Page 50 of Vexed
The two flanking reapers tightened their grip on me, their grip turning from cold to what felt like it was going to kill me. The next thing I knew, they were grabbing her too. Lily screamed, a small, desperate sound that was quickly swallowed by the oppressive silence of the Dark Planes.
The Crimson Domain lived up to its name. Everything was a shade of angry red, from the bricks of this charmingly dilapidated cell to the pulsing, vein-like structures that crisscrossed the ceiling. Lily looked like she was fading into the scenery.
“Oi! Arc Reaper brigade! Room service! I’d like less existential dread with my suffering, please!” I yelled, rattling the bars. My voice echoed down the oppressive corridor, unanswered. Charming.
Lily coughed, a dry, rattling sound that scraped against my non-existent nerves. The Underworld was killing her, leeching the life from her mortal form.
“Vex...” Her voice was barely a whisper. I knelt beside her.
“Hey, darling. Save your strength for yelling at me later. You know, when we’re sipping mojitos on a sun-drenched beach after I inevitably bust us outta here with my unparalleled wit and cunning.”
The bars screeched open, interrupting my obviously brilliant escape plan. Standing in the doorway was Ophiel, radiating smugness like a broken halo. Beside him stood Thalia, her dark eyes unreadable.
“Vexlorn,” Ophiel drawled, his voice dripping with mock sympathy. “Such a shame. But really, you only have yourself to blame. And perhaps, your little…friend.” He gestured towards Lily with a theatrical flourish.
“She’s the reason you’re in this mess in the first place.” I narrowed my eyes.
“Get to the point, Ophiel. I haven’t got eternity to listen to your melodramatic bullshit.”
He chuckled, a cruel, hollow sound. He turned his attention to Lily, his gaze unsettling, intense. “Sweetheart, why don’t you ask Vexlorn how the two of you met? I’m sure he’ll regale you with a charming tale. A tale of…coincidence.”
Lily looked at me, her brow furrowed in confusion. “What’s he talking about, Vex?”
My stomach twisted into a knot. I avoided her gaze, focusing on the rough texture of the cell floor. “He’s trying to get into your head, Lily. Don’t listen to him.”
Ophiel’s smile widened. “Oh, I think she deserves to know. Doesn’t she,Vex?Tell her about the day you met. Tell her about her father.”
I sighed, a sound heavy with regret. I knew I couldn’t lie to her. Not anymore. “Fine. He’s right, Lily. The day we met… when you were eight. I was there to take your father’s soul. He was meant to die that day.” Her eyes widened, a mixture of shock and betrayal blooming within them. “What?”
“But then I saw you,” I continued, “And I…I couldn’t do it. I manipulated time, gave him a few more years. But his time came again, Lily. And that’s why I left. I couldn’t face you after that and I couldn’t tell you the truth.”
Tears streamed down her face, silent and devastating. She looked away, her gaze fixed on some distant, unseen point.
I reached for her, my hand hovering hesitantly. She flinched, yanking her arm away, avoiding my touch like I was a burning ember. The rejection stung, sharper than any blade.
Ophiel clucked his tongue, a patronizing sound. “Such a touching memory. But duty calls.” He opened the cell door and held out his hand to Lily, a sickeningly sweet smile plastered on his face. “Come with me, sweetheart. I’ll take care of you.”
Rage, raw and untamed, surged through me. “Don’t you fucking touch her!”
Ophiel ignored me, his eyes locked on Lily. After a moment of agonizing hesitation, she took his hand. He led her out of the cell, disappearing down the dark corridor.
“Where are you taking her?!” I roared, slamming against the bars.
Thalia, who had remained silent until now, turned to me, her expression full of pity. “To the Cathedral.”
“Why? Why don’t you just let her go?” I pleaded, the sarcasm gone, replaced by genuine desperation.
“She’s seen too much, Vexlorn. We can’t risk her revealing the proof of us and our world. They’re going to keep her there until she dies. And then…” Thalia swallows hard before continuing,“Ophiel is going to erase her. Erase her from everyone she ever met’s memories. It’ll be like she never existed.”
She turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the cold, red-tinged cell. I sank to my knees, the weight of my failure crushing me.
I had tried to protect her, to give her more time. But all I had done was lead her straight to her death. I failed her. Utterly and completely. And the thought of her fading, of her being erased from existence, was a torment I couldn’t begin to bear.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Lily
The Cathedral was cold, a bone-chilling, seep-into-your-marrow kind of cold. Three days. Three days I’d been stuck in this gloomy underworld. Three days without anything to eat or drink and my body was screaming. Each breath felt heavier than the last, the air here thick and suffocating, sucking the life right out of me.
