Terror at the Gates (Blood of Lilith, #1)

by Scarlett St. Clair

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world…

Forgiveness is an invitation to sin. It will be our ruin.

Forgiveness was an invitation to sin. I witnessed it every week, which was why I’d decided a long time ago that I did not care to be forgiven. I’d rather be a sinner than a hypocrite.

Except that was all really bullshit, because the blood of the Elohai—the blood of God—only gave magic to women. It made us powerful, a power we could not even utilize because we were subservient to men.

“She treats your territory like she owns it,” Cassius said when I stepped outside the holding room. “That is how Lilith treats the world,” I replied.

“The Book of Splendor was curated by men. They came together at a council back when we had kings to decide what stories should go in their so-called sacred book. They claim they were ‘divinely guided,’ which is a funny way to say politically motivated.”

What was the point of life without the promise of eternal paradise? But that was the great lie, wasn’t it? Life was life. It was as meaningful as I made it.

“You want me to do something about it?” he asked. “You can’t,” I said. “Not without starting a war.” “I would go to war for you,” he said. I ceased breathing, thinking that I’d misheard him. I pulled back and met his gaze. He was usually so composed, but there was something unfiltered in the way he looked at me now—a raw confession of devotion. “What did you say?” His mouth lifted in a soft half smile as he swept his thumb over the edge of my lips. “I would go to war for you,” he said again. “I would fight endlessly to keep you if that’s what you wanted.”

They will call her a demon, but I watched her transform, and I will call her goddess.