“I love you,” I say to Keira, who continues to watch me with that awed look as I turn and walk toward Lucifer.
“You think you can kill me? You just tried your best and failed, and that was while I was distracted. I won’t make that mistake again.” Lucifer laughs as I grow close.
It’s like walking into an inferno. Heat rolls off of him in waves, and it becomes harder to breathe the closer I get. Still, I keep going.
I stand nose to nose with Satan. “You know, the blood of the One isn’t enough to crown the King of Hell. I have to make a blood sacrifice.”
Lucifer’s eyes grow wide, and in that moment I see real fear. I know I have one chance to do this right.
I lift the sharp piece of crystal between us.
“Your toys won’t hurt me.” Lucifer says, but his expression is gaunt. He knows what’s going to happen.
I stab myself in the chest.
Damn, it hurts. The pain is all I can think about as I draw the shard of glass back out with trembling hands. Lucifer’s expression turns to sheer horror.
I nearly fall to my knees as blood pours from the wound, making my vision blur. With the last of my strength, I lunge forward and fall on top of Lucifer, soaking us both in my blood.
This time, the shock wave that ensues blows everything and everyone to the ground.
The shadow of the beast curls in on itself and disintegrates into a pile of ash as Lucifer writhes, his entire front painted in my blood. Smoke sizzles from his skin, and his eyes sink inward like someone long dead.
Keira is instantly beside me, prying me off of him, trying to stop the bleeding with her hands. She’s fussing over me and crying. I turn my head to continue watching Lucifer’s body and the gray slowly spreading from his forehead to his fingertips.
Blackness invades the corners of my vision. My chest grows numb, which is a relief. I grasp Keira’s hands and gaze up at her beautiful face. It’s the last sight I want to see.
Chapter 34
Grace
“Noah?”
I scramble to my feet, not quite believing what I’ve just witnessed. But despite what he’s done—what he’s accomplished—all I care about is what happened to my brother.
“Noah!” I scream as I slide down to join Keira on his opposite side. The floor is slick with his blood, and I shake my head back and forth like I can reverse what happened by refusing to accept it.
“Please, Noah. Please don’t be dead.”
I can’t understand why Keira isn’t uttering a sound. But when I glance up at her, ready to take out my anger, I see the look in her eyes. She watches him, holding his still hand, and I know what she’s feeling. As much as my heart breaks for my sweet baby brother, I know how I would feel if it were Josh taken from me.
It’s how I felt when Josh leapt in front of Cam’s blade to save me.
I scoot over and put an arm around her, pressing my head to hers, and we cry together.
At some point I feel Josh kneel beside me and pull me into his arms.
Finally, Keira stands, wiping at her eyes. “Where do you think he is?” she asks, timidly.
“I hadn’t considered… I mean… He’s down…there, right?” I ask, still gripping Josh for support.
Keira hesitates. “I’ll check. But I’m not so sure. He did just kill Lucifer. My Hell, he killed Lucifer.”
Keira disappears. I cling to Josh even tighter, holding my breath.
Keira reappears, dismay on her face. “He wasn’t there” is all she’ll say.
“He’s got to be in Heaven,” Josh says softly. “He saved my life. My fight with Lucifer poisoned me. I was sure I was done for, but I just opened my eyes, and all the pain is gone. As is Lucifer.”
He was dying? And Noah saved him. He saved us all. Of course he must be in Heaven.
“Go find him,” I say to Josh, finally releasing my grip. “Find Noah.”
“I wish I could bring you with me,” Josh says, standing and pulling me into his arms with such earnestness I want to cry. I cling to him as he’s surrounded by the warm glow of Heaven and press my eyes closed, relishing the all-too-familiar yet distant sensation of it.
“Grace?” Josh sounds frightened.
I open my eyes and glance up. I’m standing by the gates of Heaven, clouds swirling around my feet. I let go of Josh and take a step back, turning around and around, half expecting to burn to the ground, but I don’t.
“What? How?” I ask, tears swimming in my eyes.
Shona runs toward us and hurls herself at me, throwing her arms around me with a squeal. “He did it! Michael brought you back.”
“Shona, Michael’s dead. So is Lucifer.” Josh pulls her back by the elbow.
Her face contorts with grief and understanding.
“But Noah. He died so that Lucifer would be ended,” I say. “Please tell me he’s here.”
Shona’s eyes fill with pity. “I’m so sorry, Grace.”
“No. He has to be. It doesn’t make sense. He wasn’t in Hell. He…” But Josh and Shona exchange such a sad look that it stops me.
“How can he not be anywhere?” I ask.
He can’t just be gone. He was human. He’s supposed to be in Heaven or Hell. There’s no other alternative, except when an Angel or Demon is ended…
“Oh!” Tears burn my eyes, and I cover them with my hands. They burn, literally. Like a Demon. “What’s happening to me? How can I be both here and a Demon?”
