Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
The bracelet was drawn like a magnet to mine, and that opening, the lifting of the veil, was enough for him to find me. Remiel, sensing his mate through the same rift, fell through eternity with Raphael, and the last of their party was Gabriel. He’d been racked with guilt and grief over what he’d put his brother through, and so arrived as an avenging angel, putting all evil in the baron’s house under his blade. When he was done, he razed the house to the ground.
It was righteous, and those who’d been victimized were lifted up. It didn’t matter that they had been demons. Gabriel made them clean and set them, as he once had Tarin, on the road to Nebo to become reborn in the human realm.
The coal mine was leveled, obliterated in the blink of an eye, and the slaves all returned to their homes with washed memories, all strong and hale and hearty once more.
The baron’s family was lifted up as well, put on the road to Nebo to remake themselves and their lives, all given the gift of humanity.
Everything was well and right, and when the demons gathered to question the changes that were made to Gehenna, to the reality there, once they saw Gabriel, it was understood that there had been a violation of what was allowed. Demons couldn’t abduct the mates of angels—or more precisely, they could as long as they didn’t get caught. Dollo was caught and so suffered the consequences. There was nothing else to say.
Moira was dead, and Raphael could speak to that with conviction, as he’d cut her throat and watched her drown in her own blood. He’d avenged me, Vaya, and Dylan’s friends as well, and no one would mourn her.
Remiel, reunited with Vaya, would take the third heaven from Anahel, who would also remain there, to live out eternity in peace. With Remiel taking over, there would be no more neutrality. He would keep up the communication with demons—he had to, that was the path to peace, and as his mind, body, and soul belonged to a demon, that had to be considered as well. But in laws and the consequences of breaking them, Remiel was absolute. Because yes, he was the angel of hope and held dominion over the faithful, but there were laws in his heaven and they would be followed. It was a new day for many.
It was Remiel, along with Raphael and Uriel, who flew to the edge of the great bridge Mammon was building, landed there, and spoke to him. Raphael, the only one who could speak for Michael, promised that his brother would no longer wage war. He would bring down the righteous hand of the heavenly host to stop any incursion, but as long as everyone stayed in their lane, a truce could be called.
Mammon, who looked, Raphael reported to me, just as tired as Gabriel, was skeptical. At that point, Remiel, who had Evangeline bring Vaya, introduced his mate, a demon, to a member of the fallen. After that, Mammon was convinced. Remiel ruling the third heaven was acceptable. They would cease building and, using Raphael’s words, would stay in their lane.
Raphael looked sad when he returned.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, taking his hand. “You did a great thing. You being the only one anyone would listen to, along with Remiel loving Vaya, prevented another war.”
He shook his head. “There will always be skirmishes and hostilities, and that’s another reason why I left.”
I lifted his hand to my lips and kissed his knuckles. “What was the main reason?”
“The fallen,” he rasped. “You understand that it’s a lie that they can’t be redeemed, that they can’t be returned to the fold. They could. They’re simply not allowed.”
“And that’s why you left? The hypocrisy of that? The lies?”
“Yes.”
“So Mammon, who you just saw, you were close?”
“We were all brothers,” he choked out. “And it was just a split-second decision. Anahel, he was going to follow Lucifer, but I chained him so he couldn’t. He was my friend, my scribe… I couldn’t let him go.”
“Of course not. If you could save him, you had to.”
He wasn’t looking at me anymore, instead, I knew, into the past. Remembering what was lost. “Mammon…he wouldn’t listen to me, and he was too powerful for me to hold, to bind. I begged him up until the very last moment.”
I had no words to give him.
“I saw both sides, but in the end, we had to be loyal, to listen and have faith.”
Grabbing hold of his hand, I held on tight.
“It was so hard on that day…on the day they fell…” Tears welled in his eyes. “So many were calling, and they were sorry, and I thought…where is the forgiveness, the grace?”
“But it was too great a sin to forgive?”