“Some of us will always defend it,” I said. “What about the Grade Four celestials? I assume at least some of them survived. And there are others, globally.”
“True,” she said, “but it is the guild who’s drawn the demons’ attention—the Divinities’ attention.”
“Occupational hazard of being demon killers, to be honest,” I said. “Let them do what they like. Even the inspector, if he made it out. I’d like to see them boss an arch-demon around.”
We didn’t outnumber the demons. But I’d shown there were ways to beat them. Even the Divinities. They might gift us power, but that didn’t make them our owners.
“So what does that make Devi?” asked Fiona. “I mean—you know, I think we all know she’s not going back to the guild. Or to anyone who’ll boss her around.”
“No way,” I said.
Clover looked at me. “You’re a whole new breed—a celestial demon, whose soul is her own.”
“The mark is still Lythocrax’s.”
“Yes,” she said. “And your other mark is the Divinities’. That is the price we pay for what we are, and what we do. But you’ve more than proved you can handle the gods as necessary.”
“I should bloody well hope so.” I looked around. “This is… I never wanted the world to end up like this. I know it’s not my divine mission anymore—they don’t really care—but it feels like I failed in that. Is that a ridiculous thought?”
“Not at all,” she said. “The Divinities alone decide.”
“They did this,” I said quietly. “Didn’t they? We only stalled them.”
She nodded. “And Babylon still has a part to play. Your warlock is there. Let’s find him.”
I looked at Fiona. “Want to come?”
“Honestly… I think I’ve seen enough.”
“I’ll take care of her,” Rachel said, bounding up to us. “Nikolas is alive, by the way. Last I saw he was taking Emarial to pieces.”
“Good,” I said. “We need to get into Babylon.”
Clover passed me a handful of demonglass fragments.
“I assumed you already used your own stores,” she commented. “I’ll see you later, Fiona.”
Fiona’s awed expression told me DivinityWatch would be getting one hell of a story from her later. But for now, I threw down the demonglass and stepped into Babylon.
The battle had ended here. The tower’s ruin cut a path through the wasteland, pieces of shattered demonglass spilling into the river.
And two brothers, standing amongst the other warlocks, identical shadow-like wings splayed against the dark sky.
I stared at them. “You haven’t killed one another.”
“Yet,” Zadok put in. He was covered in blood. Demon blood mostly, though I was certain I’d seen the false inspector snap his neck. That was demigods for you.
“I won’t rule it out,” Nikolas said, in a similar condition. “He’s the one who let the arch-demon into his tower.”
“When did it happen?” I asked.
Zadok gave a half-mad laugh. “Does it matter? Do I have to spell out the threats she made?”
“What, to set you on fire?” I asked casually.
He flinched. “You never cease to be an ungrateful, petulant human. If I hadn’t distracted that mockery of a vampire, you’d have died before you could get to the arch-demon.”
“Maybe I would, maybe not. You still caved to an arch-demon and nearly got my world destroyed in the process.”
“I can only offer my apologies,” he ground out, like the words pained him. “It was never my intention to be taken prisoner in my own home.” His gaze drifted to the tower, his jaw clenching.
“You’re not coming to Earth,” Nikolas said flatly.
“How did you—”
“You’re predictable,” he said. “And you’ll destroy everything you touch. You know that.”
Zadok bared his teeth. “Want to know why? She left me—you both left me to die in that castle. The other warlocks wanted me dead from my first breath, and when I’d clawed my way out of the dirt and gained their respect, I would rather die than submit to you again. Do you think they respected me as his son, the way they did you? They despised me, they beat me, and they would happily have slaughtered me.”
“Then your punishment shall be to stand in the dirt with them again,” said Nikolas. “I let you have the tower because it kept you out of the way, but with the fallen now free from their prison, I think they’d have considerably more difficulty gaining the warlocks’ respect than you did, and rather more than I did. I wasn’t handed the position. I earned it. And I can think of worse fates than taking care of the beings you imprisoned.”
Zadok looked at him in disbelief. “You’re putting me in charge of babysitting the fallen?”
“So it was you who locked them underground,” I said. “Not Nikolas.”
“Both of us,” he growled.
“Correct, but you might have freed them at any time,” Nikolas said. “As I assume from the times they escaped and attacked me.” He looked at me. “None of us has ever been able to speak with them before. Perhaps I will face punishment from my father for freeing them, but I’m willing to take the risk. You try living amongst the other warlocks, Zadok. It won’t kill you.”
“They want to,” he said. “Some of them—”
“Grow a pair,” I snapped. “You try living underground for years. I’d say it’s more than enough payment for the lies you’ve told and the times you attacked us.”
Zadok stood rigid with anger. Then he took off, wings beating against the sky.
“He has nowhere to go but the castle.” Nikolas drew his arms around me. “I knew you’d find a way to win. Is she alive?”
“Yep,” I said. “I convinced her to leave Earth alone. Sorry I left you here.”
“You needed to help your friend,” he said. “I saw her—the angel.”
“Not exactly,” I said. “Clover… she’s something else entirely. But she did help. Fiona might end up with demon magic. I don’t know. And as for me, I’m… different.”
“You’re divine,” he said, kissing me on the mouth. He tasted of ashes, and brimstone, but I didn’t care. I held onto him like the world was ending after all.
“I meant it,” he murmured. “Come with me to Babylon or stay on Earth. It’s your choice. Where you go, I do, too.”
He drew back. Behind him, stars had begun to appear in the sky again. One thing could be said for the demon dimensions—they didn’t hold back on the special effects.
The celestials would rebuild. They’d need a new headquarters, since that was the second one they’d lost in less than a decade. But I wouldn’t be joining them.
“Earth,” I said. “And here. The demon realms have grown on me.”
He grinned. “I knew they would.”
* * *
Thank you for reading!
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I hope you enjoyed Celestial Ashes. If you have a minute to spare, then I’d really appreciate a short review. Reviews tell me which stories readers want more of, so if you'd like to see more of the divine realms, let me know what you think!
Other books by Emma L. Adams
If you like kickass urban fantasy, you might like Faerie Blood, the first book in the Changeling Chronicles series.
When faerie-killer Ivy is hired to find a missing child, replaced with a changeling, she's forced to team up with the seductively dangerous Mage Lord, at the risk of exposing her own dark history with the faeries – and this time, running won't save her.
Find out more!
* * *
If you’re looking for more action-packed urban fantasy, you might like Mortal Heir, Book 1 in the Thief’s Talisman series.
Raine Warren, half-faerie changeling and master thief, has one mission: keep her family safe from the faeries who abandoned her in the human realm as a ch
ild. But when Faerie comes knocking, claiming she's descended from Sidhe nobility and set to inherit an unexpected legacy, she must learn to survive in a realm of treacherous immortals.
Find out more!
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If you’re curious about what happened in the time of the faerie invasion, you might like Alight, Book 1 in the Legacy of Flames series. Dragon shifter Ember must risk it all to rescue her sister from the supernatural-hunting Orion League, even if it means kidnapping a lethal ex-hunter who'd like nothing better than to add her name to his kill list.
Find out more!
About the Author
Emma is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of the Changeling Chronicles urban fantasy series.
Emma spent her childhood creating imaginary worlds to compensate for a disappointingly average reality, so it was probably inevitable that she ended up writing fantasy novels. When she's not immersed in her own fictional universes, Emma can be found with her head in a book or wandering around the world in search of adventure.
Find out more about Emma’s books at www.emmaladams.com.
Celestial Ashes: The Celestial Marked Series: Book Three Page 23