Page 128 of An Unexpected Ascension
The Devil finds a spot next to me.
“You did really well. It’s the determination that will get you far. Keep practicing.”
“Thanks,” I breathe.
There’s a moment of silence between us before he clears his throat.
“It’s none of my business, dear, but is there a reason you’re so keen on breaking my Second in Command?”
I shrug against the floor. “Besides the fact that he’s a demon and very much acts like it?”
“Yes, I suppose besides that.”
“My ancestor killed his sister, and he’s damned me for it. I’ve done nothing to him he hasn’t done to me.”
“Besides stab him in the ribs... and heart.”
I let loose an empty laugh.
“He has no heart,” I lie.
Warm, brown eyes fall over me.
“Briar, you know that is not the case.” He sighs. “Damn, I promised myself I would not get in the middle, but after today...” He refers to Lynx’s stubbornness and my kiss. “He’s a fool in love and you know it.”
“A fool indeed,” I agree.
“I beg of you, either cut him free or stop pretending you don’t feel the same.”
I push myself up to stand, towering over him to meet his gaze.
“I feel nothing right now. Not for him, not even for me. If he wants to keep playing around as if he even knows what love is, then that’s on him. I’m not the one pretending here.”
“Lynx might not know how to love properly, but he does love and for some reason he loves you. He isn’t going to give up you know. And one of these days, when your heart heals, his love will find a way in and fill it.”
“Has anyone ever told you what a sap you are?” I glower. “And how wrong you are?”
As I turn to leave, he mutters, “More than once.”
We go our separate ways, taking our time to ourselves before joining again inside the Throne Room. The Devil sits anxiously on that pile of twisted bones, such darkness against the alabaster white.
He could be the very thing nightmares are made of but during my time spent in Hell, the Devil is the least frightening thing I’ve encountered. The Gods were so wrong in damning him here. Lucifer has conquered this worldly prison, but he was not made for a place this bleak.
“He should be back by now,” he murmurs, gnawing his lower lip.
I stand before him with my hands clasped behind my back. To worry for Lynx would be to admit I could feel anything and...I don’t. Though I’ve lost my heart, I haven’t lost enough of my soul to be that indifferent to what the Devil’s feeling right now.
“He’ll come.”
Worried eyes meet mine in a plea. Fear whirls within them and my gut squeezes. I can only hope that I’m right. I give him a reassuring nod, and he expels a breath, dropping his elbows to his knees and bowing his head between his shoulders.
As I begin to pace to pass the time, a shift in my peripheral forces my attention. Lucifer rushes to his feet, his face ashen and drained of color as he stares behind me with his hand clutching his chest.
I spin and in the center of the Throne Room a storm of two bodies appear: Lynx and Ada. The demon stands there with this slender, meek woman in his arms, and the heart in my chest murmurs a single beat.
A gust of air brushes past me as Lucifer races to their side, helping Ada down from Lynx’s arms. He holds her steady like she’s lost all use of her legs, her muscles withered away with whatever else the Gods have stolen.
He brushes a hand along the side of her head, his thumb rubbing at the dirt hiding a face he once knew so well. Tears glitter in the Devil’s eyes. In that hazel gaze he loves so much, a tiny little flame sparks with life before him.
