A Book of Dust and Breath

Chapter Thirty Eight

After a week under the watchful care of the hospital staff, Lily and Liam were released to return home. Lily entered the house with the baby in her arms, her spine ramrod straight, her chin held high, defying the forces of Hell to come after her child.

The upstairs room they'd chosen as Liam's nursery was a wonder of light and joy. Sun streamed through the lacy curtains, lending a soft glow to the yellow walls. Lily lay him in the tiny cradle she'd carefully chosen and sat in the rocking chair next to him.

Max watched it all from the door. He had been fussing over her with excessive attention for a week, but she didn't mind. She had tried and failed to stay angry with him. She'd made her choice to be with him. At this point, his presence was the only small measure of security in her world.

She met his eye and told him as much. "I'm so scared."

"I know," he said.

"I'm scared all the time. I'm scared of every shadow. I'm scared to fall asleep. I'm scared to let Liam out of my sight. I have never been afraid of anything in my life and now I can't remember what it was to not be consumed by fear."

He chewed on his nail. "The warriors will be nearby. Delwyn hasn't forgiven herself for letting harm come to you. You may not see her, but she's with you, constantly. Azrael is fighting in the other realm with all the Heavenly Host on his side. We just need to hold on until they sort it out."

"Yeah," she said, resting her head against the back of the chair. "And they will sort it out, right? I mean, it's Heaven. God never loses, right?"

"Yeah," Max said. He didn't mention that Azrael moved outside of time, when compared to Lily's perspective. And God? Who could comprehend God? "Sorting it out" could take a few days or ten thousand years. It could mean a sacrificial savior or a flood that destroys the whole world.

~*~

The void tugged at Max. He looked at his wife, finally asleep in her own bed. The sound of their son's soft breathing came through the little baby monitor. He walked downstairs to the kitchen and poured himself a strong drink before relenting and let himself slip away from the physical.

Harriet sat behind her desk, staring at Max.

"Did you call me just to get a good, long look?" He asked. "I have other places I'd rather be."

She said nothing as she lifted two pink slips from the pile on his desk and handed it to him.

He took them and the darkness around him pressed down from every direction. With no floor beneath his feet and no wall to offer support, he fell through space unable to latch on to any anchor.

"I'm sorry," Harriet said, genuine regret in her words.

Max stood in his own kitchen, staring at the papers clutched in his hand. "Liam Metit. 2:47am. Lily Metit. 2:49am."

The clock above the stove blinked to the next minute. His son had two minutes to live.

"No!" His elbow bumped into the glass, sending it crashing to the floor as he raced up the stairs.

Lily stood in the door of their bedroom, the fog of sleep still in her eyes. Soft light glowing behind her. "Max? What's wrong?"

He raced past her, toward the baby and slammed into a wall of black smoke that threw him back onto the floor so forcefully he slid backward along the polished wood, Lily's screams in his ears.

The blackness formed itself into a creature so immense it had to bend low to fit beneath the high ceiling. It's low, rasping laughter rolled around them, the vibrations forcing the crystal beads on the chandeliers tinkle and dance.

Behind the demon, smaller shadows poured up out of the cracks between the floorboards and slid toward the nursery.

"I won't let you have my son!" Max growled, leaping to his feet. The demon lashed out with one long arm, pinning Max against the wall by his throat. His vision swam, his body screaming for air. In the corner of his eye, he saw Lily, trapped behind a wall of evil, screaming, straining toward her child.

A terrible wet, tearing sound filled his ears and, for a split second everything rested in stillness and silence. The next moment the baby's screams rent the air, not the crying of an infant, but the unearthly screams of a soul in torment. Lily cried out with him, their chorus a torment to his helpless heart. The hissing mockery of the shadow crawlers swirled around him. "The child of the Reaper is ours!"

They melted back into the darkness, taking the baby's soul with them.

"Liam!" Lily's voice echoed in the dim hallway.

Max's eyes darted over to her. His vision blacked around the edges as his oxygen supply grew more limited with each passing moment. He clawed at the hand holding him, as helpless as a mouse against a hawk.

"Liam!" She screamed again.

Her eyes followed the movement of the demons. Now that she understood, now that she had touched death, she could see it all. She knew exactly what was happening.

She turned toward the bedroom and disappeared. He heard the familiar sound of the drawer of the bedside table protesting with a squeak. Just as he remembered that she kept a pistol there, the roar of gunfire filled the air. The sound of her body falling to the floor sent shock waves through him that caused his universe to crack and crumble to dust.

Daniel appeared in a flash of light, flanked by two of his warriors. Battle raged around him. Raboch's gleeful laughter provided the soundtrack for the fight.

The last thing Max heard before losing consciousness was the screams of his wife's true self as the laughing shadows dragged her away.