Issa had never felt stronger.
She'd dreamed of this as a child. But even in her wildest dreams, she'd never imagined holding so much power.
She had her wings—like a true seraph's wings, they blazed with otherworldly flames.
She had glory—Heaven's strength rushed through her veins, so potent that it felt as though she could pulverise Eden with a flick of her finger.
The Earth itself answered to her.
In her dreams, she'd felt happier.
Her eyes drifted to Lucifer, propped in the chair he'd finally surrendered to. His movements were stiff—the Edenium wasn't killing him, but it was clearly taking its toll. Her eyes drifted to her sleeping angel, who was almost unrecognizable with his blue stains and silver scales. Outside, her butterflies were only beginning to mend the destruction caused by the demons.
Was there no end to this fight?
Slowly, Issa sat down beside Edvardiel and ran her fingers through his thinning hair.
Lucifer's eyes met hers—his dark irises streaked with golden poison. "He'll wake up as soon as the Guardian feels he's ready," he said. "I've left enough Edenium in him that he'll remember who he is."
Issa blinked in confusion. "Aren't we going to Hell to break his thread?"
"Human bodies can't survive a journey to Hell," Lucifer said, looking pointedly between himself and Alice. "In any case, his thread has been cursed. You can't break it with glory." He crossed his arms. "The way Lilith kept him in that void. The way she sent you to summon him. And now this. It reeks of a blood oath even if I can't prove it."
Issa rested a protective arm on her sleeping angel's shoulder. "So what do we do?"
"I was hoping you could tell us, child," Lucifer said. "Haven't you gotten back your memories? Did they tell you anything about the curse?"
Issa froze.
The two bloody butterflies.
The memories she hadn't wanted to touch.
The ones she still didn't want to touch.
"I haven't…" She hesitated. "I haven't gotten them all back yet."
Lucifer's brows rose. "That's impossible," he said. "You are at the height of your power. You've broken your bindings to Hell. There's nothing left to block your memories."
Except her own cowardice.
Issa couldn't look him in the eye.
Lucifer shifted in the chair, looking for a moment, very disturbed and very human. "Maybe there is no way to break the curse," he muttered, more to himself than to her. The brief flash of humanity vanished, his expression growing dispassionate once more. "Well, you'll still have enough time together. He'll survive at least a hundred years."
Issa's head snapped up.
Lucifer looked speculatively at his son. "Maybe longer. My old body was fully seraph but his body still possesses a smidgeon of humanity… It won't decay as quickly."
Angels and demons cannot stay on Earth.
Our bodies will decay.
Blood rushed in Issa's ears.
Lucifer was still lost in his own thoughts. "It won't be easy but—"
"What happens after that?" Issa's voice echoed strangely in her ears. "What happens after a hundred years?"
"Eventually, he'll have to decide if he wants to return to Hell or perish on Earth." Lucifer's tone was maddeningly matter-of-fact.
It won't be easy.
Issa stared at Lucifer, remembering his withering body. She remembered the way he seemed to be falling apart before her very eyes, wings wilted almost to the bone.
After everything they'd gone through, after everything Edvardiel sacrificed… that was his end?
Lucifer arched a brow at her. "Don't look at me like that. A hundred years is longer than what most humans enjoy together."
Alice frowned at Lucifer as Issa's world tilted on its axis.
Lucifer stood. "Child, you closed Hell's gates," he said. "You've beaten the Empress of Hell. You are the only being who has ever managed to hold Hell's gates alone." He stepped towards her and rested a hand on her shoulder—an uncharacteristically human gesture. "You've done more than enough. You should be proud."
When she didn't answer, he tilted his head. "You make a fine seraph."
Issa thought she was going to be sick.
She swallowed several times, her mind moving at a hundred miles an hour.
If she didn't do something, Edvardiel was going to waste away before her very eyes. He'd live out the rest of his days as a demon poisoned by Edenium.
Her sweet, selfless angel deserved better than this.
She was going to fix this.
"Edvardiel's going to be fine," she said. "Don't worry, I'm going to take care of this."
She was going to Hell.
She was going to speak to Lilith. Her stomach twisted. If push came to shove, she'd make an offer the devil couldn't refuse.
She wasn't the only one who could hold Hell's gates.
And Edvardiel wasn't the only powerful Nephilim alive.
Lucifer studied her but said nothing.
Issa was already summoning the portal when a little hand slipped into hers.
"Angel," Alice whispered, her eyes gentle. She hugged Issa around the waist and pressed an ear to her stomach. "You can't. The little angels could get hurt."
Issa remembered the words that had woken her up.
The little angels need you too.
She took Alice by the arms and knelt down so that they were at the same eye level. "Dove," she said, her voice trembling. "What do you mean by that?"
Alice's wide eyes looked less and less childlike by the second.
"I feel it," she said, resting a palm on Issa's abdomen. "You're carrying life."
Issa shook her head. "No," she said. Ever since she'd become Lilith's Acolyte, carrying children had been out of the question. "My body can't—"
But she wasn't Lilith's Acolyte.
