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Together, the Shadowmaster and the Selkie would rebuild.

Roman stoodwith the others around the table in the kitchen. There were so many people here now—Devils, Angels, Reapers, Elementals—and yet it had never felt so quiet. So empty.

The only people who were not down here were Darien, Loren, Shay—who was still bedridden, but healing—and the kids.

It was day three, and Darien had still not woken up. Slowly, he was recovering from the effects of the brimstone, his immune system fighting it off as if he were battling poison. Rest was the only remedy. He would have to overcome it on his own.

The clock ticked. For a long while, no one spoke.

And then Lace whispered, “What do we do now?”

Weary glances were her only response.

Everyone was tired. Defeated.

Lost.

Against all odds, they had managed to survive. But they were far from safe.

A war was coming. And if they had a prayer of stopping it, they would have to act.

They would have to fight. Together.

“We figure out how to get the Veil back up,” Roman said.

Heads turned his way.

“We take down the imperator,” he said, “and anyone else who’s ever made the mistake of fucking with us.” His heart pounded with determination, adrenaline, as he concluded, “And we finish this.”

Epilogue

ANGELTHENE, STATE OF WITHEREDGE

“You’resure you want to do this?” Lace asked.

Loren breathed in deeply, filling her lungs with the scent of sun-baked wildflowers and dusty earth. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my entire life,” she said.

No truer words had ever been spoken. Saving the man she loved had become her one and only goal. Ever since the night she learned of Darien’s trade, all she cared about was finding a way to reverse it. To give him back the years he never should have lost. And now that she knewhowto save him, she was hurtling straight toward that goal.

She would not rest until she achieved it.

As she walked toward the crumbling stone fountain, she trailed her fingertips through the sea of coarse, waist-high grass, the ground crunching beneath her sneakers. The sunset cast a warm glow across the land, causing the field to shimmer like spun gold.

Once upon a long-forgotten time, this land might have been considered beautiful. Peaceful, even. Now, it was a place of bargains and beasts. Hidden costs and dark consequences.

The wind picked up to a howl, the temperature plunging so swiftly it sent a cold prickle up her back. As she paused besidethe old structure, a palpable, supernatural silence swept through the area, dampening the sounds of city life. The honk of car horns, the steady trickle of music leaking out of restaurants and storefronts, the chatter of pedestrians—all were rendered mute.

Her fingers did not tremble as she drew a small knife from the pocket of her jeans and unfolded it, the tip flashing in the sunlight. Beside her, Lace did the same with her own blade. Neither of them spoke as they cut open their palms, slicing from the base of the index finger to the heel of the hand.

Warm blood trickled down the inside of Loren’s wrist as she stepped up to the fountain. She held her hand over the bucket and squeezed her fingers into a fist, bright red droplets plinking like rain. As soon as she was finished, she stepped back to allow Lace to do the same, human and hellseher blood blending together.

With her good hand, Loren grabbed a small roll of bandages from her other pocket. She unwound the length of it, then wrapped it tightly around her throbbing hand and tied it, blood seeping through white gauze.

Lace dropped four limen coins—two per visitor—into the pail. Theclangof metal against metal rang like a bell across the otherwise silent field.

“Ready?” Lace asked her as she grabbed the handle of the bucket. While the wound in Lace’s hand was already healing, Loren’s continued to burn and bleed.

Loren drew a deep, deep breath…and nodded. “I’m ready.”