Oh my God.
“Then, every human that dies will no longer be able to enter Heaven.” His smile returned, a thing of pure joy. “Life on Earth will be rendered pointless as those trapped souls become wraiths or are lured into Hell to be tortured and fed upon. There will no longer be a need for demons to remain hidden since angels and God can no longer interfere. With only Wardens and humans left, Hell will reap this Earth.”
Horror swamped me. “Why? Why would you want to do that? To billions of people. To Heaven?”
“Why?” he shouted, causing a bolt of fear to pierce my chest. Sulien whipped around. “Why? Have you not been listening? Mankind does not deserve what they’ve been given, what they’ve been promised! God has failed by refusing to hear the truth! I’ve been shunned because I dared to speak up! Because I dared to question. No longer have I been sent to spread the gospel or to lead. I’ve been relegated to the lowest spheres. Me! The voice of God! His evermost faithful!”
“You want to end Earth and Heaven because you got fired from being God’s hype machine?” I was dumbfounded.
“You know nothing about loyalty.” His chest rose and fell with deep, heavy breaths.
I thought of Thierry and Matthew and Jada. I thought of Nicolai and Danika, and all the Wardens in DC. I thought of Roth, the Crown Prince of Hell, and Layla, and Cayman. I thought of Zayne, and I shook my head. “I know what loyalty is. It is you who has no idea.”
“And it will be you who helps me complete my plan. How does that feel?”
“How do you think I’m going to help you?”
“During the Transfiguration, this area will be charged with power—the kind that can create that rift. With my blood and the blood of Michael, the gateway to Heaven will open,” he explained. “Since Michael knows better than to risk being caught on Earth, your blood will do just fine.”
Summoning my grace, I let it take hold, and as the Sword of Michael formed, he smiled. “I’m partial to my blood, so no thank you.”
The archangel dipped his chin. “Silly girl. It was no request.”
41
Gabriel came at me, his arm extending as a blinding golden light flowed down it. A sword with a semicircular blade formed.
It was much, much larger than mine.
There wasn’t a moment to think about the fact I was about to battle an archangel. All I could do was fight, and hope that Roth and Cayman stayed down.
I blocked his blow, rattled by the impact and unprepared for his strength. The one hit nearly knocked me down. I swung my sword toward his chest. He blocked it with one swipe, forcing me back a step. I attacked, sweeping for his legs, but he anticipated the move. I spun, but he was faster. Our swords connected, spitting sparks and hissing. I pushed and then stumbled forward as the archangel disappeared and reappeared a few feet in front of me.
“That’s not fair,” I said.
“Life never is.”
I charged him, and he met my attack, throwing me back like I was nothing more than a paper sack. On and on we went, circling and attacking. He met each blow with his own shattering strength and moved faster than I could. Each time I blocked him, I felt the blow through every atom of my body.
Even with the bond, exhaustion was beginning to peck away at me, making my arms feel heavier and my swings slower. The sparks from our connecting blows spit into the air as the repeated impact jarred my bones. Sweat dripped down my temples as I feinted to the right, arcing my sword. Gabriel slammed his down, knocking me back.
“Stop,” he urged, not out of breath. Not even remotely tired. “You’ve never trained for this. Your father failed you.”
He was right, and the truth sent anger pounding through me. I’d trained with daggers and in hand-to-hand combat. But when it came to sword fighting, all I had was instinct.
“It’s not enough,” he said, and my startled gaze fixed to his. “You’re intelligent enough to have come to that conclusion.” I blocked his next brutal swing, but it nearly caused my sword to collapse. “You were trained to deny your nature. I trained my son to embrace his.”
“Looks like that worked out well.” I gritted my teeth as I darted left and kicked out, catching Gabriel in the leg. It was about as helpful as kicking a wall, based on the way he arched his brow.
“Considering you’re mere minutes from losing control of your grace while he is over there checking his Picture Book, I’d say it has worked out quite well for him.”
I faltered. “Picture Book?”
“Instagram,” Sulien corrected. “It’s Instagram, Dad.”
I blinked.
“Whatever,” Gabriel muttered, his bare foot slamming into my midsection, knocking the air from my lungs.
“You...you don’t even know what Instagram is?” I gasped through the pain. “And you think you’re going to end the world?”
