I sunk into yet another wicked dream in Samael's spent embrace.
He rocked me to sleep, singing like a wounded angel.
---
Long ago, it happened. A reflection in the hourglass, the lip where sand siphons into the void.
He gave me the heart from his breast. His ribs grew into the Tree. It throbbed in his hand like a secret. I took it, terrified.
"It is yours," he whispered. Tears softened his stony eyes. "It always has been. Take it. It will set you free."
"But I don't want it! All I want is to be with you-"
"Eve!" Samael cried, clasping his hands around mine. They trembled, and that scared me more than the gaping wound in his chest. He had never been afraid. "Please. If you do not, you will die."
"But this is our home-"
