The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon (Celine and Bastian) novel Chapter 178

Chapter 178

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Something inside me screams that I need to proceed with extreme caution if I want this demon to remain calm. But… I have so many questions to ask him, and he probably will not answer any of them.

Who is he?

Why does he not take Celine himself?

Why is he so interested in keeping her from going to the human world?

Why does he say that if she goes to the human world, she will die?

“Do you want answers? I will give them to you, but if you tell anyone, you will die before you can say a word.”

Erik remains standing in front of me without saying a word. The destroyed street seems to have fallen silent around us, as if even the wind has decided to stay away from this conversation. I look at him suspiciously. There is something about the way he looks at me that gets under my skin, and for the first time since I met him, I have the feeling that everything he said before was nothing more than a preparation for something much worse.

“What do you want from me?”

Erik does not answer immediately. His gray eyes move across my face, and for an instant, I have the strange impression that he is looking far beyond me, as if he can see every decision I have made, every life I have destroyed, and every secret I have never told anyone.

“I want you to understand why you are here.”

“I already know why I am here. I came for Celine.”

“No.” His voice is calm, but something about it makes my entire body tense. “You came for Celine because you believe you need her. I brought you here because she needs you to understand what she is.”

I frown.

“I know perfectly well who she is.”

“You have not the slightest idea.”

He takes a step toward me and raises one hand. There is no spectacular gesture. No fire, lightning, or ancient words. Just his fingers slowly reaching toward my forehead. I step back on instinct, but I do not get far. Two fingers press against my forehead, and the instant his skin touches mine, the world disappears. I do not feel myself falling or moving. I simply stop being there, as if my body has been left behind and my consciousness has been ripped from the street and thrown into a place I cannot comprehend.

The cold of the street disappears, replaced by an unbearable heat enveloping my body. When I open my eyes, I am staring at a sky I do not recognize. It is immense and dark, covered with black clouds streaked with fire. Something falls from above.

At first, it looks like a star, a mass of fire tearing across the sky at an impossible speed. Then I realize it is a

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The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon

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body. A man falls from the heavens engulfed in flames, but he is not alone. Another angel plunges after him and catches up to him in midair. He strikes him again and again as they both tear through the clouds, until one of his wings is ripped away and begins to burn before disappearing into the distance. The second angel watches him for a few moments, convinced that he is dead, and finally flies back into the sky, leaving him to fall without looking back.

He descends engulfed in flames and crashes into the ground with such force that the mountains tremble. The impact sends rocks, trees, and columns of dust into the air as a wave of energy spreads across the landscape. When the cloud begins to dissipate, I see him among the wreckage.

He has wings. Enormous, black, torn wings. He is on his knees, covered in blood. One remains spread across the ground, broken and burned, while the other trembles behind his back. He tries to stand, but falls again. I recognize him the moment he lifts his face.

“Erik…” I whisper.

Erik raises his head and looks toward the sky. His face is twisted with pain and confusion. He tries to spread his wings, and a growl escapes his throat when the movement causes another wave of pain. A dark substance runs through his veins, spreading from his wounds as if his own blood were changing.

He is no longer an angel. He has fallen, and I can see it in his eyes, in the blood covering his body, and in the shattered wings that will never be the same again. The world he has entered also bears no resemblance to the one he left behind.

Monstrous creatures move through the forests. Enormous beasts roam the mountains. In the distance, I can make out wars between beings I do not even recognize. Humans run, hiding from creatures that seem to have come straight out of a nightmare.

Erik tries to stand again. This time, he succeeds.

Then she appears.

The light of the moon pierces through the clouds and takes shape in front of him. A woman emerges from that light, dressed in something that seems to have been woven from the night itself. Her presence changes the landscape. The creatures stop moving. The wind comes to a halt.

Selene descends through the moonlight.

The fallen angel lifts his gaze toward her and, despite the pain, manages to straighten enough to fall to his knees before her presence. He does not do it out of fear, but out of respect. Selene approaches and places a hand on his wounded body. A silver light surrounds him and moves across each of his wounds, closing them one after another, while his shattered wings slowly regain their strength. When she finishes, he looks at his hands and then turns his gaze back to the goddess.

“Let me serve you.”

Selene slowly shakes her head.

“No, Lucifer.”

The ancient name echoes inside me with a weight that makes me hold my breath.

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The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon

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“You are no longer the light-bearer who descended from the heavens. You have fallen, and this world has received you as something different. You cannot fight my war. You have your own to fight.”

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