Page 217 of Crimson Promises
My body fell completely still. I nodded towards him in acquiescence.
Ben’s eyes locked on mine, the bond between us swerving angrily.
“Bennett, for your final task, you mustwillinglysacrifice your soul. This will fulfill your end of the bargain and ensure Aurora’s freedom.” Though tinged with importance, his tone held an undercurrent of something darker, something I couldn't quite define.
“But the deal was for both of us to go free after it was completed,” I argued.
I felt the blood drain from my face as I stared at Lucifer, his enigmatic smile casting eerie shadows across the room. “Bennett knew the terms of our agreement when he embarked on this journey. This is not the first time he has entered into a deal with me. He should know better than to make deals with the Devil.” He leaned towards Bennett, finally releasing me from his scrutinous gaze, his voice a sinister whisper. "If you do this, if you sacrifice your soul willingly, I will release Aurora unharmed. It's a choice only you can make."
"Lucifer, I won't let Ben do this. There has to be another way. Something else we can get for you.”
Lucifer's gaze never left Ben as he replied, "There is, Little Star. You can fulfill the prophecy the seer foretold. Embrace the angelic side of your heritage, leave your mortal life behind, and join me here by my side as my wife and queen. Together, we will rise like phoenixes from the ashes. No longer cast aside, powerless, or ignored. Together, we will right the wrongs that were made before us.”
Ben stood beside me, a stoic figure facing impending doom. His eyes bore into Lucifer's, a silent battle of wills, and I could sense the weight of the decision that hung over him like a guillotine blade.
My heart raced, its frantic rhythm echoing in my ears as I struggled to comprehend the gravity of the situation. I had learned sacrificing one's soul was a fate reserved for the most desperate and damned, a path to oblivion that left nothing but a hollow shell.
Bennett rolled his shoulders back. He looked at me with so much tenderness in his eyes that it made my heart ache. I knew what he would say before he spoke the words.
“I’ll do it. As long as you hold up your end of the deal and let her go free of her own volition. She will not remain here to be your queen. You leave her out of whatever war you are planning on bringing, you will not harm her family, and I’ll do it.”
Tears pooled in my eyes. “Ben. You can’t do this. I can’t. I won’t do this without you.”
“You’re going to do just fine. You’ve been right about everything. Everyone, including me, has taken your choice away from you. I’ll never be able to take that back, but you deserve to have your own life free over a world you have never known and didn’t ask to get dragged into. You deserve freedom and the chance to have a family and grow old with someone who will sit with you on a porch in rocking chairs. You have the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. The world deserves to see it. And I will do everything I can to ensure you get that chance. It has been the greatest pleasure of my existence to have had the chance to get to know you, laugh with you, compete with you, train with you, run with you, but above all else, to love you.”
My heart cracked open, and I couldn’t escape the sob that broke free.
“It may have started as a job and agreement that I would get something out of it. But the more I learned about you, the more I saw that despite your pain and suffering, you didn’t let that stop you from hoping to make connections in this harsh and cruel world. You always believed in something more, something better. Letting your light burn bright and free is my honor and privilege. You deserve more than a life sentence in Hell.” He stepped forward and caught the tear running down my cheek before cupping my face. “You are going to flourish, and I wish I were going to be here to get the chance to see you achieve all that you will set your mind to. But at least I get to contribute to that in some minuscule way.”
He brushed his lips ever so gently across mine. I could taste the salt from tears against his lips. This wasn’t supposed to be goodbye.
I rested my forehead against his chest. For how many more moments would his chest rise and fall? He tucked my head beneath his chin.
He whispered to me, “Remember. Only in darkness can one truly see the light. Embrace your shadows to set your path right.”
The anger, resentment, and hurt I had been holding on to towards him seemed trivial and stupid now. Beneath everything that happened: I loved Ben. For many years, I assumed everyone I loved would always leave because I wasn’t someone I was worth sticking around for. But Ben was choosing to leave to give me a chance at life.
“Enough,” Lucifer bellowed. A blow pushed Bennett into the glass windows of the Observatory. They shook against the impact of absorbing his crash.
Lucifer extended a slender, elegant hand towards Ben, his fingers slashing patterns in the air. Instinctively, I knew what Lucifer was doing. This was the beginning of the end.
As I tried to rush to his side, a ring of shadows encircled my waist keep me in place. Ben would cease to exist, the cost of sparing my life. A profound sense of guilt filled me, knowing that Ben was enduring this agony because of me.
As Lucifer continued his dark incantations, tendrils of shadowy energy began to curl around Ben's form like malevolent serpents seeking their prey. They coiled around him, snaking their way into his very being, and I could see his struggle to resist, to hold onto his soul.
Ben's eyes met mine, and I saw a mixture of pain, determination, and love in their depths.
His face contorted, his eyes squeezing shut as he gritted his teeth against the torment. His body trembled, and I could see the beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
The room seemed to grow colder, and a chill settled in my bones as I watched the soul-draining process unfold. I could see Ben's essence, a radiant and golden light. Hisaurumpulled from him like a fragile thread unspooling.
Lucifer's expression remained impassive, his focus unwavering as he continued extracting Ben's soul with cruel precision.
While Lucifer was not The Angel of Death, it was evident he dabbled in the dark arts to know a spell like this.
My heart ached with the intensity of my emotions, torn between the desire to save him and the knowledge that I couldn't.
But I could. Ben would never forgive me for it, but at least he would be alive. His hatred was better than his sacrifice.
