“Brev,” I whispered and pulled him into a hug. “I hate that you had to bear this knowledge alone. But I'm also really proud of you.”
Brevyn's smile returned, but it was softer this time. “Thank you, Mom.”
“Your father will be proud too. Hopefully, that will cool his temper.”
Brev winced. “Do we have to tell him?”
“Oh, yes. Absolutely.”
Brevyn grimaced.
Trevor leaned down to whisper to Brevyn, “Thank you for saving them.”
“I'd do anything for my family, Uncle Trevor. You don't have to thank me.”
“Yes, I do.” He hugged Brevyn. “You saved my life today too.”
“Is everything okay now?” Lesya asked. She stood just behind her lion guardians with Vero, Zariel, and Samantha, their games forgotten and their expressions worried.
“Yes, everything's okay now,” I said. “In fact, we're all going to a party in Heaven.”
“Yay!” The children shouted and woke up the twins, who were sleeping on a couch nearby.
Sebastian started to wail, but Dominic just rubbed his eyes, crawled off the couch, and walked over to me with his cute baby waddle.
Dom lifted his arms and said, “Up, Mommy.”
I chuckled and bent to pick him up. “You have wings, Dominic.” As he settled his head on my shoulder, I added, “But I guess you're too tired to use them, huh?”
“I'll get Sebastian,” Trevor went to the crying toddler. “All right now, enough of that. You're fine.” He picked him up, and Sebastian instantly stopped crying to sniff and stare at Trevor. “I want Daddy.”
“We're going to see him right now,” Trevor said.
“Are you sure it's safe to take them to Heaven?” Samantha, holding her daughter's hand, asked.
As Kirill took our daughter's hand, he said, “Da, Luke warded it against Jerry.”
“Lukedid?”
“Lucifer built all the Heavens,” Trevor said. “He's let Jerry have them as part of their truce. But the truce is over, so he's decided to take them back.”
“Whoa,” Sam whispered.
“Yes, it's been an eventful day,” I said.
“So, uh,” she looked at the kids, then back at me. “You didn't get him?”
“Not yet. In fact, I think I'd better change the tracing chant again. I'll do it on our way out, then I can tell everyone at the party.”
“Why don't you just do what Luke did and ward the territory against Jerry specifically?” Trevor asked. “I think we can trust Zachariel now.”
“I'll set a ward against Jerry for now, then change the chant later. Whether we can trust him or not is irrelevant; he's not family.”
“I agree,” Kirill said. “Only family should have chant.”
“Okay, that's settled. Now, let's go. There are a lot of Angels who'd like to thank Brevyn for their freedom, and heroes should always be thanked.”
“Thank you, Brev,” Vero said solemnly.