Josh rushes to my side, but I’m almost afraid to touch him, even though I was holding him moments before. I’m so confused.
Shona taps her chin and places a hand on my shoulder, unafraid to touch me. “Calm down, Grace. I believe that when Lucifer died, he relinquished his control over you. So in a way, you are like Josh now. Because Noah’s blood didn’t injure him like it should have, Michael surmised that Josh will always have a bit of Demon inside of him.” She smiles. “And you’ll always have a bit of Angel in you. You two are unique. If I had to guess, I’d say Josh could visit Hell as well. You may well be the only two beings in the universe that can freely visit either place.”
“I don’t care what you are, as long as we can finally be together,” Josh says, reaching for me. “But we have to go back and tell Keira that Noah isn’t here.”
I nod, taking his hand. I don’t want to break her heart, but she has to know.
We appear back in the demolished lobby of the once-beautiful hotel, where I gasp at the sight of Noah’s body, still on the floor. Then I glance up to find Keira and a second Noah tangled together in the center of the remaining chaos.
Josh clears his throat, and they separate, Keira practically glowing like I’ve never seen before. I guess that’s how she looks when she’s actually happy.
“You’re here!” I scream and rush forward into Noah’s arms.
Noah spins me around and sets me back down with a grin. “Apparently you can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“But you said he wasn’t in Hell.” I glare at Keira for making me worry so much.
“He wasn’t,” she says, taking his hand and entwining her fingers with his. “He just appeared here after you left. I thought you sent him down to me.”
We all turn to Noah in question. He can’t be alive. Not with his body lying on the floor feet from us.
“I made the choice,” he says.
“What choice?” I ask, exhausted and confused.
“I’m going to miss you,” Keira says, tears springing to her eyes. She must understand something I don’t.
“But I’m not leaving you for Heaven,” Noah says, pulling her close. “I’m staying where you are. I chose with my blood sacrifice. That was the prophecy. I crowned myself King of Hell.”
“So the prophecy—” Josh starts.
“Meant that I got to decide whether Lucifer’s way was right or not. It was a Day of Judgement for him—not for humanity. And I got to decide who should be the new King.”
“But to do it,” I say, finally
understanding with awe, “you had to sacrifice yourself, spill your own blood in order to destroy him.” All this time, we all assumed the One was supposed to be unadulterated evil. No wonder Noah never seemed to fit as the Antichrist.
“I guess I just have the ability to see things like they are. Except maybe when it comes to those a little too close to me.” Noah gives me a shy half-smile that melts my heart.
“You’re choosing Hell? For me?” Keira asks, interrupting the moment. “But you deserve—”
“To be with the woman I love. There’s no more Lucifer to hurt us and keep us apart. Hell’s going to be different from now on.” Noah draws Keira close and strokes her hair back from her face, making Josh clear his throat again before they start kissing.
“So what do we do about…that?” Keira asks, nodding toward the decaying corpse of Lucifer.
“And that?” Josh says, pointing at Mr. Griffith’s corpse, too.
“We rule,” Noah says, turning back to Kiera and tapping her makeshift crown. “My queen.”
Keira laughs, clapping her hands together, and then throws herself at Noah once again.
“So they’re just going to make out. In the middle of this mess,” Josh says.
I turn to him with a smirk. “I’d say they’ve waited long enough. And so have we.” And without another word I launch myself at Josh, throwing my arms around him and tangling my hands in his curls. “We can finally be together,” I say, searching his vivid blue eyes.
“Together forever,” he confirms, teasing my lips with his before settling into the sweetest, most passionate kiss we’ve ever had.
Epilogue
Josh
“You two ready?”
I reach out for Grace’s hand, and she grasps it tight. Noah hesitates another minute, watching his mother pack up his room. She and their father finally finished Grace’s yesterday. After hearing of their son’s heroic act at the parade and being told by the police (who I may have glamoured) that he died trying to save people from a terrorist attack, they finally gave Noah the attention he wanted with a hero’s funeral, during which they wept and prayed that his spirit would forgive them for shutting down after Grace’s death.
“I’m so glad they finally got help from that therapist,” Grace whispers. “And that they decided to move somewhere without so many painful memories.”
“I am, too,” Noah says, joining us. “It would really mess them up if we revealed ourselves, wouldn’t it?”
Grace nods. “It’s hard to let go on both sides. Shona’s training all the greeters upstairs in grief counseling now. The dead need time to grieve for the living, too.”
Things have really changed for the afterlife since we lost both Michael and Lucifer. At first it was chaotic in Heaven, with Angels running around trying to contact The Man Upstairs, who never did respond. Rumors ran rampant, but everything was quickly reined in once we all started working together. Shona is managing the gates and day-to-day running of Heaven. Grace and I have become liaisons to Hell, since we have the unique ability to travel back and forth unharmed.
