Descent, page 28
Elise had always been so vibrant, so full of light, even under the weight of duty. Now she looked like she belonged here, molded into something I couldn’t recognize—suited and poised, part of the machinery chewing me up.
A knot formed in my throat.
Surely, she’d stop this. Surely, she’d protect me.
But when our eyes finally did meet, something inside me cracked wide open.
Because she looked away.
Turned her head. Like I was no one.
I wasn’t her sister anymore. I was just another girl on the platform.
The betrayal didn’t come like fire or rage. It came like drowning. Quiet and all-consuming.
Robert’s voice rose again, commanding the room like a ringmaster. “Ladies and gentlemen! A rare find today—a young Purifier!”
He gestured toward me with mock pride. A flourish.
Two men stepped forward—monsters dressed as men. One wore a leather jacket heavy with trophies from lives taken; the other looked like he hadn’t smiled in a decade. Their eyes raked over me, assessing, calculating, choosing.
“Three hundred demon shards!” the first barked.
“Five hundred!” the second snapped, eyes gleaming with conquest.
The room exploded with offers. Voices stacked over each other, bidding for my life like I was nothing but cattle.
“Six hundred!”
A cheer. A shove. A flash of teeth. Greed filled the room like smoke.
My chest rose and fell, panic blurring the edges of the room. My legs felt like they might give way, but I stood. Barely.
My gaze found Elise again. She stood there still—unmoving, unreadable. Avoiding me.
I was alone.
“Sold!” Robert bellowed, gavel in hand, a wicked grin stretching across his face. “To the gentleman in black!”
The crowd erupted.
I didn’t.
I stood frozen, a sold thing. Branded not by fire, but by silence.
And somewhere behind the noise, I heard the hollow echo of something breaking inside me—slow and clean.
Hope.
Elise stood apart, unmoved, her gaze turned elsewhere like I wasn’t even there.
I felt the knot in my stomach twist tighter.
How could she look away? How could the girl who used to hold me through nightmares now pretend I was a stranger? She stood like a statue carved out of cold ambition, untouched by the horror unfolding inches from her.
Seraph had promised safety. Elise had promised… something. She’d always made me feel like I mattered. I had trusted that. Trusted her.
Now I wasn’t sure if any of it had ever been real—or if I’d just been the naïve little sister everyone saw when they looked at me.
Then came the hand.
Rough. Unforgiving.
It clamped around my arm and yanked me forward.
The man who’d bought me stood over me like a thunderhead, his smile wide and wrong. My skin crawled at the sound of his voice.
“Come on, darling,” he said with a smoothness that disguised the cruelty just beneath.
My instincts screamed—fight. Now. Dig in your heels, bite, run. Do something.
But my limbs didn’t move.
Fear locked me in place, cold and suffocating.
And just like that—he led me away.
I stumbled behind him, dragged through the sea of jeering onlookers. Their laughter warped and muffled as if I were underwater. All I could hear clearly was my heartbeat, loud and relentless in my ears.
“Don’t be shy,” he said, smirking. “You’ll find this life a whole lot more exciting than whatever boring shit you left behind.”
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. The words stuck, jagged and bleeding behind my teeth.
What would Walton do if he saw this?
Would he come for me?
…Would I want him to?
He shouldn’t.
He was right about me all along—I was just a foolish bunker rat playing in a world I didn’t understand. I’d walked into this thinking I could outsmart demons and outmaneuver angels. How utterly stupid.
No.
That wasn’t the end of it.
I might’ve been naïve—but I wasn’t weak.
I’d survive this. Somehow. Some way.
Because I had to.
Because I wasn’t just a girl from the bunker anymore. I had fire in my blood and magic in my bones. I had survived the Collapse, the desert, the monsters outside and within.
And I’d survive him too.
As the door opened and the cool night air brushed against my skin, something inside me sparked. Just a flicker—but enough.
Darkness swallowed us, but the chill brought clarity. And that tiny ember of hope deep in my chest?
It refused to go out.
Not tonight.
Not ever.
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, to God.
My readers, thank you for your continued support.
My wonderful cover design team, for your beautiful, eye catching covers. I cannot stop staring.
My family - Frank, Kylee, Madisyn, Ely, Avery, Jacob, and Josh. Your love is the best thing that ever happened to me.
Isadora Brown, Descent
