Page 98 of Grave Revelations (Prophecies of Angels and Demons #3)

Chapter 97

Gabriel

Gabriel glided over the new settlement the humans had created for themselves, landing beside a tall oak tree. With the help of the seraphim, they had cleared the land, dug deep grooves in the soil, bent trees to their will, and called water from beneath the earth.

With the treaty broken, demons were no longer bound by height to wriggle over the ground as serpents, so the seraphim did not instruct the humans to build their houses tall. Instead, they would need to teach them to be on their guard for the creatures who remained. Though the seraphim hunted, it would be a long time before demons were wiped entirely from the mortal plane. Humans would have to learn to defend themselves.

A tug at Gabriel’s bond sent a flurry of warmth through his chest. She’d been doing that more and more since he’d sent Sophia with the news. Whether as a comfort to herself, a reassurance that he was still out there somewhere, or testing her ability to call to him, even through realms, he wasn’t sure, but he tugged back.

Rebecca tugged again, harder this time. He tugged back. She tugged again, and again, and again.

Alarm bells rang through him as he raced through the settlement, sweeping his gaze over the crowd. A yellow-eyed creature darted between humans and nasdaqu-ush, beating a path straight for him .

“Gabriel.” Sophia stopped in front of him. “Gabriel. The war is not won.”

He let out a breath. “What has happened to Rebecca? Is she injured? Has the Fallen…” His throat went dry. He’d never considered the possibility that his brother could breach the divide in death.

“No. Asher warned us that the end is not here,” Sophia explained. “There’s something else coming. Someone else.”

Gabriel ran a hand over his face. “What can you mean? There has only ever been one ruler in Primoria.” As he said the words, ice slid down his spine. How, in all that had transpired, had he forgotten Mahazael and Azrael? Where were they? What had happened to them?

He spread his wings. Could he chance returning to Primoria? It was a cold, empty place now, no longer separated across realms, but to go there might mean entrapment or a return to his former state. It was too great a risk.

“Who is Asher?” he asked.

Sophia wrapped a piece of hair in her finger, twisting and untwisting it. “He’s a guard in Sheol. He says Sheol will no longer exist when the end comes.”

Of course! The divide should have come down when Samael was defeated. The walls of Alaxia would have shattered, merging their realms, but they had not. Until all realms converged, they had not reached the end.

“Thank you, nasdaqu-ush,” he said, launching into the sky.

She shouted something after, but he hadn’t heard, intent on reaching Alaxia and warning the others.

He landed inside the gates, scanning the fields outside the palace. The souls were unchanged—sparkling lights drifting on the wind. Aniel’s wind, he thought. Wondering how he’d never realized before that Aniel had been their guardian, their protector all these millennia.

Had it always been meant for Aniel to suffer this fate to ensure he watched over them? It was cruel, but soon, very soon, Aniel would be relieved of that burden.

Gabriel reached the great hall and stopped inside bleached marble columns. Phanuel looked up from his map, spread wide across the long center table.

“Brother,” he said, striding forward to clasp forearms. “I have news. We aren’t at the end. ”

Phanuel released him, turning back to his map. “I’ve come to the same conclusion.”

“We have two more princes to kill.”