‘You swore revenge. Yahweh’s angels were able to protect the mothers and their children from you, but not the men. And so you seduced them while they slept, precipitating nocturnal emissions. The Talmud warned men not to sleep in a house as the sole occupant for fear of your presence. When you are reborn, you will possess the ability to control the will of men and deplete their life force.’

‘How shall I be reborn?’

‘Not far from the village of Bolonchen is a cavern, part of an underground network of passages known as Grutas de Xtacumbilxunaan, the Caves of the Hidden Woman.’

‘I read about this place in your papers. What’s inside the cave?’

‘Immense power … a power that will ignite your bloodline and give you the gift of sight. But be warned: If you are not strong, the energy will cause you to go insane.’

Lilith stares hard at the old man. ‘Quenton tells me my mother was insane.’

‘Or perhaps he drove her to insanity? It matters not. You are stronger than she ever was, and your master, Lucifer, will protect you.’

‘Quenton preached that God would protect me if I accepted Him into my life.’

‘Who can accept such a vengeful God into their heart? A God who coexists with death camps, who infects our species with disease, who is worshiped as being all-powerful yet somehow remains indifferent throughout our suffering? Did God help you when Quenton was abusing you?’

‘No.’

‘We of the left-hand path refuse to grovel before deities of crosses in hopes of gaining favor with such a God. Instead, we choose to rise above the ignorant fray and stare into His eyes. We revel in our humanity and take full responsibility for our actions. We seek out Lucifer, not to worship him, but to work side by side with him and his demons. God may have given us our sexual organs, but it was Lucifer who made us aware of them. He allowed us to see, to explore, to indulge our most carnal instincts so that we could flourish.’

‘And what of good and evil?’

‘A useless concept, taught by self-serving priests—hypocrites—like your Quenton, who seek to gain earthly pleasures by invoking God’s name to create fear. If to do good is to serve God, then it is a waste of time. Evil is the path to power. We of the left-hand path refuse to live in fear. We feel love and compassion because we are human, but we follow a dark path, one that harbors a hidden force in nature, leading us into a world most men refuse to understand.’

‘Quenton never loved me. Jacob loved me, but his mother and that old woman refused to allow us to be together.’

‘Old woman? Tell me about this old woman.’

Longboat Key, Florida 3:12 p.m.