Free Tempted by K.M. Liss Page B

that.
Humankind is so weak, and so emotional. Good riddance to Lila the
human. I shall welcome Lila the seraph with much more enthusiasm.”
Her eyes were burning with anger.
    Lila felt a such guilt at upsetting her. It
wasn't her fault. It was his. Her Lord Gehove. The good and holy
Lord whom Castilla worshipped and adored with everything she
had.
    Without another word, she flew away,
creating a tornado of wind from her angry wings.
    Lila wandered to her space in the physical
realm. The small room where she slept and where she kept her gowns
and slippers. These were all she owned. Nothing of any consequence
really. As she stroked the fabric of her gowns, she knew without a
doubt she had no desire to be an angel. But she had no choice. She
had even less desire to burn in Hell or be living dust forever, and
they were the only the options available to her.
    She brushed her hair of its windswept
tangles, mindlessly, then wandered outside feeling very unsettled
in herself.
    The lights of Hailen beckoned to her.
    She flew to the square and to the Wall of
Souls. Dusk was falling and the sea swelled beautifully, shimmering
with a fluorescent blue hue. It made her smile a little, which was
good.
    She couldn't help but look across the space
behind her. She could see the torches burning outside God's chapel.
The place where Uvall lay.
    Her feet started walking toward him. She
didn't want to go, or to see, but was possessed to get closer.
    She faltered at the door, where the two
seraph guards stood by. They bowed to her.
    “ Is he still alive?” she
inquired, casually. Her small smile belied her distress.
    She was hoping, beyond all hope that he was
dead and gone and his suffering was over. She couldn't bear to
think of him suffering in agony and her part in it.
    “ Yes, and he will be alive for a
few days yet. But his change has begun.”
    Her stomach churned with nausea.
    It was to take that long? Days more
suffering, dying of thirst and pain wracking his beautiful
body?
     
    “ That's excellent news. He's
turning to wood, is he?” she said, as if unconcerned, swallowing
the bile that had arisen in her throat.
    “ Parts of him, yes. You want to
go in and see? It is a peculiar thing to observe.”
    “ If I can, I would be most
interested, yes please. I want to look upon the face of evil and
count my blessings. And I shall pray a while, for all of us, in
these times of trouble.”
    “ Take all the time you like,
Lila. You are most deserving of watching his demise.”
    She hadn't intended to go in, or to look
upon his tortured face alone, but she decided in that moment, that
she should face him now. It would be better than the shock of
seeing him tomorrow, in a more advanced form of decay.
    He unlocked the heavy door for her and she
stepped into the gloom. There were candles lighting the aisle. The
arched ceilings were flickering with shadows, eerily, as she
approached the form on the altar table ahead.
    She arrived silently at his side.
    Her heart lurched and broke again at what
she saw.
    A sob bubbled up in her throat and she
gulped it down.
    He lay naked and chained. His neck, wrists
and ankles were bloodied from where he'd been struggling to escape.
A piece of dirty cloth was laid upon his loins for modesty. His
hair was a mess, and lay across his face. And parts of him had deep
grooves scoring his flesh. Wooden grooves, like the bark of an
ancient oak.
    Her sob burst forth as she looked at him in
horror. She had done this to him.
    She was no better than a murderess. A sick
and disgusting murderess.
    His mouth opened a little as he sensed
someone was nearby.
    “ Please,” he whispered in a weak
and faint voice. “Finish me.”
    Tears stung her eyes, as they poured down
her face and splashed on the floor. His eyes opened. The blue had
returned and they shone like sapphires, glinting in the semi
darkness. She stood there, in her mental torment, looking at him
suffering, in his physical one.
    She bent and kissed his lips and