“Thanks for being here, guys. I love you all,” I told my friends as the exhaustion hit me full steam.
Lying back on my pillow, I tried to keep my eyes open but failed. The last thing I saw was my mother tucking the blanket around me and telling everyone I needed my rest.
Even at twenty years old, a girl still needs her mom.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The next morning, I awoke to a strong hand massaging my back. I inhaled and smelled bacon and coffee. My eyelids snapped open and drank in the sight of my man. Lincoln was sitting on my dorm room bed, rubbing my back in slow, soothing circles.
“Hey, it’s afternoon. I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he whispered.
I eyed the milky coffee, the plate of eggs and bacon on my dresser, and nodded. “I’m fine now,” I declared, shoving two full strips of bacon in my mouth in one go. If a man brought you coffee and bacon in bed, you marry that man.
Lincoln chuckled. “I’m glad to hear it.” He wrapped his hand around my left one and spun the ring on my finger. “Not exactly how I thought that night was going to end.”
Yeah, tell me about it.
He looked around the room at the balloons and toilet paper. “At least it looks like you got a little celebration.”
I chugged the coffee, feeling my soul finally join my body, something only coffee was capable of doing. “This is my life. Black wings, devil marks and… what happened last night.” I wanted him to know what he was in for.
Lincoln frowned. “But it won’t always be. This war is going to end, and we’re going to live… forever, really.”
Forever.
Whoa.
I’d conveniently forgotten about the immortality thing. Live forever unless killed.
I nodded. “But if it doesn’t, and I’m always going to be hunted by him....”
Him. I couldn’t even say his name anymore.
Lincoln shrugged. “Then we’ll deal with it. Together.”
I sighed, nuzzling my head into his neck. He always knew the perfect thing to say.
Tonight was Lincoln’s surprise captain’s promotion.
I glanced at the clock to see it was already three. I’d slept all day.
‘No more Celestial balls. Bad idea, not worth it,’ Sera exclaimed.
‘Agreed.’
“I should shower,” I told Lincoln and peeled back my covers. He looked at my bare legs and his eyes hooded.
“I could use a shower too.” He scooped me into his arms, lifting me off the bed.
Laughter erupted from my belly as he walked me into the bathroom. Threading my fingers through his hair, I couldn’t help but appreciate how perfect Lincoln Grey was in that moment.
I wanted to freeze it and capture it forever.
That night, Noah snuck me into the reception hall, and I sat at the large white cloth-covered table with Lincoln’s closest friends. Lincoln had been on the stage under the guise that he was helping Raphael honor some other Fallen Army soldiers, which they did. But when Raphael introduced his surprise promotion, I started to cry. He’d listed off my man’s achievements, including the numerous lives he’d saved, and families he’d brought to the safety of Angel City. It was a beautiful ceremony, and when Lincoln saw I was there, he’d beamed with pride.
Now we were at the after party. The archangels had gone home, the music was loud, and Shea, Luke, and Chloe had officially crashed the party.
I was dancing with Lincoln when he leaned into my ear. “I’m thirsty. Want a drink?”
I nodded.
As he made his away off the dance floor, Shea twerked her way over to me, much to the dismay of Noah who had been grinding up on her.
“So, I’ve been thinking.” Shea shouted over the music. “If you’re stuck on campus for the next few years, I’d bet we could convince Raph to give us our own dorm rooms next year, right next to each other.”
I smiled. “Really? You’d stay in the lame dorms with me, even though everyone else will be getting apartments?”
Shea nodded. “What can I say? I’m just that good of a friend.”
I laughed. She really was and I told her so.
After a nod, she leaned in closer. “Did you hear that Fallen Academy will only be open a few more years? After that, all of the children left will be human.”
Her declaration shocked the crap out of me. I quickly did the math and realized she was right. I was five when the war started, so five years after entering the academy, the last angel gifted or demon blessed teen would have their Awakening ceremony and then…
“What are they going to do with the school?” I’d completely stopped dancing by that point, enthralled with the conversation.
Shea looked left and right, as if she was about to reveal some big secret. “I heard Raphael was going to start a demon hunter academy. Training humans.”
Whoa.
Humans? I mean, no offense to humans but they were… weak little humans. It would be a waste to just have the school sit there, though, and I was sure we’d still need soldiers for the army.
I nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
Shea was about to respond when the shrill of the demon alarm went off.
The music skidded to a halt and my entire body froze.
My best friend’s eyes widened. “Is that…?” she asked with a shaky voice.
“Brielle!” Lincoln shouted from across the room.
He was looking not at me but behind me, horror marring his face. I knew then, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Dark Prince was standing behind me, probably with his horde of demons. He wouldn’t stop coming for me, I knew that now.
I spun on my heels and faced him. Standing in an immaculate suit—not a dark hair out of place—was Lucifer in all his evil glory. His inky black wings were stretched out behind him, and just as I thought, he had an assortment of Hellhounds, Yew demons, an Abrus, Brimstone, and three or four nauseating Larkspur demons splayed out beside him. Behind him spun a swirling portal right to Hell—I could smell the sulfur from where I stood.
“Brielle, my darling.” Lucifer stepped forward and I moved away from Shea, snapping my wings out to cover her and everyone I loved behind me. Lincoln, Shea, Noah, Chloe, Luke—nearly every person I loved in this world was in the room.
Sera flared to life at my hip, nearly burning my leg.
‘You have no idea what I’m capable of,’ she told me menacingly.
Holy shit.
‘Well, now would be a good time to show me. All of these people could be hurt because of me.’
Sera pulsed as I took her in my hand. ‘The greatest power on Earth is love,’ she said, and then my arm raised out before me as the demon horde advanced, and a firewall of light shot from Sera’s blade, spreading out like an ocean wave.
I had to dig my heels into the wood floors to keep from sliding backward with the powerful thrust that came from her blade. The Celestial light rose like a tidal wave, completely saturating the Dark Prince and his demons. Hissing and screams rang out as the light washed over them. When it passed, Lucifer was standing in a protective black bubble while the rest of his demons were charred to a crisp.
Holy. Freaking. Shit.
Sera had been holding out on me, but it hadn’t been enough, Lucifer was still standing.
Lincoln stepped in front of me suddenly, sword raised. “Back to Hell with you!” he roared, then started to run at the Prince of Darkness. Noah, Blake, and Darren were right behind him.
Idiots!
“Lincoln, no!” The words barely left my mouth when the room exploded.
Lucifer clapped his hands together and then thrust them forward, shooting a million tiny shards of black magic into every single person standing, including me.
It felt like a dozen tiny arrows had sliced through my body.
I fell backward, trying to dodge the black glasslike shards, and that’s when Lucifer really brought out the big guns. He lifted his sword into the air, a red fire erupting along the blade, then slammed it down into the hardwood floors, causing an earthquake to split the room into four different pieces. Shea had to jump to avoid falling into the abyss. I saw Lincoln and Noah dive to try and get on the cracked piece that the Dark Prince stood on but they couldn’t, their wings banded to their backs with dark magic.
Oh God.