Long after Lilith had found comfort in Eli's bed and drifted off to sleep, another soul was becoming more twisted in his obsession. Levi Sethos, the Preacher-man, stood looking out of his study window as the sun was beginning to rise. His sermon notes were strewn across his desk, but he was having difficulty focusing on the subject of 'dealing with temptation wisely'. He had received a call the day before on a burner cell phone he carried informing him that Lilith Eden had been observed packing a backpack and leaving the home she had shared with Millie Daws. He had to know where she was going because there was no way he was going to let her escape the destiny he saw for the two of them.
Since meeting her, he had not been able to get her out of his mind. Lilith was different from the other beautiful women he had enjoyed dallying with over the years. She was strong, confident, and carried an air of sensuality that made his blood run hot. From his seat at Millie's bar, he had loved to just watch the way she moved around tables, chairs, and people with the grace of a dancer. He liked to picture himself coming home after a long day and finding her waiting, smiling and looking at him with real love in those brilliant green eyes of hers. He imagined easing his troubles in her soft arms or feeling her next to him while he slept. So many sugared thoughts, but he wasn't about to just simply watch her from a distance anymore. He had to find her and make her love him. I'm tired of only being able to watch you from the roof of my palace Bathsheba. Your king desires his perfect queen. In your eyes I can see all of the promises of heaven fulfilled, he thought as his fingers touched the cold glass of the window. In her he didn't just see a mistress he could use to satisfy his carnal desires, no, he saw his perfect partner. She was the one who would finally give him his heir . . . his Solomon. You have to come to me.
Looking out at the moon reflecting on the lake, Levi sighed in frustration. He had everything he could want in life except her. From his mansion in the hills, he had a breathtaking view of Table Rock Lake that was just secluded enough from Branson that he didn't have to deal with the endless traffic and lights and he loved it. Almost every facet of his life was exactly as he had imagined it would be. He enjoyed his wealth and the power and influence he had over people. It was amazing. Church members, staff and even total strangers wanted to talk to him and ask him anything from marital advice to lottery numbers. The press loved him for his natural charm and charisma. No one could ever be certain what his true feelings on a subject were because when the cameras were rolling he always said what was most popular in the mainstream world, or craftily sidestepped the issue. This had enabled him to build quite a powerful empire. He had dined with presidents and visiting dignitaries. On two occasions he had been asked to speak at the National Prayer Breakfast. He rubbed elbows with Hollywood stars and could call many of the rich and powerful elite his friends. It was intoxicating.
There was a time when he had lived a far more humble life, at least outwardly. It was when he was fresh out of Seminary school and preaching in his first church with a congregation of maybe twenty people. He and his young wife of a year, Jeza, were living in a shabby little home struggling to put food on the table. Back then he had been deeply unhappy and dissatisfied with his meager income and hated being nothing more than a small-town minister and relative nobody. He wanted so much more out of life and was determined to get it. Eventually, the two of them decided to travel from one end of the country to the other, visiting churches and preaching the word. Sometimes they would set up tents and canvas the town with flyers. He wrote books, appeared on the radio making his reputation grow along with his bank account. He was proud as he posed for pictures showing him laying the cornerstone of his new megachurch. It was a marvel of architecture with huge elaborate stained glass windows and seating for more than fifteen hundred people.
As the years went by Levi changed, but not for the better. He still put on an air of piety, but the only God he believed in was himself. Every Sunday he put on an incredible performance and gave the people what they paid for. He wore the persona of the simple preacher whenever he was on public view, but inside he had become corrupt and his heart had been replaced by an idol made in his own image. The marriage he shared with Jeza had been fractured from the start, but now the gulf between them had widened until it had become too difficult to span. Now they only saw each other when the cameras were on. Jeza lived in the second story of the mansion enjoying her life of fine clothes, manicures, hair salons, plastic surgery and her personal instructor Ty. She knew of her husband's numerous infidelities, but ignored them because leaving him and dissolving their marriage meant the end of all they had built . . . particularly her lavish lifestyle and of course Ty.
