Hell's Redemption- The Complete Series Boxset

by Grace McGinty

  Cain looked at me. “There’s two of you?” He sounded pained.

  I laughed. “Would you believe I was the good twin? Besides, Rella is actually dead, and the two guys with her are Gargoyles.” I looked around at the shocked expressions in the room. “You should probably suspend your disbelief for the day,” I told them. “I left Memphis and Gus downstairs with Eyepatch. They probably need a hand,” I told Ace and Luc, but they were both staring at Sera.

  “She looks familiar. I can’t quite figure out why though,” Ace mumbled.

  I swung toward her. “You aren’t God in disguise are you, because seriously, I can’t take that again.”

  Sera looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Actually, everyone looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

  “What? No! Wait, what?” Sera shook her head. I guess that wouldn’t make much sense. Plus if she was and she was knocked up by Uriel, well, that would push this day right into Jerry Springer territory.

  There were shouts from downstairs, and everyone snapped into action. Rella pulled out a sword. Actually… “Hey Sis, can you grab my sword?”

  Luc’s eyes followed Rella as she went to grab the sword of St Michael, but it disappeared, landing at my feet. Dammit.

  “What the actual hell?” Rella asked.

  I waved her away. “I’ll explain later, let's go.”

  I ran down the stairs, Azriel at my back. Everyone else was at the bottom of the stairs when we got there. Cowboy Hat was looking confused, and the little guy was looking at all the wings in the room.

  “You should have stayed upstairs, Hope,” Rella said. “You are a mortal playing an immortal game.”

  I gave her the middle finger, but it was half hearted. I knew she was right, and normally, I would have happily stayed up there, the last line of defense with Sera.

  Unfortunately, someone had set me on this path, and it led straight to Uriel. “Don’t worry about me. Clean up Tenebrae and back up Eyepatch.”

  “Who?”

  But Rella wasn’t confused for long, because the man in question stuck his head around the door. “They are about to break through, we need to fall back,” he barked, and then stopped when he saw the rest of the people in the room.

  “I brought a posse,” I said, grinning at Cowboy Hat. “But you should probably fall back. This is about to get messy.”

  Eyepatch stared at Luc. “Lucifer.”

  “Judas.”

  I looked between the two men. Well, that's interesting. Someone was making deals with the devil, and now the name of the MC club didn’t seem quite so ironic.

  “Is no one going to point out the irony of there being both a Cain and a Judas in this club? A club called Damnation?” Rella said from the back, and I held in my grin. “My police sense is tingling hard right now?”

  Red Beard looked at Rella. “You’re a cop?”

  Rella laughed at his glare. “Dude, I’m dead. You have nothing to fear from me. Though I know where you live now and I wouldn’t think twice about coming around and hiding the keys to your pretty motorcycles.” She winked, and Rouen chuckled.

  Memphis grumbled beside me. “Fucking humans.”

  I reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.

  Apparently Eyepatch, uh Judas, was getting sick of the chatter too. “Listen up. Damnation, fall back to the stairs. Hold the stairs. No one gets up to Dippy.” I tried not to giggle at the fact they called Serendipity ‘Dippy’.

  There were nods and they moved back. I heard a loud engine revving. Gus turned to me, his brows low. “They are going to ram the doors with a car.”

  Well, apparently having the Angel of the Past, Present and Future was helpful friend to have in battle, because within seconds, the front end of an SUV was inside the building, knocking the bar back a few feet. It reversed back and then people were pouring through the doors. Memphis pushed me behind his back, his black wings hiding me from sight.

  Uriel strolled in like he owned the place.

  “Aw, it’s a reunion. How’s your pet human?” He asked me and I gritted my teeth. But my heart thundered. Blue was fine. He was safe in hospital. I repeated it over and over to myself.

  No one answered his question. Ace, however, was not above a few barbs of her own.

  “Why don’t you just go home, Uriel? Oh, is it because you can’t? Have you fallen, oh great and powerful Uriel? I bet your wings are the color of the bullshit that pours from your mouth,” she taunted. Ace had some bite.