And most importantly, we’ve changed the ridiculous rules.
Everything’s worked out perfectly since Noah and Keira took over running the underworld. They set up a new program where souls can work their way out of Hell and up to Heaven. It isn’t easy, and the souls stay on probation for a century or so, but so far it’s been wildly popular. Grace and I escort the graduates upstairs, and Grace gets to visit her brother in the process. It’s a win/win.
Noah watches his parents leave the room and then clears his throat.
“We’ll come back and check on them tomorrow. Now it’s time to go to Hell!” Noah rubs his hands together as Grace tightens her grip on my hand and rolls her eyes.
It’s always a bit jarring when we enter Hell because of our memories of the place during Lucifer’s reign, but it’s worth it because I know Grace is happy to be around Noah, and we’re doing something that truly helps souls who weren’t completely evil to begin with. There are so many shades of gray when it comes to right and wrong, and humans were made to be fallible on purpose. So now there’s always a chance to make things better, and no judgment is final—even after death.
We appear in the throne room of Hell. Noah takes his seat in the new throne—a big, padded recliner covered in purple microfiber à la Keira’s decorating sense. He conjures a soda, and Keira, who’s just led in the latest group of graduates while wearing the same crystal crown Noah gave her on Earth and a skintight red dress, spots Noah and crawls into her favorite spot—his lap.
She smiles when she sees us, which still unnerves me a little, but I nod in response while Grace greets the group of four who are graduating today from what we’ve decided to call “Rehab.” There’s an old man, two guys in their midtwenties, and a girl of about twelve who reminds me a little of Lucy, only with two good eyes.
“Remember,” Grace says, “You’ve all done well to get to this point, and you owe yourselves a pat on the back, but you will have a probationary period in Heaven during which your performance will be evaluated by an Angel mentor. Though, I’m sure you have nothing to worry about.”
Every one of them smiles nervously in response. Grace glances up at Noah, and they exchange a smile as well. He’s wearing a crown of his own creation. It’s a large golden thing crusted in jewels that probably weighs at least twenty pounds. Personally I think it’s overkill and super vain, but then again, he’s King of Hell. Grace likes it because in place of a big jewel at the focal point, he’s put the seashell that kept his love for his sister alive.
I guess I can overlook the crown thing.
Grace slips her hand in mine, and we transport ourselves and the four newcomers up to Heaven. Before the light engulfs me, I see Keira grab Noah’s face and start slurping.
Some things never change.
When we arrive at the gates, Grace waits while the group oohs and ahhs before motioning to Shona, who steps up to take over. Tommy Two leaps into the arms of the twelve-year-old.
Once Shona has everything under control, I pull Grace away from the crowd and transport us straight to our room.
“We have a break before we go down for the next group,” I say.
“What’d you have in mind?” she asks playfully. Her blushing cheeks bring warmth to my insides and fuel the fire inside of me. The one that burns forever for Grace.
In answer, I pull her into my arms and part her lips with mine.
It finally feels like Heaven.
Acknowledgments
Wrapping up a trilogy is a very rewarding and emotional experience. It takes a village as they say, and it wouldn’t be right not to thank all the people who’ve helped me along the way. I could have never done it without my amazing editor, Samantha Streger, who actually understood my twisted brain. Thanks also to Kayla Overbey for all her guidance and help with marketing and copy edits, and to everyone at FFF for taking a chance on me.
Thank you to my agent, Melissa Nasson, and the ever-awesome Rubin Pfeffer for being both my cheerleaders and my Guardian Angels.
Thank you to all of my friends who have encouraged me throughout the process: Shona, Leslie, Julie, Sarah, Katharyn, Miya, and Myer. To my family for supporting me as well: Mom, Dad, Joe, Harrison, Allie, and Annabel.
I’d also like to thank my characters, who have lived with me for all of these years so that they could see the “end” come to fruition. I’d say I’m sorry I put you through so much—well, Hell—but I’d be lying, because that’s what makes a good book.
And most importantly I want to thank my readers. You make my day bright and my dreams worthwhile.
About the Author
Lisa Gail Green lives with her husband the rocket scientist and their three junior mad scientists in Southern California. She writes books so she can have an excuse to live in the fantasy world in her head.
Enter Lisa’s fantasy here:
lisagailgreen.com
Facebook: /Author-Li
sa-GailGreen
Twitter: @lisagailgreen
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Full Fathom Five Digital is an imprint of Full Fathom Five
Soul Conquered
Copyright © 2016 by Lisa Gail Green
All rights reserved.
No part of this text may be used or reproduced in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in review, without written permission from the publisher.
For information visit Full Fathom Five Digital, a division of Full Fathom Five LLC, at
www.fullfathomfive.com
Cover design by Fiona Jayde Media
ISBN 978-1-63370-076-5
First Edition
Soul Conquered Page 19