Page 134 of An Unexpected Ascension
Shetwists in her chair, facing me with worried eyes.
“You can talk to me, Briar. I think I can understand how you feel.”
“No offense, but how can you? You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve been through.”
“No, but I do know the feeling of being broken on the inside.” She pushes to her feet, wrapping a gentle hand around my elbow. “I’m still broken. Every day spent with those Gods my heart corroded a little more. They chipped and tore away at everything I loved until there was nothing left of it. I was so afraid that should I finally do get to go home, mending it would be impossible. Yet, here I am. And even though my chest feels hollow, and my days are still dark, I know it’s worth it to rebuild what was lost. Because once my heart is whole again, I know it will be in good hands.”
I stare at the face of a woman who’s known torture for centuries, known loss. Something like hope stirs in her voice and I desperately want her to find it in herself to heal because she deserves it.
“I was pregnant when I died,” I confess in a whisper like saying the words aloud make them real. “I had no idea. When I got to Heaven, I didn’t even know how my life ended, just that it did. Then I touched the Tree of Death and saw it – my own ending. Relived it. I couldn’t save myself or my baby and for the first time since I’ve died, I’ve realized all the things I’ll never do, never have, never be.”
“Briar, I’m so sorry. There’s nothing like losing a child. No parent should ever have to go through that.”
A snort cuts through the oncoming wave of tears. “I was hardly a parent. You raised your sons, so mourning the loss of their existence is understandable. I’m mourning something that never even was.”
Her soft hand caresses the side of my face in a motherly gesture.
“Loss is loss, dear. You’re entitled to your feelings.” I return the soft smile she grants me. “Can we make a promise to each other? Woman to woman, mother to mother?” She wipes a tear that rolls down my cheek as I nod. “I’ll work on myheart if you work on yours.”
A sinking feeling tugs inside my chest. “I don’t think there’s anything left to fix at this point.”
“Of course there is.”
“And what if I do? What's the point? We have a war coming and who’s to say I’ll even make it through that.”
“You will. You have to. If not for me, then for a certain someone who’s been moping around the manor day and night.”
I roll my eyes. “He doesn’t know the first thing about taking care of someone’s heart. He’s just a demon.”
“And my husband’s the Devil.” She smirks. “Let him try, Briar. We all know he’s desperate for the chance.” She runs a finger beneath my eyes, wiping away any remaining tears. “Promise?”
As she steps back, holding me at arm's length, I take her in. The silk hem of her burnt orange dress pools at her feet. The color just a few shades darker than her hair, now intricately braided like a crown on top of her head with long tendrils falling below her shoulders in delicate curls.
She looks like a queen.
“Promise.”
“Now, let’s go enjoy this party.”
I smile as she loops her arm through the crook of my elbow and tugs me toward my door.
“Is this absurd or am I crazy?”
“It’s absurd,” she agrees.
Gaudy decor has commandeered The Great Hall. The entire room is draped in blacks, purples, and ruby reds. Tables sparkle with a glittering lacy fabric as dark as the walls themselves and lit with a golden candelabra that sits in the center. The little flames flicker but never extinguish as if magic keeps them alight.
But it isn’t the magnificent disguise this room has undergone in a matter of just a couple days nor the sheer gothic beauty of it. No, it’s the bodies that fill this room as if all these souls appeared only today.
They mingle, stemmed glasses in hand, drinking a wine the color of the moon. Dresses and jewelry, suits and ties, every guest isabsolutely stunning. It’s a far cry from the people that dwell in the city, except they’re one in the same.
Ada leads me to the front of the room where Lucifer sits at the center of a long table. His face is paler than usual with dark circles beneath his brown eyes.
“It takes a lot out of a man, these parties,” he confesses.
“And I thank you for it.” Ada rounds the table, placing a kiss on his cheek before claiming the seat next to him.
“Where did all these people come from?” I ask over the haunting crescendo of the orchestra.
