by Stone, Leia
‘I love you,’ I told her. I knew we didn’t have time for a long conversation, and I wanted her to know how much she meant to me.
‘I love you too. Now get the hell up so we can kick his ass!’ she roared.
I forced myself not to grin. There was no one in the world like Sera. She was irreplaceable.
Lucifer let go of my ankle, and I scooted to the edge of the bed where my shoes were, slipping my feet inside hurriedly. I was wearing night shorts and a tank top, now with sneakers and no socks. Was it the best outfit for saving the world? No, but it would have to do.
“Get up slowly, and walk outside,” he directed. I glanced down to his palm, to see a sleek black gun had appeared.
‘Wait until he takes me out of the case, and hands me to you to open the gate. Then we’ll slice and dice him into a thousand pieces, starting with his balls,’ Sera instructed me.
‘Sounds like a plan,’ I confirmed.
God, I’d missed her battle strategy and winning personality.
Walking slowly through the trailer toward the door, I opened it gently, as Lucifer instructed. I didn’t know if he had anyone I cared about being held hostage, like Shea or Chloe, so I decided to do as he asked… for now.
I knew he and Raksha were the only two people who could open that case he held. If I killed him now, I’d never get Sera out—and let’s be honest, I couldn’t kill him without her.
My tongue was burning with the question of where Raksha was, if he’d killed her, or if she was still in his inner circle. Yet, the mere act of asking that would alert him that Raksha and I cared about each other. If she was still in his inner circle, and he’d believed that I’d broken out on my own, I couldn’t blow her cover.
Letting myself outside, I stepped into the cool, dark night. It was too early in the morning still, and the sun hadn’t yet risen, but a magnificent artificial golden glow was coming from behind the trailer, the opposite side from where the sun would rise.
“Come on. Our ride is waiting.” Lucy shoved my back, urging me toward the mysterious glowing light.
I walked gingerly behind the trailer, and when I turned the corner, I sucked in my breath. Raksha was there, and she’d opened a portal to what could only be Heaven.
The most beautiful light I’d ever seen was flooding out of a hole in the air.
Raksha gave me a quick look over her shoulder, then trained her eyes on the ground. Her face and arms had more scars than I remembered.
‘He beats her every day for not stopping you,’ Sera told me.
My body shook with uncontrolled rage, and I nearly snapped my teeth from clenching my jaw so hard. That bastard.
“Aw, look at this little reunion. Did you think I didn’t know about your special little friendship?” Lucy cooed in my ear. “But we’ve reached an agreement, haven’t we, Raki?” he called to my old friend.
She just nodded, still looking at the ground. She wouldn’t even meet my gaze.
A sob formed in my throat, and it took a great effort to control it. He’d broken her, broken her strong and feisty spirit. The spirit that told me to fight and stay alive down there.
The gun dug into the back of my head. “Go inside.”
He pushed me toward the portal, but I planted my feet. Should I yell for Lincoln? Should I try to create a shield around Raksha and me right now, maybe get the case from him and—
The gun cocked.
“One,” he counted.
I didn’t move.
“Two.” He pushed the gun harder into my scalp.
I knew he needed me to open the gate, but I also knew he was a psycho who could probably find my soul after I died, and still force me to do his bidding. He was the Devil, after all.
Raksha looked up then for a split second, and met my gaze, holding it firmly before looking down once more. That was my old mentor, telling me to cooperate, and do whatever I had to in order to survive. Maybe she wasn’t completely broken after all.
I stepped into the portal, and an immense feeling of love washed over me. At least if I was going to die, this was the place to do it.
Fourteen
There are no earthly words to describe the feeling that came over me when I stepped into the spiritual plane. Every single worry I had was lifted until there was just… a blankness that I realized was complete and utter peace. My mind wasn’t running through anxious scenarios as it normally was; I was just existing, breathing in and out.
