My breath catches in my throat.
The Mors Finalem…
He releases her touch and pulls his hands back into his lap.
“You cannot ask that of me.” His voice is so low I’m not sure I’m hearing it correctly.
“Please, you know how rare it is to find those we love again once they’ve gone through the veil,” she begins to sob again, her frame shuddering with each cry, “he won’t return to this place, I know it. I want to join him in those plains.”
Kassiel’s demeanor changes, any hope or strong facade fading.
“I do know.” His lips pull up in a small smile, but the sadness is etched into his eyes, an almost heart shattering green.
They stare into each other’s eyes for a while before he asks, “Are you ready?”
“You’re a good man, Devourer. Don’t lose the hope for your redemption.”
Kassiel jerks his head as if slapped.
He kneels closer to her and cradles her body as she holds her son. His green orbs close behind his thick lashed lids and he breathes heavily in deep concentration.
The air around us hums with the sudden shift in energy, causing my own magic to thrum beneath my skin.
I watch as he releases the boy, ever so reverently, and moves his hand over to the woman’s chest. Her body still wracks with cries as tears stream along her face.
I don’t belong in this moment, and gods, I don’t want to be here witnessing this.
A glowing ball pulls from her chest, as if unweaving from the threads of her body. It’s breathtaking, a shimmery silver almost the same color as my magic. The little ropes that bind the pulsing orb strain, and they slowly rip apart, leaving frayed ends of light. The illuminated lines along the orb flicker like a candle in a hurricane as the tethers of the woman’s chest fizzle out.
Silent tears begin to stream down my face, but I dare not blink so as to not miss this moment, no matter how much I want to.
Kassiel gently pulls the orb with his hand and holds it up as the woman’s body goes limp and slides out of his grasp. He caresses the orb, as if it’s a babe. It’s unsettling. This man who is known for such inhumanity, such evil, holds the essence as if it’s the most precious possession. He’s careful with it, steady in his movements and delicate.
I’m left speechless by the image of this man of shadows, of death, carrying something so pure and light, and meets it with such tenderness.
Her body lies alongside the boys and I realize we never got their names. It seems like such a simple thought before I’m caught off guard by The Devourer cradling the orb to his own chest. He inhales deeply and his body illuminates in a flash as the brilliant ball of light is absorbed. It’s like watching a star go out in the sky.
I’m speechless, I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t this.
He looks down, his face fallen and eyes broken, like he’s just been forced to do something verywrong. It’s strange, the way my heart crushes a little at the sight.
He doesn’t enjoy using his magic.
I didn’t anticipate anyone would find satisfaction from murder, but I also didn’t anticipate that he would feel ashamed using his magic.
We stay like this for gods know how long. So long that other villagers remove the bodies and take them to be buried. Him there on his knees, looking like the world is too heavy. I feel like an intruder as The Devourer continues to look so broken.
The scene replays in my mind, him delicately pulling her soul from her. How full of admiration he treated the task even thoughhe appeared to break in that moment, in the only way that us monsters know how to—silently.
The sky begins to form clouds and the sun lengthens, eating away at the horizon. I feel helpless, unsure how to move this mammoth of a man, feeling like I’ve witnessed something far too intimate.
“Kassiel?” His name slips from my lips in a whisper, and I wait for him to lift his head.
He does no such thing.
His disheveled black hair hangs low in his face, his shoulders sinking even lower. He looks devastating, magnificently so, as if he’s fallen from the gods’ graces and been forsaken.
I step toward him, my legs numb from standing for so long and the cold chill that lingers.
