Semiramis The Vessel Read online

  SEMIRAMIS

  THE VESSEL

  Maya Daniels

  Copyright © 2019 by Maya Daniels

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover design by Anika Willmanns, Ravenborn - Book Cover Designs

  Interior design by Maya Daniels

  Edited by Pauline J Creeden and AJ Kohler

  Contents

  Lady Babylon by Thanassis Stamelos

  The Vessel

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Maya Daniels

  This book is for you, the reader, for walking this journey with me every step of the way. You all humble me, and I’m very grateful for each and every single one of you.

  Lady Babylon by Thanassis Stamelos

  “…That love of yours, so tremendously grand

  Mere mortals before you cannot endure

  No mere man stands here, I can assure

  To all others you remain but a mystery

  You and I, My Red Lady, shall create history

  Glorious scarlet beast you ride upon, dusk to dusk, dawn to dawn

  Bow heads toward me, to me instantly drawn

  With luxurious hide, O this beautiful beastly spawn

  Serving at our behest, at our command

  As we wander hand in hand

  Come, O Lady, stand with me side by side

  Serpents gather about, by our will alone abide

  Missing from me these many long years

  Striking in mortal hearts unimaginable fears

  Golden cup filled with freedom to me you proffer

  I drink deeply, satiated by your offer

  O Babylon, cities we tear and shake

  O My Lady at a whim worlds we rend and break

  O My Red Woman, bed chambers we quake

  Bodies melted in lustful embrace

  Across the stars 'tis you I chase

  To gaze and take in your beautiful face

  O Lady of mine, O My Lover

  Your deep places I seek to uncover

  A long lost love we now recover

  Your flowing silken hair betwixt my fingers

  Our sweet love scent on air long after lingers

  Yearning, lustful, tasteful lovemaking

  There can be no mistaking

  This deep craving, without you forever aching

  Beloved Queen of mine, here and now

  Our hearts entwined for eternity, this I vow

  O Babylon, My Love, My Soul

  O Beloved, you fill My Heart's gaping hole.”

  The Vessel

  1

  Alexia…

  The first rays of the sun, bathing the horizon in purples and pinks like fingers combing through the clinging darkness, are surprisingly soothing. A biting chill is in the air around me, but I choose to ignore it… if only for a moment. Peace constantly eludes me. It’s not that I mind having everyone around me. I’ve been alone for so long that the very thought of not having my sisters, or even the men—three men and an angel, if you ask Lucifer—constantly present in the house scares me… more than I would like to admit. It’s the rest of what I’m feeling that makes me unsettled. So much has happened…

  Try as I may to let it go and move on, I can’t avoid having my mind wander back to all the things that have taken center stage in my life. It’s not like my life was a picnic before all this started. No, it’s all the trials the Great Mother is flinging my way that make me feel like I’m in the center of a storm, just waiting to be flung one way or another so it can end my miserable existence.

  A year and a half. It’s been one year and a half since that damn day. I can’t help but remember the car accident. I know Inanna told me that my whole life has been an initiation, but somehow that day seems like the pivotal point on this life’s journey for me. I wonder if I had stayed at home and called in sick, maybe things would’ve turned out differently. My sisters might’ve been spared all the stress and pain they’ve endured because of me. Would they have been happier if they’d never met me in this lifetime? Had families by now, children, living ignorant of the pain and suffering that comes from the other side of the veil? I know, I know. I’m having a pity party, but I can’t help it.

  I take a deep breath until my chest hurts, then exhale slowly, staring up at the sky. It’s getting brighter now. Soon everyone will be awake and start worrying about me, as usual. I wonder if they’d worry more if they knew I still struggle to remember things after I had my soul ripped out of my body and hung around Lucifer’s neck like a decoration. Even the things I remember don’t have any emotion with them. I know what they mean and how I should feel about them, so I mimic it, but I don’t feel like those are really my emotions. Some part of me, perhaps, but not me. Not the one residing in this skin suit I’m wearing.

  “A vessel.” I whisper the word, chuckling and shaking my head. “Fucking gods and their damn games, playing with our lives.”

  The trees of the small forest next to the house rustle in the breeze like they’re shivering from hearing me curse the gods and I want to laugh. They look as though they were painted by a master artist, bathed in the rainbow-colored rays that are taking over the sky. It’s still quiet and the sound of the shivering leaves is a balm to my bruised heart. I don’t even know when I decided to stick around and let this whole charade play out. Fuck it. Let them have their fun with me. I’ve already had it all happen one way or another. Maybe I’ll get lucky and Tiamat will finish what she started long ago. I should be so lucky.

