Page 29 of An Unexpected Ascension
“Like a moth to a flame.”
“Like Lucifer to Hell.” I shrug off the hand perched on my shoulder.
“Lynx...”
“After two centuries of serving by your side and you still use my human name.”
“To bring back some of that humanity, yet you’re the same as you were all those years ago when you knelt before my throne for that very first time. Still drawn forth by the glory of revenge, yet today you’ve foregone for the first time ever. I’ve never known you to spare a Fentonelli. There’s hope for you yet.”
“What are you spewing on about, God of Hell?” I spin on my heels, the soles of my boots screaming against the shining tiles to the opposite side of the war room.
The face of the devil stares back at me, unaffected by my soured mood. Worry lines carve deep in his handsome features, below his blackened eyes, outlining that frown he wears so often. Like how a brother might worry for his very own sibling.
“My friend, please. The years have hardened you so, and thoughit may be useful in the days to come, know that I don’t like to see it. How these centuries of hatred have rotten you inside out. More than myself.”
“You’ve always been an angel at heart, broken down by the Gods who’ve betrayed you. Don’t mistake us for the same. The Gods have only strengthened the malice I gathered back on Earth.”
“You know, I wondered how long it was going to take you to find her.”
My spiteful gaze snaps back to his. “You knew about her, and you didn’t think to tell me?”
I stalk back toward the Devil, passing the countless empty chairs tucked under the long metal table, meeting him with inches to spare.
“It’s useless information. What has this young Fentonelli girl done to you that requires her eradication? She’s so far down the line. She’s lifetimes away from even knowing?—”
“Say his name and I will make it rain fire on your lands.” My teeth clank together in rage.
He merely sighs, his cool a polar opposite to the inferno burning inside of me. I’ve laughed time and time again that they bestowed the reign of Hell to the wrong man.
“You would do that to your own army? Your home?”
Air erupts from my flared nostrils in answer before I close my eyes and roll my shoulders.
“May I speak freely?”
“Has anything ever stopped you before?”
He chuckles, then clears his throat.
“I’ve left you to tend to your own heartache, seek your own vengeance. But don’t let this Fentonelli descendent deter you from the bigger picture. Your tragedies are not her fault, but the Gods?” He grasps both my shoulders now. “Just stay focused, we are too close to turn back.”
“I won’t jeopardize our future, especially for a lowly girl.”
“Mmm,” is all he says.
Twisting on my heels, I leave him where he stands and traipsedown the dim hallway towards the East Wing. Toward my personal haven in this dreary castle that’s remained empty for too many lifetimes to count.
The heavy, black oaken doors boom behind me as I enter my quarters. The room itself is plenty spacious that it leaves no need for an entire wing, but again, this place lacks the souls to fill it.
I shrug off my leather jacket, folding it once before placing it on the back of my velvet chaise. A tint of red casts over my furniture as it bleeds in from the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The view is painted with a dreadfully vast expanse of dead land and the city just beyond that.
I stand before the opening, watching as the statuesque guards fulfill their duties. Day in and day out, they protect their deity with a patience made for Heaven. Not that anyone would dare venture to the Devil’s castle. That would be asking for a fate worse than desecration.
When I made my deal with him two centuries ago, I didn’t just sign myself up for an eternity of servitude, but an eternity of fealty. I pledged my soul to him in return for a revenge befitting to us both.
That day, I became more than the lowly demon I play to be. I became second to the God of Hell. His fury seeps through my veins, his unearthly essence filtering my blood. I am more than those immortal beings swarming the city, but much less than a rightful God.
