Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 29328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 117(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 117(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
He grins. “Well, as a Fallen Angel and half werewolf, I can honestly tell you, you know secrets from the stars, but when they choose to fall, it’s for a purpose. So, in your case, she knew.” He nods and pats me again. “She knew what you would do. And my guess? She’s been watching for thousands of years, just waiting.” A tear escapes his eye.
“Bro, are you crying?” Alex runs up. “Is the baby okay? Stupid hospital is being all like: ‘We don’t let the likes of you in here.’”
We both stare him down.
He’s literally half-naked.
“A shirt.” Timber runs up behind him. “People need them when in public places, dumbass.”
Cassius suddenly walks up, his cell to an ear. “Yeah, baby is fine. Everything is good. Apocalypse solved.”
Ethan follows him, furiously texting. “I swear if I have one more poopy diaper…” He stares at the baby, then at me, and grins. “Have fun, though. Really. I’m rooting for you. Fighting.”
Horus isn’t any better as he slowly walks in and yawns. “Life is so hard in the modern world. My air fryer sucks. Oh, hey, a baby.”
My child immediately starts to cry. But it’s the most beautiful wail I’ve ever heard. She’s gorgeous and looks like her mother with dark hair, light eyes, and a small scar that looks like a star on her chest.
“So, what’s her name?” Bannik walks up.
We haven’t seen him since that day with Danu. He’s in modern clothing, a black leather jacket, ripped jeans, and a T-shirt that says, Ain’t life grand?
And Medusa is hooded by his side. They’re holding hands. I feel so much joy coming from them that I almost can’t contain mine. “I don’t know.”
Bannik laughs, his black hair whipping across his back as he approaches and grabs the baby from my arms without me even offering.
He lifts her to his face.
The Fallen of the Fallen.
The one angel who nearly destroyed us all over his bitterness, sadness, and need for revenge. One who once stood at the feet of the Creator.
He turns and holds her close. “Ah, yes. You are special. It’s good you know.”
“She talks?” Cassius whispers under his breath.
Bannik presses a kiss to my daughter’s cheek and starts speaking in the angelic tongue. It sounds like another language to anyone but those touched by the Earth and Heaven.
“Shaddaih, El, Ni, hear me now. Gods. Universe. Goddesses. For this blessing, beautiful daughter, what an honor. You will do great things. The grace of the Creator is the gift for your sacrifice. How lucky we are to have you on this Earth to help guide us. The Creator has never failed and won’t stop now. I call upon every star in Creation to guide you and every angel to watch you, because that is what we do. We watch, and we always will. You are ours, and we are yours.”
He turns and hands me back my child. “And now she has a name.”
“What?” I look down at the sweet, precious girl and see a small glimmer on her chest next to the star.
Tears pour down my eyes as I read what’s there. “Moriah.”
Sacrifice in Hebrew.
The sacrifice.
Mine, her mother’s, the star’s, all of ours—in order to keep everything balanced.
Cassius wraps an arm around me. “It’s good.”
“It’s perfect,” I answer and look up at my new family, wondering to myself what I ever did to deserve them, my wife, or any of this.
As we’re all talking and some are walking away, I see Them in the background.
The Creator.
A small child smiles at me, Their eyes glistening as They whisper, “It’s good. It always will be.”
I nod.
They nod back.
And then They’re gone like They never existed.
“It’s good,” I repeat and kiss Moriah’s face, knowing I need to bring her back to her mom to rest.
Then I watch them thrive. I watch them live.
It’s wonderful, really, when you think about it. Lilith, the first, finally has her first.
A child born out of sacrifice, love, and the stars that watched us for so long.
I smile as I look up at my family again. “Life is hard, isn’t it?”
“Very.” Cassius smiles at me, and his eyes flash. “But there is always purpose in our struggle. Because out of that struggle…” He looks down and whispers as he touches my daughter’s head. “Comes life.”
* * * *