The bond was bigger than them—bigger than their wants and desires—and they had no choice.
“Maybe it’s for the best,” Mimi said. “There’s something going on down there. maybe we can stop it from the inside.”
“Double agents, you mean?” Jack asked with a smile.
“Sounds kind of dorky when you put it that way, but yes.”
She brushed off the sand from her jeans. She wanted to see Kingsley again before she went back down into the underworld, but she knew that was not possible. Still, she could feel that he was alive—on earth—and that she had succeeded in bringing him back. As long as the bond lived, neither she nor Jack could be with those they loved. “Well, I’m ready if you are.”
“No time like the present,” Jack agreed.
They disappeared into the glom, and just like that, the Twin Angels of the Apocalypse went back down to Hell.
FIFTY-SEVEN
Gabrielle’s Secret
TheKeyoftheTwins.Schuyler’smindraced.Shethoughtof everything that her mother had told her about the Van Alen Legacy and the Order of the Seven. The Key of the Twins.
Allegra Van Alen and Charles Force. Michael and Gabrielle. The strongest angels who had ever lived. The Uncorrupted. The Archangels of the Light.
“They Key of the Twins is Michael and Gabrielle’s key,”
Schuyler said, a little awed. “The Almighty left a path open for them because they were vampires by choice and not sin. A way back home.”
“How do you know this?” Kingsley asked, looking a little awed himself.
Schuyler could not explain. It was something Allegra had said all along, right from the beginning—in those dreams Schuyler had had of her mother, and during their last conversation before Allegra sent her on this quest to fulfill her legacy.
She realized this was her true legacy, a secret so important, Allegra could not tell her herself. She’d trusted Schuyler to find out on her own. The Van Alen Legacy was part of it—searching for the Gates of Hell would lead her to discover this. It was all there, a puzzle whose pieces were hidden, but were slowly locking into place. Allegra had said of Charles: There is something broken in the universe that only we can fix together. That is part of your journey as well. And what was the last thing Allegra had told her? My daughter, I am in you. Never forget that.
“It’s in… me,” she said. “My mother was the keeper of the Gate of Promise. I know that now. It’s right. That’s why there were two gates—because she hid one from the Order.” Allegra had hid the knowledge of their salvation in her daughter.
Whatever made Allegra the keeper—she had given it to Schuyler for safekeeping.
The Order of the Seven had been sent out into the world to find the Paths of the Dead and build gates to keep the demons in the underworld. But what if one of them had found something else… not a path to the dead but a path back to Eden. What then? Why had Allegra not chosen to use the key herself ? What was she hiding? Why did she hide it in her daughter?
Gabrielle’s daughter will bring us salvation, Lawrence had told her. She will lead the Fallen back to Paradise.
It was all up to her. Schuyler Van Alen was the keeper and key. The Key of the Twins.
“We have to find it before the Silver Bloods and Nephilim do. And we have to defend it. Oliver, Kingsley… you have to help me.”
“Already there, Sky,” Oliver said. He looked up from notes that Lawrence had left, and read the passage that had led them to Cairo. “‘On the shore of the river of gold, the victor’s city shall once again rise on the threshold of the Gate of Promise.’ The Thames is named after Isis, the golden goddess.
And as for the victor’s city—the City of London was estab-lished by the Romans in A.D. 43.”
“What do you say, guys?” Schuyler asked.
“Londontown,” Kingsley mused. “Good place as any.”
“I’ll get our tickets changed,” Oliver said, standing and feeling exhilarated to find himself useful again.
Schuyler felt her heart calm. There was so much to do before the end. She thought of Bliss out there—she had been charged with finding the wolves—but from what she had seen of the Hellhounds, she knew that her sister had a tough task ahead of her. They would need the Hounds of Hell in the end, if they were to destroy the Silver Bloods, her mother had said.
When the time came, when the battle was fought, she hoped she would find Bliss by her side.
Kingsley gathered their empty cups and tossed them in the trash. Schuyler took a moment to herself while she was alone. She could not feel Jack in the glom anymore. The telepathic bond between them had gone dead, and she did not know if he was alive or dead. She had to carry on without him.
She had promised him that. Just as before, she would have to find a way to survive, and she was glad she would have her friends with her this time.
FIFTY-EIGHT
Bonded Servants
The Dark Prince sat on his golden throne. One day, not far in the future, he would no longer need this facsimile of Paradise. One day, he would return to his former glory.
“I was wondering when you both would realize that the Uncorrupted will never appreciate you like I do.” Lucifer smiled when he saw the latest additions to his royal court.
Abbadon and Azrael shone in their golden raiment. They were dressed for battle, as they had been that day so long ago, during the glorious rebellion, when Lucifer had first tried to take Paradise for his own.
