Page 116 of Crimson Promises
I gulped down a large mouth of water and wiggled on the island stool until I was sure I wouldn’t open my mouth and make a complete fool of myself.
“First, before I say anything, you have to promise not to get mad.”
“Well, this doesn’t sound promising. But fine, go ahead.”
It seemed that was as good as I was going to get. I traced the veiny surface with my fingernails, careful to not scratch or damage the countertop that looked like it cost as much as a semester's worth of tuition.
“Remember how I promised you that I would stay in my apartment?” I hesitated, not meeting his gaze. “After I left, I did go straight home. I was covered in demon guts and filth. I realized you were right about the reality of the dangers the demon and the threat Lucifer poses,” I whispered his name. “I tried binge watching some reality TV, hoping it would lull me into a nap. But I had this buzzing energy running through me ever since Gaul tried to kidnap me. But I had made you a promise, so I decided to organize my room instead. That ended up with me having piles of clothing all over the room and only added to my anxiety when I got a call from Jean.”
I looked up to see Ben’s chin resting in his hand.
“She called me frantic. All of the work we had done on the collection I had mentioned to you mostly had to be recatalogued. Jean needed the help, and the library was always a space where it drowned out all the noise for me. It gave me the same sort of peace running did.”
Ben dragged a hand down his face. “Let me guess, you told her you’d be right there.”
I winced. “I weighed the pros and cons. You needed to rest after the attack, and if I had to spend one more second locked up, I would lose it. Plus, I figured we had already been attacked by a demon once today. If they were any decent at strategizing, they would need to go back and regroup. I had you on my side. They’d have to think twice about how they would plan their next attempt. So, I figured going to work to help my boss would be safe.”
“Safe?” He choked out.
“Hindsight is twenty-twenty and all that bologna. Had I known what would happen, I would have happily remained in my cube of safety, pulling my hair out.”
“What happened at Canmore while?—?”
I raised a hand up to stop his progress. “Let me finish. Once I’m done, you can lecture me and whatever else you'll do, but it’s important you hear all the details, and my brain is still a tad on the fuzzy side. I need to reiterate everything to you while it’s still fresh.”
For the next twenty minutes, Ben obeyed my plea. I told him how I had seen the breathtaking red book before and how it seemed to call to me. It was the center of the collection. According to Jean, the book spoke about The Great War, a battle fought between Heaven and the archangels, and Lucifer and his supporters in a battle for The Kingdom of Heaven. Apparently, the text was in an ancient form of Latin that was difficult to decipher, mentioning that those who had joined to support Lucifer’s cause had to take a vow before joining.
Ben had gone as transparent as those thin translucent papers from the book then.
“Did it say anything else?”
“No,” I shook my head. “Not that the classics professors have been able to decipher so far. All they were able to extract from the text was an oath those who willingly joined Lucifer’s cause had to take.”
Ben’s shoulders relaxed a little at that.
“Do you know anything about that oath?”
Ben tapped a long, slender finger against her chin. “Not that I can recall. Maybe they mistranslated the text, and instead of a vow or promise, it implies they decided to join Lucifer’s side during the war.”
Memories flashed in my mind, pulling the image of Ben’s face when he spoke of the injustices that were committed against Jos and his mother. His decision to fight for her memory for what he thought was a better world.
“Did you fight in The Great War?” I asked softly.
His pupils dilated until there was only a thin line of green ensconced by black.
When he didn’t give me an answer, I pushed more than I thought I would. “I thought you said that you chose to fight.” I had given him the opportunity to be completely honest with me. If there was more that he was keeping from me, he needed to come clean now, or we couldn’t work together. I’d already been kept in the dark for far too long. I expected honesty.
“Not all battles are fought with iron and steel. Was that the big revelation?”
I noted his decision to not give me a straightforward answer, but there were more pressing issues at hand. I'd push for more details later.
“No, I was curious to know if you had more information. It’d score me major points at work, maybe even give me a promotion.” I winked.
That only got me a whisper of a smirk.
“The book containing the information about the oath is the issue. At first, it appeared to be a regular book. But the pull I had the first time was so intense it took all the willpower I had to detach myself from the promises it murmured to my soul."
"First time?" Ben chocked.
