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“Ican’t stay here,” I stammer, brows pushing together.“I…I want to go home.”
“Do you really?”Osiris asks and I can feel Lucas’s gaze on me as well.He’s wondering the same thing.Because, fuck, standing here with my wings spread behind me and the crown on my head…it feels so freeing and so natural and I know Lucas can sense it.
But I’m not a full archangel, and there will always be a part of me that longs for the world.For the sun and the rain and being able to look at the night sky and see the moon and stars.There will always be a part of me that misses my friends and going out for lunch and even sitting around watching TV all day.I’ll miss going to Novel Grounds, complaining about having to deal with customers and grumbling about working retail.
And Juliet.
I can’t raise a baby in Hell.She wouldn’t have any friends, wouldn’t get any fresh air, andI can’t raise a baby in Hell.
“I do.”Thinking of Juliet was all I needed to push my wings back, hiding them from view.“Wearing the crown feels good,” I admit, knowing there is no point in hiding it.“But I can’t stay here.Not all the time.And I can’t even manage a bookstore on my own.How am I supposed to rule Hell?”
“You’re not going to,” Lucas tells me.He usually sounds confident in everything, but I see the little bit of fear his eyes.He’s not afraid the I won’t be able to rule Hell, no, he’s afraid I’ll take a stab at it and like it too much to come home.
And I’m afraid of that too.
“I didn’t want to be Queen,” I rush out, shaking my head back add forth so fast my hair falls around my face.“But I had to, right?I had to so I could tell them to back off.And look.”I sweep my hand over the throne room.Lucas, Osiris, Uriel, Famine, and I are all in the center, protected rom the flames.“They’re still backing off.”
“Because you are their queen,” Osiris says, awe in his voice.“I knew you’d step into your power.”
“But I didn’t want to,” I go on.“And you forced my hand.Not cool, dude.”I let out a shaky breath as the realization that if I get stuck here, I won’t get to watch Juliet grow up.“And I want to go home.”
“It wasn’t my intention to force you to do anything you weren’t ready to do,” Osiris says.
Lucas snarls.“I find that hard to believe.You wanted to prove to your wife that you have powerful friends.Now you actually say you have the Queen of Hell on your side.”
“Yes, I can and will say that,” Osiris admits “But that wasn’t my intention.Please, both of you, let me make it up to you in a way only a god of the underworld can.”Uriel is fighting against the magic holding him down.He’s looking better and better by the second.“But first, I will take Famine and the angel back with me until we can decided what to do with them.”
“Okay,” I say and look at the pile of ash on the floor.We won this battle and that’s fucking huge.Paimon is dead.He’s made our lives a nightmare the last half a year.“He’s gone.”
“Yes, my love,” Lucas says and takes both my hands in his.“He’s gone.”
My lips curve into a smile.“Let’s go home.”
* * *
“Next timeyou go through a demon portal to Hell, I’m coming with.”Eliza paces back and forth, unable to shake her fear even though Lucas and I have been back at the house for over an hour now.“You have no idea what it was like being stuck inside, waiting, not knowing if you were coming back.”
“Let’s hope there never is a next time,” I reply, resting my head on Lucas’s shoulder.I’m exhausted and I can’t stop thinking about how good it felt to wear the crown.That’s a tomorrow problem, as well as telling my friends that things happened a lot faster than planned…but we got him.
Paimon is dead.
“I missed out on the action too,” Eamon notes.He’s still here for some reason, and I can only hope seeing everything transpire the way it did the last few days is going to change his mind, or at the very least delay his plans for starting his war.
“And we feel so sorry for you,” Lucas says dryly and then looks at Eliza.“You kept Juliet safe.Thank you for that.”
“You both stink like brimstone.”Eliza narrows her eyes.“You should shower.”
“That does sound lovely,” I say to myself, looking down at Juliet.She’s asleep in my arms, and the mental exhaustion is starting to really get to me.
“Tomorrow,” Lucas says with finality.“I will tell you in detail every single thing that happened.For now, we are going to shower and go to bed.”
Eliza gives us her trademark eye roll.“Fine.”
Lucas gets up and helps me to my feet.We go upstairs, get Juliet changed and into her swing.It’s a bad habit to let her sleep in here, I know, but if that’s the biggest problem in my life going toward, I’ll count it as a blessing.
Lucas and I have sex in the shower and then crash into bed.
“You haven’t eaten recently,” I tell him.
