I laughed, grimacing as pain shot down my side. They were the same words Uri had given me the first time we’d met and I’d asked for an explanation. ‘Try,’ I suggested.
Uri looked at Lincoln, his eyes dancing with secrets. ‘You are strong. Made of a Power. Your destinies have always been entwined. But destiny must also be chosen. It was never a matter of if, but rather when and how. Like all things of greatness, when used to cause harm your union brought devastation. You have both fought against your souls and it was as useful and painful as hiding from air when it is the very thing most fundamental to your survival.’
Lincoln glanced at me.
I shrugged. Grimaced. ‘He likes being cryptic.’
‘Comprehension is always in the eye of the beholder,’ Uri continued. Cryptically. ‘When she first came to me to embrace I sent her on a journey and told her that even though her powers would be plenty even the greatest bringers of justice will only find salvation in …’ He looked to me.
‘Surrender,’ I finished, then turned to Lincoln. ‘I thought it meant giving up my life to be Grigori. That it meant fighting and surrendering to Lilith. Or even losing you. In the end I hated it that every time I saw Uri he reminded me that I still had to find my surrender even at times when I felt I’d given everything.’ I swallowed back the tears. ‘But it wasn’t about giving or sacrificing, not really. It was about letting go. Surrendering my heart. To myself and thereby, to you.’
‘And through your surrender, you find your salvation and your ultimate power,’ Uri said, turning to Lincoln. ‘For she may be our Keshet – our rainbow – but you are what brings her light. Why do you think you had to wait so long for her?’
Lincoln had waited years until he was appointed his partner. Me.
It always had to be us. Not just me. Us.
‘All this time, you wanted us to be together?’ Lincoln murmured.
‘Of course. Your power is in your balance, in your surrender to your purest emotion of love. Humans strive for love – it is the one thing they give the most and yet fear they receive the least. You are strange creatures. And yet, it is your ability to love this way that makes you capable of the extraordinary.’
I shook my head, knowing that it would have been easier if they’d just told us all of this in the beginning, and yet I understood. It was all of the mistakes, the separation, the friendship, the fear, the determination and the love built not just on simply loving but on thousands of moments shared and missed. Our choices and our consequences are ours and could only be reached through our own journey.
I looked at my angel maker. His eyes were lowered and his expression grave.
‘Why so sad?’ I asked, as Lincoln steadied me when I swayed. We had defeated Sammael. Surely he was satisfied.
‘Judgement must come to pass.’
My stomach sank and I shook my head.
New Orleans.
‘No. No. We know you’ve saved the city before. You can turn the hurricane back out to sea. We stopped Sammael. Now you can do it again!’
‘We are angels, child. Our function is finite.’
‘What? You’re just going to wipe out the entire city?’
‘The land is intended for the ocean. Life will be reinstated beneath the water in time to come.’
‘And all the people who live there now are just supposed to die? What will they do?’
Stoically, he replied, ‘What they always have. They will panic, they will mourn and they will fight back. Eventually, they will move on, speculate, learn and, in time, forget. It is the way of humanity.’
‘But I’m supposed to be your rainbow, the symbol of this covenant that protects us, that promises faith in humanity!’
‘And you have done your part and more in protecting the masses. You will continue to do so.’
‘But it’s not enough?’ I asked, my legs giving out as Lincoln caught me.
‘We need to get her back!’ he said urgently.
My angel maker ignored him as we continued to stare unblinkingly at one another. ‘Right?’ I pushed.
His chin lowered slowly. ‘It is the way it must be. We cannot deny the opportunity to right what was wronged and rid the world of so many of our exiles. You will understand in time.’
I shook my head. ‘No! No amount of time will ever make this right. This is because of exiles, not humans. The time of punishing humans for suffering the choices of angels and the insanity of exiles is over!’ I stood taller as my angel maker raised an eyebrow at my outburst.
But I held his gaze, letting him see the truth.
With Lincoln and I joined as we were, and with everything I now knew, I was complete. And I was capable.
‘I can see what you are thinking,’ he said.
‘Is it possible?’ I asked.
He considered me, glancing briefly at Lincoln as if seeing him for the first time. It probably was the first time he’d bothered.
‘You have proven that much is a possibility. But even so, there will be a price.’