“That makes two of us,” Revenant muttered. “Wait… if this prophecy is biblical, Satan knew about it, right?”
“No doubt. He had a prophecy written into the Daemonica that countered it. That’s why your mother hid your name. The prophecy hadn’t been written at the time you were born, but again, she saw it coming. She couldn’t let your real name be leaked or Satan would have destroyed you. No one, not even the other archangels, knew. My mate and I were alone in that.”
Mind. Blown. But now so much made sense. All the hell he, his mother, and Reaver had gone through had been for a purpose.
Which didn’t make it any less sucky.
“Did you know my blood can’t be cleansed of Satan’s taint? Were you in on the bullshit deal Raphael and his cronies offered me?”
“I’m sorry about that, Revenant,” Metatron said. “I am aware that there’s no way to remove the taint while Satan is still alive, but I didn’t know about the deal. I didn’t know until after all of this was over that Raphael lied to you. The other archangels who tried to double-cross you will be dealt with. And screw it, you are welcome in Heaven whenever you want. On my word, you won’t be harassed by any archangel, and we’ll repair the damage you cause, even if it takes centuries.”
“Thanks,” Rev said, even though he didn’t intend to step foot in Heaven as long as his presence destroyed everything around him. His mother’s memory deserved better than that.
Metatron inclined his head in acknowledgment. “And Revenant, you do realize that Sheoul is yours.”
He snorted. “Uncle Met has a sense of humor.” He paused. “Oh, hold on… no you don’t. You’re serious?”
Metatron shrugged. “Satan is gone, and Lucifer’s soul is trapped with him. You are now the most powerful being in Sheoul. You can rule it as you see fit until the time comes when the trap containing Satan fails and Reaver breaks the Horsemen’s Seals.”
Revenant’s lungs seized up. He was hell’s new overlord? “I don’t… how…”
“It’s prophecy, straight from the Book of Revelation,” Metatron said. “And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon.” Metatron’s expression turned grave. “You can’t turn Sheoul into a haven for the good and holy, and you can’t eradicate demons. There must be a balance of good and evil in the universe, so Sheoul must continue on as a bastion of malevolence. But that doesn’t mean you can’t… temper it. You can alter existing laws, even if you can’t completely disavow them.”
Revenant’s mind, already blown from the earlier revelations, couldn’t fully comprehend what the archangel was saying. “Like?”
“Like the fact that when humans… or angels… die in Sheoul, their souls must remain in Sheoul for all eternity, to be tortured by any demon who wishes to do so.”
“I can release the souls?”
“If you desire.”
Revenant practically trembled with that desire. How many tormented souls could he free? Including his mother’s and father’s. Reseph’s baby sister’s. So many souls could finally find peace.
“Being Sheoul’s big boss is going to take a lot of time,” Revenant pointed out. “And I already have a job.”
And why in the hell was he arguing, when all along he’d been scheming to take a position of power in Sheoul? Metatron was offering the position of power, and here Revenant was waffling like an idiot.
“With the Daemonica’s apocalyptic prophecy completely out of play, the Horsemen no longer need Watchers. Only Reaver can break their Seals now. You’re released from your duty, as is Harvester.”
Holy shit. “What about Blaspheme? She’s a vyrm —”
Metatron laughed. “She’s not a vyrm. She’s an angel.” While Rev stood there in stunned silence, the archangel continued. “Her mother… what name is she going by now?”
“Deva. Ah… Devastation.”
“Huh.” Metatron nodded in approval. “Good name. Anyway, she maintained the relationship with Blaspheme’s father after Devastation fell, which is why they believed Blaspheme was vyrm. But Blaspheme was conceived the day before her mother lost her wings.”
Revenant inhaled sharply. “So she was conceived by two angels, not one angel and a fallen.”
“Exactly. And your children will also be full angels. They will be welcomed… nay, embraced… in Heaven.”
Children. By all that was holy and unholy, Revenant never thought he’d go there. When he’d believed he was a fallen angel, some bone-deep instinct warned him to be careful, to not bring a child into the world. But now… now he had a future, and his children would grow up safe and with parents that loved them.