Page 121 of An Unexpected Ascension
“Then you work at it.” There’s a beaming smile on his face, one that forces the opposite on mine.
“What?” I snap, the smug look more irritating than his answer.
“Just never thought I would see the day, my friend.”
“Don’t get too excited. She hates my guts.”
“Mmm, probably for good reason.”
I nod, picking at a dirt stain on my knee.
“Even after I told her.”
His brows shoot up his forehead as he winces.
“You told her you love her?”
“Yep, and she all but scoffed in my face.”
He rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably.
“You’ve done nothing to woo her. You can only expect in return than what you’ve given.” He smiles again, bemused. “You really love her? A Fentonelli?”
I shrug.
“You sure it isn’t just lust for the first female you have encountered in decades?”
Lust is what I've chalked it up to all this time, until last night. I laid awake for hours after the angel fell asleep in my arms. As I stroked her soft, silky dark hair, I thought long and hard about what it meant for my heart to hurt so much for someone that wasn’t my sister. For a Fentonelli.
By the time the sun rose, I concluded that I didn’t care who she was or where she came from because this woman in my arms deserves so much better. She deserves to be loved and that pressure in my chest, the weighted heaviness, that was what lay in wait for her – love.
I meet the Devil’s eyes, my near-brother, and swallow before confessing, “It’s not lust.”
“Then I suggest you fight for her and if she fights back, concede. Take the beating and let her see that you are hers, utterly and wholly hers.”
“Wouldn’t be the first beating,” I mutter to myself, still sporting the wound she graced my face with.
Lucifer chuckles again, pushing to his feet and offering me a hand. I take it, my palm wrapped in his and I leverage myself to stand.
“I think I finally get it.”
“Good, then now you know the lengths I’ll go for Ada.”
We met an hour later in the Great Hall to replenish what we burned all morning. After which we went over our plans on saving Ada from Achaz’s sons.
There’s no advantage of us being in Heaven and none for the Gods in Hell. This pre-war mission is dangerous and without Lucifer... there’s no room for error.
Once we have Lucifer’s wife, it will only be a matter of time before the Gods strike. They themselves will not show on our doorstep, but I can only imagine the havoc they will bring down on Hell.
Our only other goal besides slaying the Gods, is to save the souls worth saving. The saints and angels who loathe us with every fiber of their being, they are not our targets. They’re just blind to the injustices brought forth by their precious deities. Hardly their fault, but we will make them see.
I spend the day sentencing fallen angels and the newly dead. Some of which I show mercy, to Lucifer’s surprise. Others, I cast them off to the Canyon to feed the Hell Hounds. Greygore didn’t even make it on the list of punishments today despite normally favoring him.
A part of me hates how soft I’ve become, but when the Devil tells me to cherish it instead, nurture that new feeling in my chest, I do. If only to show the angel that I’m more than just a demon.
I give Briar her space,but by the following morning, that hunger that starts to feast away at the belly forces her into the Great Hall where Lucifer and I are just filling our plates.
My eyes snap to hers in an instant finding that very emptiness she’s carried since the Tree. She sits without a word, filling a mug with coffee. I watch her every move; her dainty fingers grasping the handle, her lips caressing the edge of the cup, the column of her neck contracting as she swallows.
