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A void swallows me, stealing away the pure goodness of being near my soul. It’s as if the angel ripped me apart once more, leaving a hole in my being.
The bright light fades, and the horn of a car honks.
I gasp. I’m no longer in the plane created by the twins. I’m back in the Mortal World.
A car barrels right toward me.
Chapter 3
RAVEN
Apocalypse
STRONG FINGERS DIG under my arms, dragging me up as the angel takes flight. Car tires screech, and I jerk my arm and punch the angel in the face as he dangles me off the ground. He drops me without a care. The bastard. I shriek at the freefall, my muscles tensing. Swooping down, he grabs me by my hair, stopping me from crashing to the sidewalk. My scalp bursts with pain, and I kick my leg behind me, doing anything I can to escape the angel. He lets go of me, and I stumble forward and land on my hands, scraping my palms on the sidewalk.
“Raven, be careful. You’re going to hurt yourself.” The musical voice stabs at me as if it’s the most annoying sound in existence. I hate when angels try to tell me the obvious. I damn well know that running away from him will end with me hurt. I’m mortal, after all. It doesn’t stop me though. I’m willing to risk hurting myself to escape.
“Stay away from me!” I yell, pushing back to my feet.
My body reacts to the sudden threat, and fire ignites in my palms. I whisper a silent thanks to my babies and spin around, staring down the righteous bastard.
His eyes widen, and he startles at the Hell power growing in my hands. I bet he wasn’t expecting as much. I bet the angelic army didn’t tell him what he’d face if he ever confronted anything that wasn’t my helpless soul. But now, my body is a vessel to unimaginable power, and I have a desire to pluck feathers. Knock off halos. I crave the destruction of those against me.
“Heaven, please calm down. You’re going to cause a scene. You’ve just broken my shield with that abominable power.” The angel strides forward, lighting his fingers with angelic light.
I thrust my hands forward, shooting Hell power at him. There’s no fucking way I’m going to let him get close to me. I can already see it in his eyes that he believes he has a right to control my existence.
“I said, stay back.” I flare my nostrils, my body tense and ready to fight. If only it wasn’t so difficult to move. My scraped hands and knees ache. I haven’t done anything extremely physical apart from sex, and even then, I rarely do a lot of work in this state. The devils are very considerate when it comes to me. They truly are the most selfless beings in the universe. It’s what makes me want to give them whatever they want. It makes me want to fight hard for them. It makes me want to destroy Heaven.
“I can’t. This is the first opportunity we’ve had to speak to you. Please, let me have just a second of your time. I don’t want to fight you. I only want to reason with you. I know it’s difficult in this...state, and you’re feeling quite deviant without your soul, but I know that you’re smart. Hear me out.” The angel drops his hands to a side, allowing his angelic light to dissipate.
Confusion scrunches my face. It’s not like an angel to want to have a conversation. Maybe it’s because they think they’ve won. I’m not exactly a huge threat...at least, that’s what he thinks. And maybe this will be my chance. If he doesn’t think I’m going to continue to fight, he’ll let his guard down. When he lets his guard down, I can fuck him up. I can show him what it’s like to ruin the forever of the devils’ love.
Inhaling a slow breath to settle my racing heartbeat, I nod my head and shake my fingers, putting out the hellfire. I know that my little demon spawn will ignite it again if I’m threatened, and I trust the babies to take care of their mama as much as I take care of them. It’s a bond unlike anything I’ve ever known, and it’s all purely emotional. I can feel it. It’s the only thing I can feel. I don’t feel any of my own emotions, but I can feel goodness the babies bring.
“You have two minutes.” I place my hands on my hips and straighten my back, even though I don’t feel threatening with my bulging belly.
Closing his wings, the angel offers me a smile. It’s far more twisted than he probably realizes, and I can’t stop the goosebumps from prickling over my skin. “Two minutes is all I need. I know that the devils have gotten to your mind, but you must think of yourself, your children, and your soul. I know you saw the state of it. Your soul is facing such despair. I’m sure you felt it being so close. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Your soul is distraught because it knows that you are resisting. All it wants is to help Heaven. It wants to help cleanse the mortal plane of the darkness. And you can help us accomplish that by finally seeing the truth.”
Rage simmers below the surface of my skin, preparing to overflow. I want so badly to jump at the angel and clobber him. I want to rip every damn feather from his wings and tell him he knows nothing about my soul. But the more reasonable, cautious part of me knows that I shouldn’t touch him. I need to keep space between us if I can. At least, until I’m ready to fight. I just need to buy a couple more minutes of time. Cassius would’ve gone to the devils to let them know what happened, and everybody will be on high alert and looking for me.
“I know the truth. I saw what the angelic army has done to Hell. You’ve let the souls get out of control, and they’re devouring everything. You’ve upset the balance of the universe. The only way you will be able to help is if you give me my soul back.” I shift on my feet, a part of me hoping the angel thinks over my words and realizes the truth to them. But I can’t hold my breath over it or I’ll die. I can see in his eyes that he thinks I’m ridiculous for saying as much. He is too lost in the light to see how dark his being has become.
“That was purposeful, Raven. Hell was growing too strong, and it’s time that we start again. Humanity needs to be reset so this plane can survive. We expect the souls to destroy Hell first and then return to the mortal plane. Once that happens, we can destroy the darkness and rekindle the light and the Higher Power’s good grace. You can help. You just have to come with me. It’ll be best for everyone if you comply.” The angel flexes his muscles, his body shifting and tensing, and I can tell that whatever I say in this next moment will lead to one or two things. He will either attack me and drag me away, or he will keep his guard down so I can destroy him when he turns his back.
“You want the apocalypse to happen.” It’s not a question. I knew that it was coming. I knew what the angelic army was doing but hearing him say he wants to destroy the universe and start over freaks me out. That’s not how it’s supposed to be. Souls make mistakes, but they’re not all bad. There are far fewer Hell-bound souls that deserve to be punished for eternity. The other ones just need guidance. They need to work through their mistakes to go to a more level plane. They need Purgatory. They don’t need to be annihilated.
These fucking righteous bastards. From the gold of his wings, I know he was once human, and he knows what it would mean. He doesn’t even care. This is why Cassius still fights. I couldn’t grasp it until this moment why he wouldn’t abandon Heaven. He still believes that his purpose is to save souls. But I don’t think he realizes the only way he’s going to be able to do that is if he jumps from grace. It is his path. I know it now more than ever.
If only his pride wouldn’t get in the way.
“Yes, in a way. It would just be eliminating the darkness. Humanity will thrive in peace after that. The mortal plane will no longer have to be a test. Humanity won’t have to worry about such a dark evil.” The angel’s jaw twitches, and light begins to glow from his skin once more.
It takes everything in me to nod my head. I’m a terrible actress, but this angel is so self-assured and full of himself that he can’t tell whether or not I’m lying or pretending.
“It’ll be a better place for my children.” My heart hurts to say the words because I know it’s not true. Only the devils and I can make such a perfect place for our family.
“Yes. You will be able to reunite with them eventually. It would be a sacrifice that will give you what you need to have peace. So please, come with me.” Stretching out his hand, the angel waits for me to take it.
