⚜Guardian⚜

Chapter Thirty One

"GRANT ME PERMISSION OR THE ATTACKS WILL CONTINUE. NO ONE WILL BE SAFE. ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS WILL DIE." Lacey wrenched herself away from the table, resisting the urge to scream. She flew outside and climbed slowly to the roof. There, she felt her entire body shake with great tremors. Sobs wracked her body. Would she ever be safe anywhere? Was this only the beginning? She clutched tightly to her knees, her heart feeling leaden in her chest. She couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to Asher. If someone so much as touched him she knew she would die inside. Lacey sniffled, still hiding her face from the one person she loved the most. He was too good for her. How could she ever have thought this would work?

She sobbed even louder, knowing she was hurting the one person who would never hurt her.

Later that night, sleep seemed to be impossible. She remained on the roof for what seemed like an eternity, shaking under the cold. It was then that she realized she could save Asher. If she gave Lucifer permission, he would leave Asher alone. Lacey slipped off the roof and climbed down, sprinting across the lawn. Once she escaped the Sanctuary, she would figure out how to find Lucifer. A dark shadow blocked her path and she skidded to a halt, looking up into dark violet eyes. Asher looked like the avenging angel she knew him to be, standing here and looking furious.

"Lacey, where the Hell do you think you're going?" Asher hissed.

"I'm leaving." She answered bluntly.

"But why? Because of Agramon? He won't bother you anymore. He's gone." Asher promised.

"No! Can't you see it's because of you!?" Lacey hissed, her head snapping upwards to look at him. She winced at the flash of unbridled pain in his eyes.

"What?" He choked out in a low voice.

"You and I will never work out! You're way too perfect for me and you think you love me but there's probably some gorgeous supermodel who will be way better for you then me! At least she won't get you killed!" Lacey ranted. It was then that Asher chose to say the four words that killed her the most.

"I do love you," he protested quietly.

"If anyone ever hurt you, it would be my fault! I can't just sit around and pretend like its okay for you to sacrifice yourself for me all the time!" She screamed. She dug her fingernails into her palms tightly.

"It's my job. If I wasn't sacrificing myself for you I'd be sacrificing myself for some other person somewhere on the globe." He exclaimed. A choked sobbing sound released from her throat.

"It's different with me and you know it! Lucifer will do whatever it takes to get me to give him permission. That includes hurting you, Asher!" He stared at her for a long moment, trying in vain to control his emotions.

"He can beat me, he can molest me, he can do whatever he wants, but the only thing that really hurts me is when he hurts you." She leveled in a broken voice.

"And you don't think it hurts me to see you get hurt!?" Asher yelled suddenly. His carefully composed facade shattered. She stared at him, his words taking her off guard.

"What?" She choked out.

"Every time he so much as touches you, a small part of me breaks! It hurts so much to see him hurt you and beat you and touch you, for Gods sakes! If you gave him permission I don't think I could live with myself! Not just because I would have failed at my job to protect you, but because everytime I would see you, knowing Lucifer was taking over every waking thought you had, it would kill me. I don't know how I would live with myself!" Asher said. Lacey froze at his words, her heart skidding to a stop. She had never stopped to think about how much it would hurt Asher to see her get hurt.

"I...I didn't..." Lacey exclaimed, shaking her head slowly.

"Just please," Asher began, moving to grasp the tops of her arms. It was then that she noticed his eyes were bloodshot, presumably from crying. The sight of a saddened Asher made her heart choke in her throat. She wanted so desperately to hold him, to make him feel better. Just seeing him distraught made her world thousands of times worse- especially because she was the one inflicting this pain.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be."

"Make what harder?" Lacey cried, her eyes flicking between both of his.

"You know what I'm about to say, Lace." Asher said, his voice surprisingly steady. Lacey felt her world slowly spin to a stop.

"No! No no no no no! Asher, please!" Lacey begged. She placed her hands on either side of his face, her hands shaking with heavy tremors. He slowly removed her hands from his face, placing them down by her sides.

"We need to stop seeing each other."

"No!"

"You and I are done, Lacey! It's harder for me to do my job when we are seeing each other and frankly, I don't want to break any more rules than I have."

"So that's what it comes down to!?" Lacey screamed. "You're picking your job over me!?"

"Sometimes, that's what's more important. Not everything is about you!" He swore.

"I guess I just thought what we had was more than that. More than rules and jobs and more than anything! I loved you, Asher. I loved you. Maybe I was just naive that someone like you could ever like someone like me. You're...well... you're like an angel, Asher. But you should have told me the minute you stopped liking me. You shouldn't have gone on pretending like you loved me!" Lacey said, her voice cracking. The worst part was, Asher remained completely stiff during this. His face remained impassive and still as she poured her heart out. She turned, feeling her heart shatter into thousands of tiny splinters. She walked out on the love of her life, not once bothering to look back.