Page 116 of An Unexpected Ascension
I’m close, so close to Lynx that it will only take another few steps, but in that short distance all that’s needed is a quick lunge from just one of the hounds before it rips Lynx to shreds. Then it won’t be much longer before they make me their next target.
So, I raise the sword.
The center hound, leader of the pack, snaps its jaws shut and narrows those yellow eyes. It sniffs before its front claws back up, the beast recoiling.
Okay, this might work.
Another inch closer to Lynx, the weapon in full view, and now the pack follows the leader’s retreat. As I finally take my place beside the demon, one after another, they bow their giant heads before settling on the ground.
“Why are they doing that?” Lynx asks.
“Maybe it’s the sword.” I study the thing gripped in my hand.
He looks over at me, eyes wrought with worry, then pure astonishment at the Mortifier.
“You did it, you found the weapon.”
“Yeah. I did.”
But at what cost?
I don’t bother to wipe the tear that slips down my cheek as I allow Lynx to take my hand into his. All that pain sits idle inside of me while I hold tight to this sword, and I wonder if I’ll ever be able to let go.
We disappear from the tree, the Hell Hounds vanishing, and land in the center of Lucifer’s Throne Room. The Devil sits anxiously inhis chair of bones, bones that look utterly similar to the Tree of Death.
He jumps to his feet at the sight of us. Dirt and dust coat our skin, our hair, our clothes. The ashes on my cheeks thicken with the tears that wet my face, but I can’t bring myself to care.
“You found it! Briar! You...” One look and his hands grab hold of my shoulders.
The Mortifier drops, clattering against the tile floor and all that dread comes rushing back, making itself right at home.
Chapter 35
The Demon
“She hasn’t left her room.”
“Give her time.”
“I tried to stop her. It should have been me to touch the tree, but I couldn’t approach it, like there was an invisible barrier I couldn’t surpass.”
My mind reels with images of Briar trapped in the tree’s grip. The pain contorting her face gave way to what it was gifting her: the terrible, hard truth.
I shudder at the memory.
“Lynx, you cannot let it worry you. I can spare another couple days before we enact our first phase of the war to let Briar recoup, but should she...not, then we must do what we need to do. What we’ve always planned to do.”
Save Ada.
I slump even further in my chair as my fingers tap the metal table in the war room. My whiskey sits untouched near my hand, just the thought of swallowing right now constricts my throat.
Lucifer studies me in the way he always does. That brotherlyassessment, trying to read my mind. Except that seems to be the one thing he cannot do. So, instead he simply asks.
“What ails you?”
Tap – tap – tap.
The pads of my fingers roll along the table, the incessant noise a reflection of my anxious heart.
