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We continue to skid across the plane until my whole body zings, and I can feel myself closing in on my soul. I can hear the cry of my being shouting for me. I gasp, the swelling emotions turning unbearable as grief, pain, heartache, loneliness, and fury crash through me. I can’t believe this is happening. How is this possible?
A dozen silhouettes grow and materialize within the blinding light, and golden wings stretch out, turning the world so bright that it’s all I can see. My eyes burn, watering with my tears. Cassius swings out his sword and slices it across the lines of light tangling me, and pain steals my breath away. Agony clutches me, and it feels as if I lose my soul all over again.
“Cassius, it’s time. Bring us the heavenly gifts. Do not stand against us. You are not a traitor.” Mikail’s deep voice reverberates through my bones. “You know what must be done. You cannot fight against us, and you know it.”
Cassius hollers, jerking to a halt with every fiber of his being, shaking the sanctuary. “Raven, you need to open a portal. I can’t concentrate on stabilizing us and shifting through realms. Do it now!”
I fucking hate pressure.
I hate the angelic army.
I hate all of this.
“Raven!” Cassius shouts again, skidding forward.
I squeeze my eyes shut, saying a prayer to the universe to help me. Fire and light explode from my hands, blasting the silhouettes back. Cassius yanks my being, sending pain crashing through me. I gasp, my body going numb. I lose control over my power, and the angels gather once more.
“Raven, I’m sorry,” Cassius whispers, grinding his teeth hard enough for me to hear. “I’ve failed you so much as a savior. I’ve failed humanity.”
I stiffen at his words. “Don’t say that. You haven’t failed until this is over, dickhead. I swear, Cass-hole. You need to—”
Crashing his lips to mine, Cassius unfurls his wings, expanding them wide on his back. He creates a wall between me and the guardians, growling as they blast their heavenly light at him. His skin lights aglow, his feathers buzzing. Some escape his wings, floating on the wave of energy humming through the air.
“Cassius! Give her to us. Now!” Mikail shouts, his voice bouncing around the world.
Cassius’s grip on me loosens, and he eases away from my mouth, putting space between our faces. The world quakes and rocks, and fissures of darkness break through the world. Setting me on my feet, Cassius rolls his shoulders.
“You’ve fallen from your path, brother. You’ve disgraced all of Heaven. This is the right choice. Do what must be done.” Mikail extends his hand out, wiggling his fingers toward me.
I jolt forward, the strange light reeling me closer. Screaming, I stretch my arms to Cassius, trying to grab onto him. He doesn’t move. He doesn’t look at me. The world crumbles around me in flashes of light and dark—not shadows, just absolute nothingness.
“Cassius!” Fire and light erupt from my hands again, setting Cassius aglow.
He launches forward, spreading his wings, wielding his angelic sword. The fire ignites across it, shifting from blue to turquoise, as if a hint of orange explodes from the blade. He hooks his arm around me at the same time that he slashes his sword through the tangle of heavenly strings dragging me toward the angels. The lines snap, releasing me. Mikail and his soldiers kick into action, charging forward as they steal the realm from Cassius. He spins midair, and fire erupts over his arms, licking across his skin and eating away at the tethers of heavenly light the angels try to trap us with.
“You all have failed Heaven. You have failed humanity and the universe. This was not how it was supposed to be. I will not let you take the one who will set things right. Raven is mine.” Cassius’s voice deepens as his wings spark aglow, turning from white to the most mesmerizing blues and greens and turquoise as a strange new power explodes over his skin.
Mikail tries to blast us one more time. My fury triggers the twins, and another flash of dark and light escapes me, cracking the foundation of the realm.
Cassius adjusts me in his arms and dives through a crack in the brilliant white, and the plane shifts as he jumps from his sanctuary. My whole body screams with unbidden emotions. Grief and turmoil mixed with relief and excitement. It’s as if I experience a hurricane within me and I’m not sure if I can withstand the destruction that comes with it. I’m not sure I’m strong enough.
My heart jumps into my throat, and I close my eyes, listening to the sudden roaring flames. Cassius snuggles his face into the crook of my throat as if he doesn’t want to look around either. We cling to each other as the world zooms around us, and we tumble through a realm of fire and brimstone. The tortured souls of Hell scream in my ears, and I gasp, realizing what’s happening. Cassius didn’t leave his sanctuary to return to the Mortal Realm. He turned his back on Heaven. He turned his back on the guardians and their purpose. He jumped from Heaven for me. He chose me. He chose Hell and the devils. But most importantly, he finally realized that it was about neither of us. It was about humanity.
A boom echoes through the world, and I wince at the loud noise deafening everything else. Silence greets us as we jerk to a stop, and Cassius lands in a crouch, his magnificent, vibrant form unlike any of the other devils. His wings glow blue and green as if heavenly fire remains with him but adapts to the Hell plane. His wings no longer glow with white feathers, and I can’t help caressing my fingers over the deep sapphire and emerald tones that sparkle with flecks of iridescent purples.
I blink a few times, staring into his shining amethyst eyes, the color the same as the holographic glitter sparkling from his wings. His features shift, and beneath his dark hair grows a crown of a dozen short horns peeking out from his head, wrapping around it completely. The muscles on his body ripple under my touch, and I want to hop from his arms to look at the rest of him. He doesn’t let me go though. He squeezes me tighter, burying his face into my hair once more. The act of jumping from grace hits him hard, and he exhales a long breath. We are alone in this new level of Hell that I’ve never seen before. Souls scream and move, pooling around us as if they wait for their king to control them.
“I feel so lost,” Cassius murmurs, his warm breath tickling my skin. His voice cracks, and for the first time ever, his defenses falter. He’s no longer the tough asshole angel I just learned to tolerate. He’s the ruler of the Pride Kingdom, and I was his downfall... No. I refuse to believe that. I wasn’t his destruction. I’ve helped him rise. He can see past everything now. He knows he’s where he belongs, beside me and the other devils.
“I know. I feel lost too, but we’re going to get through this together. Now set me down, so I can get a better look at you.” I pat his cheek, forcing my lips to smile despite my whole body reeling over the fact that Heaven almost took me.
“We need to find my brother.” Cassius ignores my command and shifts me in his arms to cradle me like a blushing bride.
My stomach flips and flops, the twins tumbling around as if they are coming down from the surge of energy we all experienced.
“Cassius, he will find us. You just jumped from grace. You need to take a moment. You don’t have to go running. Just breathe.” I get him to focus on me, and I bow forward and caress my lips to his, wanting him to know that no matter what differences we’ve had and how things weren’t always great between us, that things are changing. We’re no longer on separate sides. He is now a ruler of Hell, and he claimed me. He told the guardians that I was his, cementing my place by his side. I don’t even have to question it to know that he was serious. It came from his very being and was the turning point for him, cracking the realms to bring us home. To bring him to the place he will be the strongest. The place that will help us save everything.
Cassius doesn’t pull away, devouring my affection as if my kiss awakens something new inside him. And maybe it does.
