Page 101 of Trust the Fall

“Fifteen minutes, Tor, and then I’m leaving.”

I take another deep breath, turning toward my mother and deciding to lay it all out there.

“We need your help, Camille. If Lucifer loses the fight, it’ll mean the end of Earth.”

“But Victoria,” she says, placing her hand on top of mine, “that’s the thing. We don’t need to concern ourselves with Earth. There are many far greater worlds in the universe. We can explore them together.”

For a moment, I want to cave and allow her to whisk me off to worlds unknown. The idea of forgetting about all the issues that come with Earth and the wars that will undoubtedly occur because of the power struggle between Heaven and Hell is tempting.

Getting to experience what it’s like to have a mother is even more so. Camille’s hopeful smile makes it even more difficult to resist the urge.

I allow the wistful thoughts to float through my head, basking in the warm glow that accompanies each and every imagined adventure my mind has conjured for Camille and me, before shaking my head and removing my hands from under hers.

“I think God wanted me to come here to convince you to side with Lucifer,” I say, feeling that truth in my bones. “God doesn’t want anyone on the throne in Hell but Lucifer.”

She grunts. “You might not be entirely wrong about that. Where humans are concerned, God tends to intervene on their behalf. If Lucifer is trying to preserve humanity, Heaven would be all about him ruling Hell. I just don’t understand his obsession with such one-dimensional beings.”

“I’ve lived on Earth for years. The humans aren’t bad, Camille. They’re misguided and left to deal with the intense emotional pull of Earth. That shouldn’t condemn them to torture. There are good people living there. Women and children who don’t deserve to be fodder for demons. I can’t allow that. Don’t you understand?”

Her cheerfulness falters at the realization that I won’t budge.

“You’re half human. There has to be some part of you that doesn’t want to see humanity wiped out.”

“There is, but it doesn’t trump my need to protect you, Victoria. The one promise that God made me was that you and I would one day be reunited, and whatever legacy I built would be yours. Then, and only then, could I be released from my curse and effectively retire.”

Once again, I’m reminded that this is all because she wants to hang up her crown to rush off to worlds unknown.

And how precisely did she plan to do it with me? Her running off requires me to sit on that vacated throne.

She never did.

“So I’m your patsy?”

“I don’t like your insinuation, Victoria. You’re nobody’s pawn. I spent millennia building this.” She gestures around at the opulent palace. “Everything you see, I built for you. So that one day, you’d have a home. A family. Something I wasn’t allowed to have.”

“What family? You’re asking me to give up the one person I’ve truly loved so that you can travel. Who is my family?”

“River, of course. I’ve arranged it all. Don’t you see?”

I laugh maniacally, losing my grip. “Why would you want me to marry the man you care for? Are you insane?”

She huffs a lackluster laugh. “Because he deserves to be king. He could make you happy.”

“He could be your king,” I bite back. “Not mine, Camille. Never mine.”

She shakes her head sadly. “I’ll never marry, Victoria. My heart has always belonged to someone else. River has always known that. He just didn’t know who it belonged to. He deserves happiness, and you could give that to him.”

“So you’d doom me to a loveless marriage for his happiness? What about mine? I’m your daughter. Your blood.”

“If you only gave him a chance, you could be happy too.”

“No … I wouldn’t. Like you, my heart belongs to someone else.”

Her eyes squint as she watches me closely. “Satan? You’d give up the throne for the devil?”

“Lucifer is a good man, Camille. He’s been unfairly punished. You of all people should know what that feels like.” My tone is cutting and my glare even more so.

I won’t stand by and allow anyone who doesn’t know Luke to slam him.