Page 44 of An Unexpected Ascension (A War Between Worlds #1)

The Angel

Forgoing the gown from earlier, I follow Lynx donned in tight black jeans and a T-shirt back to the party.

As we near the Great Hall, my stomach begins to feel as heavy as my heart. There's something entirely out of place. Where a symphony of strings once played, now sits a deafening silence. Not a single sound echoes down the halls. No chatter, laughter, debate.

“We were gone a while, but I didn’t think we were gone that long,”

I mutter to Lynx as we ascend the final step.

He pauses with a hand outstretched to keep me behind him and withdraws the sword that lives on his back. Instinctively, I reach for the daggers at my thighs as if the few short weeks of training will do me any good in a real fight.

We creep forward on soft feet to the double doors, hiding behind the side that’s closed. The smell hits me first, metallic and coppery. Then, the crimson river of blood seeping past our feet.

Lynx peers in, keeping me tucked and hidden behind the safety of the door. When he retreats, there’s a wild flame flickering in his eyes that makes his face look as pale as death.

“Fuck,”

he breathes.

I search his face, as if it might hold the answers. He swallows and it’s all I need to know; it’s bad. Really bad.

“Lucifer? Ada?”

I push past my constricted throat.

He shakes his head causing his wet bangs to brush along his forehead.

“I didn’t see them. I didn’t see anyone... at least in one piece.”

My eyes widen at his words as fear begins to consume me.

“Come on. Stay close behind me.”

I nod, letting him lead me into the Great Hall. To avoid the blood glistening on the floor is nearly impossible. Where it didn’t reach, lay a body instead or rather pieces of a body. These people, they weren’t dead though. No, their eyes follow us as we climb past them through the room.

How we didn’t hear the terror from such tragedy is beyond me. The screams of pain, the pleas for mercy, the cries for help. None of it reached us while Lynx and I spent the night entangled.

Then I see why.

Each throat of every person here had been slit. Their vocal cords ripped to shreds and dangling from their necks like a beast had torn into them. The sight was horrific.

A shiver courses through me at the wreckage and my mind short circuits making it impossible to absorb the morbidity that adorns the floor of the Great Hall. All these people, all these souls that I just talked to merely a couple hours ago are nothing, but shredded meat tossed to the ground. Except, they’re still alive, just in terrible agony.

We pass through to the opposite end of the room and while doing so, looking for familiar faces with none to be found.

They’re not in here.

Lynx nudges his head to the door behind the king’s table where we left Lucifer and Ada. Quietly and on alert, we sneak into the hall leading to the throne room. It’s behind the closed door that we hear voices; one being Lucifer’s, but the other...

I search my demon with worried eyes as he presses himself into the darkened hallway. His fingers grip and re-grip the handle of his sword as a light sheen begins to form along his skin.

He’s sweating.

He’s scared.

My demon is scared and that cannot be a good sign.

“Lynx?”

His eyes fly open, wide and terrified as he takes me in like it’s the last time.

“I’m going in. If Ada is in there, I’ll send her out. I need you to be here when that happens. Whatever you do, do not go in there. Do you understand?”

His free hand cradles my face forcing my gaze to his.

“I-I?—”

“Briar! Do you understand?”

I nod. “Yes.”

“Good.”

He crushes his lips against mine.

“I love you, Angel.”

“Lynx, why does this sound like goodbye?”

“It’s not. I just need you to know it.”

He begins to pull away, but I sheath one of my daggers and drag him back to me.

“I lov—”

His palm covers my mouth as that all too familiar smirk cuts across his gorgeous face.

“When you mean it. Not when you think we may never see each other again.”

I narrow my eyes in contempt. It isn’t until he trusts that I’ll keep those three little words to myself that he withdraws his hand.

With one last peck to my lips, he disappears into the Throne room.