Page 315 of Caelum

A voice sounded then and confused me with its words: “If you look upon me then that is it, child. No more Eve, no more options.”

The hand didn’t move, and I was glad because, of course, the instant the voice uttered those words, my eyelids finally opened.

Sighing irritably, I was surprised when the other person laughed. “They always fail that task. I’ve come to learn to protect them from themselves.”

“Who are ‘they?’” I rasped, surprised at how deep my voice was.

“Those whose path was similar to yours.”

I thought about that. “OtherJannah?” When there was an affirmative hum, I sucked in a breath. “Does that mean you’re God?” His voice did sound familiar…

“Well, someone had to take the job,” came the teasing retort.

His words were soft, gentle, and so unlike the mean God that Father Bryan had preached about all my life.ThatGod definitely didn’t have a senseof humor.

“In my line of work, you have to laugh, child. If you don’t, you’d cry.”

My thoughts whirred, and I blurted out, “I can’t blame you. Humans are capable of horrible things.”

“But beautiful things too,” He countered instantly, and before I could say another word, He murmured, “I’m going to move my hand. Please, do not look upon me.”

I clenched my eyes shut and turned away from the voice, rolling onto my side so I gave Him my back. It felt incredibly rude, but it was either that or disobey. In this position, whatever I lay on wasn’t as comfortable, so I sat up and felt the surface beneath me shift. I was tempted to look, but God lived in Heaven, and I wasn’t ready for that.

Wasn’t ready to see Heaven because if that was the case, then that meant I was dead, and if I was dead, I’d left my mates alone.

“I left them behind,” I whispered, so sad I could hear the tears flooding my words.

“You did,” was God’s sorrowful retort. “Because of me.”

I shuddered. “No,foryou.” It was true. Even though I’d acted as though another’s will had overtaken my own when I’d dived into the pit, I’d acted freely too. The world had enough monsters in it without the Ghouls lurking around every corner.

That hand patted my shoulder, and I tried to calculate if it was large or if it was small. If it was like a human’s or oversized like in a Michelangelo painting. It was hard to tell, and that made no sense. But it was like my mind blurred the answer, as though it knew I wasn’t capable of learning that information.

“Do you know what theJannahis?”

I frowned. “A kind of genie?”

“Yes. But the race existed to grace Eve with anything she could desire as she forged a new world, one touched with my spirit.” His tone darkened, deepened, and I felt His anger like it was a physical touch as He stated, “When Eve fell, she took that right with her. The wishes became finite, purposeful because, with her tainted line, theJannah, and their abilities,became the only thing that could rectify her mistake, and you accomplished that. Accomplished what those before you couldn’t for you are the last of your kind.”

That had my frown deepening. What was I supposed to say to that?Gee, thanks?

A laugh sounded, and I realized God could read my thoughts.

Then I wondered how stupid I had to be to have only justfigured that out.

In fact, He could hear this too. And this.

Yikes.

Shut up!

Grimacing and forcing myself not to utter another thought, I fell silent.

God murmured, “You’re different than the others. A child of your generation, I suppose. And yet, it is that child who brought about a day I was coming to fear I’d never see.”

His words stirred me, and I blurted out, “Why did killing an Original Ghoul kill the whole line?”

He clucked His tongue. “I can’t answer that.”

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