The Edenium had blocked her connection to Hell.
And then she'd broken her thread herself.
"Yes, you can," Alice said earnestly.
Every muscle in Issa's body locked down.
"It's a wonderful thing, angel." Alice hugged her around the neck. "He's going to be so happy. I know he will."
Issa stepped away from Alice, her skin glowing gold.
This couldn't be happening.
Not now. Not like this.
"Angel?" Alice looked anxious.
Issa backed away, stumbling into furniture. Something fragile crashed to the ground. Out of pure instinct, her wings unfurled, flames burning high, and then she was hurtling out of the room, glass and wood and stone melting at her mere proximity. Lucifer might have said something but she didn't hear it.
She was flying and flying, everything a blur, until she couldn't any more. The sky tore past her as she hurled towards the ground, but as though her subconscious were determined to protect the new life within her, her wings opened once more, slowing her fall so that she glided to ground unharmed.
The rain had stopped.
Issa staggered through the muddy ground and the dead, withered branches, barely seeing anything through her tears.
Her angel robe lengthened and curled around her as though it were trying to comfort her.
As she fumbled with the new flowing sleeves, something caught on her finger. Eve's necklace, entwined with Michael's feather. Angrily, she shook them free, and something else slipped loose, landing in the wet earth with a soft clink.
Issa was about to march on, but her dress twirled, curling around some branches. She stopped and wiped her eyes.
Her engagement ring.
For a moment, she only stared at it.
I don't know how to do this. I barely know how to be human.
If I were an angel, I'd gladly Fall for you, over and over again.
I've already promised you my loyalty and my life. Let me promise you my love too.
The intricate rose-gold glinted with the weight of everything they'd had—a promise, a future, hope for a better world. Now, it lay there, half-buried in the mud, just like everything they'd fought for.
A sharp breath caught in her throat as she snatched it up, forcing it back onto her shaking finger. Her vision blurred as she unfolded the crumpled note that had fallen with it—the one he'd left on her bedside table what felt like a lifetime ago.
Will be back soon. Love you. - E.
She traced the letters—crisp and clean, without any flourishes. Understated and measured, just like him. Like the way he loved her: steady, unwavering, always there.
It began to rain once more and her fiery wings stretched out, shielding her from the downpour.
It hurt to look at herself—to see herself radiant with power while her angel rotted.
She raised her face to the skies. She'd give it all up in a heartbeat. She'd give up the wings, the glory, Life to have her angel whole.
Alice's words echoed in her head again.
Your little angels need you too.
She wasn't blessed with the power of Life for nothing. Now that she was calmer, now that her senses had sharpened, she could feel it.
The beginning of Life brimmed within her.
She was carrying her angel's child.
She was going to be a mother.
Unbidden, an image flitted through her mind: a little hand curling around her finger, a toothless smile reminiscent of Edvardiel's.
An overwhelming wave of emotion flooded through her.
She loved the child within her. She loved it so much that she wanted to protect it from everything bad in their world. She couldn't imagine hurting it the way Michael or Eve had hurt her.
The thought was a bolt of lightning.
Suddenly, everything looked different, like she was seeing the world through a new pair of eyes.
She couldn't imagine hurting the child—let alone try to kill it.
She couldn't imagine using it as a weapon against its father—not even if Edvardiel turned into a demon.
She'd been so afraid that it was her fault. That she'd caused the Apocalypse because she'd rebelled against her mother's wishes—leaving no one to hold Earth's key after Eve's death. That after everything, she'd been banished to Hell because she'd been unworthy of Heaven.
She rested a hand on her abdomen.
She would never expect the tiny, fragile life within her to do half the things she'd been pushed to do. She'd been thrown down for bleeding, forced to fight past the limits of her body, abandoned in Hell…
Rain hissed onto her flaming wings as she stared at Michael's feather and Eve's necklace.
"You're monsters," she said.
Suddenly, the bloody butterflies in her personal Hell were no longer giant, frightening beasts. They were small, wounded creatures.
Issa's skin glowed as she closed her eyes and held out a palm.
It was time to reclaim the last of her memories.
It was time to find out the truth.
To save her angel.
Hi guys, sorry for the late update, I've been busy trying to survive the terror at work. I worked on this chapter bit by bit before bed the last two weeks, hope you like it! Would mean a lot to me if you left a comment.
For anyone interested in (part of) the drama: Yesterday I was assigned to an area far away from everyone else in a different building (which meant if something went wrong, help was far away). I'd never worked there before. The person who was supposed to tell me how everything worked was assigned to a different place because someone was sick. To make things better, my first patient was a 9 year old kid whose surgery got postponed...and no one prescribed her new calming meds, so she came in completely hysterical with her dad. My supervisor then proceeded to terrorise me in front of the dad to the point where the nurses were still gossiping about it today. Later she came in and praised something that I did thinking the nurse did it, the nurse was like, Wonwordful did it, and she just left. Today, I was assigned to that same area again with someone I thought was finally going to explain to me how things worked... only to have him say to me: hey, it's my first day here, can you tell me how it works? Lol, I am so done.
