Descent - Tara Fuller Page 0,77

to the depths of Hell!”

Father twisted his wrist, and Easton’s back bowed in pain as if he’d been skewered with an invisible rod.

Oh God…no. I couldn’t watch this happen. Watching Easton’s pain, feeling it, was unbearable. This was worse than finding him in that cave. It was my father doling out the pain this time. A sob swelled in my throat, and Easton looked at me out of the corner of his eye, giving a slight shake of his head, telling me to stop. He groaned and forced himself to look Balthazar in the eye despite his pain.

“She didn’t need to be scared back into the gilded cage you kept her in,” he said, voice strained. “She is the strongest person I’ve ever met, and you don’t give her enough credit.”

Father twisted his wrist further, and Easton dropped to his knees as if he were a puppet and Father was pulling the strings.

“I give her exactly what she needs,” he growled. “For seventeen years I have given her a peaceful, safe existence. The kind of existence you know nothing about.”

Easton’s body twisted and contorted, the light in his eyes going dim. Panic rose up inside me, clawing and screaming for me to do something.

“Stop!” I cried out, throwing myself in front of Easton. “Father, stop! This was all my fault. I forced him to escort me down. I wanted to save Tyler, and we did. We did it. He’s in Heaven where he belongs.”

“You think I’ve forgotten your hand in this, Gwendolyn?” He turned his attention to me. “You think I’ve forgotten the position you’ve put me in? If you were anyone else, I would have the Almighty take your wings. Was your human worth your destiny?”

I blinked up at the man before me, unable to speak through the fear. No…my father would never threaten me like this. He would never take my wings. At least I had never believed he would. But now… I stumbled back a step and my hands drifted up to my now-quiet chest, wondering where the man was who allowed me to star-watch from the floor of his office.

“My wings…” I whispered, horrified. “You would take my wings?”

“What kind of leader will I look like if I let this go unpunished? I can’t afford that kind of weakness, Gwendolyn.”

Behind me, a feral sound tore up out of Easton’s throat as he forced himself to his feet, fighting to gain control over Father’s influence on him. He limped to my side, and I grabbed hold of his arm before he could go tumbling down again.

“You’re entitled to your wrath,” he said through gritted teeth. “But the fault is mine. All of it. If you need to make an example out of someone to make yourself look good, then I’ll take her punishment and mine. Torture me. End me. But you will not touch her. I can’t let that happen.”

“Easton, no…” I clutched his arm and shook my head frantically. “I won’t let you do that. If he wants my wings he can have them. They’re not worth losing you.”

“It’s done, Red,” he said, staring down his leader before him, wincing as another jolt of pain lanced through him.

Father dropped his hand to his side, and Easton slumped into my arms, breathing hard. I stroked his hair back from his face, infusing him with comfort and love and everything good he deserved. When I looked up at Father, he was watching us with fear and awe in his eyes.

“No, Gwendolyn…” He took a step back and his face paled. “Not him.”

He knew. He knew I loved him. I should have known I wouldn’t be able to hide it from him. I didn’t want to hide it.

“Why not him?” I asked.

Father looked back and forth between us. “He’s tainted.”

“Tainted?” I laughed, bitterly. “No. He is compassionate, and brilliant, and brave, and selfless. He is a soul worth saving. But tainted? If there is anything tainted about him, Father, it’s the fact that he works for you. You could have redeemed him. Healed him. Instead you sentenced him to an eternity of Hell!”

“Gwen…don’t.” Easton touched my arm.

“No. He needs to know who you really are,” I said. Then back to my father, “He doesn’t belong down there.”

“And where exactly does he belong?” Father asked, his voice a dangerous rumble.

“With me.”

“Someone like him… He’s not capable of loving, Gwendolyn,” he said.

Easton rose on unsteady legs, jaw tense. “I love her.”

Father’s eyes narrowed on Easton, an icy glare that caused a