  Uriel narrowed his eyes, and signaled with his hands. Countless Tenebrae soldiers poured into the building. Some only had a little red in their auras, and some were coated so badly that their own aura was basically gone. There was no sorting them now, as weapons started firing and bullets bounced off the angels like ping pong balls.

  The Gargoyles transformed, and they were freaking terrifying. Huge and almost dragon like, and somewhat beautiful. They stood shoulder to shoulder with Rella, who looked fierce as hell as she ran into the fray, her sword swinging like a valkyrie. To the left of her, Ace looked almost bored as she mowed down the Tenebrae like they were merely ants in her way.

  It was a bloody massacre, and I was glad I was hidden by Memphis’ wings.

  Then the other angels turned up and things went to shit.

  Chapter Forty-One

  There was six of them all up. They flanked Uriel on either side, almost perfect replicas of each other. Except a few were women. I’d never met a female angel, other than Ace. They were all perfect mannequins, impassive masks for faces. Like Azriel had been before me.

  Azriel stepped forward. “Please, Brothers and Sisters, go home. There is no need for there to be a battle here to day,” he implored.

  One of the female angels sneered. “Traitor. As if we would ever do as you say.” She looked scathingly at his wings. Oh hell no. No one talked to one of my guys like that.

  “Easy,” Memphis whispered at me.

  Ace laughed like what she said was the most hilarious thing she’d ever heard, but at the same time, the laugh was completely humorless. It was a disconcerting noise. “Orphelia, have you seen your leaders wings lately?” The female angel, Orphelia, lowered her eyebrows, her face set in a perma-scowl.

  “As if I would believe you, Demoness.”

  Rella let out a low whistle. “Bad call, Angel Barbie.”

  Ace let out a growl. “I am not a demoness. You know what, let's just kill these uppity bastards and go home. I’m missing my soap operas.”

  Memphis backed me up to the stairs. He turned and looked at the bikies hovering in the stairwell.

  “She stays here. She dies, you all die, got it?” His midnight wings spread wide, and his face was morphed into scary mode. Unsurprisingly, the Damnation MC guys all nodded vigorously.

  Memphis turned and strode back toward the group. He hefted his sword into the air and threw it like a javelin at the angel beside Uriel. The sword got him right in the chest, driving him back several feet.

  It was like a starting gun had gone off as the denizens of Hell leapt forward into the flurry of white wings. Except Uriel, who stood back and let the chaos unfold. Never doing his own dirty work.

  I gritted my teeth and launched forward. Judas grabbed me before I could jump that last step, pulling me back into the Damnation ranks.

  “Nuh uh, Trouble. That is no place for someone without wings.”

  I scowled at him. “I can end this.”

  He shook his head, the arm he had banded around my waist never loosening. “Not yet, you can’t. Gotta choose your time carefully. Running pigheaded into battle will get you killed.”

  I huffed but I waited. I waited as Gusion spun, slicing at an angel who stepped into the swing and slashed at his chest under his guard. I waited as Ace pinned Orphelia to the wall like a butterfly with the never ending supply of knives she seemed to have on her person. I waited as one of the Gargoyles bit an angel in half.

  That one made me gag a little. By the sound of heaving behind
me on the stairs, I wasn’t the only one. Azriel moved with an elegant grace, still dignified in his style combat. Unlike the Fallen, who had been fighting in the gutter for millennia; they fought like they were in the pits of Hell. But Azriel and his opponent all but danced around the room, a beautiful, deadly ballet. Finally, Azriel unarmed his opponent, swooping out a foot and dropping the other angel onto his back. He jammed the two swords into his shoulders, making the angel scream. Uriel was down to three, although Gus was bleeding quite heavily. But the grin on his face assuaged my fear. He was actually having fun.

  The whole time, Luc and Uriel stood and stared at each other through the chaos. Lucifer shook his head at the other Archangel. “Greed is not becoming on you, Archangel.”

  “I was doing the Father’s work, sending sinners to Hell. Sinners like you,” Uriel’s lip curled in disgust.

  “I must have missed the part in the bible where it said, ‘Thou shalt sell innocents into slavery,” he said snidely, echoing my words.“For that matter, there is no ’Thou shalt fornicate with women’ either. I probably wouldn’t have fallen if there had been.”

