Queen Ascending (Ace of Queens #2)

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Gemma sat on the edge of her bed as she listened to Exton's footsteps fade. She didn't want him to leave, but at the same time, she didn't want him to think she had forgiven him.

When she could hear his footsteps no more, she fell back on the messy bed and stared at the ceiling.

Do you love him, Gemma? Azazel asked quietly.

Gemma didn't know how to answer. Her heart swelled up with unfamiliar emotions, overwhelming her.

Your heart is saying one thing, but your mind wants to say another.

"Have you ever been in love?" Gemma asked.

Azazel remained silent. Gemma was afraid she had disappeared.

I know you wonder why I am like this, Azazel said after a long pause.

Gemma bit down on her bottom lip. She had no idea how to answer her.

At the dawn of time, my faith was decided for me without my say, Azazel began. My father was a king. The gods favored us, we had plenty to go around...they blessed my parents with my brother and I, twins.

Gemma listened attentively. Azazel had never talked about her personal life before.

But my mother was never content with anything for too long. Her greed to have me wed a god started the second she held me in her arms. The gods were not pleased to see a mortal have such high expectations. They granted my mother's wish of having her children be deities. They cursed my brother and I to carry out the duties no one wanted. Death.

Gemma didn't know what to say. Maybe it wasn't appropriate to interrupt her. It felt as if Azazel was reminding herself of her past rather than sharing it with Gemma.

But because I was my mother's biggest pride, I got the shorter end of the stick. My brother's duty was to claim souls gently, in their sleep, or surrounded by their loved ones...but I was burdened with the duty to claim souls on the battlefields. Whenever I show up, it's never peaceful...no one ever willing comes with me.

But I had accepted my faith, Azazel sighed. I accepted what my life had become. I didn't let the violence and chaos taint me. Then...a few years later, I met Hector. We fell in love...I couldn't explain it. I didn't know how he could love me, but he saw past the curse. He would look into my eyes and not see death or the monster people thought of me to be. We were happy, so very happy...he had asked me to be his bride. 

Azazel's voice had taken on a dreamy tone as she spoke of Hector. Images of Exton flashed across Gemma's mind as she listened.

Then one day, weeks before our wedding, he was sent off to war...Gemma couldn't explain how it was possible, but she felt her heart contract as if Azazel's pain was her own.

I was pulled around the world many times that year...there were battles everywhere. The word was shrouded in darkness. People covered their noses because they could smell my presence...the smell of death. One day, I was pulled to claim the life of a man who had been split in half on the battlefield.

Gemma didn't want to know where Azazel's story was headed. She held her breath as if somehow it would make it hurt less.

It was Hector...Azazel's voice cracked. He laid on the ground, staring up at me with those warm brown eyes. He saw me and he wasn't scared...for the first time, Gemma, a dying man on the battlefield smiled at the sight of me.

I begged the faiths to let him live...but my prayers fell on deaf ears.

I sat with Hector's body for seven days. I refused to bring him to Tobias. As my punishment for disobeying the faiths my family was killed. Tobias came up to the world above and took Hector from me...I screamed and begged...but no one listened.