Page 15 of An Unexpected Ascension (A War Between Worlds #1)

The Angel

The nerve!

My lips burn with the scorching fire Hermes left behind, as if branded by his demonic tongue. Even after I plunged off the cliff into the pool below, I still felt the urge to claw at my mouth, desperate to wipe away every trace of the evil he left behind.

Heaven did very little to subdue the ache between my thighs or quell the rampant swirling inside my belly. I try desperately to forget it all. The way his fingers teased the flesh above the hem of my shorts. The way his lips molded to mine, sparking a painful sting of electricity through me. Gods save me, and the way his face perked with that stunning and infuriatingly beautiful smirk.

I shake those impure thoughts from my head as I pull myself onto the grassy shores. Coming to my feet, I nervously unveil my penance, muttering a prayer that what we did was not seen – that the cave is truly purgatory.

With a whooshing breath, I find my penance seemingly untouched.

There are other caveats to my freedom, but at the very least I can start affording the simple things. I look forward to that the most.

Already dry, I shimmy my way through the bushes and down the trail of the forest toward the market. My mind is in desperate need of distraction.

I spent the remainder of the day with Sally, offering to fold clothes and organize them for her stand. Folks come by dropping off clothes they no longer cared to have or perhaps clothes they made for the children in exchange for something else.

Her booth was surprisingly busy, and between piling shirts by size and folding pants to form a perfect crease, I assisted with some of the bargains.

Sally explained at one point that when folks die, they do so with whatever they’re wearing at the time. In some cases, clothes are torn to shreds and in others, people arrive as bare as the day they were born, so she created this booth with hopes of helping those that could use it. In Heaven, you don’t find very many people in need of anything, but there are exceptions.

“Well, Briar, I think that’s it for the day. I’m going to close shop and visit a few friends.”

She tucks her short grey bob behind her ears before folding the last shirt.

“So, you do leave your stand.”

I chuckled, rounding the table to face her.

“What? Did you think I lived here?”

I answer with a shrug.

Those light blue eyes of hers roll to the Gods.

“Dear child. Get out of here! Maybe I’ll see you another day.”

“Have fun tonight.”

She waves goodbye and leaves me to head back to my very bland, very boring house. A part of me believes that when I was alive, I would have loved to walk into my very own apartment and settle down on the couch alone with a glass of wine and a dramatic documentary.

Now, the idea of being alone feels close to torture.

I decide all I want to do is lie down on my cot and stare at the ceiling for hours until I have to head back to the orphanage, but of course – there’s a demon that’s taken it captive.

His head falls toward the door at my entry, those navy eyes taunting me along with that smug grin plastered to his face. The muscles in his biceps twitch as if they too were teasing me, his hands tucked underneath his head and his ankles crossed.

“What are you doing here?”

I hold back the bite in my tone, trying to seem as unbothered as the demon lounging in my bed.

“Never tried one of these out before. They’re incredibly uncomfortable, so much worse than the beds in Hell. At least you’ll have that to look forward to.”

I pinch my lips, my blood boiling inside my veins.

“Come, sit. Let me tell you a story.”

The demon pushes himself up, planting himself at the edge of my cot and pats the space next to him.

“No thanks.”

Whispers begin to hiss inside my mind, chanting and begging for me to sit, sit, sit! It doesn’t help that the demon’s own voice joins in now, and all I want to do is cling to those deep vibrations, to let his seduction pull me away from the incessant pestering in my own head.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I focus on the one voice I wish wasn’t here.

“Come sit, Angel. You know you want to. I’ll even keep my hands to myself this time.”

That dark husky chuckle rings through the crowded chaos, slicing through all the different tones and pitches scratching away in my thoughts.

Sit, girl, sit next to him, sit with the demon.

“Stop it!”

The plea slips before I can bite it back.

Silence.

Utter, blissful silence.

Hermes pats the space next to him again. My feet slide against the concrete floor, reluctance like a shackle around my ankles. With each step forward, that smirk on his face only deepens.

Slowly, I lower at the far edge of the mattress, putting as much space between us as possible – which isn’t much.

“Good girl.”

His condescending praise forces up words too explicit for Heaven, like bile. Those words push up and up and up until they’re coating my tongue, filling my mouth, and begging to be free. Swallowing them down is even worse.

Instead, I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth until his smile grows borderline feral.

“What do you want, Hermes?”

I ask through gritted teeth.

“I think you’re the only one in Heaven that isn’t afraid to say my demon name.”

