House Of Legions (The Angel Descendants book 1) novel Chapter 41

Her mother’s face was the only thing not covered in the coffin, and Clare wanted to touch it, wanted to feel her mother’s skin for the last time.

She tasted the salt in her mouth, the wretched feeling in her stomach and the lump in her throat. The hot tears rolling down her eyes, was this really happening. She prayed that it was all just a dream, that her mother had not been killed so quickly, defeated so easily, but most of all she wished that her mother hadn’t sacrificed herself to save her.

‘better me than her’

The words killed the rest of the restraint Clare had left in herself and she screamed louder than she ever had, and dropped to her knees hitting the ground with unsheltered force. Her knees and body crumbled with pain but nothing was enough to keep her heart from crushing, nothing was enough to exceed this pain, this unbearable, wretched pain, as it tore from her heart, from her chest, burnt into her veins.

She didn’t see the descendants staring at her, she didn’t care if they did, she cried, and her stomach ached, her long curly hair falling around her face and body. Her head throbbed, her body perspired from the heat of her despair but she couldn’t stop crying, she couldn’t stop the anguish she felt, the fear that had come with this loss, stolen from her in a matter of seconds, her mother was all she had, all she knew to be real in her life, it was the one true thing that kept her from destroying herself.

Clare gripped on the coffin, outstretched her fingers to pull herself up, putting her hand to touch her mother’s head, she was so close, strangely enough, her mother’s body was not cold as it looked, she was almost certain, she could feel some heat surrounding the body, only an inch away.

A hand gripped tightly at her wrist, it was hard and hurt, she wiggled her wrist free, “What the hell is your problem.” She yelled, sniffing.

She stood up, her face wet from the tears, hair stuck to her forehead, and no wind to dry it for her but she didn’t make eye contact with the person, she attempted to put her hand on the body again but was stopped by a voice,

“NO, you do not touch the dead, her body will be cursed.”

It was a deep voice, she noticed him from earlier, he was the Elvan she saw on the way to the bayou.

He was slightly taller than her, his diamond looking teeth barely showing, which somehow made him look younger in appearance, black eyes poked her like stab wounds.

She didn’t respond to him, she couldn’t, she wanted to cry more but urged herself not to. She moved swiftly towards Caidrian who was standing near a fire and talking to a man in brown leather attire, he met her eyes when she neared him, she was grateful when he didn’t mention her outburst, or try to console her, she wouldn’t take it,

“What do I do now?”

Caidrian pointed to a chair that was placed a few feet from her mother’s body, “You sit there, Nathan will sit on the other side.”

She couldn’t put a finger on it, but Caidrian sounded like her mother’s death was a minor implication, he seemed distressed and worried in his eyes, but no sorrow. She hesitated before she turned and made her way solemnly to the chair keeping her head to the ground.

She graced the night sky, tranquillity in its stillness, clarity in the stars that decorated it. A thought occurred to her, she tilted her head to the crowd, catching her brother’s eyes glared at clear spaces, he was sitting directly opposite her.

The place started to quiet down, there were not many Lightwatcher’s around, the majority were the other descendants, as Alexa had explained to her, they were all descendants. She wondered what that meant, the girl had seemed so young but old at the same time.