  That brings my mind back to the day of the accident. Philip’s face… his head is resting against my chest and I’m startled at the look in his eyes. Awe? Amazement? Fear? “Who are you?” he says breathlessly and passes out .

  I look at him, look around the limo and then at my still-glowing arms around his shoulders as my skin slowly returns to normal. I hear voices from the outside trying to get to us and see if we are alive. “Who am I? Now, that’s a very good question.”

  Goosebumps cover my body from head to toe. I still don’t think I have an answer for him. Isn’t that something? The door opens slowly behind me and I bring myself out of my wallowing, but I don’t open my eyes. Not just yet. Maybe if I hold onto the darkness a bit longer when I do open them, things will be different. A girl can dream.

  “Morning, Sap. Been sitting there long?” Jezzinta sits next to me
and leans her head on my shoulder.

  “Mhm, I’m not sure,” I answer, barely above a whisper so I don’t disturb the nature around us.

  “Want to talk about it?” she asks hesitantly.

  That right there is like a knife through my chest. They’ve all been doing it ever since we got back from Tomorith’s realm, like they’re talking to a wounded, cornered animal, afraid to spook it. It hurts like a bitch to know I can’t do anything to change that.

  “Nothing to talk about, Jez, I just needed some fresh air and nature around me. That’s all.”

  “If you say so.”

  I can hear the hurt in her voice. She knows I’m not telling them things, but it’s not like I don’t want to. I have no idea how to explain what’s going on with me.

  “It’s beautiful to watch the sun rising,” she mumbles.

  “It doesn’t rise,” I say absentmindedly. “Nor does it set, for that matter.”

  “Huh?”

  “The sun. It neither rises nor sets. It just sits there, right where it always is. We circle around it and spin, but in a literal sense, the sun itself doesn’t do shit.” I chuckle, trying to lighten up the mood.

  “We should let Sin know. I’m certain he’ll appreciate your description.” She giggles.

  Mission accomplished.

  “I’m sure he will,” I drawl.

  This makes her laugh.

  “What’s with the laughing? The jackass got her sense of humor back?” Remi’s voice cracks like a whip through the stillness around us.

  “Yeah, she can dream on.” Jez joins her in tormenting me.

  “Hey! I’m funny,” I sound more defensive then I would’ve expected. “Just because you don’t always understand my dark, twisted, sarcastic humor doesn’t mean I’m not funny. It means you two are assholes.”

  I look at them with wide eyes, my eyebrows up as far as they can go. They both burst out laughing. Good. They deserve to laugh and be happy. I’ll do everything I can to keep it that way. Remi squeezes herself between both of us on the steps and sits down.

  “I bring offerings,” Meda announces her presence, and we all turn to look over our shoulders. She brings coffee and mugs followed by Faith, Daisy, Will, Archie, Phillip, and Lucifer, all of them helping her carry it outside.

  “And I bring witches and other unknown entities along, too.” She snickers at my raised eyebrow.

  Lucifer’s mumblings make us all laugh—no one fears him anymore, he says. Sitting on the railing of the porch with his lips twitching, he looks at me like I’m the only person here. It does stupid things to my insides, and I tear my eyes away from him. I don’t need my stupid body or hormones getting anyone else hurt, thank you very much. I still can’t believe they don’t hate me for what that weasel Derik did.

  “Oi! What’s with the long face?” Faith’s Australian accent brings me out of my musings.

  “No long face, mate. I can’t help it, it’s the only one I’ve got,” I answer her, shaking my head.

  Leave it up to her to get straight to the point. No beating around the bush with Faith. I love her for it, but right now, with everyone’s eyes on me, I want to strangle her. Before anyone can say anything else, I grab the coffee from Meda and wave my hand, so they start giving me the mugs to pour them some. They do it obediently even when I’m on the receiving end of narrowed-eye looks.

  “So. We need to go on a little trip soon, guys. We need to get the potions back so we can open the portal.”

  As I expected, dead silence surrounds me in less than a heartbeat. At least I won’t get any more questions about what’s going on in my head. One can hope.

  “We’ll talk about that right after you tell us what’s going through your head,” Remi says.

  I could bet my life that they do it on purpose, letting her snap at me because they know I’ll bite my tongue with her. I narrow my eyes at her and of course, she mirrors me, as if daring me to argue. That’s one argument no one is going to win. Pick your battles wisely and all that crap.

  “Apart from everything we need to do and stay alive to do it, you mean?” I ask sweetly.

  “Don’t be an ass,” she snaps.

  “Spill it,” Jez, Will, and Archie say at the same time.

