“Enough,” I commanded when Raphael’s hand tightened on his sword.
“Why can’t you go back?” River asked Raphael.
“Each angel has the ability to open a gateway out of Heaven. However, once on Earth, we are unable to open a gateway back into Heaven,” Raphael replied. “Michael is the only angel who is capable of opening a gateway from Earth into Heaven. It is against our laws for any angel to come to Earth, and Michael will not come to retrieve me. I knew when I left Heaven that I would never be able to return.”
“It’s also against the laws for an angel to heal a human,” Caim said. “Or at least it was when I was in Heaven.”
“Is that true?” River asked. “Was it illegal for you to save me?”
“It was,” Raphael confirmed. “Some of the other angels felt it best if we allowed you to die. Others were undecided, and some were adamant it be done. In the end, it was my choice to make. I am the only one with a healing ability strong enough to heal the dead. I’ve seen countless humans martyr themselves for loved ones and causes before, but with your bloodline and selflessness, I knew I had to make a sacrifice to save you.”
“Well lah-dee-fucking-dah for you,” Corson said. “Oneof you self-righteous assholes has sacrificed something since you dumped these black-winged dicks on the world six thousand years ago. I’mreallyglad you saved River, but you’ll get no sympathy from me.”
Hawk snickered and Magnus smiled at Raphael who didn’t acknowledge Corson’s words.
“Won’t you die on Earth like the original fallen angels were supposed to?” River asked Raphael.
“Yes, before I would have perished here,” he replied.
“Before what?”
“Before the humans opened the gateway and changed the natural order of things,” I answered her. “In the past, the gateways to and from Hell and Earth and Heaven and Earth were opened by creatures who were not of this world. Those gateways were never as large as the one the humans opened, and they never stayed open long.”
“What difference does that make?” Erin inquired.
“A big one. Earth has changed, and it will never be the same. The unnatural gateway has forever altered the fabric of all our existences,” I explained. “I don’t have to return to Hell, or travel to the other side of the world to know the gateway in Hungary closed at the same time as the one on this side of the world. I felt its shutting when it occurred. I can also feel that things didn’t return to the way they were on Earth, or in Hell. Demons and other Hell creatures won’t have to travel into Hell to maintain their immortality, or to feed. When the gateway closed, there were still wraiths on Earth. Like everything else from Hell, they will now be able to survive here too as Hell and Earth have intertwined with each other.”
“Oh shit,” Vargas breathed.
***
River
“Thirteen years was too much time for the gateway to remain open,” I murmured.
“Fourteen years,” Erin said.
“What?” I asked.
She gave me a wan smile. “It’s September. It’s been fourteen years since the gateway opened.”
I blinked at her, uncertain of what to say or how to respond.Fourteen years. It’s September.“How long were we in Hell for?” I blurted.
“Five days,” Shax replied.
Five days?How was that possible? How could I have missed the anniversary of the gateway opening if we had only been gone for five days? The anniversary had been in July.
“We all missed it,” Erin said gently as she seemed to guess at my thoughts. “But then, we’ve all been pretty damn busy. I didn’t realize the anniversary had passed until two days ago when I noticed that fall was settling in.”
I gazed over her shoulder at the fading green of the maple leaves. Some of them were already taking on an orange or red hue. There had been a time when the anniversary of the gateway opening would have been as recognized by me as Volunteer Day. However, unlike Volunteer Day, there had been nothing celebratory about the anniversary date.
I realized that Volunteer Day, the anniversary, and all the other things that had once ruled my life felt as if they belonged to a different River now. My life had changed so much in such a short time.
I could never go back to my old life, and I didn’t want to. All I wanted from it was my brothers and my friends and I would get them. For the first time, I truly realized how precious time was. Living in the past would only bog me down, and living in the future would make me miss the present.
All any of us had was the now, including the immortals.
My eyes lingered on Verin as she hugged her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth. My heart broke for her sorrow.
