Gabe smiled. "I'll see you soon, okay?"
I nodded and he disappeared.
Michael held his hands up. "Looks like it's you and me," he said. "You ready?"
"More than. It's weakening me."
"I can't push my hands through without weakening the ward," he said. "You have to jump out as fast as you can." He looked around. "I think you can spread your wings. There's room in there."
I nodded, understanding what he meant. "I'll launch myself into you, propelling us backward, and you can shoot us straight into Purgatory as it blasts."
"Yes." He smiled. "You can do this."
With my back to him, I let the magic drift to my fingertips and spread my wings wide. Crouching, I used my legs and wings to propel myself backward. I felt the ward glide down my body, and the second it hit my fingers, the magic coming from the angels and Fallen, through me, cut off. The coin no longer had anything keeping it from blasting all that magic and energy outward.
In that fraction of a second, as my body collided with Michael and the world began the fuzzy, blinky color-changing weirdness that happened for such a short time while we moved from one location to another, I saw someone appear in the ward.
And then we were gone. I didn't see who it was. We appeared in Purgatory with angels all around us as the biggest explosion I'd ever felt rocketed the area outside the gates of Purgatory and Hell.
It didn't take long to dissipate, and even though we were protected by the virtually impenetrable gates, enough of the magic broke through to knock all of us off of our feet.
I stood and peered out to see what happened. The blast was much closer to the gates of Hell. Had they been damaged?
Gabriel threw his arms around me from behind. "Thank the Heavens," he whispered.
I turned and hugged him tightly. "I love you."
When no other blasts of energy came, I looked again through the gates. There was a body lying on the ground where the ward had been.
"I think it's safe," I said. Without waiting, I moved myself to Hell. As much as I wanted to see who had appeared just as the blast went off, I had to show Luc I was safe.
He stood at the gates, peering through a peephole. "Luc!" I called.
When he heard my voice, his shoulders slumped. "Are you hurt?"
I ran to him with open arms. "Not a scratch," I said. "Just tired and drained.”
He turned to look out of the gates again. "Who is that?" he asked. "The magical energy hit him full blast. I watched."
We were just far enough away that we couldn't tell the features of the person on the ground. "I don't know. Let's go see."
I focused my energy on moving me outside of the gates and beside the body, but I didn't move. "What is going on?" I said. "I can't get out."
Luc furrowed his brow. "Neither can I."
We exchanged an alarmed glance.
Murmurs from the Fallen behind us filled the air. They surged forward, questions peppering at us. Why couldn't they get out? Had the blast sealed us in? What would we do? Could anyone still get in?
Michael and Gabriel appeared next to the body, and in seconds, both of them fell to their knees, the grief evident in their body postures. Michael gathered the body up and when the face turned and faced us, I was able to see who it was.
Joel. He'd returned from the academy to help.
And he'd never stood a chance. The magic had killed his soul, his aura, but it left his body intact.
Gabriel turned and faced the gates. When we didn't come out, he blinked from his location to just outside. "What's going on?" he called.
"We can't get out!" I pressed my face to the peephole. "None of us can."
