Page 106 of An Unexpected Ascension
My Hell, I realize.
Yes, this war inside my head between lusting after a Fentonelli and wanting to hate her has been my version of Hell. Lucifer was right.
I stay slumped in the chair, letting the fire roar and sway before my eyes, entrancing me into a blissful abyss. My thoughts so still that my eyes flutter shut, and I slip under a blanket of slumber that lasts an entire day.
A startling scream rips through the night, dragging me from the depths of sleep. Sweat coats my skin, the fire still blazing, the heat seeping into my body.
Rubbing the midnight sand from my eyes, I find the burgundy glow of the moon, a red so deep it’s nearly black. It casts shadows over my room as I snuff the flame from my hearth. In the distance, I can hear a faint wailing forcing me to my feet.
Shuffling down the hall toward the West Wing, still half dazed and groggy, the noise grows louder.
Barreling into her room, I find Briar kicking and punching at the air. Her skin slick with sweat and her blankets thrown to the floor.
“Briar?” I try to wake her, coming to her side of the bed and grabbing her shoulders.
She doesn’t open her eyes.
“Come on, Angel. Wake up.” I groan.
Only she doesn’t. Instead, she whimpers at whatever horrors torment her inside her mind. Doing the only thing I can think of, I crawl into the bed beside her and pull her to me and cradle her in my arms.
“Shhhh, it’s okay. It’s all in your head. It’s not real.”
Though she doesn’t respond, her body sags against me as if my words cut through whatever nightmare she’s living.
“Perhaps I can borrowyour powers to get to the tree,” I suggest again, already knowing the answer.
The early morning brightness has now dulled into a crimson afternoon flood, reflecting in the metal table of the war room. Briar still lies sleeping, curled in a fetal position in her bed, trapped inside her own mind while Lucifer and I have been looking for another way to the Mortifier.
“You know that will leave me defenseless here. The last time you tried, it exhausted me for days.”
“Then I go alone. Can you at least get me through the forest?”
He searches my eyes for the answer as if it will pop out at him.
“Maybe.”
“What if we go through Heaven?” Briar’s voice sounds behind me.
The femininity a stark contrast to the very purpose of this room. I push to my feet, spinning to face her. The angel’s eyes seem to have gathered their color back, though just a shade duller and the features on her face are just as bleak, but she stands.
“How do you mean?” Lucifer questions with a curiosity that glints in those dark eyes of his.
“Hermes gets into Heaven with ease all the time. Hardly costs you any power, right?” She waits for his shrug to continue. “So, once there, we go to the Garden of Eden because the Tree of Knowledge is parallel to the Tree of Death. The energy it takes to descend on a straight downward path can’t be much.”
The Tree of Death.
Hardly clever, but... suitable.
“It’s worth a shot,” I agree.
“It’s risky as all Hell,” Lucifer reminds us. “Briar is no longerwelcome in Heaven. If she’s caught, there will be trouble. It could ruin everything we’ve worked for.”
“Then we don’t get caught,” I say as if it’s obvious.
“Maybe you do this alone, Lynx.”
“No. I’ll be careful. We won’t get caught,” Briar objects. “Look, I want to help. It took me a minute to see the bigger picture here, but now that I do, I can’t stand back and do nothing. We’re going to get the Mortifier, we’re bringing your wife home, and then we’re getting revenge.”
