Girl Enchanted (Book 2 of The Girl Trilogy) (3 page)

Hot blood raced through my veins. My
heart was beating fast. I concentrated on slowing my
breath.

He traced the outline of my lips with
his finger. Then he slowly ran the backside of his fingers down the
side of my face, down my neck, and across my collarbone. He shook
his head for a moment like he was waking from a dream. Then he ran
his hand down the side of my body in a sensual caress. He
sighed.

The amatory scent of his body
surrounded me and sent my senses aflame. But, after a moment, to my
sudden surprise, his demeanor changed. He pulled me close to him
and held me in his arms.

“
We have to be careful not
to get too close,” he said. Now his eyes saddened. “I might lose
control. You must know every moment is a constant struggle for me.
Everything in my essence draws me to you—to become one with your
body. It’s vital that we never go too far.”

The way he spoke of his feelings for
me, aroused me further. But, my demeanor became serious now as I
nodded in agreement. I thought about how the world could be
destroyed if we gave into our desires or even worse for me, I could
lose Shaul forever.

“
We didn’t even make it to
first base,” I sighed, trying to lighten the mood. “That’s three
whole bases before a homerun.” I smirked lightly.

“
You do understand that if
I choose to not return the apple to the Tree of Knowledge and
instead eat from the Tree of Life which is really in my inclination
to do so, we will not be together in the hellish world that will
ensue. If that was to happen, love would not exist.”

My throat tightened. “I know.” I liked
how he said “love” though he may have only been speaking
hypothetically. Could the devil love another? I wondered. I knew
his brother couldn’t, but I hoped Shaul could.

“
Do you sometimes think
about how strange it is that you and your brother, Aver, each have
half of the devil’s soul inside of yourselves?” I picked a red
daisy and inhaled the floral scent.

Shaul frowned. “It’s not any odder
than possessing the soul of the original woman, Eve, like you do.”
He stretched his arms over his head and leaned against a
tree.

I sighed. “That’s true. I think a lot
about how I’ll never be able to have children. I always thought I’d
have a lot of kids some day.”

“
Come here,” He said,
motioning me over to him.

As I walked over, he slid his back
down the tree broodingly and patted the ground next to him. I sat
beside him in the bed of flowers.

“
You can have as many kids
as you want, Cordellia.” His expression was serious. I noticed a
glint of pain in his eyes. “We just can’t have kids because if we
have a son he will possess the soul of the original man, Adam. The
bearer of that soul is the key to the Garden of Eden. You know that
Aver would try to steal the child to gain access to the Tree of
Life.”

I interrupted, “Yes and Aver surely
wouldn’t return the DNA of the apple to the Tree of Knowledge. He
would most certainly eat from the Tree of Life without correcting
the original sin. And if he did that, he would rule the world
forever, giving all power to the serpent people who are the
descendants of the devil himself.”

Shaul took my hand. “The world would
become completely evil for all eternity. It would be hell on Earth.
Love would not exist and all humans and creatures would become
slaves to the serpent people.”

“
But, it doesn’t have to go
that way,” I said, enjoying the sensations of holding his hand. I
thought about the first time I saw him produce a light ball from
his palm with the original DNA of the apple from the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was scary and shocking to see. “If
the original woman and the serpent give birth to the soul of Adam,
then they can return the original DNA of the apple to the Tree of
Knowledge instead.”

He smiled. “And after returning the
apple, then they…”

I turned to him. “You mean ‘we’ not
they.”

He blushed, which surprised me.
“Right. We can eat from the Tree of Life making our correction of
the original sin eternal.”

“
There would then be peace
on Earth forever.” His nostrils flared when he said ‘forever’. I
thought I saw the color of his eyes turn red for a
second.

“
But, if that happened, all
serpent people including you would cease to exist because serpent
people are innately evil which is incompatible in a world of pure
goodness.”

“
It would be heaven on
Earth.” His teeth clenched. It looked like he was filled with an
overwhelming rage that he was trying to contain. He stood up and
violently broke a branch from the tree. An unexpected smile spread
across his perfect face as he threw the branch into the air
spouting a Latin incantation. The branch turned into many sparkling
jewels that fell to the ground.

I was shocked. My mind felt mixed up.
Shaul was an enigmatic contradiction. In reality he was innately
evil. He was Satan, but his mind was beautiful. His creations were
beautiful. Even his heart was beautiful. How could someone so
perfect, so alluring, and magical be bad?

“
We’ll never return the
apple to the tree,” I said suddenly, desperation sounded in my
voice. “I wouldn’t let you die.” I grabbed onto his shoulders and
looked him in the eyes. “No.” I shook my head. “No.”

He looked sad, but he smiled wryly as
if he was trying to mask his pain. “When you grow up, you can marry
and have many children.”

That hurt when he said that, but I
didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t express my true feelings for
him yet. They were too raw and vulnerable. And I was too
inexperienced at that sort of thing. I couldn’t tell him how he was
everything to me now. How I didn’t want to live without him. How
I’d rather be an eternal slave to the devil than let him die. He
was me and I was him. We were one, but I couldn’t say
that.

Either way, Shaul and I lose, so I
decided I would never consummate my relationship with him so that I
would not risk impregnation. If I never gave birth to a son, the
world would remain the same, a mix of good and evil. With the
balance of the two opposing forces as it is, Shaul and I could be
together forever, that is if he wanted to be. My heart
ached.

“
I know what you’re
thinking.” Shaul shook his head. “Don’t think about our struggles
and tests now.” He smiled and gazed at me through his thick lashes.
“Instead, close your eyes as I lead you through to the other side
of the hedge.”

