"Shit." Damali closed her eyes. "I wasn't trying to play with his mind, but there was no way I was allowing him to bring out his dark soul hybrids to take over the world."
The pearl again glowed a more mellow pink, and its tone became more philosophical and less judgmental. "This, I know. But as long as he could come to you telepathically, even in a one-way transmission getting your vibrations, he could... well-"
"Don't tell me," Damali muttered. "I get the picture."
"No, you do not have the full understanding of how deeply wounded he was-albeit much of this was his fault for his insistence on taking over the world. However, once you formally married in the Light, there was a sacred disconnection up in the realms from past lovers. Your energy receded from him, as did his ability to gain sen�sory impressions from you here on Earth. It became so maddening for my old friend that he even tried to relieve himself with inanimate ob�jects and-"
"Stop," Damali said, removing the necklace from the water. "Waaaay too much info, Pearl."
"Well, it is true," Zehiradangra said in an amused tone once Damali had submerged it into the water again. "I have known Cain a long time, and I must admit that I was a bit jealous of his... duress brought on by his brief contact with you. However, I also am truth�ful enough to admit that I had heard of the legendary capacity of Neterus to drive anamour insane. Seeing it firsthand was a learn�ing-"
"Pearl, you are dangerously on the edge of going back into the sea. The only thing keeping me from pitching you there at this moment is the fact that six other very precious stones sent by my queens are housed in this necklace. Are we clear?"
A melodic murmur of laughter filtered up to the water's surface, bursting in tingly bubbles against Damali's palm. "Oh, Damali, you tickle me. So modest. Why? You should be very, very flattered."
Damali closed her eyes and groaned. Her oracle was a flower child, if ever she saw one. "Pearl, can we get on to the more important mat�ters, like what's going on in the cosmos?"
"This is all a part of it. Love and war are often combined, at least passion is at the center of both, one is light, one is dark, but this is the extreme of the balance of these energies."
"Please," Damali said, and dropped her head into one hand. She began rocking out of fatigue and frustration. "My head hurts. Be di�rect. What does this have to do with a decision I made about two men?
"Everything," the pearl said in an upbeat tone. "Cain went mad, simply put. He was already teetering on the brink of insanity with his genius, but seven days in mourning for us both, combined with the unrequited physical hunger of a solo apex in Nod, just pushed him over the edge." The pearl sighed. "He is even more brilliant now, and has learned much. But I don't like his new mentor at all."
"And who might that be?" Damali said in a voice that wasn't her own.
"Why, Lilith," the pearl said, not the least bit fazed by Damali's tone. "She is his new lover, now. I don't think the three of us can be friends, as you and I are."
Damali leaned down very, very slowly. "Who?"
"It was awful. Their union wasn't lovely at all, it was more like a mating, beasts with two backs rutting, if you ask me, and I-"
"Where did this happen and when?" Damali crouched down over the pool, now holding the pearl with both hands.
"I knew you would be upset," the pearl said coolly. "You do still have feelings for him, as do I. Oh, Damali, maybe we can get him away from her, I don't know. But it would be just wonderful if upon occasion you made love to him with me there... Don't you think we could share him? He's fantastic in bed. Although, it does make for a bit of a dilemma because your new husband-who is also my friend, by the way, a dear, dear friend-doesn't share. Should I talk to Carlos? He and I came to an accord once that was divine and-"
"Pearl, have you lost your mind?" Damali yelled, shaking her neck�lace with both hands and splashing water all around. She wasn't sure which part of what Zehiradangra had said flipped her out the most. Most likely all of it.
"Yes, yes, I know," Zehiradangra said calmly. "Carlos is enough to handle alone without adding Cain's prowess into the equation. You would need a lot of rest and-"
"Z, talk to me aboutLilith !"
"Oh... her," the pearl said, her tone still nonchalant. "She's only temporary, because he could not stand another day in his condition. But he is planning to come to see you. He needs you in the worst way. I believe he has become obsessed."
"From where?" Damali screamed at the submerged pearl, her face hot with sudden rage.
"From Hell," Zehiradangra murmured calmly. "Do not worry. Af�ter he sat in his father's throne and he satisfied himself with her body, I most clearly received the impression that he was simply resting to summon the strength to come for the real object of his desire-you. But he did have a nice family reunion, and I was oddly happy for him. His grandfather received him well and-"
"What!" Damali was on her feet, stumbling around in a circle be�fore she realized that she had taken the pearl out of the water. She dropped to her knees quickly, her mind frantic, and dunked the pearl back under the surface. "Oh, Jesus, Pearl, are you sure? You saw all that? Positive? You have to be very, very clear about what you're telling me."
"Now, Damali," the pearl cooed, and then made a little tsking sound. "Why would I tell you something false about my dear friend? I make no judgment about the choices any of my friends make, and only disclose what I see them do. Cain and I have shared many trysts, much energy, and wonderful dialogue and debates. I am a part of his psyche in energy ether form... well, at least the Light-bearing side of him. But he is getting dimmer to me now, which makes me sad." The pearl dropped its voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Back in the old days before all sensation was lost, he and I even shared the full color spectrum embedded in glorious sound. I am very connected to his sexual side, too. But if he keeps up his liaison with this very dark female entity, soon all threads of Light to his core will disintegrate, and I will lose my connection to him."
Before Damali could ask another question, the pearl began to cry. "Oh, Damali, don't let my friend leave me like that. His mind used to be sterling silver. His passion, white hot metals. Exquisite! I cannot bear such a loss. Can't you have just a brief little affair with him for me, to infuse him with what he is about to cast away? For me? He so adores you, and has already tasted your blood, I know-"
"Pearl, you have to pull it together," Damali said, panicking, her mind locking in on the last thing the pearl said. Cain had tasted her blood. "He bit me before, and now all of a sudden, Carlos is acting weird and so is his old line brother, Jose. Carlos bit me after Cain did. What's the connection, because Carlos never bit me like that in his life or death, soooo-"
"They're all connected," the pearl said, sniffing. "I don't understand what this has to do with the real problem at hand. Cain and Carlos had the same father, Dante. Cain was made from seed, Carlos from Dante's bite, but there is a link, just like all the ones that came from the same line-like Jose, who is more like a distant cousin-are related."
The thoughts were whirling through Damali's head so fast she was seeing double as she stared at the pearl. Adrenaline was spiking in her system at record levels, making her limbs shake.