Page 92 of An Unexpected Ascension
“How do you know if you’ve never explored these lands?”
“Good question, Angel. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
I can hear the smirk in his voice as he marches on, debris spraying up from the heels of his boots.
We press on a while longer, heading straight for the belly of the forest. At the very least, there isn’t shredded skin draped from branches like streamers or screeching crows eager to make your ears bleed.
The deeper we go, the thicker the air becomes. A blanket of fog drifts inches from the ground, hiding roots and rocks forcing us to slow our pace. Whispers of dreadful promises hum with the breeze and lingers at our ears.
“Ignore the voices, they’re not real,” Hermes warns.
“It would be easier to ignore them if I had a distraction.” The demon smirks, but before he can stop in his tracks, I shove at his shoulder. “Keep moving, I didn’t mean that kind of distraction. I meant conversation.”
“One of these days, I’m going to kiss you and you’re going to like it.”
“I highly doubt that,” I grumble. “Tell me how you and the Devil became so close.”
He snorts. “That’s what you want to hear?”
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s quite a tale. I already know how he came to be the God of Hell, but how did you become his Second in Command? How did you become Hermes?”
He lifts a branch blocking the path and ducks under it, letting it go at just the right moment for it to whack back into place, cutting me off. Growling, I move it myself and catch up to him, muttering asshole as I find a little grin planted on that smug face.
“After I died, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind where I belonged?—”
“I’d say.”
His eyes snap to mine in warning.
“I chose Hell because I assumed it’s the very place that housed all the pricks I killed while alive. Only to find out that the Gods graciously took every single one of them.
“It started with vengeance for my sister, by ending the life that ended her, but it didn’t make anything right. So, I chose another and another.
“In death, upon meeting judgement from Lucifer himself, he saw something in me. A raw, burning hatred. It was enough for him to ask me what I wanted in my afterlife and with nothing to lose, I told him the truth. I wanted to torment those who’ve tormented me. It was then that Lucifer shared with me the horrible news of where those souls ended up and he gave me an offer; help him save his wife and eliminate the Gods and in return, he shall give me the revenge I sought.”
“What more were you looking for when you had already killed the ones who wronged you?”
“I wanted them eradicated. Wiped from existence. Lucifer then made a deal with Achaz, allowing me to be the messenger between Heaven and Hell to collect those who do not complete their penance. The Gods being too arrogant to leave their thrones to do it, they agreed, only I had conditions.
“Allow the damnation of those men and to let me see my sister whenever I pleased.” Hermes swallows. “Only one of my conditions was met.”
“Which one?”
“My sister, right before her death, had fought and prayed for her life. Prayed, but as the light began to seep from her eyes, she not only questioned the existence of her God, but cursed him. Pissing off a God is foul business, a sure execution.”
“So, they eradicated your sister.”
“I expected nothing less from those holier than thou beasts. After discovering Mercy no longer existed, there was very little use for the men, but I took them anyway. I damned them and fed them to Greygore in Lucifer’s dungeon – a fate far worse than my sister’s.
“All that rage I felt in that moment, all that maddening hate, I bottled it up and held onto it like a fine aged wine. It was that day, I decided I would pledge eternity to the God of Hell and end those frauds in Heaven.”
“What about your father? Did you hand him over to Greygore, too?”
A frown mars Hermes’ face, defiling that otherwise flawless beauty only a demon like him could possess.
“No. I didn’t dare ask if he made it to Heaven. My soul could only take so much.”
“So, he could be up there living out his eternity as if he didn’t deserve that same fate?”
