her tail around your ankle and pulled.”

  Meri scowled at Cinna, as Lily helped her up to her feet as she reabsorbed the tail.

  Allison giggled, and then blushed when Meri glared at her.

  Allison had joined her morning spar session as well, because fighting physically and fending off emotions with instinctive shifts while she sent emotional attacks back at Cinna in kind wasn’t enough for her to be doing at once. Allison was hitting her with random spells, while she swallowed them whole. Eating spells for a soul eater was kind of tasty, and it gave her a little rush of energy through her body every time.

  Of course, she could have just blocked it with her hollow sphere shield on the web, or simply tightened her aura to block spells in the real world. With those shields up it would be no effort and take no thought at all. She would and did do that in the field of course, but when a witch casted in the real world it made her vulnerable for a split second. She had two defenses against a witch’s magic, the soul eater defense against a witch would guard her in those moments, if she practiced and was used to needing to eat spells before they took effect. It had seemed prudent to practice that backup method.

  The most shocking thing about it was her learning curve was very shallow, and it all felt surprisingly natural and easy. Not simple, and not without great concentration and effort, but clearly the experience from her suppressed memories gave her an advantage in relearning it. With the exception of actual spells of course, since for a witch knowledge was power, and her instincts didn’t mean all that much in that one area.

  Meri shrugged, “We could do that, or maybe some free for all, fighting in teams and then one against two. Still, the workouts aren’t a waste, even if we both find it hard to get an edge on each other.”

  She smiled, “I know, I was just frustrated I couldn’t get you on your ass.”

  Meri smirked.

  In truth, she had a reserve of speed from her soul eater side she didn’t use in practice. It just seemed dumb not to train on an equal footing, then she could bring it all to bear in the field when life and death was on the line.

  She was a bit shocked, by the power and ferocity of the protective feelings she felt toward all the others at that thought. It was also tinged with affection, and in everyone but Jacob’s case, the love for family.

  Cinna tilted her head with a sneaky smile, “Now.”

  Meri lunged forward and Lily’s block and dodge was way too slow, Meri’s palm nailed her chest, and she went flying b
ack on her ass.

  Cinna broke down in more giggles, and it was Lily’s turn to glare at the lovely soul eater.

  She’d been feeling protective of the others, more so as she got to know them and this new life. She’d gotten the feeling before, as if she was responsible for them and not the other way around, last night’s revelations had kind of explained that to her. Cinna had obviously read that and played off it, then upped those feelings with her own broadcast. Sneaky, but it had totally worked. Yeah, with her team around, she wasn’t overly worried about overconfidence. It wasn’t often Cinna did that anymore, at all. Mostly it was easy to fend the sneaky woman off, except when she stupidly let her guard down.

  Meri smirked, “You alright?”

  “Just fine,” she said tightly, as she twisted her whole body and spun to her feet.

  She ate Allison’s itch spell as she rushed Meri, and once again they danced, dodged, and worked on taking each other down. Training wasn’t boring, and the four of them even had some fun doing it. They were family, and she did care for them, that’s what had made Cinna’s attack so damned effective.

  The fun and training were also a hell of a distraction from last night’s revelations…

  She felt relaxed and limber, and her muscles felt a slight burn under the hot water of the shower. It was probably a good thing that shifters loved to fight and train, even felt joy and pleasure in it, otherwise this new life would have sucked because that was a big part of it. Before her powers had come back, she’d attacked her workouts and physical recovery with a stubborn ferocity until she could walk again and rejoin the world, but it had been a hellish ordeal.

  She finished up her shower, and threw on a pair of black jeans, and a light red sweater that clung to her restored curves. She supposed that was one good thing, she loved how she looked, both the soft beauty of her face, and her curvy athletic body. She also supposed that was no surprise, she was a shifter, which pretty much meant she looked like what she wanted to look like, within reason. She left her slightly damp light reddish brown hair to dry, after brushing it out, and then headed down to the lounge.