  “Since when do you two order me around?” I ask the light-workers, purposefully ignoring both my sisters’ requests. I guess I am an ass. Oh, well…

  They look at me sheepishly, but it doesn’t last long.

  “Don’t let her intimidate you. It’s her defense mechanism to act like a bitch when she’s hurting and doesn’t want to talk about it,” Remi says offhandedly.

  “Nothing is going through my head.” Even I can hear the tiredness in my voice, no matter how hard I try to hide it.

  “Of course not, Sap, you’re half Irish,” Jez quips.

  “Huh? What’s that got to do with anything?” I ask, confused.

  “It makes you half stupid,” she says proudly, lifting her chin, her British accent pronounced more than ever. On purpose, I’m sure.

  I try. I swear to everything holy to me that I try, but I lose my battle. I burst out laughing so hard, tears start running down my face in no time. Everyone is laughing. I’m not sure if Lucifer understood her jab, but he is bent down with the rest of us for a long time. For all my shortcomings, I must have done something right to have these people in my life. As much as I like bitching about it, I would give my last breath for each of them, even the new additions to our little sister circle. Each and every one of them is exactly where they need to be: a tribe. That’s what we are now. It gives me a warm feeling in my belly like I drank brandy or something.

  “I love you Jez, but only because you’re the other half of the stupid,” I say after I manage to get some air in my lungs.

  It was a good diversion, thankfully. We all sit and sip our coffee—tea for Jezzinta and Daisy. I know the moment of peace won’t last long, it never does.

  Daisy finally adds her two cents. “You need to talk about it, Al.”

  “I know.”

  I purse my lips, unhappy because I can’t bring myself to ignore her. She’s aware of it, too, I know. That’s why she’s their last attack option when they corner me like this.

  “Why aren’t you guys upset with me?” I blurt out.

  “Huh?” all of them ask at the same time.

  “All the shit you just recently went through was because of my stupidity. Why aren’t you upset with me?” I hold up a hand to stop whatever they want to say. “The four of you,” I look pointedly at Remi, Philip, Jezzinta, and Meda, “were hurt beyond anything you ever should’ve experienced and I’m trying to understand why you’re not upset. If you forgot, Derik was the one who did all that while Remi did her best to protect us all from him, and my stupid hormones brought all that shit on top of everyone. You should be angry. You should resent me, not hug me and worry how I feel about this.” I burst out crying as I finish my venting.

  Stunned silence meets my sobs, but I can’t lift my head from my hands to look at them. Maybe it never dawned on them to resent me for everything they went through, and now I gave them the idea that they should. That makes me cry harder. It feels like my head will explode from the pressure in it, and I’m stunned out of my misery by an animalistic growl like I’ve never heard before. I have time to only look up startled and see Lucifer looming over me before he plucks me from the step I’m sitting on like I weigh less than a feather. He growls at Remi and Jez for daring to touch him while he cradles me to his chest like an infant and starts walking inside the house. I only have time to twist my head and look wide-eyed at everyone over his shoulder. Their stunned faces meet mine before the door closes between us with a deafening thud and Lucifer strides up the stairs, taking them two at a time, up to my room.

  2

  Alexia…

  “What do you think you’re doing? Put me down!” I wriggle in his arms.

  That is a bad idea! My breasts are pressed against his chest, and it does st
upid things to my body. It’s not like it stops me, but I realize it’s stupid. Heat pools in my stomach, and I squeeze my thighs to elevate the tingling there. It’s a dangerous game we’ve started playing, ever since I woke up three months after I almost bled to death in the kitchen downstairs.

  Like I haven’t spoken, he walks into my room and unceremoniously drops me on the bed, making me bounce a couple of times like a sack of potatoes. I say nothing, just watching him warily while he stalks up and down in front of the bed, breathing hard. I know it’s not because he’s tired from carrying me. He’s angry—very angry. I do the most sensible thing I can; I keep my mouth shut. I’m almost proud of my self-preservation skills. But that goes out the window the next second when everyone piles into my bedroom like it’s Grand Central Station. Just for the record, it’s not a very big room. Definitely not big enough to hold ten adults.

  "I wasn't aware we were having a party in my bedroom," I say to no one in particular.

  Like I haven't spoken, they get comfortable. Philip sits, leaning his back against the wall, and Remi settles between his legs, leaning on his chest. Jezzinta and Meda sprawl on my bed around me like cats on Sunday morning. Will and Archie sit on the floor next to each other, leaning their forearms on their knees, and Faith sneaks up next to Lucifer, who’s stopped prowling and is glaring at me with his arms crossed. Daisy is the only one standing in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips and a look of disapproval on her face.