Grey

Chapter 42

I paused for a moment.

How would Grey react when I told him that I had, in fact, Pledged my soul to him? Would he be mad at me for forcing the responsibility on him, or relieved that I had outwitted Lucifer and managed to keep my soul relatively uncompromised?

"Grey, you need to understand, I-" I began, but was cut off.

"Did you Pledge to Hell?" He asked sternly, his eyes flicking back and forth between mine. I sucked in a breath and shook my head.

"No, I did not," I admitted. Grey let out what sounded like a breath of relief, but I hadn't exactly told him the news yet, which was what I was worried about.

"How did you do it then? How are you alive?" He asked, raising an eyebrow slightly as he took my hand in his. "I thought for sure if you didn't come out with dark irises and sharp teeth you wouldn't come out at all."

Oh Lord, have mercy.

"I did Pledge my soul, but-"

"But what, Greene?" He scowled.

"Well, if you'd let me finish any of my sentences I would've told you by now," I chuckled lightly and he sighed, nodding, and allowing me to continue.

"I Pledged my soul to you," I whispered, looking into his eyes for some clue as to how he was feeling. Unfortunately, his eyes remained as they always were, stoic and unreadable. He didn't say a word. The silence was so deafening, my own heartbeat felt loud.

"So Michael was right," Grey's eyes didn't leave mine, but his voice sounded cold- distant. Not a good sign.

"You talked to Michael?" I furrowed my brows, recalling the Morgan Freeman-y voice I'd heard when I was trapped in the Hellfire.

"Yes. He ensured that Lucifer kept his vow after you walked into the Hellfire. Otherwise, Lucifer probably wouldn't have allowed us to leave. He also told me that you had entrusted me with something, something that he didn't think I was worthy of," Grey explained, leaning back from me slightly. I could tell his thoughts were swirling around in his head, the way that icy blue swirled in his irises.

"I didn't intend on putting all of that responsibility on your shoulders, but I didn't know what else to do. It was either this or burning in Hell for all eternity and then fighting for Hell in the Reckoning," I explained softly.

"I'm not the person you should've trusted with your soul, Jordan," he mumbled, refusing to look me in the eye anymore.

"I didn't trust anyone else as much as I trusted you," I frowned slightly at his response. I had hoped it would go better than this.

"You shouldn't trust me. I'm a Fallen. You know that. I'm pretty sure I've told you before not to trust me, but you did it anyways, with literally the most important thing you could've ever trusted me with," he snapped, running his hands through his hair.

"Grey, I-"

"Why would you do that, Greene? You literally just put the fate of Heaven and Hell on my shoulders," he looked to me, his eyes swirling. I felt a twinge of guilt in my heart. This wasn't how I had wanted this to go. I was hoping he'd be proud of me for outwitting Lucifer, and feel honored that I would trust him with my own soul. I guess not. I guess he was more repulsed by the responsibility than overjoyed by the love I felt for him.

"I didn't think of it that way, Grey, I-"

"No. You didn't think at all," he snarled.

"Oh my God. Will you stop interrupting me? Let me finish. I'm allowed to explain why I did what I did. I trusted you. I still do. Because I love you. And you can tell me over and over again why I shouldn't and why I'm an idiot for believing you would protect my soul, but I will never believe a word. I'm not forcing any responsibility on you, or at least, that wasn't my intention. My intention was to give you a gift. All of me. And I know that I apparently come with a ton of baggage, and you don't really want to deal with that, but it's who I am and I can't help that, just like I can't help the way I feel for you. If you don't want my soul, then talk to Michael about re-Pledging me to Hell. If you don't love me the way I love you, then maybe Hell will," I narrowed my eyes at him.