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“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, for the first time ever, there exists the potential for a true angel to be birthed outside the Celestial Plane. If we can release her from the field.”

“And we can only do that with Mia back on this plane.”

I nodded somberly. “The baby exists in this protected state, but she can’t for much longer. She needs her mother in order to exist beyond the state of an energy field.”

“Something the True Celestials don’t want to allow, so, as per our theory, they’re holding Mia with them to prevent her from rejoining with her child.”

“Yes. The only way to know for certain is for me to extract some of your child’s essence to try to connect with Mia. I haven’t attempted that yet, because it poses a danger to the child and it will also trigger an active state wherein the countdown to return her to her mother’s body will be moved up significantly. It is why I used other methods to try to connect.”

He scrubbed his hand over his face as he looked at his baby. “We need to do it. But we need to ensure we can pull Mia out the moment the connection is made and our theory is confirmed.”

“I can’t enter the Celestial Plane due to my Fallen status. There is nobody alive who can.”

“All we need is to open the door, even a crack.” He gestured at the energy field that was his child. “She is the key. And once the door is open, we don’t reach out as friend, begging them to release Mia, pleading our case.” His gaze shot to mine. “We go in offensively and force her release. As you connect and get a lock on Mia, I’ll guide the Orb of Furatus through the door and neutralize all True Celestial magic, wherein, you’ll then pull her out and fuse her and our baby.”

“The Orb is powered by angel magic, what you’re referencing would involve reverse engineering it, to act as somewhat of a magnet and draw all True Celestial magic to it temporarily, preventing them from being able to stop us. Nothing can truly snuff out their power permanently.”

“Correct.”

I smiled. “Ingenuous.”

“It’s something you can do?”

“Yes. However, this will obviously anger them. As such, to prevent ramifications, a bargain may need to be struck.” I took a moment, then revealed, “That was the only way I was ableto spare Mia. The price was the Covenant, making her their champion should Draco ever rise.”

“Fuck.”

“It was either that or they would have extinguished her lifeforce.”

“So, our child would bear a similar burden?”

“Yes. However, it will be different for her. She will have the strength and power of you and Mia to support her, and mine as well. Not to mention, Ryker, Lucian, Warlow, and Gabriel. A true family who will guide her and protect her.”

“Mia would hate for the same thing that haunted her to haunt her child.”

“Without it, she won’t have her child. As I’ve expressed, this field will not hold steadily for much longer without nourishment from her mother.”

Jaxonand I had struck a bargain much too similar to the one I had for Mia’s life centuries ago.

One that had caused her so much pain.

One that had led to her death.

It had taken us months to resurrect her, months of not knowing whether we would actually prevail.

Even, all these years later, I knew she was still haunted by it.

I could see it in the way she was with Ariana, especially where her connection to the Celestial Plane was concerned.

“I have a lock,” Jaxon spoke, pulling me from my pained thoughts.

He spun from staring out into the distance on the edge of the mountaintop, and walked back to where I was standing over the site of the spell Ariana had completed to reunite with her full power.

It bothered me immensely that she’d felt the need to separate it in the first place, that she’d been so afraid to be whole—to be her true self.

My granddaughter was miraculous, and it really deserved to be something that was celebrated.