by Kristie Cook
“Because there is a gross imbalance,” Rina said matter-of-factly as she stroked a finger over Elli’s cheek.
“What?” I demanded. “Isn’t that good? We finally outnumber them for once.”
Tristan leaned harder on my chair. “A huge imbalance to one side, like this, leads to power struggles. The Daemoni will want to grow again, to regain their power. If Dorian doesn’t allow that, they’ll fight him for control. If he loses, we have Edmund or Victor or some other threat to contend with. If Dorian keeps them in control, however, growing their numbers naturally, he’ll better be able to maintain his position. And once there is balance again, they will feel less threatened by us. We’ll return to where we were several years ago. Co-existing while we try to help as many as they try to hurt.”
“Exactly,” Rina agreed.
“Hold on,” I said. “Grow their numbers naturally? You mean, we allow them to turn Normans?”
“Their Weres and mages can reproduce,” Tristan reminded me. “With our numbers protecting the Normans, they won’t try to turn or infect any unless they stumble upon someone dying anyway. It will be a very slow growth.”
Well, that made me feel a little better. We had enough to deal with in this new world. We didn’t need to worry about the Daemoni, too.
“Do not become complacent, though,” Rina warned. “Demons still roam this world in human form. They are a major threat. They must be found and sent back to Hell.”
I stared at her with my mouth partly open. I’d forgotten about the Demons in human bodies, who hadn’t been sucked back into Hell with the others. Frustration grew within me, making me antsy. We’d only had a few months of rest, a few months to mourn our losses and celebrate our victory, and it already sounded like they were asking us to prepare to fight again. I squirmed in my seat.
“Remember, our war is never completely over,” Rina said. “However, it is not what you think. The world has changed.”
They kept saying that, speaking the obvious. I only feared what hadn’t changed—the unending need to fight.
“You have new members of your army,” Mom said. “We have given you the Hunters to track down and defeat the Demons. The Angels have blessed them with new gifts that will help them. They can also assist with the Daemoni, if needed. The Hunters serve you, Alexis. They will serve your daughters and their children. Just as the Amadis will continue to do.”
“As will the Normans,” Rina announced. She didn’t simply say it. She declared it.
“What does that mean?” I asked, my mind racing.
Mom tore her eyes from Brielle’s face and lifted her gaze to lock onto mine. Her lips curved into a small smile. “It means you rule Earth now.”
“What?”
Rina handed Elliana over to Mom before coming to stand before me. She dropped down to her knees to be at my eye level. “Alexis, darling, it is time.”
“Time for what?”
“Time for us. For you. For thousands of years, the Normans ruled Earth with the Daemoni and the Amadis hidden in the shadows. Everything remained in balance for many centuries. But then evil began to tip the scales, and Lucas and the Daemoni began to gain control. He brought in the Rule of Demons, and that period lasted longer than we care to admit. It began long before it escalated to recent times. But that era is over. You have brought it to an end. You ask what your wings mean?”
I nodded. “Yes. Why do we have them? I mean, besides them being useful as weapons and everything. Why wings? They’re not like yours or the Angels, so I take it that means we’re not Angels. Right?”
She tilted her head as she leaned in and took my hands into hers. “Collectively, you, Tristan, your daughters, the Ames sons … you are, indeed, a form of Angel. The lowest form, but still in the hierarchy. You are Earth’s Angels.”
My breath hitched.
“You, darling, are the leader of them all.”
I choked and shook my head. She can’t be serious.
Rina nodded. “Yes, we are serious. You and your children after you and their children after them will continue to rule until Earth is reborn and rebuilt, until humanity has been fully restored, until balance has been achieved. Over the years, you will be blessed with many more Earth’s Angels to assist you.”
My brow shot up. More children? Was that what she meant?
“This is why your daughters before now could not be born,” Mom said. “Besides Dorian, who had his own purpose, you could not have children until now. Until you ended the last era so this new phase in Earth’s cycle could begin.”
Rina glanced up at Tristan, then her warm gaze fell back on me. “You have not only birthed these children, but you have birthed a new time. You and Tristan, together with your people, will rebuild this world into what it is meant to be. You, along with these beautiful babies who are the next generation, have ushered in a new era on Earth—the Age of Angels.”
The Age of Angels. The words echoed in my mind as I stared forward in disbelief. I had no idea what to think. We were freaking Angels! Not the heavenly kind singing hallelujah in the clouds all day long, but that was never me anyway. I was a warrior. As was my husband. As were my people and everyone else who remained on this Earth. We were not simply survivors, but fighters. Champions. All of us.
But our fight wasn’t over.
In fact, it may have only just begun as we faced the challenges of building a new world, but we would persevere. We had love, and we had faith. We had humanity, and we had God’s will. We had hope. With everything we had going for us, we’d not only continue to survive, but we would grow.
The Age of Angels.
The words began to take root inside me, the meaning planting itself into my soul. The future of this world lay before us, the success of it placed entirely in my hands. A prospect that was both terrifying and exciting. Daunting yet … doable. I knew in my heart and soul that we could do this. That I could do it. With Tristan by my side, I knew I could accomplish anything. Because it wouldn’t just be me or the two of us, but everyone between here and God’s throne, including our Creator, Himself, would be backing us.
Together, we would bring in this Age of Angels.
The ultimate warrior and the fierce protector, standing side by side, hand in hand, souls bound as one. Nobody could beat us. For we were together and had already won.
Because in the end, good always wins.
