“I do not think…” Michael began, but Grams cut him off mid sentence.
“No, unfortunately, you donotthink. It has always been one of your greatest failings, Michael. All brawn and no brains.” She tsked at him after that, and Az literally stopped writing in surprise.
Michael looked like he’d eaten a lemon, and he started to lift his hand with the sword, but Grams literally put her hand on it—how she wasn’t cut, Az had no idea—and pushed it back down.
“Your presence is not required, Michael. You are dismissed,” she stated.
“Damn, Grams is a badass,” Az whispered in Gabe’s ear. Gabe just nodded, but Michael sent him a nasty glare.
“Lilith, this is really none of your concern,” he sighed, letting his arm finally lower so that his sword was practically touching the ground.
“Not my concern?” she asked coldly, and even Az wanted to back up, because there was something there in her voice. It was like an avalanche of power being held behind a wall of ice. Az had the first inkling that perhaps he was dealing with someone who was far more formidable than his understanding.
She turned and glared at him, and he saw millenia in her eyes, unchecked power, lifetimes of existence… she was older than he could have ever imagined, and he was shocked into utter speechlessness.
She also looked pissed at him, which made him more than a little nervous, but she only mouthed the word, “Write.”
Well shit, shehadtold him to keep writing. He got back to it, but not before he asked one question.
“Lilith?” he inquired, because he was beginning to have some suspicions.
It was Gabe who answered, to his surprise. “Grams isn’treallyour grandmother. I guess I kind of forgot to mention that too,” he muttered sheepishly. “I mean, she’s better than any grandmother in the world, I’m sure, and she did raise us since she took over when our parents died. Honestly, we kinda forget that sheisn’ttechnically our grams, sort of like Michael here isn’t technically our grandfather.”
“THE Lilith?” Az asked, but he did start writing on the fridge with his finger again too. “But… Lilith is a myth. The first creation of Yahweh who then refused to take orders from Adam and was banished.”
Grams harrumphed. “Leave it to men to rewrite history to suit their needs. I was most certainlynotbanished. I left. My powers were beyond those of the mortals created, and my place was not with them. I wandered the Earth amongst humans, angels, and demons, never quite fitting in with any of them.”
“Although many tried to procreate with me, I was not interested,” she said tartly. She looked over at Michael then, who was most decidedlynotlooking at her.
“Grams! Not with the sex talk please!” Gabe groaned.
Az was astounded that Gabe had no fear whatsoever of this woman. She-demon? Immortal? Az didn’t even knowwhatshe was. Lilith wasn’t supposed to be real. She was an afterlife bedtime story for demons about a badass woman who wouldn’t take shit from anyone and broke out on her own.
“The angels were bitter, and as those who are rejected are sometimes wont to do, they started rumors about me. I wanted children, so of coursesomeonebegan the rumor that I killed my children. Rest assured they are no longer corporeal,” she added.
Shit, Grams wassuperbadass. Grams wasLilith. Az could still barely wrap his brain around it. But he kept writing, figuring she was buying him time.
“When the Nephilim came to be,” she continued, “neither the humans nor the angels wanted them. They fit nowhere, like me. I wanted children, so I implored Yahweh to give me ascendancy over this race, and I was granted my request. Nephilim were outlawed, since neither humans nor angels would take care of them, and I raised them as my own children. I follow the remaining bloodlines and watch over them. I protect them. I am Mother to them. Mother to all who need it.” She looked over at Gabe then, and with a wink added, “And Grams to some.”
Az was almost done. One last rune. As if sensing something was amiss, Michael raised his sword arm again. “It matters not. I am the Archangel Michael, Warrior and Protector, and I have come to claim a demon on the call ofmyoffspring.”
“Offspring you rejected,” Grams hissed.
“I did not!” Michael countered. “I could not take them with me to battle; I could not bring them to heaven. I left them in your care, butIam their creator.”
Grams harrumphed again. “You donated sperm. You didn’t create them. You didn’t raise them.”
“Wow,” Az couldn’t help interjecting. “It’s like a daytime talk show where everyone is waiting for the paternity test results.”
Gabe snorted. “Right? Grams and Grandfather never did have the best relationship. We try to meet up with Grandfather when Grams isn’t around.”
“ENOUGH!” roared Michael, and he raised his sword above his head.
At that moment, though, human Michael charged into the room, distracting archangel Michael enough that he didn’t do whatever he was about to do.
“Now!” yelled Grams.
Az thought she meant him, so with a twist of his fingers, he finished the final rune.
