Page 101 of Grave Revelations (Prophecies of Angels and Demons #3)

Chapter 100

Gabriel

Raphael had joined them, flanked by Phanuel and Camael as they raced down gilded halls. “Are you certain we need him?” Phanuel asked.

Gabriel’s gaze swiveled to Phanuel. “He was our mightiest ally in the first war.”

“He does not care about the fate of humans.”

“This affects us all,” Raphael supplied.

The group slid to a halt outside marble columns striated in gold.

A harp played on a phantom wind in the room's corner, where Michael sat. “What?” he asked, looking up.

Gabriel and Phanuel exchanged glances before they both turned to Raphael. He glanced between them, then stepped into Michael’s room. “Brother, we are in need of your aid.”

Michael’s golden brows dipped, a mirror to his twin in every way apart from Raphael’s sunny disposition.

“No,” he said in a bored tone.

Raphael took another step toward his twin. “It is the end, Michael. You must join us.”

Michael’s gleaming eyes darted to Gabriel, Camael, and Phanuel still hovering in the hall. “You seem well enough equipped for the challenge. ”

“Would you leave our fates in the hands of the others?” Raphael asked. “It could mean doom.”

Michael stood, stalking toward his twin. “I felt it when our brother fell. The same as the rest of you. Do not treat me as a fool.” He turned, bending his single wing behind him. It gleamed in the light, brighter somehow than Raphael’s pair.

Gabriel strode into the room, tucking his wings tightly behind his back. “He was not our only enemy.”

Michael’s gaze slid to his pure wings, then his blue eyes. His lip curled, the only outward sign of his jealousy. “What do you want? What scheme have you hatched that involves me?”

“Chamuel and Sariel fell,” Gabriel explained.

“As did you. Yet here you stand. Restored.”

“They have not returned to the fold,” Phanuel said, moving to stand beside Gabriel. He, too, folded his wings together behind his back.

“I served our Father. I paid with my wing, and Father did not see fit to return it to me. My service is complete.” Michael moved to the window, giving them a full view of his back.

On one side, his feathery white wing stretched almost to the gilded floor. On the other, a dark slash bisected bronze skin. He made no effort to hide it.

“Brother,” Raphael said. “We are the only pair. It rests with us.”

Michael snorted. “Yes, the famous Gemini twins. We were so successful before, yet we only banished the Fallen from this plane. Do you think we stand a better chance against two of them when I am half a seraph?”

“We need only extinguish their dominant gift,” Raphael said.

Michael turned from the window, facing the group. His gaze swiveled to each of them, meeting their eyes. “I. Can’t. Fly!” What began as a clipped statement ended in a shout. “Get out!” He picked up a vase and hurled it at them.

Raphael spun, racing from the room. Phanuel and Camael followed. Only Gabriel remained.

Michael’s chest heaved, his eyes wild as he searched his vacant room for something new to smash. When his breathing slowed, Gabriel moved, sliding forward to place a hand on his brother .

“I lost everything, even my very sanctity,” Gabriel said. “And yet, when I found the will to fight, I was restored. Consider Father’s love before you close the door eternally.”

He turned, leaving Michael to contemplate his words.

Phanuel led them down the hall. They stopped in each arched doorway, rallying brothers and sisters to aid them. When they reached the end of the first hall, they had amassed a small horde.

Gabriel’s chest buzzed with nervous anticipation. He didn’t relish the thought of facing Chamuel. He had been his closest ally for nearly a millennium and a valiant adversary to any who challenged him. His chest spasmed again.

It wasn’t nervous anticipation. It was something else. Warmth bled from his center, leaking down his arms and middle. It reached his legs and continued south. He was bathed in warmth from head to toe. A soft humming had begun in his chest, his soul singing softly.

Raphael’s head shot to the left.

“What is it?” Zadkiel asked.

“The boat,” Raphael said, sprinting away to open the gates for newly arriving souls.

It couldn’t be…

Gabriel followed him, breaking into a run. The humming became chanting, singing from the rafters, reaching some great crescendo, and then he was at the gates, and they were swinging wide.

Souls filtered through, carried into the fields by an invisible current. He dodged them, moving erratically, sweeping between small blue wisps.

Rebecca was there, running, sprinting toward him, and his arms came around her, lifting and spinning her in the air. Gabriel inhaled, and it was apples and chocolate and her . He folded her into his tight embrace, burying his nose in her hair, reveling in every place their skin met.

She wrapped her arms around him, twisting in his grasp until she nuzzled his ear and ran her nose along his lobe.

“I missed you,” she said.

My light in the infinite darkness. I was bereft without you .

She exhaled a long sigh against his neck. He loosened his hold after what felt like an eternity—which was all too soon.

“How?” Gabriel asked.

She slid down in his arms, feet touching Alaxian ground. “Simon stayed so I could go.”

The name should have irked him, annoyed him at the very least, but in this moment, he had only gratitude. For once in the creature’s life, he had done the right thing.

A tear formed along Rebecca’s lashes as she said, “I remember. I remember everything. Did Sophia tell you?”

Gabriel nodded, running his fingers through her curls.

“John and Henry?”

“They’re here, Light. Resting with the other souls.”

She whimpered softly against his cheek. “I can’t wait to see them.”

He leaned back, taking her in, committing every tiny freckle to memory. “The war is not won yet,” he explained. “Mahazael and Azrael have not relinquished their thrones in Primoria. It's not over until they do. Or until they are ended.”

Rebecca nodded, wiping a tear from her cheek. “I brought you something that might help.” She reached into the pocket of her long white robe, producing an ancient lance made of bone.

Light, you’re brilliant. He took it, sliding it into an illusory sheath at his side. “Stay here. We will stop them. Then I’ll return, and we’ll have forever.

He released her hand, moving toward the gates.

“Wait.”

He stopped.

Their eyes met, hers shining with unspoken sorrow, and he rushed back to her, scoping her up in his arms.

“They don’t need me,” he said. “My place is here. With you.”

Gabriel pressed his lips to hers, sucking her bottom lip between his teeth. The warm taste of dark chocolate and tangy apples dripped on his tongue, and he tightened his hold on her .

She moaned into his mouth, lips moving on his as she clutched him in a desperate embrace. Images of her first life flashed through her mind. All the times he’d left her, racing to join some cause, and the desolation he left in his wake.

I’m so sorry, Light. For everything.

Their lips parted, and he tipped his forehead to hers.

Tears ran down her face, and he released her, wiping them away. “Come, I’ll show you our room.”

He wrapped his hand around hers and tugged her forward. She halted, and he stopped, turning to face her.

What’s wrong?

“I can’t let you give up the fight for me,” Rebecca said. Her eyes misted again, and she wiped the tears away.

Gabriel retraced his steps, wrapping his arms around her once more. “Nothing matters to me more than you.”

She nodded, swallowing. Her racing thoughts told him more than her words had, though. She was terrified for the humans, her friends, and the fate of the Earth. Guilt coated every thought; she would never forgive herself if she were the reason evil had won.

Light, look at me.

She looked up, eyes meeting his.

Whatever happens won’t be your fault.

She sniffled, tears streaking down her face. Selfish. Always been selfish. They’ll die.

You’re not selfish. I am.

“I can’t,” she said aloud. “I thought I could, but I can’t ask you to stay while all your siblings fight. You have to go.”