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A sob racks my chest, and I rush forward, watching as the clouds break open and flames ignite the world below. Elias spins midair and looks up at me, his wings open and now capturing the color of the flames around him.
The ground rumbles as fire cascades over him, and he disappears completely.
I gasp and drop to my knees, hugging Arabella and Mateo close, wrapping my wings around them as I sob into their little bodies. It feels as if a part of me has died. The absence of being away from Elias and my devils cuts so deeply through me. This isn’t right. This isn’t how it was supposed to be.
I kneel and tilt my head back, staring up at the white world above me. “What do I do now? This can’t be it. You did not put me through all of this just to have me end up like this.”
Silence greets me, but it’s not the silence I’m used to. The silence that came with no one listening. The silence is heavy and blankets across the world, muffling the noise of the fires burning far, far below.
A sense of peace washes across my very being, and I open my eyes and stare at my beautiful babies as brilliant power radiates from their hearts and crawls across my arms, working its way to my shoulders and down my chest. It fills every molecule of my being, setting me aglow in everything good given to me from both Heaven and Hell. It fills me with everything humanity taught me and everything I’ve been fighting for. The twins give me the strength to get back to my feet, and I clutch them close, resting them against each of my shoulders.
I stroll to the edge of the cliff and peer down again, watching as flashes of light and dark swirl through the air. The souls are still flying around carelessly, unable to do anything as they’re trapped in a universe where there’s only one plane.
Whatever happens below doesn’t stop the universe from continuing to crumble. It’s not only Elias that must jump. I know it now. I know it with every fiber in my being that it’s my time. And I’m not doing it alone. I have the strength of the devils and the hope given to me by my babies. I must jump for them. I must make Purgatory to bring the universe back together.
“I love you both. More than I knew possible. We’re going to be okay. Mama will protect you just as you will protect Mama. And you’re going to protect your daddies. You’re going to help Mama bring balance to the world, aren’t you?” I toe the edge, expanding my wings to feel the chaotic wind shooting up from below in bursts of hot and cold.
Nerves bunch my stomach, and I inhale a couple of deep breaths. I can do this. I know I can do this. I have faced far worse things in my life. The sinners of Hell need me to take my throne. This has been the plan all along, and it is now time.
Before, it wasn’t right. I needed to create the perfect balance from Heaven and Hell with the twins. It’s now that I know it was in my fate to die. I would’ve never been able to claim Purgatory as its queen if I wasn’t an angel now. If I wasn’t given the strength of Heaven and Hell. Because it’s not only the world that needed balance. It was me.
“Are you ready, Arabella and Mateo?” I ask, forcing my voice to remain strong. It takes everything in me to shed my human rationale. It’s hard to shove away my fears. Because with this jump doesn’t come the end.
I must jump to create a new beginning. To rebuild what had been damaged and broken. I need to jump to create a new path for the universe to follow.
It is my destiny.
I must see it through.
Arabella and Mateo continue to glow with power. Arabella’s so pure and beautiful while Mateo’s flows in dark, hypnotic tendrils. Their powers merge in the most spectacular braid until it winds around me, and the three of us are bound together.
Kissing each of them on the tops of their heads, I bend my knees and launch from the cliff, expanding my wings to glide. I fall through the mixture of souls and haze, light and fire as I make our way down toward the Mortal Realm. My eyes burn with tears, but I manage to blink them away. The closer I get to the destruction, the lighter my soul feels. It’s as if something draws me in, refusing to let me go. But I’m unafraid. I feel freer than ever. My stomach doesn’t soar to my throat and my heart remains steady with its even beats. I keep my wings open and continue to glide until sparks of power flicker across my skin and my wings set ablaze with the most mesmerizing rainbow light that casts iridescent beams through the air, lighting everything up.
My wings tingle with the power, and a force bunches the muscles in my back. I can’t stop myself from folding my wings close to my body. The world spins around us, and I clench my jaw to keep myself in control. This is it. This is how things are supposed to be. Every one of the devils had to jump from grace. And while I might be jumping from Heaven, I’m not jumping from the Higher Power. I’m jumping to humanity. For humanity. With the Higher Power guiding me and the devils waiting for me somewhere below.
The edges of my vision darken as I plummet with the twins, unable to do anything except whisper a prayer. I don’t pray to be saved. I don’t pray for the world to stop. I pray for strength, and I pray for humanity and that I can succeed. I pray for love. I pray for the perfect balance in the universe.
Suddenly, the world stops.
The realm shakes under my feet. I exhale a breath, my muscles relaxing as I shudder. The world around me is nothing as I remember. Everything is destroyed. Bodies lie on the ground, no longer working because their souls aren’t here. They’re still flying through the air.
“Kase? Dante?” I call out, spinning on the balls of my feet, clutching the twins tighter as my heart slides into my stomach. “Micah? Zade? Andre?”
I close my eyes, trying to listen for their voices. I try to feel for their essences. They’re not here. The only thing left here are the bodies and broken buildings and the souls flying around. It looks as if the world has really experienced a true apocalypse. Flames eat away at everything, and there really is no life. If there’s no life...
“Lucian! Cassius! Where the fuck are you guys?” My voice rings in the air, and I take a few tentative steps forward. This can’t be right. I wouldn’t have jumped from what was supposed to be the safest point in the universe to land in the middle of a wreckage. Something’s wrong.
“Elias! Elias, please. We need you. We’re here.” My voice cracks with my pleas, and I once again close my eyes to listen.
No one responds.
No one comes running.
It’s just me and the twins and this broken realm around us.
I need guidance. I need something, someone to tell me what to do. I have to do something. I can’t just accept that we were wrong. I know we weren’t.
“Please,” I whisper, adjusting the babies in my arms. “Please, show me.”
