Page 19 of An Unexpected Ascension (A War Between Worlds #1)

The Demon

Shivering, pale, doused in blood.

Yet, those shoulders are pulled back and chin held high as she marches toward the black sea.

I trail behind, contemplating what it is I feel inside my soulless heart. A part of me wanted to leave her to the Hell Hound, to let her succumb to a fate her ancestors have before her. Only, I couldn’t.

That scream tore through me, clawing at something deep inside, tugging at invisible strings. Like a puppet in my own body, I ran to her. A bloody, crying mess. That glittering crimson flood beneath her paling skin. It was magnificent and yet, that relentless strumming inside my chest acting all on its own.

Then, I thought to myself, what a perfect predicament we have found ourselves in. The Fentonelli girl in desperate need of my help. Oh, the fun I can have with this!

She wanted so badly not to need me, but an eternity in pain didn’t seem like the type of afterlife she sought.

The short distance to the sea was quiet between us, a traumatic fog clinging to her like the blood she wears. The moment her eyes spy the water she’s marching straight for it. Without stopping, she submerges herself, rubbing her skin clean.

This poor, delusional girl.

“Where do you think you are?”

I bite, storming for her, my fingers wrapping around her bicep in a bruising grip.

“Get off me!”

I haul her out of the water, throwing her to the sand and in that very moment, another one of Hell’s beasts comes shooting up from the surface.

Scaly like a crocodile, but much larger.

Gnarly, sharp teeth snap in warning, greedy for an entire meal. It lingers, the rough green skin nearly so dark, it blends in with the color of the black sea. Its eyes flit open, watching us as its head rests on the surface.

“It seems I’ve saved you twice now from becoming animal feed.”

Briar rolls her eyes, wiping off the remainder of blood now thinned with water.

“Let’s not kid ourselves. I wouldn’t be here at all if it weren’t for you. So, the way I see it, it’s your job to keep me safe.”

I snicker.

“Oh, Angel. You’ve got quite a mouth on you. I’m eager to see what else it can do.”

“Ugh!”

She spins on her heels, offering me her back while I call for Charon. As we wait, the sea beast finally creeps back to where it came from, quickly replaced by the familiar rowboat.

“What a pleasure it is, to see my friend again so soon,”

the creature greets with a ghastly smile.

“Charon.”

I nod to him before summoning the unruly female behind me who’s yet to follow.

“Come now, Angel.”

With bewilderment glowing brightly in those jade green eyes, she stomps toward the boat. I lift her inside before climbing in.

“My lady.”

The demon bows his head to her, and to my surprise Briar only grimaces.

“Woman? Very much so. Lady?”

I chuckle.

“No, there’s no lady here, friend.”

He quirks an eye socket, veins dried up decorating the surrounding bone.

“You are relentless,”

she grumbles before turning to the figure hooded by an ancient cloak.

“Briar. My name is Briar. Not Lady, not Angel, not woman, but Briar.”

A slow, decrepit smile forms across his boney face.

“My apologies, Briar. A friend of Hermes is a friend of mine.”

He reaches a skinless hand toward her and hesitantly she shakes it. I can see the curiosity hiding behind her eyes, wondering what he is, who he is.

“Oh, we’re not friends. I could never be friends with a demon that’s damned me for selfish reasons.”

“Selfish?”

He urges as he pushes us off the shore and into the sea.

“I’ve seen many scorned angels befallen from grace by the hands of your demon here, but never for reasons beyond duty.”

“And duty called,” I add in.

A scoff, coughed out by said Lady. She plants herself on the middle bench, away from me, but closer to Charon. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single fallen angel get so comfortable around the Demon of the Sea.

“And what about your duties forced me to seek out the Tree of Knowledge?”

she snaps, her head whipping my way as if it could yield a sword with a decapitating blow.

“Oh! Hermes, what duties indeed?”

“And not to mention taunting my angelhood with demon kisses! The threats to... dirty me in front of my God! This one?—”

“Charon,”

he offers his name.

“This one, Charon, is evil through and through! Selfish, soulless, bastard!”

My eyes linger on her breasts, the rise and fall with each worked up breath. Yes, all those things and more, Angel. I am depraved, vindictive, and wretched. She hasn’t even seen the worst of it yet and she’s already seething.

Charon’s brow bone stretches up in surprise, the skin still stuck to his cheek wrinkling with the effort.

“You kissed her? In Heaven?”

he asks me.

“On neutral grounds between our worlds, but yes.”

“My friend, I think you’ve lost me. I might be on the angel’s side this time.”

The night is quiet, the sea as steady as tinted glass. It would have been a serene ride, slowly coasting under the blood moon, if it wasn’t for the gaining up on.

“Selfish I may be, but have you ever known me to do a thing without good reason?”

He thinks on it, rowing that ore ever so slowly.

“He speaks the truth, Briar. Hermes is driven by duty, by a deep seeded need for justice and perhaps – bear with me – he overlooked some detail while after the bigger picture.”

“Don’t stick up for him!”

she growls.

Charon only chuckles.

“Already caught between my only two friends.”