His lips peeled back in a sneer.
My arms shook as I leveled the sword in front of me, trying to keep distance between us. “I bet you think Snapchat is called Picture Talkie.”
Sulien snorted. “Actually, he thought Snapchat meant snapping your fingers when you talked.”
“Really?” I spared the Trueborn a brief glance.
“Yep.” Sulien slipped his phone into his pocket. “But you’re still getting your ass kicked.”
“At least I don’t call Instagram Picture Book,” I retorted.
Gabriel’s all-white eyes pulsed. “I am bored with this. You cannot win. You will never win. Submit.”
“Oh, well, when you ask that nicely, it sucks having to say no.”
“So be it.”
I blocked his thrust, but he moved to my side before I could track what he was doing. His elbow caught my chin, snapping my head back. I stumbled, regained my footing and struck out with my sword, arms trembling as his blade connected with mine. He spun into my peripheral vision once more, but this time I was expecting his attack. Jumping back, I turned—
His fist slammed into my cheek, and pain exploded along my ribs as he landed another blow. My legs folded before I could stop them. My control over my grace was lost as I caught myself before my head slammed into the dirt. Panic unfurled in the pit of my stomach as I struggled to sit up. I pushed it down, knowing I couldn’t give in to it.
“You are nothing but a worthless, selfish human the moment you lose control of your grace.” Gabriel stood above me. “You are weak. Corrupt. Defiled. You are nothing.”
The little ball of warmth inside me pulsed, and I silently cursed, knowing that Zayne had to have felt the burst of panic. He couldn’t come down here. He couldn’t. I needed to get control of the situation.
I had to.
“You are not worthy of what God gifted you. Just like the rest of the humans,” Gabriel went on as I slid my hand to my hip, my fingers unhooking the dagger sheathed there. “You took the purity of a soul and the honor of free will and threw them away.”
I rose to my knees, lifting my head as I felt blood trickle out of the corner of my mouth. “I didn’t throw away anything.”
“You’re wrong. No human soul, not even my son’s, is clean or worthy of saving.”
“Wow.” My fingers tightened on the hilt of the dagger. “Father of the year right here.”
“At least I’ll be there when he dies,” he said. “Will Michael be able to say the same?”
“Probably not,” I admitted. “But I don’t care.”
Surprise rolled over Gabriel’s face, and I saw my window of opportunity. My chance to gain the upper hand and get the Hell out of here, with Roth and Cayman, somehow.
Shooting to my feet, I slammed the dagger deep into Gabriel’s chest. I knew it wouldn’t kill him, but it had to hurt. It had to—
The archangel looked down at his chest. “That stung.”
I jerked the dagger out, eyes widening in disbelief as I saw no blood—
I didn’t see the blow coming.
Gabriel backhanded me, sending me down to the dirt. Stars sparked in my vision. My ears rang. He grabbed my wrist, snatching the dagger from my hand.
“That was embarrassing,” he said, tossing it to the ground. “You’re nothing but a flawed waste of grace, Trinity. Give it up. I can make the next couple of weeks peaceful for you, or I can make them a constant waking nightmare. It is your choice.”
When he let go of my hand, I fell back. My gaze blanked out on me for a moment.
Get up.
“In the end, you’re nothing but flesh and bone,” he said. “Dying from the day you were born.”
Get up.
“It’s all rather revolting, how the human race aids in its own decay.”
Get up.
“Your rage. Your selfishness. Your basic human emotions. All of it corrupts what should never have been given to humans.”
The bond in my chest burned, and I knew Zayne was coming. He was close. Too close.
Get up.
Get up before he gets here.
“You’re right. I am flesh. I am flawed. I am selfish, but I am also grace.” I spat out a mouthful of blood, and from the rage and the ruin, I rose onto my feet. “I have heavenly fire in my blood. I have a human soul, and that is something you will never have.”
The archangel drew back.
“That’s it, isn’t it? That’s why you hate God. That’s why you want to destroy everything. It’s not to make it better. It’s not to end suffering, you lunatic. All of this is because you don’t have a soul.” I laughed, stumbling backward, summoning my grace. It sputtered and then arrived, the handle almost too heavy for me to hold. “You’re a walking cliché, and you dare to insult the aspirations of humans?”