"True... but as the undead, the physical injury you sustained would be no more. She'd have to attack you again and sever the limb once you were a new, full-breed demon, to make it permanent. What are the chances of her doing that again, now that you are aware of her deadly capacities and how much she loathes you? You would have in�sight into how much she clings to your competitor, who from all that I see now, truly is the better man... Rivera can f**k her with acute pleasure and give that to her in a way you cannot... now that you've been terribly injured." Lilith leaned forward and kissed Cain's throat. "Let me heal you, Cain. Then when you awaken to eternal life in my arms, test if I am a fraud by nearly f**king me blind."
He looked at her and lifted his chin. "After I plant her... perhaps I would consider it."
"You're in denial, lover, like most men," Lilith crooned, shaking her head. "A female of our devious species would gladly give up both ovaries to rule the world under the darkest night... but as a male, you sit here quibbling about what amounts to a vasectomy. You have also overlooked one basic fact."
Cain stared at her with a flicker of rage tempered by curiosity and pain in his eyes.
Lilith smiled. "She may already be planted by your seed... from when you took a throne ascension carrying her blood within you and dragging her husband's energy into your father's throne along with it."
Satisfied by Cain's stunned silence that she was making progress, Lilith kept her tone a low, conspiratorial murmur, occasionally glanc�ing around as though Nuit or even her husband might eavesdrop. "Cain, think of the opportunity-you and Rivera were linked as the only two male Neterus to sit in Dante's throne, the only two with a common vampire genetic link that the female Neteru willingly al�lowed to take her blood... the only two men to spark fevered desire within her... and if not moments before, surely simultaneously when Eve's spirit went cold."
Cain's eyes widened as he stared at Lilith. A black sword immedi�ately materialized in his hand and he snatched her by the jawbone before she could blink, putting the blade to her throat. "If you are ly�ing, I will behead you," he said quietly, his tone even and controlled.
Lilith only smiled and never flinched. "I have been the harbinger of original demon births for centuries... Why would I lie about how to make the best of them all?I was the genesis of original sin,not Eve -and history told by men robbed me of my title. That won't happen again, if you heed my advice."
Unafraid, Lilith craned her body around Cain's loosening grasp and leaned in closer toward him, ignoring his earlier threat to whisper mind-bending truths. "The original sin was going against the Un�named One On High and making a pact with Lucifer,not biting an apple in Eden. Men are foolish, as I said, and believed what they wanted. Theyneeded to believe that, because they couldn't get to me, and they had to have a female head on a pike thus forever using that misinformed logic to rule women. And fools that they are, ego al�lowed them to dominate and cut themselves off from the vessels of wise counsel fromtheir own species --just because they didn't want to hear the truth of what Eve learned in the Garden... just like you're about to do now. Suit yourself." When Cain's glare narrowed, Lilith laughed.
"What did my mother learn?" Cain said in a quiet, tense voice. "What had she discovered that nearly had her stoned to death?"
Lilith's gaze danced across Cain's and then bore into it. "That we are equal," she whispered. "In match to your male superior brawn, we females have superior reasoning, thus are better strategists... with the patience to wait for opportunities in a way that you do not own. One is neither superior nor inferior to the other," she said on a se�ductive murmur. "Both energies were created simultaneously in the cosmos. We're evenly matched... which is why you rushed into battle with the female Neteru owning superior-strength forces, but lost an entire battalion in one afternoon."
"That will never happen again," Cain said, slowly tightening his grip on Lilith's jaw.
"Add a thousand soldiers next time, warriors of might. It won't matter," Lilith hissed, unable to get her words to do more than seep from her lips because of Cain's grip. "She slaughtered you with the elements, nature, and used that as cannon fodder, not her own people-then she wounded you and pulled back, and lived, still whole to fight another day. Had Rivera been on that beach, you would have prevailed. But it wasa smart woman who knew your every weakness, and employed it to her own means. Like your mother, I hate the new Neteru... but I respect the hell out of her. She has proven to be my most worthy adversary."
Cain loosened his grip but kept his blade to her throat, steadily eye�ing Lilith to sense for a lie.
"If there is anyone you should trust on demon reproduction and how to survive an archangel onslaught, it is me, Cain. Besides," Lilith said casually, not even bothering to speak to him in Dananu, "it is in my best interest, as well as our realm's, for Damali's potential preg�nancy with you as the sire to be a possibility."