There was an intensity sizzling in the air as silence struck our tongues. I had nothing left to say, there was no defending myself. My reasons for damning Briar were purely selfish, but not to eradicate her – what do I call that?

Briar is the last Fentonelli to exist, and should she have had any children while alive, they would’ve endured her curse.

Though none ever came.

There must be a Freudian explanation as to why I haven’t found it in myself to end this bloodline once and for all because time and time again, I’ve fought for it.

Yet, I memorize that scowl on her full, heart-shaped lips, the wrinkle of disgust on her pixielike nose, and the hypnotic color like raw power emanating in her eyes.

No, Briar will be of more use to me existing than not. I’ll be sure of it.

Lost inside the mayhem of my own mind, it misses me that Charon is telling Briar his whole life story. Not something he’s done with anyone other than me.

We only get to the part where the Demon of the Sea meets yours truly when we’re slowing, the bow of the boat nearing the molten shores.

“Well, here we are.”

He offers his hand to Briar, helping her disembark.

The angel makes very little waves as she slips into the sea, taking both Charon’s hands in hers.

“It was a pleasure meeting you. I hope we can remain friends, I’m sure I’ll need them.”

“Of course, my dear. Come by any time if you would like a little adventure out at sea.”

Grumbling, I swing my legs over the boat's edge, my landing causing more fuss.

“You’ve never given me that offer.”

“Hermes, you venture these seas often enough. You know you’re always welcome.”

With a solute, Charon departs, leaving us to climb the rocky ledge to the shore. I would warn Briar not to stick a hand in the glowing crevices, but a part of me wouldn’t mind to see it.

Though, the steam bellowing from the cracks might be warning enough.

“Any other creatures I should be aware of?”

she asks as we close in on the Portae Inferi.

The shreds of skin decorating the trees do not stop her in her tracks, nor do the screams echoing between their earthly bodies.

“Apart from the Hell Hounds, just the crows. They can be nasty little buggers. Perhaps a straggler that’s never found the gates.”

She steps onto the path without hesitation. The earlier incident, hardly but a thing of the past. With her back to me, I can see her pale skin peek through tears in the fabric of her black shirt. Her denim shorts, heavy with blood and water.

Bones crunch beneath her feet as she follows the winding trail. Keeping to it will lead you straight to the gates, it’s hoping the chase from a Hell Hound won’t throw you too far off.

“Bits and pieces are... coming back to me,”

she shares begrudgingly.

“Your memories?”

I clarify.

“Mhm. In Heaven, they allow you to have access to them, but it seems only the good ones.”

She swallows.

“When that... thing—”

she refers to the hound.

“—was attempting to tear my arm off, something came back to me.”

“I’m no head doctor, but by all means share. It will make this journey less boring.”

“I’m glad my trauma is amusing to you.”

“Your trauma is nothing to me. I care very little about you or what happened to you on Earth. Care little what happens next, but perhaps it will drone out that incessant screeching from the crows.”

She spins, slamming straight into my chest. The palms of her hands already planted and pushing with all her might – little as that may be against Lucifer’s Second. I don’t budge, but she does, stumbling back a couple feet.

“Fuck you!”

Barely made it out of Heaven and that mouth of hers can’t keep that hateful curse out of it.

“I’m not usually one to pass up a woman’s offer, but these woods aren’t much for anything but horror. Don’t need scraps of skin falling from these trees should I take you upon one.”

Her lips pinch in fury while mine curl up into a vicious smile.

“Or perhaps we find one a little cleaner, yeah?”

“Ugh!”

she growls, storming back off in the direction she was going.

However, I did yearn to block these crows out. Howling and screaming non-stop. Another turn ahead has her disappearing behind a thicket of trees.

“Maybe I was a little har?—”

Stunned.

A wicked blow of a small fist cuts across my cheekbone, my face jerking to the side with the impact. Pain throbs throughout my face, little pulses echoing around my skull.

Briar’s arm cranks back for another hit, greedy after her luck with the first one. Instantly, her wrist is in my grip and I’m twisting her arm behind her back while kicking her legs from under her feet. She falls face first into the mucky ground, groaning.

“Try it again and I promise you, the pain you felt earlier will be but a fraction of what I will show you,”

I snarl in her ear. “Get up.”

I push off her body as I bring myself to stand. As she rights herself, I grab the front of her shirt and back her into the trunk of a nearby tree. The branches dance with the impact, and Briar’s hands enclose around the wrist that’s still twisted in the fabric of her sopping wet shirt.

Gripping her face with my other hand, I slam the back of her head into the bark behind her. Those jade eyes widen with fear as I inch my face closer to hers, breathing in the fading scent of Heaven.

“Now, you’re going to be a good girl and do as I say, or I can leave you here with the crows and the hounds. Nod if you understand.”

She narrows her eyes and tries to escape my hold, but I only pinch her cheeks harder. Her face contorts in pain and finally, she relents.

“Good.”

I release her jaw and shirt, taking a step back.

“Let’s go before I decide to do something we’ll both regret.”

“Asshole.”

“Mmm, yes, my favorite part of a woman’s body. I can show you if you’d like.”

I toss the retort over my shoulder.

“Ugh!”