And this is …
For now anyway …
THE END
* * * * *
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About the Author
Kristie Cook is a lifelong, award-winning writer in various genres, primarily New Adult paranormal romance and contemporary fantasy. H
er internationally bestselling Soul Savers Series includes seven books, as well as a companion novella, Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella. Over 350,000 Soul Savers books have been sold, hiting Amazon’s, B&N.com’s, and Apple’s Top 100 Paid lists.
She has also written The Book of Phoenix trilogy, a New Adult paranormal romance series that includes The Space Between, The Space Beyond, and The Space Within. The full trilogy is available now.
Besides writing, Kristie enjoys reading, cooking, traveling, and riding on the back of a motorcycle. She has lived in ten states, but currently calls Southwest Florida home with her husband, a beagle, and a puggle, but spends many weekends with her three sons at UCF, cheering on the Knights.
Acknowledgements
I’ve always said that writing the acknowledgements is harder than writing the whole novel, but now that the last book of the series is done, I realize I had no idea before. I’m not sure where to even start.
Actually, I do, because first and foremost, I thank God and Jesus Christ, my savior. Besides my role as mother, I had lost my sense of purpose for a while. I could see my sons growing up and wondered what I would do when they left the house. Then God blessed me with new babies, just in a different form. I’d given up on my dream of writing fiction, figuring He’d given me my writing abilities for other uses, but once He gave me Alexis, then Tristan, and then their stories, I began to feel a new sense of purpose. I had no idea if these tales would go anywhere beyond friends and family, but I thought then that if they made a positive impact in only one person’s life, I would have served my purpose. I hear every day from fans whose lives my stories have affected. There have been many times along this journey where I’ve nearly lost my faith, like Alexis, but I held on to it. All you need is a mustard seed. I have been so blessed in so many ways, all because He gave me this gift, these book babies, and this purpose. And most important to all of this, He gave me you.
I couldn’t have done this without the support of my real-world family—my husband, Shawn, and our incredible sons, Zakary, Austin, and Nathan. They’ve cheered me along, suffered through empty cabinets and refrigerator, and were more than understanding of the times I had to lock myself away to get these voices out of my head. Much appreciation to the rest of my family, too—my parents, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, my grandparents, and the huge number of in-laws, who all played a role in leading me to this point in my life.
Some of the best and most surprising blessings I’ve received on this journey are the friendships I’ve formed with readers. In fact, one group, Kristie’s Crew, has become a second family. Chrissi, Stacey, Julie, Debbie, Jessie, Inga, Claire, Kath, Mindy, Rissa, Christina, Heather, Lisa, and Kate—you are my sisters from other misters. Thank you for all of your support, love, and friendship.
Other amazing friends I’ve developed on this journey include my bestie, Brenda Pandos, my amazing P.A., Kristen Yard (who will be writing acknowledgements of her own one of these days), and S.T. Bende, one of the biggest-hearted and most talented people I’ve ever met. I seriously don’t know how I would have finished this book without the three of you. I’m so proud and blessed to call you my friends.
Also, thank you to Brenda for my gorgeous covers for the entire series. A big shout-out to the stunning models, Ripp Baker and Dani Cooper, for this particular cover—the first time I’ve put faces on a book. Thank you to the very talented Regina Wamba for the fabulous custom shoots to get it all just right. As for the insides, thank you so much to my betas, Chrissi, S.T., Stacey, Julie, Claire, Christina, Mindy, Inga, Jessie, and Heather, for giving me honest feedback and challenging me to do better. Also to Kristen and Jen for raking through the bloopers, oopsies, and flat-out errors. Thank you to George at Dead River Books for the ebook formatting. And major applause to the people at Red Coat PR and to my agent, Italia Gandolfo.
Also, so much appreciation to the many authors who have given me encouragement to keep on, even when you didn’t know how much of a difference you’ve made, including Sarra Cannon, G.P. Ching, Raine Thomas, R.K. Ryals, Rachael Wade, Lynn Rush, LK Gardner-Griffie, Beth Isaacs, Hope Collier, Eva Pohler, Mary Ting, Nely Cab, Lani Woodland, Jamie Magee, Shelly Crane, Amy Bartol, CJ Pinard, and so many more.
When I first started this journey, I probably had the worst case of insecurity combined with enough curiosity to know if maybe I had something worth sharing here. I could only trust my fragile ego with a few lovely women who were willing to sacrifice a weekend for good food and wine, friendship, and reading. Thank you to the “Marco Girls” who gave me the little push I needed to take this story all the way (you may recognize these names)—Heather, Lisa, Terry, Charlotte, Alys, and Lesley. Also, of course, to Chrissi, aka Blossom, who helped pull it all together and make it happen. (Side Note: Please don’t take what happened to some of your characters personally! It has in absolutely no way anything to do with how I feel about you! LOL)
Finally, I can’t even come close to expressing my gratitude to you, dear reader, who has stuck with me and these characters until The End. To Kristie’s Warriors who do so much to share their love for this series with the world. To all of you who have emailed me and connected with me on social media, I appreciate those little messages and interactions more than you know. I pray that this story has been all you hoped for, and maybe more. I hope you close this book with a heart full of love and faith. And I hope that I’ll see you again soon between the pages of my books. Much love to you!
Want More by Kristie Cook?
— Soul Savers Series —
www.SoulSaversSeries.com
Promise
Purpose
Devotion
Power
Wrath
Torment
Faith
Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella
Wonder: A Soul Savers Collection of Holiday Short Stories & Recipes
— The Book of Phoenix Series —
www.TheBookofPhoenix.com
The Space Between
The Space Beyond
The Space Within
Table of Contents
Title Page
Books by Kristie Cook
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Epilogue
Connect With Me Online
About
Acknowledgements
Want More by Kristie Cook?