I’d stepped out into what looked like a hundred-acre flower garden that went on for miles. In the distance, I could hear the trickling of water, and see a castle-type structure. Closer in the foreground was a large golden arch that looked like a gate without bars. The inside of the arch had a shimmering shield, similar to the one I made for myself. These were the heavenly gates, I knew it. That soft golden glow bathed everything, even me. The light was glorious as it warmed and tingled over my skin.
Spinning around, I saw Lucifer and Raksha had stepped through as well, closing the portal behind them.
“Now, let the others through while Brielle works on the gate,” Lucifer snapped to Raksha, who quickly nodded.
Did he feel it? The peacefulness? His features looked less stern, but I had no way of knowing how this place affected him.
Raksha began to open another portal, and this one I recognized immediately. It was to his brick-walled underground castle in Hell. So, he was going to let his army through? I would open this gate, and then his men would file into the garden of flowers and storm the castle?
A hand clamped down on my shoulder, and I winced at the grip. Lucy was impatient today, forcing me to walk forward.
I could see a shimmering wall that stretched out on either side of the golden arch-gate. It was reminiscent of the protection dome I could throw over myself, but this one seemed to encompass all of Heaven. The closer we got, I could make out more buildings in the distance and… angels. There were angels flying all over the sky atop the buildings. It was breathtaking, but I couldn’t enjoy it; I felt sick to my stomach, and my mind was racing with what the hell I was going to do.
We reached the golden archway that encased the city, or garden, or whatever it was. Inside the arch, the shield was thick and moved as if it were alive.
“This is the entrance to Heaven. The nearly departed, angels, and the like can pass through it with ease, but our kind needs a little help.” Kneeling down, Lucy set the black case that held Sera on the grassy ground, and my breathing stopped.
He was going to take her out of it.
With his fingers poised on the levers to unlock it, he looked up at me. “Remember your vow, Brielle?” he asked, and suddenly I felt pressure on the back of my head. I went with it, allowing him to nod my head for me.
He grinned. “Good girl.”
As he opened the box, something gold and shimmery pulled at my peripheral vision.
Slowly, I turned my head to the side, peering inside Heaven.
Bernie.
My old friend and guardian angel walked along the rows and rows of rose bushes toward me, and he was completely made of light. Free of his body, he floated, long golden angel wings shimmering out of his back.
‘I’m so proud of you,’ he confessed into my mind, and I had to force myself not to cry.
There was nothing to be proud of yet.
‘He expects me to cut an opening in the gate. What do I do?’ I was frantic now, mere seconds from being tasked with bringing a war to Heaven.
Behind Bernie, those angels I’d seen flying above the buildings were now coming this way.
‘You must try with all of your abilities to keep that from happening. It could change so much about your world, including time itself.’
My eyes bugged out at Bernie’s declaration.
Time? Had he said it could change time itself?
‘He did. So don’t mess this up.’ Sera’s words did nothing to quell the panic that had reached my chest and was crawling up my throat, making me want to scream.
Suddenly, the Dark Prince stood next to me, and I turned my attention toward him. He was holding Sera, but she was covered in all the black stuff, the dark magical spell Lucifer had placed on her.
The Devil’s attention became riveted on Bernie. “Is that your guardian angel?”
I swallowed hard and nodded.
“How sweet.” His voice dripped with acid. “And it looks like my old friends have come to play. Perfect.”
The angels were flying fast toward us, and I remembered Michael’s words to me.
‘Don’t fear. Lucy feeds off fear, and it allows him to control you…’
Energy vacuums and all that shit.
Don’t fear. Breathe. Don’t open Heaven and be the asshole who ends the world.
My gaze flicked quickly over my shoulder to the small army flooding in through the portal Raksha had created, and my stomach sank. Demons, hundreds upon hundreds of them, were filling the small valley.
‘Just breathe. No matter what, everyone simply expects you to do your best,’ Bernie assured me.
Everyone? Like all those angels? Were they all counting on me?
Breathe. Just breathe, I told myself again, taking in a deep breath to calm myself.
