However, his bitterness toward Michael hadn’t lessened since he learned Michael fathered a child on Earth. Caim may have gotten over his hostility toward his other brothers and sisters in Heaven, but I suspected that if he ever saw Michael again, he might try to kill him. I didn’t blame him one bit.
“I will miss you,” Raphael said.
“I will miss you too.”
For a second, I believed that was the end of it, but Raphael pulled Caim close and embraced him. They slapped each other’s backs and held on to each other for a few minutes before reluctantly parting.
“I will watch over you, brother,” Raphael said.
“I know. When you see me look to the heavens, know I am looking to you and missing you.”
They embraced again before releasing each other. Raphael stepped back, and River moved forward to hug him.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done,” River said as Raphael patted her on the back.
“Take care of yourself and that beautiful baby boy, niece. We will all watch over you and your family.”
“And you will see me waving to you.”
Slowly, the rest of us moved forward to say goodbye to Raphael. He’d driven me crazy, there were more than a few times I didn’t understand his righteous behavior, and we all enjoyed tormenting him by having him fly back and forth to the wall, but I would miss him. He was my friend, and though I hadn’t realized it, hewasfamily.
I shook his hand and held it in mine for a few seconds. “I hope you’ll teach them to laugh a little more when you go back up there.”
Raphael smiled at me. “I will do my best.”
When Gage finished hugging Raphael, Bailey rushed forward and adhered to his legs. Raphael pried him away and lifted him. They hugged for a while before River stepped forward to take her brother from the angel’s arms. When she did, Raphael plucked a feather and handed it to the child.
“So you’ll always have a part of me,” Raphael said.
Tears glistened in Bailey’s eyes as he hugged the feather against his chest.
“Thank you,” River said to Raphael.
He smiled at her, and everyone moved away from the golden angel when his head tipped back and he closed his eyes. A blinding flash of white light illuminated the field. When it was gone, so was Raphael.
I wasn’t expecting the rush of sorrow that swept me as I stared at the empty spot where my friend once stood. However, it hung like a lead weight in my chest and clogged my throat. For a while, no one spoke.
Finally, Kobal said, “It’s time to return to the wall. We have many things to celebrate tonight.”
Caim wiped the tears from his eyes before embracing my sister. I didn’t hear what he said to her as his wings encased them, but I felt their love. When I looked up at Wrath, his blue eyes twinkled before he kissed my forehead.
Tonight we would celebrate the end of the millennia-long war as well as Shax and Raphael. We would toast to all those we loved and lost, recall our stories with them, laugh over their antics, and embrace the life we had forged here.
We had lost so many friends and family during our battles with Lucifer, the fallen angels, and the horsemen. We had just lost another, but we’d also gained so much since coming to Earth. I had never expected to find the friendships and love I had on this realm, but I couldn’t imagine my life without them, and I was never going to give them up.
Epilogue
Wrath
Five years later
I stoodbeside Kobal on the wall and gazed out at the vast field below. The field was quiet, but the small breeze stirring the air caused the tents on the hill to ripple. Bale and I had settled into one of those tents almost a year ago and claimed it as our home.
It was still strange to have a home; even in Hell, I was more of a nomad before being sealed away. But I had a home, a Chosen, and as I spotted our tent amongst the others, I smiled as happiness rose inside me.
Yes, this life I’d found was still so strange, but it was amazing, and I wouldn’t trade one precious second of it for anything.
For the first four years after the last of the horsemen were killed, Bale and I, and the others, made frequent trips into the Wilds to make sure no uprisings formed. However, after our last journey into the Wilds, it became clear that things were peaceful and few enemies remained.
