“That which you have always done,” Nathaniel said. “Defy death.”
The living heart of Evangeline’s child seemed to reach for me, reach for my magic, and the child within me responded to the call of the blood, Lucifer’s blood. I understood what I had to do.
I spread my hands apart on her stomach, and as my palms separated a split appeared in her dress. Through the open seam I could see the swollen skin of her belly, so like my own. Except . . .
Now that her stomach was exposed I could see that this child was not like mine. The limbs that pressed against the surface of the skin were not those of a human child. I paused, unsure of what I should do.
“I don’t think I can,” I said. “It’s not human.”
“You must,” Nathaniel said. “The gargoyle is correct. Lucifer’s rage will know no bounds if he loses the child. You were not with him when first he discovered the loss of Ramuell or Baraqiel. I was. His anger was terrifying to behold. But at least he had some time with those children. To lose this one, a child of his beloved Evangeline, without even seeing it—I do not want to consider what may happen.”
“Ramuell and Baraqiel were monsters who murdered dozens of people. What if this child is, too? How can I knowingly let it loose upon the world?”
“There is no time,” Nathaniel said.
There was no time. And yet I hesitated.
“Lucifer will kill us all if you do not at least attempt to save the baby,” Nathaniel said.
“What if what’s inside there kills us all when it grows up?” I said.
“Better the devil you know,” Beezle said.
I was not sure. I really was not sure. But it seemed that, like so many times before, I was out of options. I put my hands on Evangeline’s belly, felt the thing that moved under the skin. Repulsion coursed through me. It was wrong to do this, but it was happening anyway. My magic knew what to do almost without my guiding it. It overrode my disgust and hesitation. The line of Lucifer would always seek out its own.
Evangeline’s belly came apart under my fingers as if I had sliced it with Jude’s knife. Blood spewed out and splattered us all. Beneath the layers of dermis and fat and muscle, there gleamed a pulsing sac of fluid. Something dark darted beneath the surface.
“She is nearly gone,” Nathaniel said. He held Evangeline’s hand in his own. “You must do it now.”
My palms hovered over the final layer that divided Evangeline’s child from the world. I could let it die and damn the consequences. There was still a chance for humanity, a chance to be free from whatever monster she was carrying inside her.
But the darkness that lurked inside me had other ideas. Magic surged from me without warning and through the thin membrane. Black fluid spilled forth as the amniotic sac broke open. A wet cry, alien and terrible, came from the open wound of Evangeline’s stomach. At the same time, Evangeline gave a long exhalation of breath, and then lay still. She was dead.
“Take the child,” Nathaniel urged.
I shook my head. “You do it. I don’t want to touch it.”
Nathaniel gave me an exasperated look, but he reached inside the cavity anyway. I was disturbed that the dark magic I’d been trying so hard to suppress was now working on its own. It wasn’t simply that the power was difficult to control. It was developing a kind of sentience. Soon I would not be able to control it at all. It would control me, and then I would be the monster that Beezle feared I would become.
Nathaniel’s hands disappeared inside the hole I had cut in Evangeline’s body. He could not disguise his horror as he touched the baby inside and pulled it out into the open air.
It was terrible to behold, a nightmare made flesh. Lucifer and Evangeline’s child had been conceived in death, while Evangeline’s soul was on the other side of the Door. It was black as pitch and covered in the glop from Evangeline’s belly. At first all I could see were the tiny horns at the top of its head, and then other features became visible.
Its limbs unfurled from its body as Nathaniel held it up. The legs were furry spider’s appendages, although it had six instead of eight. Wings unfolded from its back, articulated like a bat’s. The mouth was hidden in its blank, insectlike face, although it continued to make a kind of metallic keening noise. The eyes were not in the least bit human or angelic. They were large red orbs slightly off center, again reminiscent of a bug.
Lucifer’s child was a hideous thing to look upon, and it was certainly carrying some power that would not be pleasant for any human that encountered this creature. I was seized by a wild impulse to grab the little monster and run to the nearest window and toss it out. Or maybe fly out over the ocean and drop it there. This wasn’t a baby, a child to be cherished and loved. This was a blight on the Earth, and I had helped bring it forth.
Nathaniel still held the creature away from his body, his arms outstretched. “Someone must cut the cord.”
“What? Oh, right,” I said, shaking my head. We had all fallen briefly under the spell of this thing, frozen in contemplation of its horrible form. “Jude, you’ve got that big knife handy.”
I considered my duty done. I had delivered the damn thing, whether I wanted to or not. Let the others deal with the rest.
Jude neatly sliced the umbilical cord so that the monster was separated from Evangeline. The creature made weak, struggling movements in Nathaniel’s hands.
Now what do we do with it? Samiel said.
“Find Lucifer,” I said. “It’s his kid. It’s his problem.”