Lucifer held one hand over Sera, and the moving, oily black mass fell away, allowing her bright energy to shine off the blade.
‘I’m free!’ she yelled.
It was motherfucking showtime.
In a matter of seconds, I yanked Sera’s energy, pulling the blade out of Lucifer’s grasp and into mine. At the same time, I erected an energy shield around myself, leaving Lucifer stunned.
How’s that for multitasking?
The second Sera was in my hand, a multitude of emotions coursed through me, but I had to tamp them down and act fast. Pivoting with the gate to my back, I stretched my shield over Sera and me, large enough to cover the entire gate’s entrance.
Lucifer’s ears started to spew black smoke then, and I knew if he got to me, he would kill me for this betrayal. I’d never seen him look so angry in all my time with him. His entire being shook with barely contained rage.
Suddenly, I felt a bone-crushing tightness all over my body.
“Drop. Your. Shield,” Lucifer commanded, hands outstretched. He was nearly frothing at the mouth, and controlling my fear was becoming more and more difficult.
I resisted, staying calm, and reminding myself that I wasn’t afraid of him. Not anymore. I used to run from him, feared him finding me. I used to feel like a hunted animal, but now I was the hunter. I had Sera, I’d married Lincoln, and I was about to get Raksha back. I was the winner here.
I was the one who would have the happy ending.
“No,” I gritted out viciously.
Black wings snapped out of Lucy’s back and he stepped closer to me, arms rising higher. The veins in his neck were bulging. “You will drop the shield and open the gate this second!” he roared, black smoke not only coming from his ears now, but his mouth too.
Holy mother of nightmares.
‘Tell him to stick it where the sun don’t shine!’ Sera cried in my head, and suddenly her blade glowed with a deep golden light.
The pressure on my skin was increasing, making it hard to breathe. Lucifer was pushing everything he had onto my shield, and it felt like I was holding up a five-hundred-pound weight.
“You can do this, Brielle,” Bernie said behind me, aloud that time.
I risked a glance over my shoulder, my mouth popping open in shock at the line of angels that had come to stand guard at the gate. There must have been a hundred of them, wings all touching so they formed a line. A barrier to protect Heaven. They were all clad in the same armor Michael and Raphael wore, and they looked fiercely at Lucifer, swords raised. One of them, a giant of a man with long dark wavy hair and piercing green eyes, met my gaze and nodded.
I gulped.
No pressure.
“Brielle!” Lucifer screamed, completely coming unhinged.
When I spun to face him, I nearly pissed myself. Black ink was crawling up his skin, slithering around his body like a dozen snakes. His eyes were solid black, and there were oily black veins growing up his neck and swirling around his face. I was about to see the full wrath of the Devil. What he’d shown me before was merely child’s play. I had messed up his little redemption plan, and he. Was. Pissed.
“Eat shit!” I shouted. All I had left was my anger and a huge amount of semi-fake confidence. Best to play that hand until it was taken from me.
At my words, two black pointy shards grew from his palms, and I knew he was going to attempt to shred my protection dome. Instinctively, I began to layer more and more energy into it, making it thicker and stronger just like Raphael taught me. Sera’s golden light even pushed out onto the wall, helping me reinforce it.
‘He might break through it,’ I told my dagger.
Her reply was swift and fierce. ‘Let him. I’ve been ready for this day since he took us.’ Her light pulsed then, like a strobe light, and I felt ready too. If I died defending the gates of Heaven from the Devil, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
‘We would definitely get into Heaven then. Probably be declared a saint by the Catholic church,’ Sera stated.
I suppressed a chuckle. ‘God, I missed you.’
Lucifer exploded with rage in that moment. He came at my shield with his black hand swords and hacked away at it like Edward-freaking-Scissorhands. Pain sliced across my abdomen as if he was cutting into me, but my shield held, and I forced myself not to lose my concentration. It was like the energy barrier was a small part of me, and I could feel a painful sensation through it when it was attacked, but I didn’t seem to be sustaining physical injury.
