Page 23 of Sin of the Saints

Fortunately, the cabin is unlocked, which just confirms to me that no living soul has been through here. I follow her in and lock the door just to be sure. My instinct to protect Belle is the absolute opposite of the task the Church assigned to me,but I can’t allow myself to be complacent, and my blindness is a problem too.

I hear doors opening, and assume Belle’s in the bedroom and then the bathroom. A few moments later I hear the water running. I follow her, hands reaching out to my sides so I don’t run into walls.

“Don’t turn your nose up, Bar. As soon as this thing is off my neck we’ll be equals again.”

“Let me handle that, Belle, don’t think about that now. We’ll find a solution; I give you my word.”

I approach her, lean on the bathtub and adjust the faucet to a hotter temperature that’s more comfortable to touch.

“No, keep it at its coldest,” she says indifferently.

“Are you sure? The hot water will ease the tension in your muscles.”

She chuckles. “I’m burning, Bar. It’s coming from inside me. From the day Lilith awoke I’ve been trying to get relief for this burning feeling, but I keep failing. Nothing seems to help.”

“If you can’t do so, that means you mustn’t fight it. Embrace it as a blessing.”God knows I’d accept her anyway,I think, but I don’t say that aloud. I feel her hand on the faucet, adjusting it to the coldest temperature. “I’ll give you some privacy.” I struggle to leave the room, almost sending chivalry straight to hell. I don’t give a fuck about her modesty around me, but I manage to pull myself together before I become a beast controlled entirely by my urges.

Besides, she’s not arguing with me. Her body language speaks for her, and I understand she needs privacy.

I close the door behind me, and as I hear Belle’s sigh of relief when she steps into the flow of cold water, I realize that’s my cue to step back, before I change my mind and burst in to claim ownership of what I feel belongs to me.

For God’s sake, when did I become so possessive?

From the moment I awoke and was pulled from my grave filled with holy water, I’ve felt something different in me. I feel there’s an entity within me that has a life of its own. Is it Bartimaeus, whose name I bear, or was the Pope wrong and something greater is knocking on the door of my soul?

“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness1.”

How many are the Lord’s works! In wisdom he has made them all; the earth is full of his creatures. God is good, seeing and doing only good. He is the maker and creator of everything, and every sunrise is a glimpse of one of His miracles, His creation of a new day.

Hillel flaps his wings, the wind playing in his long golden hair as a huge smile spreads across his face. What more could one ask for? The one who touched him, who gave him truth and faith, whose will Hillel vowed to enact.

“And it was good, and it was good, and it was good!” Hillel screams in ecstasy as he rides the wind, a sublime sensation sending his heart and soul spinning.I’ll protect my Creator, I’ll defend my King sitting on high, who gave me life and light,so Hillel vows in his heart as he feasts his eyes on the many miracles revealed below him. The world He created, in all its splendor.

Suddenly a strange figure appears, walking in a field of flowers, and he pauses midflight. Actual physical pain strikes him, in the special place reserved for his faith, the organ located in his chest.

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer2,” Hillel mumbles as he examines the stunning creature, awestruck.

She is a miracle in the open…

Long silken black hair, reflecting light like a night strewn with stars, descends to hide rounded, full mounds on her chest, a curved body leading to seemingly-endless legs. The hair between her legs thrills his blood and he feels the pulses between his own legs. He looks at himself and notices his stiff erection. He is awakening for her. He yearns for her.

Hillel is dumbstruck as another creature, similar to him yet different, approaches this amazing creature of his.

“Mine,” he growls. “She is mine!” His beautiful creature looks at the creature by her side with disdain. She turns from him and starts running.

“Run, my love, run like the wind. You don’t know it yet, but you’ll yet run straight into my arms.”

Lightning flashes across the sky and all the land trembles.

“Hillel!” the voice of his Creator addresses him in an unbearably accusatory tone.God is good, it is impossible that He may have another side,Hillel thinks, shocked.

“Father,” he bows his head.

“Mine,”the voice reads Hillel’s thoughts as his eyes wander to the spectacular creature.

No,Hillel thinks.She’s mine, mine, mine.

“In Mine image I created her, in the image of He that sits on high.” His words disturb Hillel. How dare He? Hillel had spent his entire life glorifying His name, serving His creed, keeping His faith. He had earned her, damn it. He was the one who deserved her.

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