Page 317 of Caelum

“What does it say?”

“It is a song. One of benediction and glory. Of joy and wonder.” He hummed. “I thought it apt.” He sighed, then, and the motion was so heavy that it stirred my hair, lifting it from my shoulders and letting it settle in disarray. “But now, I’m left with you. A child who was too young for such a burden, who fought for me even though she’d been shown no love from those who should have loved her. Who led her into a religion that was not sanctioned by me or mine.

“A child who loves with all her marrow, who sacrificed herself for a cause that wasn’t her own…”

My heart sped up at His words. “May I ask what happened?”

“As the rivers of Eden soared into the pit, the fires of Hell surged out in response—for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The two forever flowed and burned and ensured Satan was contained within, kept locked behind the gates of my forging. When Erlik, with the purest ofSatan’s taint from Eve’s sin, and you, with my light inside you, collided with the two…”

“We destroyed them?” I bleated.

“Essentially, yes.”

“What’s stopping Satan now?”

“A lot of rock,” came the retort, and it was amused again. But His tone had darkened when He stated, “Fear not, this task does not rest on your shoulders.”

It didn’t?

Then on whose?

“An answer that is above your pay grade, child,” God answered, making me wrinkle my nose in dismay. “Now, you smote the three children born of the purest taint of the Original Sinner, and your men used their final, seventh wish on?—”

“Wait!” I blurted out, blushing red when I realized how rude I was being. But I needed answers! “Their final seventh wish? What do you mean?”

“Just as Derinkuyu was the portal to Hell, Caelum is the portal to Heaven. Once you left its gates with the Tree of Knowledge inside you and guiding you, theJannahwas truly awakened. Your men had seven wishes, one apiece, and they’ve used them all. They can’t bring you back.”

“But you can,” I replied hopefully.

“Indeed, I can. If I grant you one last wish, what would you do with it?”

As I thought of my men, each of them grieving me now that they knew I was dead, everything in me, heart, body, soul, longed to be back with them.

And yet, one thing swirled to life inside me.

God had been patient with me. Kind and forgiving when I was rude or asked a question I ought not to. Only once had His voice stirred with wrath.

When He’d spoken of Eve.

Adam and Eve who still lived.

Who bore the guilt of their sin every single day of hundreds of thousands of years.

Who lived without the love of the Father who had borne them, spawning a line that could and would destroy their other children.

Who were destined to live a life tainted by the curse of their Father’s wrath.

And even though I wanted to be back with my men so badly it hurt, I thought of Bartlett and Avalina. The sadness in their eyes, the way they mourned each day they lived, and I couldn’t do it.

It hurt like a physical pain inside me, but if anyone deserved peace, it was them.

My mouth quivered with the desire to be selfish. With the need to be with my men, but I just. Couldn’t. Do. It.

“I-I wish you’d forgive Adam and Eve of their sins.”

Silence fell at my words, and I had the feeling I’d struck God speechless.

Not for long.

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