Lucifer tipped his head back and roared at the sky, causing all of his minions to step back a bit. They were armed, just waiting to carry out his plot, and I was the only thing standing in their way.
The sky behind Lucifer darkened as a storm began to roll in over him.
Oh God. A storm in Heaven? How was it possible he had that power?
‘You are at the in-between. It’s a space that is not Earth but not yet Heaven. Lucifer has more power there than he would inside these gates. Still, he could do untold damage if allowed to enter here,’ Bernie informed me.
Great, as if I needed the reminder.
“Fan out! Prepare to attack!” Lucifer screamed at his demons, never pulling his demonic gaze from mine.
They stumbled to do his bidding, and my eyes went to the one who had her head down in submission, silently waiting to be asked to do something.
Raksha.
‘I say you drop the shield, and let me give his scrotum a piece of my mind,’ Sera suggested.
Opening my mind to my soul weapon, I pushed all of my recent training and thoughts at her. She’d always been my number one battle strategist, and I wanted her to know all I had learned without having to explain it all, because there was no time.
‘Ohhh,’ she cooed. ‘You trained with Michael? How is he? I miss the way he smells.’
‘Can we focus on the Devil for now?’ I asked her, holding the shield as best I could as Lucifer rained down another series of blows, this time causing small cracks to form in the outer layer.
‘Right! Thin a small portion of the shield, like you’ve been practicing, and I’ll shoot a beam of light at his crotch,’ she directed.
Wow. Her grudge with Lucy seemed to be a bit more intense than mine, but I liked her plan. Taking a deep breath, I thinned a small six-inch circle of my shield, right around where his junk was. Did the Devil even have man bits? We were about to find out.
A blinding, concentrated beam of white light shot from the tip of Sera’s blade, slamming straight into the Devil’s junk.
A noise that sounded like a cat being run over by a car, ripped from the Devil’s throat as he stumbled forward and laid both hands on my shield. His furious face was a mere foot from mine, and the way his black eyes bulged
was so terrifying it would haunt my dreams forever. Black inky magic poured from his palms, no longer as swords, but now as an oily fluid. It covered my shield slowly, causing all light to be sucked from the space.
My heart flitted wildly in my chest.
I was a grown-ass woman, but I’d be dammed if I wasn’t a little afraid of the pitch dark. Slowly the blackness crawled over my dome, so it became darker and darker inside.
Sera’s golden glow grew lighter to combat the shadows, and my panic eased a little.
‘Get ready, I think he’s going to take the shield down,’ she told me.
I nodded, standing with my feet firmly planted.
“Can’t you help her?” Bernie begged to someone I couldn’t see behind me.
“I’m not permitted to interfere in mortal affairs,” a strong voice answered.
Typical.
“I got this!” I shouted, mostly to myself, because I was now 100 percent certain that the Devil’s black magic was eating away at my shield. My skin was on fire, and I wasn’t going to be able to hold it much longer.
‘Be ready’ Sera repeated.
My wings snapped out, and I assumed a crouching position to jump up to the skies if my shield were to fall. If I could draw him away from the gate, take the fight to another part of the ‘in-between,’ then maybe I could stop this war.
A cracking sound reverberated throughout the space, and black chunks began to fall to the ground as my shield gave way. Light from the outside leaked in, and then Lucifer was standing there, terrifyingly close.
Without missing a beat, I shoved off the ground and aimed for the skies, but a strong hand wrapped around my ankle, and I was yanked to the ground hard. I landed awkwardly, on one knee and with one wing bent backward. Sharp hot pain sliced into my shoulder and kneecap simultaneously, but I kept my grip on Sera. Light flared from the tip of the blade as I went into prison shank mode, slicing out at Lucifer like a crazed lunatic. Sera cut into his wrist, that was still gripping my ankle, and then I managed to stab him in the shoulder as well before he stumbled backward.
“How dare you go against your promise to me!” he roared, and I felt that pressure press down on my body again.