“What else would they call you? Every other name I can think of will only cost me.” I scoff.

“Well, nothing. They think just by calling my name I’ll be summoned to drag them to the underworld.”

“Isn’t that literally what you do?”

“Yes and no,”

he starts.

“That is my job, but I don’t damn just anyone.”

“Except for me.”

“You, Angel, aren’t just anyone.”

His hand reaches out as if to touch me but retracts at his promise that he wouldn’t. Some sick part of me feels a shameful disappointment.

“Speed it up, demon,”

I growl, pretending his nearness does nothing to my heartbeat.

“You might want to mind your manners, we’re no longer in Purgatory,”

he reminds me. I only fold my arms across my chest and tilt my head impatiently.

“Fine. Humor me here; what does your little twisted mind picture when you think of Hell?”

“My twisted mind!?”

My brows pull together waiting for his response, none came.

“Torture, fire, endless misery.”

He nods.

“It can be all that for some, but did you ever think that Hell isn’t anywhere nearly as terrifying as everyone makes it out to be?”

“Is the demon trying to lure an angel to the underworld?”

“He is,”

there’s a twinkle in the depths of his blue eyes, one that might indicate a soul hidden deep within.

“but I’m also speaking the truth. Hell was always meant to be what everyone thinks it is today. Only, the second Lucifer held reign, it changed. Whereas Heaven is all rainbows and butterflies – quite literally – Hell is molten lava and clouds of blood.”

I shiver at the very thought of red skies.

“But it’s also rage?—”

“You’re not selling me even in the least.”

He smiles.

“And love and lust, fear and sadness. Hell is everything you cannot have in Heaven. That dull ache that sits heavy in your chest, begging to be freed, it’s only here that you bear that burden. It’s here that the simplest of pleasures cost so greatly, even one little touch.”

As if to prove his point, his arm stretches out between us. Fingertips, calloused with dirty deeds, graze over my cheekbone and the light in the room flickers. Flinching away from his touch, the glow in the room grows back to normal.

“There’s justice in Hell for those that do not deserve a life of freedom, but for those like yourself or perhaps dear old Batty Betty, there’s life again – if you should want it.”

“What does that even mean? We’re dead, in Heaven or H-E-L-L.”

He rolls his eyes, but I refuse to pay just for the word.

“If you haven’t noticed by now, this world numbs you. It steals away any emotion that tips past that leveled line. Don’t you want to know what it would feel like to love again? To sweat or see your own naked body? To feel human?”

I consider his questions, the latter bothering me in particular. As beat after beat of my heart ticks by, I begin to feel more like a mindless vessel and though the realization should frighten me, my fear is dampened by the very phenomenon he speaks of.

I grunt my response, nibbling my lower lip.

“Then to dance maybe? Dance in a club with music louder than you can imagine and drown in enough liquor to melt that icy heart of yours.”

I can’t bring myself to say another word for fear that I might just say the truth; that I have wondered what those small, meaningless luxuries would feel like again.

His eyes search mine, looking for the words I refuse to say aloud.

“To know the truth of what happened to you? To have free rein of your memories whenever you want?”

“Your point?”

I finally ask.

“Hell isn’t as terrible as everyone makes it out to be. Listen, the Gods of Heaven, they betrayed Lucifer. He worshiped them and Hell was merely a prison, but the second he learned just how power hungry they were, he was cast down. Lucifer...”

He sighs, taking a beat to think his words over.

“Is a just God and though he rules over the underworld, it doesn’t make him any less so. Your fears, everyone’s fears, of Hell are misguided. No, it’s not quite as serene and peaceful as Heaven, but neither is it boring and dull.”

“I take care of the children here. I have a purpose. I don’t need an eternity of fun and mindless mayhem.”

“Well, aren’t you Mother Mary herself?”

He taunts.

“Bless your soul, forget your sins, you belong here after all.”

“I don’t appreciate your sarcasm and yes, I do belong here. I’ve been trying to tell you this the whole time.”

He rolls his eyes.

“We’re generations past seeing eye to eye. What I’ll tell you is this; your God, he’s undeservingly righteous, unjust, and doesn't belong. He and the rest of the Gods will get what is coming to them. If you don’t believe me, the Tree of Knowledge has all the answers you seek.”

“Holy Fudge! You think I’d go near that tree just to see if you’re lying to me? Do you think I’m an idiot?”

I shove to my feet, aiming toward the door.

