The Daughters

27

One week later

Avalyn's POV

Avalyn, my daughter, is the first cry of a newborn
The beauty of life as it forms
Thana, my daughter, the end of tomorrows
The beauty of peace that follows.

I skim the words of my mother repeatedly. An hour before this stupid event and I find myself in front of my mother's statue, reading the words engraved at the bottom.

Words that were not there before.

Which tells me this is her way of telling me what type of Goddess my sister and I are. Scrunching my nose, I read the messages again as if it could tell me what it means.

“Avalyn,” I turn my head to my lover. I sigh, wishing the answers were not trapped in his mind. I am a goddess so shouldn't I be able to unlock them? I rise to my full height as I face Raphael. He quickly steps to me and grabs my hand and kisses my knuckle connected to my ring finger. I smile at him and roll my eyes, still not used to the way he cherishes me.

“Are you ready?” I chuckle at his words.

“I have a bad feeling about tonight,” I breathe out, and he nods.

“I feel it too.” I look back at the statue of my mother and clench my fist. I am tired of these mind games. I just want to know what I am. Maybe it would prepare me more for tonight, for this stupid ball Michael was holding.

He is planning something big, and I have torn these halls apart looking for the answer.

“Let's get this over with,” I groan as I hold my head high and smooth my white floor-length gown that brushes against my body, slightly clinging to my curves. He smiles at me and brings his arm around my waist and pulls me close as we walk out of the worship area.

****

Thana's POV

I stare at myself in the mirror tears streaming down my face as I watch myself silently cry. A whiskey bottle in my hand, but I am not human, so numbness does not caress my emotions like it does for them. Instead, I feel it bang against me like a clapper in a large church bell. The emotions rattle through me with each throbbing hit. My hands shake, and my eyes are bloodshot, not from lack of sleep but from nightmares of falling behind Bora.

Bloody nose and crushed bodies. A flicker of black orbs goes around my hands, sporadically showing how close to the edge I truly am. I bite my lip and rub my eyes harder than necessary. Something will happen tonight, something that will cause me to lose my sanity. I won't let that happen. I know what needs to be done to make this right.

A knock rattles me out of my thoughts, and I take a deep breath before I finally break eye contact with myself and walk out of my room. I open the door and my jaw drops at the sight of Lucifer dressed to the nines in a dark, blood-red suit. He gives me a smirk as he watches me openly check him out.

“Lust looks rather delicious on you, my dear.” He states as he walks by me inside my cottage, “I have a proposal for you, my dear.”

I close the door and step towards him, playing with my fingers as I slightly tilt my head. What does the devil have up his sleeve this go around? “I'm listening.”