I wondered what was beyond and was
excited by this little game. “Gladly,” I murmured. “But, how do we
get through this wall? The hedge looks so dense.”

“
That’s for me to know and
you to find out.” His voice was soft and playful now.

We stood up. He put his hand over my
eyes and led me straight ahead. It was strange because I should
have smashed right into the leaves and branches before me, but
instead I just walked right through with no impediments. Life with
Shaul was magical.

He spun me around three times which
made me laugh and then he said, “Open your eyes.”

3

When I opened my eyes, I was amazed.
The field of flowers continued on the other side of the hedge, but
there were also gigantic toadstools with small, decorative houses
beneath. The trees were magnificent and of pure gold with huge,
colorful leaves that looked like butterfly wings.

Shaul and I stepped onto a gold
walking path. Female faeries fluttered around and above the
toadstools in elegant costumes of varying colors and unique
patterns. They were all so beautiful. Some of them even smiled at
Shaul and then giggled as if they were flirting.

I turned to Shaul to see his reaction
which was unreadable, but I noticed for the first time that he had
a hump on his back like me.

I laughed. “What happened to your
angel wings?”

He grinned slyly. “You didn’t think
I’d reveal myself as a serpent did you?”

“
So, now you’re posing as a
faerie?”

“
Yup.” His eyes glistened
wickedly.

“
You even put one of those
ugly humps on your back to fit in?”

He looked at me earnestly. “I think
your hump is beautiful.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks,” I
muttered.

“
Look, Cordellia. I would
never be allowed in this faerie community if I didn’t appear to be
one of them. Faeries abhor serpent people as much as humans
do.”

“
Oh, that makes
sense.”

“
Thanks,” he said
sarcastically as he ran his fingers through his dark overgrown
hair.

Realizing that I just insulted him, I
giggled.

“
Yeah, yeah. Real funny.”
He was smiling.

“
I thought it was.” I said
wryly.

He shook his head in good humor.
“Anyway,” he continued, “I transform to my surroundings so that I
can be free to do whatever I want to do.”

“
What do you want to do?” I
asked in a facetious tone.

“
You shall see,” he teased.
He really had the most gorgeous face I had ever seen. It was hard
for me to believe that I was with him and that he liked
me.

He led me up the gold path. We passed
a mesmerizing waterbed with many little waterfalls. Both male and
female faeries splashed around teasing each other in playful
games. Everyone was unusually attractive.

It looked like a teenagers’ party.
They were playing zed music on a bit player. I hadn’t seen one of
those since the Economy Crash. Some other faeries were lounging on
big satin embroidered pillows of varying colors upon the ground
while they smoked from a long intricate pipe. The substance had an
enchanting rose scent. They all looked like they were having so
much fun together.

I noticed one female faerie lounging
upon an obsidian rock under the sun. She was even lovelier than the
other faeries in appearance. Her hair was in many curls and her
gown was of the softest looking silk. Something about her looked
mischievous.

When she saw Shaul, she blushed and
giggled flirtatiously. I rolled my eyes. To me it looked like a
planned act and seemed entirely false. As with the other faeries,
Shaul seemed oblivious to her advances and completely uninterested
in her obvious beauty. That relieved me.

We came upon a breezy area where the
wind blew the long gauzy red petals that extended from the tops of
tall silver trees. A group of children flew through the air
together playing games and turning flips in the sky. I liked that
spot. Laughter filled the surroundings.

Beneath a huge toad stool was a
charming dark crystal house. Shaul walked me up to the front porch
that sparkled many colors in the sunlight. The entire house was
reflecting rainbow light actually. He knocked on the crystal
door.

“
Just a minute,” a soft
womanly voice called from inside.

I noticed the colorful light
reflecting on my arms as we waited.

“
Just go along with
whatever I say. It’s in your best interest and for your own
safety,” Shaul whispered.

I was confused by what he said. “I
trust you.” My adrenaline rushed. I wondered what we were doing at
this beautiful, mysterious house of fine jewel.

After a moment, the woman opened the
door. My eyes popped wide when I saw her. She looked familiar, but
I couldn’t place where I had seen her before. The more I studied
her, I realized her face looked a lot like a popular zed star I saw
in concert before the serpent people took over. But her eyes were
different than Exva Shalone’s. They were a pale yellow and her lips
were naturally red without wearing lipstick.

“
Hello there, madam.” Shaul
smiled mischievously at the woman, but she couldn’t take her eyes
off of me.

The way she kept looking at me, I
wondered if she thought I looked like a zed star too! That made me
laugh because even though Shaul saw me as attractive, I viewed
myself as a bland, awkward humpback.

Once I averted my stare, I saw that
she was wearing the most interesting dress. It wrapped around her
thin body ever so neatly and though there was a silken gown
beneath, the outer layer was made of an intricately woven silver
vine. I was entirely fascinated with her.

The woman’s sunshine eyes continued to
stare at me as Shaul spoke.

“
We’re selling virtual mind
dreams.”

She paid no attention at
all.

“
Shaul continued, “May we
come in and show you a presentation of our luxurious
offerings?”

She shook her head briefly and
responded with a start, “Oh, I’m sorry.” She looked at Shaul
apologetically, “Yes, please come in.”

We stepped into the entryway. “Wait
here. I’ll be right back with some treats.” She rushed away on her
tippy toes to the kitchen. I presumed.

The entryway was dim and windy with
prisms of rainbow light everywhere from the dark crystal
reflections of the house’s structure. I was surprised how spooky it
felt inside. Lots of shadows and casts of light.