Page 118 of An Unexpected Ascension
So much blood.
Puddled and pooling around her as she kneels with her back to me. Her body curls in on itself, hunched over, as shivers wrack through her with silent sobs. Her pale, bare legs are painted crimson, just as her arms are up to her elbows.
Coasting forward, my boots touch the edge of the puddle, smearing it along the ground. My stomach churns, twisting in knots. My entire life I’ve known gore like the back of my hand, enjoyed it even, but this... Briar so thoroughly broken and shattered, it breaks something in me I didn’t know could break.
Crouching down, I grip her shoulder to get her to face me, but she’s stiff as a rock. I just want to see her face, to look into those jade eyes, to see the angel I’ve come to know and?—
But when I crawl around her, ignoring how my pants soak up the bloody mess beneath us, my heart drops. It falls,down, down, downdeep into my stomach. The plummet nearly makes me vomit, but I force myself to swallow.
Her dark lashes are heavy with an ocean of tears, eyes rimmed red, the green so vibrant it’s startling. She’s shaking violently and I wonder if the blood loss has rendered her cold. Searching every inch of her, I take in the black tank top, the hem sitting just under her breasts and her black undershorts. Then, along her lower belly, adorning her bared flesh and flooding with thick, oozing blood; a gaping wound lies wide open beneath her navel.
My brows knit together as I try to understand what’s happening. The angel is too distraught to even produce a coherent word. She just kneels there, her hands cupped together in front of her.
Another wave of agony throttles her, her body caving in on itself. She rocks forward, those hands coming to her forehead, painting her remaining untouched skin.
I don’t know what to do, but I know it can’t be nothing.
“Fuck.”
Breathing down a wave of panic, I slip my arms underneath her knees and around her back, cradling her to me and carry her to the ceramic tub on the terrace. Climbing in, I lower her down on top of me, reaching forward to start the water.
With a trembling hand, I glide my palm gently over the incision she’s made and heal it. Slowly, her skin melds together, the bleeding coming to a full stop. She shudders, taking erratic, uncontrolled breaths.
Her palms, still cupped, now lay in the center of her chest as her head lolls against my shoulder.
“What’s happened, Angel? What did you do?”
Her mouth doesn’t so much as move, let alone make another sound. Her eyes flutter shut, tears still streaming down her face, now tinged pink.
With caution, I bring my hands up to meet hers and gently pry them open. Inside lies the tiniest little creature, no bigger than my smallest finger.
“Devil save us,” I mutter, letting out a quivering breath.
I close her palms again around the lifeless little thing and in a heartbeat, an object forms in her hands. In her grasp now lies her baby encased in a smooth, glass heart. I can feel the sobs coursing through her body as she tightens her hold on it.
The steaming water sloshes to the floor, reminding me to turn the faucet off. In the silence of the night, we lie there, her back against my chest. My fingers comb through her hair soothingly, careful not to catch in any tangles.
“Shhh, it’s okay. You’re okay,” I tell her, but she already knows lies were born in Hell.
It’s in this moment as my fingers so gently stroke her head and I will my meaningless words to soothe her, that I find a girl so much like my sister. Strong, fierce, lovable and dealt such a terrible, horrible hand in life only to be met with an undeserving end.
When dawn breaks over the horizon, casting a ruby glow over the city in the distance, I begin to shift. The water has gone cold and matches the color of the ascending blood sun. By the way Briar shivers, I can tell it’s from the chill since her breathing has finally calmed. Rubbing my palms over her arms, I gently rouse her awake and pull her to her feet.
She stands near the tub, soaked and dripping. Ridding us both of our drenched clothes, I wrap a towel around her body, then one around my waist, and lift her once again. Her muscles go limp in my arms as I carry her to bed, and I slide in next to her.
To my surprise, Briar doesn’t object when I pull her back into my front and wrap my arms around her with the glass heart now held tightly to her chest. I trail my fingers along her arm, coaxing her back into a numbing sleep.
“You deserved so much more,” I whisper with a kiss to her temple.
Chapter 36
The Angel
The echo of a gunshot rings in my ears, deafening me.
My body jolts upright as I clutch my chest and look down.
Nothing.
