God, please don’t let her suffer. Don’t let them keep her soul.
Warm pressure laid against the side of my head, but I didn’t have the strength to wonder what it could be.
So, this is it. After getting what I wanted, I’m losing the one thing I can’t bear to be without. Her love.
I steeled myself and broke the kiss, hugging her as hard as I could. “I love you.” Any moment now, I expected Lucian to rip my body from hers and begin his torture. I didn’t even want to think about what he’d do to Phoebe.
“Shh,” a voice murmured. Out of the corner of my eye, a hand lifted from me to stroke the crown of Phoebe’s head. “I see you found a cause worth living for, Cain.”
That voice, Iknewthat voice, and it wasn’t Lucian’s. “M-Michael?” I breathed, hardly daring to believe.
“Dad?” Phoebe gave a weak push against my chest and lifted her stare to the archangel shielding us with his golden armored body and shining wings.
“I’ve missed you so much, Phoebe.” He leaned over the both of us, his attention fixated on his daughter. “You’re even more beautiful than I imagined.”
She cried, her sobs soft and broken. She reached one hand to her father, and he gripped it.
I wanted to comfort her, to hold her in my arms and tell her everything would be all right, but I knew better. I could feel it in my bones. Things were certainly not all right. Not for me, at least.
“Why did you leave us?” Her voice shook. A black bruise formed under her cheekbone, twisting my stomach with the pain I knew she must be experiencing.
Who knows how many other broken bones and internal damage she received when Malachi threw her like a ragdoll?But if Michael had won the fight against Lucian, there was still a chance to save her, to get her out of this dreadful dimension.
“I didn’t want to leave you and your mother, but I had no choice. One of Lucian’s demons had begun to sniff around, and it was a matter of time before he found you.” He bent and scooped her in his arms. She let out a low moan. “It’s why I had the necklace made, to hide your presence. Your abilities were starting to manifest, and if the Fallen found you...”
“Can you save her?” I asked, my words slurred, voice weak.
He glanced down at me. “Yes.” Bending his neck, he placed a kiss on her forehead. A bright, yellow stream of light flowed over her body, erasing the bruise. “She’ll be fine.”
“Dad, heal Cain, too.” Her voice sounded stronger. “Please.”
Michael hesitated then nodded, setting Phoebe on her feet. “Feel better?”
“Much. Nothing hurts anymore.” She shrugged her shoulders and touched her face.
They both turned their attention to something out of my view, and I didn’t have the energy to crane my head upward.
“Is he...” Phoebe shivered and rubbed her upper arms. “Dead?”
“I wish,” Michael said, “but only God has the power to kill Lucian. And she can’t do it without destroying the entire universe.” He stepped out of view for a moment, and something made a thud, probably his boot kicking Lucian’s body. “He’ll be out for a few more minutes. His army is without direction and retreating back to whatever holes they crawled from.”
“Fix Cain and get us out of here. I hate this place.” Phoebe knelt next to me and smiled.
“Precious....to me...” Blackness crowded my vision, narrowing until it became a tunnel with her at the end, shining with promise and light.
“Dad. Hurry. Please.” She caressed my brow.
Michael reappeared on the opposite side. “He’s suffered a lot of damage. I’ll do my best.”
“But you can do it, right?” Phoebe’s hand stopped caressing my skin, and I wanted to beg her to not let go, but I couldn’t move my mouth.
“No promises.” Thinning his lips, Michael gave a solemn nod to Phoebe. “Give me your hand.”
Michael rolled me onto my back then locked his fingers with Phoebe’s over my body.
The blackness at the edges of my vision coalesced tighter and tighter as I stared past their stretched hands and to the sky.
For a moment, the roiling, tumbling movement of the clouds stopped. A weak beam of sunshine burst through, landing on the three of us.
