Page 96 of Grave Revelations (Prophecies of Angels and Demons #3)
Chapter 95
Gabriel
Gabriel swept his gaze over the stark white walls of his room, and for the first time in centuries, calm settled over him—a sense of inner peace he’d never imagined feeling again.
Beneath it all, though, guilt gnawed at him, demanding he rejoin the fight. He’d sat out long enough. Rebecca was in the safest place until he could end things with Samael once and for all, and when the fighting was over, he would find her. If he had to, he would bring down the realm to return to her side.
He stepped out of his room and halted, looking up into dark eyes that had once mirrored his own. “Aniel.”
Aniel’s normally somber expression was lighter, more hopeful than Gabriel had ever seen it. Aniel reached for his brother, wrapping an arm around each forearm.
“Do you come to join the fight?”
Aniel shook his head, his gaze traveling out the arched window to the sparkling souls swimming lazily over a field of golden stalks.
“The end,” Gabriel said, squeezing his brother’s arms. “Stay with them and usher them into the new era. ”
Aniel nodded, his lips inching up at the corners. It was the closest Aniel had come to a smile in three millennia. It sent a burst of hope clattering through Gabriel as he ran for the gates.
Gabriel landed on cracked, scorched earth and gazed over what remained of Bath, North Carolina. The fight had long since departed this part of the world, and all signs of life had gone with it.
He launched into the night sky, sweeping over an endless terrain of destruction. Where human dwellings and paved streets had once carved a path over the landscape, there was nothing now but thick smoke and scarred earth.
He soared higher, reveling in the cool mist ghosting over newly formed feathers as he burst through the clouds in search of his brethren, the demons, Samael.
A tremor ran through him. Thinking of Samael brought back visions of that dark room: Rebecca raising her hands overhead, plunging bone into her chest. A pain worse than death cleaving through him as she died and their bond was severed. Again.
Samael would pay. He would feel every ounce of suffering Gabriel had when his mate was torn away, cast into oblivion as she was cleaved from him. He didn’t have the lance, but without Primoria’s magic to restore him, Samael could be killed once and for all.
Lightning flashed in the distance, and he sped forward, barreling toward it.
A wide grin split his face when he stopped in America’s capital, hovering just over the once pristine building that housed their nation’s leader. Hordes of demons swarmed the seraphim, outnumbering them ten to one, and at their center, a shadowy king spread flaming wings.
“Satan!” he shouted, and the Fallen’s attention fell on him.
Samael’s dark laugh reverberated across the expansive distance, rolling like thunder. All at once, demons turned to face him, their king singling Gabriel out. They redirected, buzzing toward him in a great swarm .
Calling lightning from the sky, Gabriel formed two spears and tipped forward, racing to meet them.
Arcs of light shot from his spears, ricocheting off dusky forms as they approached. He didn’t slow, tearing through them as he shot ahead.
Brightly-hued beings appeared on his left and right, flanking him as he advanced. He grew—expanding, stretching, forcing his form to its limit. Around him, his brothers and sisters ripped through their demon enemies, paving his way.
Samael’s manic grin faltered only a moment before Gabriel slammed into him, embedding both spears deeply in his chest.
They tumbled through the sky, Samael’s crimson wings winking and sputtering before reforming. As they spun, Gabriel called the wind, commanding it to whip and lash Samael while increasing the force of their spin.
Samael dug sharp talons into Gabriel’s wings, sending pain lancing through him.
A resounding crack rent the air as one of Gabriel’s white wings fell away, sailing in a funnel of air. He screamed, releasing his bolts of lighting still embedded in the Fallen, and called two more, spearing them through Samael’s neck.
They spun toward the ground, the world zipping past.
Samael wrapped a taloned hand around each of Gabriel’s arms, working to wrench him off, but Gabriel pressed harder, forcing lightning through the corded muscles of his brother’s neck until there was a popping, tearing sound as they crashed, torpedoing into snow-packed rock.
Samael’s head kept sliding—free of his body—and landed several yards away.
Dozens of feet hit the ground around Gabriel as his siblings helped him up. He leaned into Phanuel’s shoulder, wincing at the gaping wound where his wing had been.
Hands came down, resting on all his aches and wounds, and healing magic bled through him. On his back, the bleeding stopped, injuries knitted together, his wing bone reforming and spreading fledgling snowy feathers. Somehow, they seemed whiter and more pristine even than before. It would take some time for all the feathers to fill in, but it had been worth the sacrifice .
The seraphim bowed their heads for their fallen sibling, feeling his loss as they had Dina’s, even knowing there could only be one end.
When Gabriel was mostly healed, he stretched his wing experimentally and strode forward, kneeling beside his brother. He laid both hands on the once angelic form of Samael and let out a great sigh, returning his brother’s body to dust. He prayed he would find peace at last.
One by one, the seraphim launched into the sky—led by Phanuel—to scour the Earth for any remaining demons and vanquish them once and for all.
Gabriel landed atop the snowy mountains in Denali National Park; all was still and quiet. For a moment, he thought perhaps he had come to the wrong place, but a scratching sound came from somewhere to his left, and snow fell aside, revealing a deep cave.
Sophia appeared before him, looking him over. “You look awful.”
He laughed, rubbing a hand over his face. “I’m here to tell you the Devil has been defeated. My brethren continue to slaughter the demons, but you are safe to return to…”
She raised an eyebrow, daring him to say home. He didn’t. Home would be wherever they could carve a place for themselves now. She nodded, looking past him to the horizon.
“It’s nearly dawn,” she said. “I have a message for you before you go.”
Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest. “What message?”
“She remembers.”