  “Blasphemy!” Uriel cried, surging forward and attacking Luc, his sword raised. Luc easily parried his enraged charge, but still, I found myself pulling against Judas’ restraining arm. “Not yet,” he murmured again. “Wait for it.”

  The fighting between the angels had been impressive, but the fight between Uriel and Lucifer was as awe-inspiring as it was terrifying. They moved so fast, my eyes could hardly keep up, only the sparks their swords produced when they clashed together with a terrifying strength tracking their path.

  “It's time to end this,” I whispered to myself, although Judas heard. He loosened the grip he had around my waist and I lifted the sword.

  Then it caught on fire.

  And I dropped it because it was on fucking fire. The flame went out as it fell to the ground. Judas snorted, and I scowled at him. I picked it back up, raising it again, and the flames ran along the blade once more. I was more prepared this time, and walked toward the fighting Archangels. As they saw the flaming sword of St Michael in my hand, Uriel’s angels stilled. It wasn’t in reverence, that I knew. It was probably in shock. I was wielding Heaven’s most sacred artefact.

  Locked in battle, Uriel didn’t see the sword until I pressed the tip between his shoulder blades. The fires of heaven dripped against his skin. Unable to help himself, Uriel whirled, the blade scoring around his body, leaving a big, bloody gash. It cut through their immortal skin like butter. This sword had one purpose, and it was to deliver justice.

  Uriel looked at the sword now pressed to his chest. “How is this possible?”

  I shrugged. I wish I knew. Rella stepped forward. “Finish it, Hope,” she yelled, urging me to avenge her.

  God, I wanted to. I wanted to run the sword through his black heart. The heart that delivered misery to thousands, who was the cause of my sister’s death, and my trip to Purgatory and Sera’s torture. My torture. I wanted to slip the blade in and watch his soul disappear into nothingness.

  But I just couldn't. I couldn’t take his life, standing there as he was, his eyes wide with confusion and horror. It felt...wrong. It wasn’t me. It was Luc, and Ace and Rella. They were the warriors.

  I was the fixer. I gave life, I didn’t take it.

  I dropped the sword point to the floor. I felt like a failure, but the relief in my heart wasn't a lie.

  “What are you doing?” Rella yelled, and my heart broke. I failed her.

  Someone clapped from the back of the room.

  Uriel’s eyes went wide, and color drained from his face. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

  I spun around.

  He hadn’t seen a ghost. He’d seen something much worse.

  The guy from the beach was there, leaning against the wall. Beside him was Michael, who was looking pointedly at the sword in my hand. I walked over quickly and handed it back to him.

  “Sorry. I only borrowed it. I didn’t…” I trailed off because I had no idea what was coming from my mouth. I couldn't stop looking between the two of them. I looked back at the stairs, and realized all the Damnation boys were frozen.

  The guy from the beach was still in his Jesus is My Homeboy shirt and torn jeans. He was smiling at me and it was all teeth and I realized I was crying a little. But not out of happiness or fear, but it was like staring at the sun.

  I dropped my eyes to the floor.

  “I was worried you were going to end his life for a moment there,” the Beach Guy said. I couldn’t think of him as God, with a big G. I was going to think of him as Beach Guy, or my brain would probably actually explode.

  “I was.” Ugh, wrong thing to say. “I mean, I couldn’t, but a part of me really wanted to.” I didn't think I made that any better.

  “But you didn’t, and that is what matters,” Michael said softly.

  Beach Guy pushed off the wall and wandered over to Luc and Uriel like had all the time in the world. Maybe he did. As he walked past, the angels dropped to their knees, even my Fallen.

  Beach Guy looked over his shoulder at me. “Your Fallen?” He raised an eyebrow at me. Okay, so my thoughts weren’t as blank to him as they were to the angels. I’d remember that. I blushed hard, and my heart hammered, but I refused to take it back. Beach Guy just laughed. “Lucifer better watch you. You hold the hearts of his entire Cadre of angels.”

  I shrugged. “I love Luc. I would never do anything to hurt him.” I meant every word.

  Beach Guy looked at Michael. “Such an extraordinary capacity for love. She loves the very Devil himself.”

