"And I would besterile," Cain snapped, his eyes slits of glowing black rage. "My opportunity to sire the greatest of our kind through the vessel that carries the genetic lineage of what would become a fallen Powers Angel would be lost, you foolish, shortsighted bitch!"
"But there isno conception on the planet, sir," Lilith said through her teeth in Dananu. "Until you die so that your soul finally parts from Eve's, the point of siring is moot!"
"Your Eminence," Nuit said in a controlled tone in Dananu, "we must be able to feed our troops that are gathering in all realms. From your foray with the Neteru it is clear that we need the combined allied forces of the were-demons, vampires, and the Amanthras, as well as en�tities residing on Levels One and Two, to break the backs of our ene�mies. Your hundred-and-fifty-man battalion was wiped out on a beach in La Paz, true?" Nuit sighed and studied his manicure. "Therefore, ac�cepting your true greatness as a full-blooded vampire may be the only feasible solution. Our troops would be fed, as the humans replace them�selves after our battles. We would have our victory. And when the fe�male goes into season again as a Neteru, you would still be able to-"
"No!" Cain shouted. "She may have severed my tail, but I will not allow her to neuter me!"
"Your self-loathing sickens me," Lilith hissed in Dananu. "You claim to embrace your father's parentage, the dark side of what you are-death, a demon, the vampire of all vampires, yet you still cling to the side of the living."
"Why don't you ask my grandfather the same question... an en�tity that is not dead, but whom exists in an amorphous state between the living and the dead, able to sire at will by seed, and who also pos�sesses all the dark power of this realm." Cain glared at Lilith, breath�ing hard when she couldn't immediately respond. "Eve shall recover in time, as will I," he said in snarling Dananu. "Once I do, we can have this conversation again... in a way that I'm sure you will re-gret.
Lilith lifted her chin. "If my challenge makes you act, then it will not have been in vain. My goal is to encourage you into action, and if I must draw the fire of your rage to strengthen you," she said, hedging for her future, "then whatever toll you exact on me for my honesty, I will endure. But I do not think you know the depths of your mother's agony, just as I cannot fathom the depth of your suffering now," she added, motioning to his bloody stump of tail. "It is a spinal injury, Cain. The limb grows right out of our vertebra. The only rea�son you could still stand to pursue the Neteru to the rocks was be�cause you had fight adrenaline black energy and battle lust raging through you... but look at you now that the pain has truly set in."
Cain glanced down at his tail and winced, momentarily preoccu�pied. She neared Cain, dropping her voice to a comforting whisper as Fallon Nuit moved back to avoid any potential black blast that Cain might hurl.
"Your dark energy meridians have been severed," Lilith said calmly. "Your power leaks on the floor like a bloody stream. You cannot even stand, because the nerves going up your back will not allow you full control of even your legs."
Lilith heard Fallon's mental warning.
Be careful,mon petite.Even though you are female and what you say is true...and although as a woman you can say things to this man that no male could say, be on guard. When he recovers, your words may come back to haunt you and there may be Hell to pay.
Lilith gave Nuit a subtle smile.Why don't you withdraw so that I may speak to him more privately? He will not kill me, but will assassinate you where you stand for ever witnessing him in this weakened state. He and my husband are cut from the same dark cloth;Ihave dealt with males like him foreons.
"Your Eminence," Nuit said, pulling Cain's glare away from his in�jured tail toward him. "Allow me to begin rallying your subterranean forces for a night attack. We will stand at the ready for your command so that you may lead the charge of allied demon warriors for the next attack at night... once you have recovered. This will give us time to plot the next offensive. It will also allow the warrior hybrids to re�group and stand at the ready for the next wave of daylight strikes. In so doing, we can keep steady pressure on the Neterus and Guardians... by night, and then by day, without totally depleting your hybrid forces-so that you will have ample generals to choose from to take thrones once we have claimed victory."
Cain wearily nodded and waved his hand at Nuit. "Spoken like a true councilman. One who is worthy to serve by me." He glowered at Lilith. "Unlike a female who does not understand the fine points of war. You are dismissed. Just inform all our allies to take the female Neteru uninjured and unharmed, when we battle again. But the male... his head on a pike."
Lilith waited until Nuit nodded and disappeared. She leaned against the table not far from Cain and folded her arms over her chest. "Without the tail, you're already practically neutered. Let's be honest, since it's just you and me speaking frankly."
Cain released a warning hiss as his talons lengthened.
"If you cannot stand, you won't be able to f**k her to sire. Your tail is as much a weapon as it is a sensory appendage used in carnal-"
"Shut up, Lilith, before I kill you where you stand," Cain growled.
"She knew that when she severed it," Lilith said, undaunted by his threat. "Our tails grow out of the primal meridian and are as sensitive and tactile as what's between your legs."
Cain looked away from her and swallowed hard. "It will grow back... perhaps."
Lilith issued a smug smile. "We can possibly create a prosthetic de�vice of black metal so that you may use it as a weapon. Something that adheres to the flesh above the Neteru symbols, avoiding them, but you will never have feeling in it again. It was taken off byan Isis blade." She nodded as horror filled his eyes. "Tell me, darling, can you still feel full sensation in your groin?"
Cain closed his eyes and spoke in a quiet, angry tone. "No. Not completely... only at the base."
"Your dick is there, and it works, but you can't fully feel sensation in it, correct?"
"Yes," he muttered. "I will make her mourn the day she did this. Despite it all, there should be honor amongst even warriors... old friends, at least, and I cannot comprehend how she could strike such a foul blow againstme... like I was merely a common demon."
"Then, what good is being alive with all these delusions of bedding the female Neteru," Lilith whispered, coming close enough to stroke his cheek, "if you cannot even feel it?" She brushed his forehead with a kiss. "How will you even know that you've ejaculated?" She chuck�led and sat back on the table. "Our kind isruled by power and plea�sure, the tactile feel of flesh. After this, you might as well pack your bags and return to Nod... at least now you'd be able to endure your sentence and the rest of us wouldn't have to starve for the folly... Eve's spirit would ease, knowing her son was safely locked away in the banishment zone as you had been for centuries, and the planet would be fertile, unlike you, once again."
He tore his gaze away from Lilith's, his voice now gravelly and quiet. "What Damali committed against me was an abomination."
"Yes, it was," Lilith said in a flat tone. "I am only glad that I had a chance to experience you in your fullness of virility. Now..."
"Lilith, do not torture my soul further," Cain said through a thick swallow his voice a rumbling mutter containing a plea. "Be gone."
"If you allow me to siphon you to death," she said in an evil whis�per, "I am an entity of Level Seven that can take your half-life and re�turn you to eternal life."
"Then my soul would be in the clutches of each of the realms," he said, considering her offer. "One false move and my grandfather could scatter me to every Level." He rubbed his palms down his face in frustration. "My soul has harbored sins on every Level."