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“He’s right. You’ve spent enough time speaking to those who refuse to listen.” I stride closer to him, adjusting Mateo in my arms. “Get up. I want you to look at the twins and remember who this is about. You need to remember that they’re who are the most important and why you were fighting to bring Raven home again.”
Still, Elias doesn’t move. He doesn’t respond. It’s as if he is in a trance and looking at something we can’t see.
I stand in front of Elias and spread my wings, trying to intimidate him until he looks up. But it doesn’t work. He continues to press his hands together in silent prayer. It’s as if he doesn’t want to deal with anything anymore, losing himself to the loss of his soulmate.
“Elias. Look at me. You need to be here with us and not wherever the fuck your mind wanders.” I nudge him with my boot.
Again, he ignores me.
This time, I drop to the ground in front of him and hold Mateo out. His wings expand and flap, the light shining from them suddenly fading. Snapping his eyes open, Elias jerks his attention to Mateo. Something indecipherable crosses his face, and he automatically opens his arms and takes our son in his embrace.
I rest my hand on his shoulder. I should be taking my own advice and kicking myself for the fury coursing through me and for my behavior in front of the doctor, but I need to focus on something else. I need to focus on Elias and get him to pull himself together. His ability is more important. He is the only one that can access Heaven like we need. “Raven would want you to at least acknowledge their existence. I know this is hard—”
“Raven would want me to fucking be there with her. I was supposed to go, but I can’t get back in. I’m trying everything. I’m praying to the Higher Power. I’m begging for forgiveness. I’m trying to thin the veil to blast through. But nothing’s working. It’s as if Heaven has been walled off from me. I’m failing Raven. I’m failing my soul and my mate. She will spend eternity grieving if I can’t find her. I need to focus. I’m no good to any of you guys. I have failed over and over again, and I don’t want the twins to think of me as a failure for the rest of eternity. So please, take him and Arabella and show him what a powerful and amazing king of Hell you are. Let me figure this shit out.” Elias breaks, his wings sagging, and tears spill from his eyes and splash across Mateo.
Shadows glow from our son, wrapping around Elias as if the power embraces him. Zade brings over Arabella, slowly settling on the floor beside us. He holds the beautiful angel baby to her biological dad, and I can’t help thinking about Raven. She looks just like her with hair as dark as midnight. Even their pouty mouths are the same, and I know that I’m going to have to send a whole bunch of asshole mortals to Hell on her behalf if they even manage to get within a foot of her.
“Perhaps Heaven isn’t closed off to you, Elias. Have you considered that it is your daughter who keeps you here? Feel her grace. Feel the power coursing through her. Focus on her and see for yourself. It’s not your fault. If you just look at Arabella and give her the attention she wants from you in this moment, you might be able to access Heaven again.” Zade holds out Arabella to Elias, his voice remaining even. “And you know what?”
Elias shakes his head as he takes Arabella and cradles her in the crook of his other arm, holding the twins together. “I don’t know anything anymore.”
“Have you considered that you can’t get through right now because maybe Raven wants you to stay here? She wouldn’t want you to leave the babies to be with her. It was important to her that they had all of us.” Zade rubs his fingers on Elias’s shoulders, kneading his muscles and getting him to look into his eyes.
The others surround us, taking spots on the floor until all the devils of Hell sit around our last angelic brethren as he holds the two most precious gifts Raven has ever given us.
Elias squeezes his eyes shut. “It isn’t fair. I should’ve ignored her wishes and accepted the deal with Mikail. It should be me facing an eternity of isolation. Not her.”
I narrow my eyes at the others, making sure they don’t agree with him despite if they actually do or not. I hate to admit it, but if I were Elias, I would’ve done just that. If I had to spend eternity by myself in Hell, damn straight I would to ensure Raven was on Earth and with the twins. She is their mother. It should’ve always been her here.
“We can’t change what we feel we should’ve done. We need to focus on the new path before us and figure out what comes next. What we want to do next. Arabella and Mateo need us.” Cassius clears his throat, scrubbing his hands into his hair. “It’s important that we see what the angelic army is up to now. They’re not going to just pretend we don’t have the twins. Because we refused their deal, I’m sure they are going to be striking again.”
I hate agreeing with Cass-hole. But he’s right. They’re going to know we’re not just giving up. It’s not in our nature. They will expect us to come at them hard, and that’s exactly what I plan to do. If we can get them here, then we can get back into Heaven. Without its guards, the plane will be open.
Ruffling my black feathers, I push to my feet, drawing everyone’s attention. “There’s no fucking way I’m letting them attack. I’m not going to stand around here and just wait. If Elias can’t ground himself to the heavenly plane even with his angelic light, I’m going hunting. I will get a bastard who can.”
“Fuck yeah. I’m in.” Kase holds his hand up to me, silently asking me to help him to his feet.
I pick him up and instead of letting him stand, I catch him in my arms and hug him, burying my face against his neck. I knew he would agree with my plan. I knew he would stand by my side in my strategy to get into Heaven.
Someone has to risk it, and I feel like showing these angels what kind of Hell they’re going to pay.
“You fucking bastards can’t have all the fun,” Lucian says, summoning his fire chain. “There’s enough of us to split up. Four of us will stay with the twins, and four of us will go after the army.” Turning to Cassius, Lucian holds his hand out. “What do you say, brother? Do you want to learn what kind of power lies in being a devil?”
Cassius raises his eyebrows, and I expect him to deny Lucian because of their eternal rivalry, but he surprises me and clasps Lucian’s outstretched fingers. We’ll have two flyers and two earthbound. It’s a perfect mix. The perfect balance. That’s just what Raven needs from us.
“Micah, will you take Raven’s body to the center of all our kingdoms where Purgatory will rise? I want her where she belongs until we can reunite.” I take a deep breath with my words, my heart fissuring and aching at just a thought. As much as it hurts thinking about not seeing her in the bed, being able to pretend she’s just asleep, I know it must be done. We can’t just leave her here. She needs to be home where our power and love are the strongest.
“Yes, and I’ll be ready to do what is necessary. I want Mikail’s wings splayed out in my foyer. Bring him here so we can destroy him together.” Micah waits for me and Kase to carefully wrap Raven’s body in the blankets.
Tears burn my eyes, and I snuggle my face into her hair, inhaling a breath of her scent one last time. Her time as a mortal is over. Her life as my pretty soul has ended. It’s time to embrace our eternity. Just because she’s no longer with us in her body means absolutely nothing to me. For the first time in a long time, I have faith that I’ll get her back. She was never intended for Heaven. I know that with every fiber in my being.
The angelic army will see.
They will pay.
Kase kisses Raven’s forehead before meeting her lips. He whispers something despite us knowing that she can’t hear him. Her soul has been gone for a while. She was alive because of the babies. We all knew that they would have to come at some point, but if only it wasn’t so soon. If only Mikail hadn’t induced her labor.
But it doesn’t matter.
