Page 58 of An Unexpected Ascension
“Looks like someone hasn’t eaten in a while,” I murmur, stepping over her slumped body.
“What the fuck!” she growls, wiping the putrid residue off her mouth.
Her eyes widen in shock but slowly narrow in realization. The decaying corpses littering the canyon walls like hung paintings in a manor, the heat – boiling and humid, the smell just past rotten, and the skies – a deep crimson stain, a mirrored reflection of the blood spilt along these vast lands. She’s in Hell. As if every single emotion that was suppressed back in Heaven came forth this very moment, she gasps.
That gasp turns into a barrage of gulps as she swallows down heaps of panic.
I look down at the girl, her dark hair in a tangle, stray strands stuck to the sweat starting to leak from the flesh on her face. Her jade eyes glow in the darkness, a stark reminder of the sweltering abhorrence festering inside my soul. So why is it that short wick of patience that’s never grown an inch, suddenly... does.
Yanking her to her feet, I cradle her face. Those piercing eyes of hers spear me with a brittle hatred, one she now feels tenfold, but it’s her swollen lips that capture my attention. My chest aches, a lingering pain from the call I answered just in time.
“Have you found the truth?”
“Atruth, but not the one I’m looking for thanks to you.”
“And what truth do you seek that you did not find?”
“Where is my mother?”
“Ah, yes. Your mother.” I grin. “She wasn’t of the Fentonelli line, so I left her alone all these years, but I can’t say the same for your Gods.”
“I don’t believe you,” she growls.
“After everything you saw, you don’t believe the truth?”
There’s a heavy silence as she stands there, hands folded across her chest, trying her best to tear my soul from my body with her eyes.
“I don’t know what to believe. What I do know is that my penance was nearly paid off. Still, here I am in Hell.”
“You’d rather stay in that stifling prison answering to those frauds?”
Her reddened lips pinch together, unsure what to make of the discovery.
“So, the Gods aren’t as holy as they seem, and Lucifer was dealt a bad hand. What does that have to do with me? Why is this happening?”
The toe of my shoe taps against the floor of the canyon, a dwelling soon to be riddled with Hell Hounds if we linger a minute too long. My mind wars with what to divulge to an untrusting brat, but the truth nearly always wins.
“We’re preparing for a war between worlds, and you’ve found yourself caught by the right set of hands. Despite our history, I’ve been undeservingly gracious by allowing you to spend eternity here. Heaven may very well fall to the devastations of what’s to come. And I can assure you, you don’t want to suffer the aftermath of angry Gods should it go sideways.”
“Isn’t Lucifer just another angry God?”
“Maybe so, but with good reason?—”
“And what history do we have? You keep acting like you know who I am, but I’ve never met you. What vendetta do you have against me that you felt the need to ruin my afterlife?”
I drop my hands from her face, once again reminding myself thatan evil stain mars her soul, passed down from generations. It blisters inside of her, angry and demanding to be punished, but somehow, I find it within myself to walk away.
“We really need to get moving, the journey is long and tiresome.”
“Hey!” The grip on my shoulder is surprisingly strong as she yanks me back to face her. “Don't walk away from me! I deserve the truth!”
“You deserve nothing. Even less actually.”
“Bastard!” She seethes.
Those lips call to me again, my fingers pinching her lower one and pulling her to me. I breathe her in, that angel residue still lingering on her skin.
“Call me what you want, but I’ve been an absolute gentleman where you’re concerned. I promise, when the day comes that I find you might deserve the truth, you will regret brushing aside my niceties.”