A hand wraps around my wrist, tugging me backward. The ceiling light crackles, flickering like a strobe light in warning. The rays from the sun filtering through the window darken like the threat of a storm. All of this as I fall in slow motion onto the demon’s lap.

Fear strikes my heart as his arms trap me to him.

“You were made for Hell, Angel. You might be Mother Mary the Second now, but one way or another, you’re going to fall. I suggest you find the truth before you do so, otherwise the next time I see you, you’ll be screaming my name as I fuck the holy right out of that delusional soul of yours.”

Thunder cracks above us as if the storm has found its way inside my home. The deafening sound rattles my bones and paralyzes my heart. There’s a terrible heat now drowning the air, like Hell itself has followed the demon.

I will my thoughts to clear, my mind an empty void of nothing as I feel him steeling beneath me, rubbing into my bottom.

Think of nothing.

White.

Static.

Clear skies.

Nothing.

“Trouble focusing, Angel?”

Dark honey coats his tongue, his words coaxing me out of my safe abyss.

“Stop,”

I demand, but my voice barely produces sound.

Another barreling crack of thunder echoes around us, certainly calling my God down. Surely, this is it. I’m going to Hell.

No! I will not let him win like this.

Ripping myself from him takes every ounce of effort I have.

Warning him, I back myself out of my room.

“Stay away from me.”

I flinch as the bulb above us shatters, drowning us in what little light still lurks between the roiling black clouds outside. Hermes follows me, narrowly dodging missiles of glass.

“Sorry, but that just doesn’t work for me.”

His gaze is taunting and his stance is purely predatory.

“It takes maddening effort not to ruin you right here and right now, but I would really rather you find that tree. I’d like to see the look on your face when you finally know the truth.”

I continue my retreat into the kitchen, my back hitting the edge of the table. I grip the chair next to me and try to wedge it between us, but Hermes rips it from my hands. It crashes against the cabinets, the crack of wood barely heard over the rumble of screaming thunder.

“I’m staying in Heaven.”

“Is that so?”

Hermes pins my hips to the table, his fingers twisting in a lock of my hair. His sardonic chuckle tickles my lips as his face slowly dips. Hail begins battering my window, threatening to shatter the glass.

Before the demon’s lips can touch mine, a voice cuts through the tension.

“Briar?”

“Will!”

I breathe in relief.

Hermes takes a step away from me, smirking before simply disappearing. Immediately, the hail ceases its attack, and the clouds evaporate into clear skies once again. Even my lightbulb sits round and new.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“I-I don’t know. He just—”

I wasn’t quite sure what to say.

Dirty, grimy, shameful.

It all slams into me before fluttering away like those stupid butterflies flitting about in the forest.

“What was he doing here?”

So many questions. None with answers. Well, answers that I want to share. Taking a few deep breaths, I lower myself into one of the few remaining chairs. My hands shake as I rake them through my hair.

“Briar? You’re worrying me.”

Will takes the seat across from me and studies me with bewilderment.

“Look, I’m not exactly sure what he wants with me. He’s alluded to some ancient history he has with my ancestors, but nothing in detail.”

“Was this the first time he?—”

“No.”

I swallow.

“No, he’s confronted me before.”

“I warned you not to say his name.”

“I didn’t! He just appeared out of nowhere one day and hasn’t really stopped bothering me since. Call your sister. I don’t feel like explaining it all twice.”

Within moments, Jessie’s seated at the table with us. Her chocolate eyes wide.

“Did you see all that outside? I was about to head over, but then the hail started.”

“It was Briar,”

Will tattles, running a hand through his greying hair.

“And that demon.”

If Heaven didn’t control comfort like a strait jacket, my face would be beat red showcasing the embarrassment that now cripples me.

“What did you do?”

she whispers as if the Gods could be listening.

So, I told them everything. Well, almost everything, excluding the part about the cave and whatever happened in it. I trusted my friends, but I wasn’t quite sure if admitting it happened would damn me on the spot.

However, I did tell them how he plans to drag me to Hell and how he believes that’s where I deserve to be.

“What are you going to do?”

Jessie asks, concern glittering in her eyes.

“I have no idea. Do you remember when my neighbor was hauled over to the dais in the Market? How he begged for his God, and the God did nothing? I’m too afraid this will be the same.”

“Did you try?”

Will wonders.

I shake my head. “No.”

“Maybe it wouldn’t hurt.”

He shrugs.