Lilith waited until Cain finally lowered the blade, never taking her eyes away from his. "What else would have so enraged your mother that she would have sent lightning down to breach the realms against the edict from On High not to intervene or to begin the Armaged�don? Think about it... think through the pain and become strate�gic."
"My mother said I was dead to her," Cain whispered. "Yet there was hope in her fury, the entire council chamber crackled with it... I could feel that wafting over my skin and could taste it on my tongue in the aftermath."
"Yes... and if she cast away her beloved son, what could make a mother still have hope, if not the belief that there could still be new life coming after him that is of her flesh?" Lilith caressed Cain's face. "Only a grandchild would inspire that. The Neteru must already be carrying for you, my love... so die to the agony and rise up from my arms to your full greatness."
Cain pulled back and sat on the throne, staring at her. "Until I know for sure, I am not ready to accept your offer."
"Take your time," Lilith said coolly, "as I am sure the shock is great." She smiled evilly and arched her eyebrow. "But consider this. If the planet is now barren because Eve's grief still holds her fertility hostage due to her continued link with your soul, there will be noth�ing in Damali's womb to fertilize, if she isn't already carrying your heir. This is fact."
Lilith pushed off the table and began to pace before Cain. "If there are no new conceptions, thus no new births, eventually your demon legions, and even your hybrids that can eat human food, will starve... Starvation creates mutiny in all worlds-not just in ours. Not a single blade of grass currently grows; livestock will begin to drop like flies. There will be no more lambs or fattened calves for the slaughter." She leaned in toward Cain and looked him squarely in the eyes. "There will be no more steaks for your hybrids or blood for your vampire battalions... or flesh for your were-demons and Amanthras. There will be a bloody coup. Against us!"
When he didn't respond, she pressed her point. "If Damali already carries your seed, you win. You can end your agony now, regenerate to your full capacity, and abduct her until she delivers your heir. If she does not currently carry, there is no way to impregnate her as long as your mother's spirit languishes by being tied to yours... Your suf�fering will then be an unnecessary travesty that also depletes the nat�ural resources of the planet, thereby eventually cascading your armies into starvation. Ask yourself why, Cain. Male ego? Because you'd rather sire by seed than the pure vampire bite? As your lover and top advisor, and as an entity much older than you, who is also thoroughly versed in biblical matters, it is my role to pose the hard questions. And as a good ruler, youcannot allow ego to rule you and cause you to make fatal tactical errors that will subordinate reason."
"I never wanted to be like Dante," he said in a quiet, tense whisper, "with dead, black seed spilling from my loins. I never envisioned such a conclusion."
"You've made other children while you were trying to repent and stay in the f**king Light-so get over it." Lilith waved her arms about. "They went on to make you a proud poppa and did good deeds. So what? That's history. Now you've gone dark, and a new era is upon us." Lilith stroked his groin when he looked away from her. "Can you feel that?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"No," Cain whispered, and glanced down at her hand and then at his bloodied tail. "However, there is another way."
Horrified, she stood and turned her back to him. "You wouldn't. The pain... is beyond what even we can tolerate in our realm. Don't do it. Don't ask me to be a party to that."
"Stand at my side," he commanded quietly. "When I go into shock, I will need an immediate black blood transfusion. It is the only way to carve out the Neteru symbols that will disallow regeneration over them."
Lilith whirled around on him; her fangs lowered to battle-length, and spoke in Dananu. "If you die, my husband will murder me. Therefore, make it worth my while to assist in said travesty."
"A Chairman's seat-mine, if I do not survive... the first female to occupy one, which should give you enough insurance through power to avoid your husband's wrath up to, and possibly beyond, the Armageddon. My throne will courier the message to him that I did this of my own volition, in fact, it will convey that I commanded it and you could not stop me," Cain said in Dananu, his voice beginning to labor from his injuries and the verbal test of wills with Lilith. "And should I survive, I'll grant you a councilman's seat. Again a first. But if you betray me by allowing me to unnecessarily perish... my throne will echo the deceit to my grandfather with a direct blood tracer to your whereabouts, if you ever try to sit in it and claim it through fraud. That is my final offer."
"If you do the insanity you propose and live through it," Lilith said with her back still to Cain, "with your soul still tethered to Eve's you will send her spirit into arrhythmia! Do you know how many times she and I have battled?"