Page 22 of The Halo & the Heathen
“Who told you that?”
A chorus of laughter echoes around us as the heavenly host titter as if it’s the first joke they’ve heard in a millennium too.
God holds out her hand. “I will accept your gift. But I can give you nothing in exchange for it.”
A hollow pit opens in my gut and threatens to pull me down into it.
I didn’t fail, but my demon was right.
I had thought I hated him. I had thought I hated myself.
Until this moment, I hadn’t known what hate was.
I grip the halo tighter, squeezing until I finallydofeel pain.
Everything was a lie.
I look down at the halo. The burning sickle shape…
Maybe it’s time for someone else to do the reaping.
“Fuck you.” I breathe the words and swing my arm with as much force as I can manage and when the halo touches her neck, the air fills with screams.
The heavenly hosts lurch for me, but when God’s head falls from her body, a shockwave leaves her, pushing me away from them, away from her. I fly backward, past the gates and out of heaven.
And when the pushing stops, the tug of gravity takes its place.
I failed.
All my pain has returned. The heat below me is sharp, the air biting trough me as I descend feels as though it’s full of needles.
Still holding onto the halo, I accept my fate—my failure—and close my eyes. Warm tears slick beneath my lids, and I screw them more tightly shut.
I fall forever, but I don’t hit the ground.
Something barrels into me from the side and together we go tumbling.
My demon pulls me close to his chest and I bury my face in it as rocks and detritus fly.
I don’t think I can die here… but I’ve just killed God. My fate could be so much worse.
The Godless
We hit the ground twice,rolling and flying through the air before we land in a crater of pumice and brimstone and my demon never once loosens his grip on me.
I expect him to tell me he told me so.
He doesn’t.
“I’m sorry I left you.” I clutch him tightly so he can’t toss me away, into the pits of the toiling dead, but he holds me tighter, too.
“You had to.” He pulls me up his body, holding me up so he can meet my eyes. “You didn’t belong here before.”
“Do I now?”
“Yes.” He looks past me and lets me turn to look up at the sky.
The once red clouds are struck through with what looks like lightning, except it isn’t gone in a flash.