  Michael raised his brows. “Yes, I know, Old Friend. You told me so. But I have to admit, I doubted. But you were right, she most certainly has changed things.” He looked at Uriel, his face hardening. “Although, perhaps things needed to change.”

  The pair stopped in front of Luc and Uriel, and Uriel fell to his knees. “Father–”

  The Beach Guy held up a hand, halting his words.

  “Show me your wings, Uriel.”

  Uriel shook his head. An unbelievable power crushed the room, and I forgot how to breathe. I fell to my knees, as did everyone else in the room who wasn’t already prone on the floor. All except Lucifer and Michael.

  Uriel’s wings became visible and spread wide. They were mottled white, with patches of brown, puce and green splattered over the white of his wings. They looked almost as if they’d grown a fungus in the fridge. They reflected the rot on his soul.

  “A good analogy, Hope Jones. Your soul has begun to rot, Uriel. This child of Eve has decided to spare your immortal soul, but I am not quite so lenient.” All of a sudden he didn’t look like a good natured beach bum. He looked fully old testament, and fear crawled across my skin. “I banish you, Uriel, to Purgatory. May your soul never be reborn.”

  With that, Michael’s sword came down on Uriel, cleaving him in two, his body turning to ash and sinking into the floor. Not even a speck remained within moments.

  The Beach Guy was back to his natural sunny disposition. He looked at Luc, and I tensed.

  “Lucifer Morningstar.”

  “Father.” He inclined his head low.

  “How is business?”

  Luc smiled. “Booming as usual. Yours?”

  “The same as usual, but I predict this will change very soon due to you and your seven sins. I’ll see you for our chess match?”

  Luc inclined his head again. “Of course.”

  Beach Guy turned to the rest of the angels in the room. His stare made my soul shake in terror. They disappeared one by one, hopefully back to Heaven where they belonged. He paused in front of me, looking over my shoulder at Ace, who’d moved to somehow position herself at my back, ready to whisk me from danger, even from you-know-who Himself.

  “Acerezeal. It is good to see you. Do not fear, I mean your progeny no harm.”

  She inclined her head, but didn’t move.

  He shook his head in
bemused exasperation. “You stole my Angel of Death, Hope Jones.”

  “I’m sorry, but he needed me,” I explained.

  “More than he needed me?” he asked. What a trick question.

  “Perhaps,” I answered truthfully. Ace groaned behind me. “He had been your dealer of death for so long. He needed a chance at life.”

  Beach Guy reached out and touched my cheek, and the room held its collective breath. “Perhaps,” he echoed. “You also killed one of my angels.”

  “He tortured innocent women,” I protested. “He was not a good angel.”

  Ace kicked me in the shin. Beach Guy laughed. “No, he was not. Michael believes that he got what he deserved. I am prone to agree. But it means you’ll never be in my domain. Some things are unforgivable.”

  I looked at all my Fallen, at Rella, at Luc and Ace. “I understand.”

  He looked around the room and laughed. “Maybe I should be worried? An army of loyal angels, and you even managed to sway the Right Hand of God. You setting yourself up for a management role, Hope Jones?”

  I shook my head so furiously I was worried it would snap off. “No!”

  Beach Guy laughed harder. “I jest. Your heart is too soft for this job anyway.” He looked around the room. “Be good, Children.”

  Then he disappeared like he’d never been. Michael threw me a wink, and disappeared too, and the world restarted. Except it was now empty of bad guys.

  I was going to pass out or throw up or something. Ace put a steadying hand on my back.

  “Well done, Kid. You just absolved us all.”

  I let out a huge breath. We’d done it.

  Judas stepped down into the room. “What the hell just happened?”

  I shook my head. “Don’t ask.” I looked at my guys, who each looked shaken. Azriel was so grey I was worried he was going to pass out.

  “Can we go home?”

  I was wrapped in Gus’ arms and out of there before I could even blink.

  THREE MONTHS LATER

  I woke up pressed between two angels. Today was the big day. The first batch of redeemable souls was arriving, and we were going to try our best to redeem them. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t get to live out their days the way my parents did, that had been a boon especially for them, but we did get to help absolve them and send them out of Hell and up the other way. That had to be worth something, right?