Emberly strode over with Mel and bopped on her heels. “You totally dented my dad’s beloved armor. He’s going to complain to my mom about that one for weeks.”

I just chuckled.

“Come on. We have our work cut out for us,” Lincoln called to me.

I was tired just thinking about the days to come.

Lincoln wouldn’t sleep until I was ready.

This was gonna hurt.

Thirteen

The demon appearances on campus were daily now. A single demon would sneak on campus to try to find me, and tell me Lucifer was coming. Lincoln was beyond stressed—he’d lost weight, and wasn’t sleeping well. When I wasn’t in class, I was training with Emberly, or Lincoln and Noah, or Shea, or whatever Lincoln told me to do. I was an energy shield-making machine, now able to thin certain parts to allow me to throw balls of magic through it at my assailant. I felt ready, more than ready to go into Hell, kill Lucy, and end this entire war. I’d get Sera, free Raksha, and thwart his plan to storm the gates of Heaven. The demons in the war zone were doubling every day now, and pretty soon our forces wouldn’t be able to hold them back. Angel City would fall, unless I could put a stop to it.

“Absolutely, fucking not!” Lincoln roared at the dinner table in our small trailer.

His chicken sat untouched, and I feared he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown or something.

“Just hear me out.” I reached out and clasped his hand, while Lincoln took deep calming breaths through his nose. “You’ve heard the prophecy. You told me yourself that you think I’m meant to fulfill it.” I kept my voice quiet and measured.

“That was before I fell madly in love with you! Now I don’t care about some stupid prophecy. I just want you safe,” he bellowed.

“I won’t be safe, not in the long run. Eventually Angel City will fall, and we’ll all succumb to the demons’ power, to Lucifer’s wrath. If I could just take a team of Fallen Army soldiers down to Hell—”

“No way. You’re never going back down there.” His breathing was ragged, and I knew he was on the verge of a panic attack, having suffered many of them myself in the past.

I yanked my hand away from his and crossed my arms. “Then how are we going to fix this? The world is ending, Lincoln! Do you want all those lives on your conscience, because I sure don’t? I can go down there, and I can fix this. I know what his building looks like, and I know how to fight him. I have to do something.” There was mild hysteria in my voice by the end of my rant, and Lincoln frowned.

All of Angel City was on a curfew now. It just wasn’t the same happy place it used to be months ago.

We were silent for a long few moments, just staring at each other, until finally he placed his head in his hands. “I want to be selfish,” he admitted through tight lips. “I want to keep you safe.”

My heart broke then, because if the roles were reversed, I would want the same thing. “I know, but I’m the only Celestial who can go down there. The only one with powers that can hurt him. This is my destiny, Lincoln.”

He peered up at me through messy dark hair, so much anguish in his gaze. “If I could just go with you, I would feel so much better. I was so helpless last time.”

My heart pinched and I nodded. “But I’ll take Shea, Luke, and every other demon gifted soldier who wants to go with me. I won’t be alone this time.”

Bringing the war to Hell, that was the only way to win this. I needed to surprise Lucifer on his turf, then get Sera and Raksha the hell out of there. It had been too long.

Lincoln looked up at the ceiling, as if willing God to intervene. “We’ll talk to the archangels in the morning. See what they have to say.” His voice held such defeat, it broke my heart, but a thrill also coursed through me.

Finally, after months of preparation, I was going to give Lucy the ending he deserved.

That night, I went to sleep with a lighter heart than I had in a long while. Most of my daily anxiety was based on the idea that I was doing nothing to help Sera and Raksha, that I wasn’t going after Lucifer when I knew I should. Knowing we were going to talk to the archangels about a mission in the morning had me sleeping like a baby.

Sometime in the early morning hours, a light shaking, woke me. My eyelids snapped open to see Lucifer’s grinning face hovering over me. At first, I thought I was dreaming, but after blinking rapidly, he didn’t disappear.

Standing tall in a crisp black suit, the Devil beamed down at me.

“Wakey wakey.” His voice was low and raspy.

“Shit!” I kicked out at him and tried to roll off the other end of the bed, but it was no use. He reached out and grabbed my ankle in a viselike grip, fingers digging into my flesh.

“Brielle. So good to see you. Our time has come, my dear.” His voice was so calm, it was terrifying. This man was seriously psychotic.

‘Brielle!’ Sera’s voice desperately boomed in my head, and I burst into tears. In Lucy’s other hand was the black case I knew held her.

‘Sera!’ I shouted mentally, reaching for that link we used to talk to each other.

‘Are you okay?’ she asked.

I tried to control my crying, so overcome with emotion that I couldn’t answer.

Lucy rolled his eyes. “Get over whatever little emotional breakdown you’re having. We need to leave before your boy toy comes back.”

Lincoln. How the hell had I forgotten about him? I glanced frantically around the bed, but it was empty.

“Where is he?” My voice was deadly as I let a black ball of magic build up in my palm. If Lucifer had hurt him, I’d go so postal, I might actually explode.

Lucifer rolled his eyes again before flicking his wrist in my direction. My dark magic flew from my hand and splashed against the trailer wall. I’d felt his energy pulling on my wrist, and could have resisted, but I wanted him to think I was still under his control. For now. I needed to know where Lincoln was, if Raksha was alive, and have Sera in my hands before I showed him that he could no longer force me to do things against my will. I’d been preparing for this day for months, and I wasn’t scared. I felt ready.

“You will be agreeable, Brielle, or I’m going to have to get mean,” he snarled. “Your lover is attending a skirmish at the front gates.”

He was safe. I sighed in relief, but at the same time it occurred to me that it was oddly quiet outside. “Why isn’t the demon alarm going off?”

Lucifer grinned and it made my stomach turn. “Haven’t you been getting my messengers all month?”

Something clicked inside my head at his words, and my mouth popped open at the realization. “Every time you sent a demon in here, it was to learn something, where I was, or how the demon alarm was triggered.”

He nodded. “Good to see you didn’t lose your intellect in this godforsaken place. Get up and get dressed. We have an appointment in Heaven.”

My face fell. He’d come to force me to make good on my promise to him. He’d brought the key—Sera. What if I couldn’t fight him off? What if I really did open the gates of Heaven for him, and he killed every angel there in his bid for revenge?

‘We’ve got this. Together,’ Sera assured me, and I was almost startled at hearing her in my head. It had been so long, and I’d missed her so deeply that it hurt now to have her near.

‘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.