Divine Descent

Chapter Twenty-Seven

He must sense me coming.

I round the corner, and the devil's eyes are already pinned in my direction. While I've spent the last few weeks in relative solitude, brewing trouble, sitting in a thorny jungle of emotions, some of my darkest, today was the final straw.

I'm back with vengeance. All Akan's betrayal did was stir a frightened woman into a realization. I'm surrounded by evil, and that doesn't make me the victim.

I am the Goddess of Darkness, and I have the same tendencies they do.

There is no room here for righteousness, and I fought hard not to see that.

This place changes you. It's quick, like a snap of a finger or the releasing blade of a guillotine. I didn't even see it coming, and too much has happened now to go back. My soul is blackening, tainted by the shroud of sinister intentions that are impossible to outrun. In this nocturnal, colorless graveyard, the home intended for me, I am no longer running.

Every week, his advisors commune to inform their master on progressions. Most of the time, the meetings are unnecessary and uneventful. A little death here, a little corruption there, all of which will eventually disintegrate the earth at an eerily rapid pace. I never attend these meetings, and Samael has stopped asking me to join. We've hardly spoken since the morning after the party, apart from dinners or gatherings.

There's a reason for my attendance today.

Beside Samael, who is rising out of his chair looking particularly stunned, is Jehovah, who throws out his arms as soon as he spots me. At my entrance, the room stands in ceremony. I've been anything but kind, souring over the weeks, unable to quell the hatred in my heart for everything around me.

My memories have turned to ash, even the good ones.

Every second here eats away at my insides like fungi. With Akan, I was able to latch onto some kind of grounding, some place to keep still. I could laugh, remember, confide. I could think of Elijah without hating myself.

That protection is gone. In fact, I never had it, but the thought of it kept me going.

Jehovah grabs my hands, gently kissing both of them. His mouth radiates warmth through my skin, and I'm sure it has healing qualities. "My dear Cassandra, I'm delighted to see you. Samael has been telling me you are indisposed week after week. I was beginning to worry."

Lies. He knew exactly where I was.

"Indisposed is code for I didn't want to come," I reply with a wry smile, shooting daggers at the sullen lord of this underworld. Samael fails to appear disapproving. It's abundantly clear he's glad, maybe even a little relieved I'm here.

Jehovah laughs from the belly, genuinely at ease amongst the insidious. It's both amusing and odd. "We are lucky to receive your presence then. Here, you may have my seat."

"No, she'll have mine," Samael cuts in curtly, already holding the back of his chair for me to have a seat. I resist cringing as I lower down in front of him, sick of his façade. Samael pushes the chair in while Jehovah sits beside me.

Samael grips the chair casually behind me, an uncomforting presence at my back. "To fill you in, Cassandra, Grey was just informing us of a change to the timeline."

"The timeline for the apocalypse?"

"Yes."

"What's the change?"

"At first, we anticipated five years. It's beginning to look more like three. Vampires will outlive the humans about six months."

"I don't understand how the humans could go so fast," I argue immediately, shocking them all. "They make do. They've had plagues, wars and they've lived on. Three years?"