It knocks us apart. We’re suspended in time, tethered by magic, until blood red wings burst through her white dress, ripping the delicate fabric.
For a breath, she closes her eyes, then her wings start to beat. “The power! I can feel everything!”
My magic releases the last of Gabriel’s life force, and I collapse in a heap on the floor. He’s gone. My angel is truly gone. Sobs wrack my body. The last few broken bones haven’t fully healed, and each tremor brings more pain.
Gabriel tried to save me. Hedidsave me. Not my life. Hannah will kill me. Or I’ll find a way to meet my own end. But maybe…just maybe…he saved enough of my soul for me to see him in the afterlife.
Gabriel
I walk through an endless world of white. My robes are loose around my ankles. My wings flutter in a gentle breeze.
An overwhelming sense of peace settles in my soul. I…am home. Back in the celestial realm where I belong.
No. Pain flashes behind my eyes. I belong…
“Did you really think you could make a grand gesture like that and just…die?”
Whirling around, I come face to face with Azrael. His tailored black suit is still perfectly pressed, but in his hand…
“Is that a slice of pizza?” I ask.
His sheepish smile should anger me. But here, I cannot muster the emotion.
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Thoroughly. Have you tried bagels?” he asks and clasps my arm. “Sea salt are my favorite. With blueberry cream cheese. Though Everything bagels have a certain appeal as well.”
His breath reeks, and I wave my hand in front of my face. “I should have warned you, Az. If you consume more than trace amounts of garlic, you must brush your teeth soon after. Your breath is…vile.”
He cups his hands in front of his mouth, exhales, and his eyes widen. “Fuck. Noted.”
“Why are you here? With pizza, no less.” We walk along the path to the Sea of Redemption. Azrael finishes his last bite of what I think was double pepperoni and swipes a napkin over his mouth.
The sea sparkles like diamonds, despite a complete lack of wind. There is no sun in the celestial realm. Only the never-ending light that touches everything here.
He stops on the edge of the shore, turns to me, and rests his hands on my shoulders. “You’re dying, Gabriel. I’m here to carry your soul to eternal rest.”
“Oh. Well, get on with it, then.”
“Get…on with it?” Azrael shakes me, and when I do not react, arches a brow and punches me in the face.
“What the fuck was that for? Do you treat all your souls in this manner?” In the celestial realm, we cannot be injured. There is no pain. Only the shock of my brother’s strike. He hits me again. Harder this time.
“Haven’t you forgotten something down there?” He jabs his finger in the vague direction of the earthen realm. “Or…someone?”
I have no idea what he’s talking about, but before I can say a word, he looses his massive black wings, tosses me over his shoulder, and takes to the air.
Azrael is not only my brother. He is the closest thing to a friend I have in the celestial realm. So I let him see this through—whateverthisis. He sets me down on top of a wall in the middle of the night. Frigid air swirls around us, and the sounds of war are everywhere.
Bullets whiz by a few feet away. A woman screams. The voice is familiar. But before I can figure out why, another angel with sleek, black wings soars over the wall of the building, circles once, and dives into a lake.
A moment later, he bursts from the depths with a dagger in his hand. I know this weapon. My chest aches. I stare down to see a bright red stain spreading over my robes.
“Maddox! I have the Blade. Find Lucifer’s axe!” he shouts.
“Oh, I’ve found it,” another angel—Maddox, I assume—replies. “But you’re not going to like where it ended up.” I follow Maddox’s gaze.
Three vampires battle against a woman with jet black hair and crimson lips. Her hands are in constant motion, sending massive chunks of the crumbling walls hurtling for the bloodsuckers. Lucifer’s axe lies behind them.