Their wings beat against their backs, and their golden armor glowed like beacons in the night. Their faces were calm and serene, extraordinarily beautiful. His lovely dark angels.
Lucifer sat in his white robes, gleaming, shining with a light more wondrous than anything they had ever seen. This was the morning Star. The lost prince of Heaven.
They walked up to the throne and knelt at his feet.
“We come to pledge our allegiance in return for an unmaking,” Abbadon said.
“Our swords are yours to command,” Azrael added.
“What proof do I have of your loyalty? You betrayed me once before,” Lucifer demanded.
Jack was prepared. “You shall hold our souls hostage until we are free. When our debt is paid, we will regain them along with our freedom from the bond and each other.”
Mimi nodded.
“So be it.” The Dark Prince smiled. With Azrael and Abbadon at his side, his return to Paradise was assured. “Arise, my friends. Welcome back to the fight.”
EPILOGUE
The White Darkness
Allegra waked into the White Darkness. It was over twenty years since she had broken her Bond. Not long ago, she had left her two daughters back on earth with their tasks, and she had journeyed down to the center of Tartarus. She found Charles in a smoky nightclub. They had not seen each other since that night when she’d left him in New York.
“There you are,” she said gently.
Charles wore a sharp black suit and was sitting in front of a piano, idly playing the keys. “How did you find me here?” he asked.
“It’s one of our favorite memories, isn’t it?” Allegra looked around. “1923. The Cotton Club. Before the fire.”
Charles sighed.
“Shall I play you something?” Allegra asked, sitting next to him. “Will you sing for me?”
Charles nodded. He stood to take the microphone and began to sing. “‘Unstop the day, you’ll rise again…’”
Allegra listened, her eyes glistening with tears as she played. When he was done, she clapped.
“Shall I tell you the story? Of Florence,” Charles asked. “I do not know if you are strong enough to hear it.”
“Begin from the beginning,” Allegra said. “I only know my side.”
Document Outline
Table of Contents Never Say Good-bye
ONE
Paradiso
TWO
Inferno
THREE
Beatrice
FOUR
Knives
in the Market
FIVE
The Pyramids of Giza
SIX
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Heir
SEVEN
Mirror Images
EIGHT
Checkpoint Charlie
NINE
Studio Session
TEN
City of the Dead
ELEVEN
White Wedding
TWELVE
Blood Service
THIRTEEN
Cycle House
FOURTEEN
Doppelgangers
FIFTEEN
The Bendix Diamond
SIXTEEN
Holy Water
SEVENTEEN
The Demon of Avarice
EIGHTEEN
Truths and Lies
NINETEEN
The Last Venator
TWENTY
Nightclub at the End of the Universe
TWENTY-ONE
Dream House
TWENTY-TWO
Blood Sick
TWENTY-THREE
In the Limelight
TWENTY-FOUR
The Bride Wore Orange
TWENTY-FIVE
Temple Maidens
TWENTY-SIX
The Only Girl in the World
TWENTY-SEVEN
The Dovecote
TWENTY-EIGHT
The Brides of Lucifer
TWENTY-NINE
River Palace
THIRTY
Bitter Queen
THIRTY-ONE
Gatekeeper
THIRTY-TWO
The Duke of Hell
THIRTY-THREE
Plea Bargain
THIRTY-FOUR
A Righteous War
THIRTY-FIVE
The Living and the Dead
THIRTY-SIX
The Prisoner
THIRTY-SEVEN
An Impossible Choice
THIRTY-EIGHT
Angel Heart
THIRTY-NINE
Twilight in the Garden
FORTY
The Key of the Twins
FORTY-ONE
Secrets of the Underworld
FORTY-TWO
A Phone Call
FORTY-THREE
��
FORTY-FOUR
Runaway Train
FORTY-FIVE
��
FORTY-SIX
Dangerous Harvest
FORTY-SEVEN
��
FORTY-EIGHT
Soldier of the Lord
FORTY-NINE
The Exchange
The New York Times ALLEGRA VAN ALEN and STEPHEN CHASE
FIFTY
Soulless
FIFTY-ONE
The Love of a Lifetime
FIFTY-TWO
The Battle of Abbadon and Azrael
FIFTY-THREE
Time in a Bottle
FIFTY-FOUR
��
FIFTY-FIVE
The Hidden Gatekeeper
FIFTY-SIX
Blood Trial
FIFTY-SEVEN
��
FIFTY-EIGHT
Bonded Servants
EPILOGUE
The White Darkness
Table of Contents
Never Say Good-bye
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTY-NINE
FORTY
FORTY-ONE
FORTY-TWO
FORTY-THREE
FORTY-FOUR
FORTY-FIVE
FORTY-SIX
FORTY-SEVEN
FORTY-EIGHT
FORTY-NINE
Lost in Time_A Blue Bloods Novella Page 23