He is Lucifer’s son.
It didn’t have to be like this, Lilith.
Ah, but it did. Her irises simmer violet in the supernatural light. I was born into Hell and I’ll die here, not as its victim but as its conqueror. Abandoned by God, I turned to the only ones left who would embrace me, those of the lesser lights.
They weren’t real, Lilith. They were voices in your head.
You were a voice in my head, but I still loved you! And what did you do? You abandoned me in my hour of need, first when we were teens, then when you left on the Balam. You helped sow the seeds of my corruption, now you can reap the harvest of your selfishness!
Lilith’s dark complexion pales to a ghostly white, the pupils of her azure eyes flaming to vermilion. The once-sensuous mouth deforms, twisting… distorting into a hideous vertical orifice. The purple labia-like lips widen, the grotesque grin chilling Jacob’s blood.
Moving toward him, the she-demon allows the straps of her nightgown to fall, then she steps out of the garment, exposing her vile sex.
Jacob swoons, unable to focus, the nexus whirling in his head.
She leaps for him, driving him backward as if he were struck by a sledgehammer. Straddling his chest, she claws at the remains of his body armor as he struggles to regain his breath, the slit of her hideous mouth pressing closer to his face, revealing multiple rows of tiny, razor-sharp black teeth.
Jacob dry heaves at her sulfuric breath. He grabs her throat with his right hand, attempting to keep her groping face away, while his free hand fights the claw at his groin, frantically attempting to prevent the rape.
From his isolated isle of calm, the consciousness that is Michael Gabriel feels the sudden disturbance within the nexus. A sense of dread overwhelms him as he registers waves of energy and senses the struggle so close to his protected domain.
Devlin abandons Dominique, moving as if in a trance toward the shoreline of the lake, whose waters now radiate an emerald tinge. ‘Hear me, Father. Send forth your demon sentry. Empty the pit of Babylon and reveal the Gates of Hell, so that I might release thee!’
Dominique crawls toward Jacob, distancing herself from the Seraph. ‘Jake? Jake, wake up!’
Jacob is pinned beneath the thick roots of the calabash tree, thrashing wildly, as if in the throes of a horrible nightmare.
The sound of a heavy gong tolls in the distance.
The village of the Fallen Ones empties, its members slowly making their way to the shoreline of the metamorphosing lake.
Jacob’s mind screams as he struggles in vain to keep the Succubus at bay.
Lilith’s face is hideous, taking on the proportion of a Gorgon. Amoeba-like mealworms crawl from porous openings along her flesh, releasing a putrid secretion and inhuman pheromones.
Jacob flings his head from side to side, gagging at the stench. Physically outmatched, mentally exhausted, pinned to the earth, he finds himself overwhelmed by a presence whose sheer force of will threatens to tear his own consciousness apart.
A bloodcurdling scream bellows from his throat as scalding-hot mucus drips from the Abomination’s naked loins.
Let me die, please God, I’d rather die -
Jacob cannot turn away as the Succubus increases her chokehold, a thousand icy pinpricks puncturing the fabric of his existence as he somersaults within her sulfuric lather, every cell in his body screaming for mercy.
And then he glimpses a shadowy figure appear from the hazy periphery, moving toward them through shimmering phase disturbances.
Father…
Michael Gabriel grabs the Abomination by her throat and flings the startled Succubus into the peripheral mist and out of the nexus.
Jacob crawls on his hands and knees into his father’s warming embrace.
The two exhausted Gabriels hold each other, feeding off each other’s energy as they stare into the haze, waiting for the she-devil to return.
Father… we have to leave the nexus.
I can’t son. Not until the Nephilim have been freed.
A baritone growl.
Two pinpoints of scarlet mark her eyes, and the demon reappears… smiling her wicked vertical slit of a smile. One Hunahpu… finally lured out of your cage. You and your son’s aura will allow Devlin to wedge open the Gates of Hell.
She disappears into the haze.
Jacob feels ill, as if he has just stepped off a precipice. Dad, what does she mean? Is Lucifer really coming?
Mick whispers into his son’s consciousness, There is no Lucifer, Jacob, there is no Hell.
But evil The Devil is man’s creation, son, not God’s. Evil is the human residue of free choice. Hell is a self- imposed prison in the spiritual realm. This purgatory… none of it is real, it was all created from the demented subconscious of Devlin Mabus and the tortured minds of the Nephilim. My own anger, my own self-loathing imprisoned my tainted soul within its walls… until I felt your love. But I chose to stay… to help the Nephilim. To allow them to bathe in my warmth.
Then I must kill Devlin and Lilith.
You can’t, Jacob. They’re already dead.
What?
I killed them long ago, back in 2012, when they attempted to use Tezcatilpoca to return to Earth. I entered the serpent’s nexus to greet them. They tried to trick me, but I saw through their ruse and killed both of them.
But -
God will not allow evil to enter His spiritual domain. So angry at God was Lilith that she refused to accept His terms. She and Devlin created their own netherworld, entrapping the confused, guilt-ridden souls of the Nephilim within its borders. Here, they can coerce and torture them, keeping them clear of God’s embracing light while Devlin, using his pure Hunahpu lineage, feeds off their energy to forge his own version of Hell.
Why are the Nephilim so filled with guilt?
Because they survived Earth’s holocaust when so many others died. It is my aura that soothes their souls, just as you soothed mine. Yours was a beacon of love… and love is God’s light. Lilith dampens this light, feeding it to the Nephilim in small morsels, crediting its energy to Lucifer so as to keep them under control.
Then the Nephilim… they’re dead as well?
Yes. They perished long ago, when they attempted to cross over into the spiritual realm.
Do they even know they’re dead?
No. Neither does Devlin or his mother. They’re absolutely convinced they’re on a mission to resurrect Lucifer. Now, only the truth shall set them free.
But why… why are Devlin and Lilith so convinced they can open up the Gates of Hell?
Devlin can feel an energy surge coming, but it is not our combined presence in this purgatory that he feels.
The supernova?
Yes. Devlin’s Hunahpu abilities allow him to tap into these forces. Even now, his mind is channeling energy, his subconscious giving life to a demon sentry.
Father, what happens when Sirius goes supernova?
Energy levels will spike, and Devlin’s consciousness will give birth to Lucifer-at least his concept of Lucifer- created from the fabric of his own wounded mind.
Then this whole thing… it could actually become a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Not could, Jacob. Remember, humanity is stuck in a time loop. The deed has already happened before.
Are you saying man’s concept of the Devil came from the future?
Looping back into the past… a frightening paradox. With each journey through the wormhole, the equation
