Heaven… he touched the amulet. Heofon. My God.
“Indeed.” She smiled at him. “You will play a vital role in the Final Battle, as will your offspring. They will be born charmed—the first to have the charm passed on in such a way—and you will raise them as warriors. For someday, they will fight for all humankind.”
“Okay.” Okay? An angel had just told him that the future of mankind was in the hands of him and his offspring, and he says okay?
She laughed, a light, musical sound. “Okay.”
Hand dropping to the hilt of her sword, she swung around to Reaver, who had propped himself against the wall. His hair hung in ropes around his face, he looked half-wild, but he pushed away from the wall and faced Gethel, shoulders back, pride in his eyes.
“Reaver.” She moved to him, halting a foot away. “You interfered where you were forbidden. You associated with demons and revealed divine secrets to them.”
“I did.” Reaver bowed his head, and when he raised it, his eyes glowed with defiance. “And I would not change a thing.”
Her fingers caressed her broadsword’s ruby pommel, and Kynan’s pulse went tachy. Gem feared for Reaver as well, her fingers digging into Ky’s chest as she tensed up.
“Strange, isn’t it,” Gethel said, “that alongside humans, demons and a fallen angel saved the world.” She leaned in and said softly, so softly that Kynan barely heard, “You did well.”
A shell-shocked look glazed Reaver’s eyes as she stepped back. Light enveloped the ex-angel, and suddenly, he appeared as he must have before he fell. He was… golden. No blood, no injuries.
A smile of ecstasy split his face as he tilted his head back and spread his arms wide. A sense of peace flooded the room, and then Reaver was gone in a fading shimmer.
“He is home,” Gethel said softly. “He is home.”
Gem couldn’t believe this was happening. An angel—a real divine being—was gliding around the room, speaking to every human for a moment before moving on to the next
Gem figured she’d be ignored, but then Gethel was before her, smiling kindly, as if Gem wasn’t a demon. Gem stood, because she couldn’t very well speak to an angel from the floor.
You are not a demon, the angel said, though her lips hadn’t moved. Gem heard her in her head.
But I am. My father—
Raped your mother. You were born of a human woman, by no choice of her own. Your soul is human.
Seriously?
The angel nodded. Yes. How you treat that soul is up to you.
But… Kynan. If he is to have charmed children, I can’t… I mean, I couldn’t…
Gethel’s eyes seemed to blaze. You can. And as long as you are with Kynan, you will share his immortality. You, too, have a role to play.
Gem blinked, and then she was standing in the room that had been crowded with people, but she was alone with Kynan, who pulled her into his arms like he was never going to let her go. Not that she’d let him do that.
“So,” she murmured, “you’re some sort of immortal prophecy guy now, huh?”
“Looks like.” He looped a finger in a lock of her hair. “I always wanted to save the world. Be careful what you wish for, I guess.”
She blinked back sudden tears that stung her eyes. “God, you scared me. When Wraith brought you back—”
“Shh.” He held a finger to her lips. “It’s over.”
She punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t do that again.”
“I’m sort of immortal now,” he said, “so I’m thinking it won’t happen again.” He brushed her hair back from her face. “But Gem, where do we stand?”
She opened herself up to her Shreddervision, and nearly gasped at what she saw.
Nothing.
He was as scar-free as a newborn baby.
“I believe you, Ky. I blamed you, but all along, the problem was mine. I’ve been a product of two worlds for so long, neither one fully accepting me, and it didn’t seem possible that I could live with you in just one world.”
“So what changed your mind?”
“You died, Kynan. I had so many regrets. And I realized that what you did wasn’t just for humans, it was for all species—human, animal, demon. I belong to two worlds… but you know what? We also all share the same one. And our kids? They’ll belong in one world. Ours.”
“That sounds really… enlightened. And maybe a little sappy.”
“You’re making fun of me.”
“Yup. Being raised from the dead puts me in a good mood.” He frowned. “How did that happen, anyway?”
“Ah, trust me, you don’t want to know.”
His gorgeous blue eyes glowed as his gaze intensified into something that took her breath away. “I love you, Gem.”
The words she’d waited so long to hear settled in her heart, where Kynan had always been, and where he would always be. “Good thing, because it seems that we both have roles to play.”
His lids grew heavy, and his voice went low and bedroom deep. “Maybe we should get started on that roleplaying, then.…”
Thirty