Page 23

Morning light filtered through the blinds, casting golden stripes across the kitchen table where Levi and I sat with cups of coffee and untouched plates of breakfast. Neither of us had much appetite, the events of yesterday still weighing heavily on us both.

Last night, we surrendered to our wounds and visited the Great Eternity Hall, where Lacey healed us both. Though, Levi didn’t tell her about his transformation, and I stayed quiet about it, respecting his decision. When ready, he was going to tell her.

Now, I watched Levi over the rim of my mug, noting the tension in his shoulders, the distant look in his eyes.

He hadn't mentioned his transformation since our conversation after returning to the apartment, but I could tell it was still foremost in his mind.

The guilt and fear lingered in the careful way he moved, as if afraid of his own strength, his own nature.

As for me, my dreams had been haunted by images of Ezekiel’s form disappearing in front of my eyes, of my mother and sister trapped in Elysium, their fate uncertain.

Mixed with those fears were echoes of the Reflecting Pool's magic, forcing me to relive the day I lost my wings over and over again.

I'd woken twice during the night, drenched in sweat, and each time, Levi had been there, holding me until the panic subsided.

We were a fine pair—both broken in our own ways, both trying to hide how close we were to shattering completely.

“You should eat something,” Levi said, breaking the silence. He nodded toward my untouched toast. “We need to keep our strength up.”

I managed a small smile. “Pot, kettle,” I replied, gesturing to his own full plate.

He acknowledged the point with a slight tilt of his head, then pushed his plate aside entirely. “I'm not hungry.”

“Me neither.” I abandoned the pretense of breakfast, wrapping my hands around my coffee mug instead. “Do you think?—”

My phone buzzed on the table between us, the screen lighting up with an incoming message. The number was unfamiliar, but something about the sequence caused my heart to skip a beat.

“What is it?” Levi asked, instantly alert to the change in my expression.

“I don't know,” I murmured, reaching for the phone with a strange reluctance. “But I have a bad feeling.”

The message was brief, just a few lines, but my blood ran cold as I read it:

Ariella. Come to Elysium alone. The central square. Tomorrow at dawn. Your mother and sister's lives depend on your compliance.

No tricks. No allies. Just you.

— Rhodes

I stared at the screen, my fingers tightening around the phone until my knuckles turned white. Levi gently pried it from my grip, reading the message with a darkening expression.

“Son of a bitch,” he growled, his eyes flashing with anger. “He's using your family as bait.”

“It's what I would do, in his position,” I said, my voice surprisingly steady despite the storm of emotions raging inside me. “He knows I'll come.”

“You can't seriously be considering this.” Levi set the phone down with careful control, as if afraid he might crush it otherwise. “It's a trap, sweetheart. He's not planning to let any of you walk away.”

“I know.” I picked up my mug again, but the coffee had gone cold, bitter and unappetizing. “But what choice do I have? They're my family, Levi.”

“And he's counting on that. On your loyalty, your willingness to sacrifice yourself for them.” Levi ran a hand through his hair, frustration clear in every line of his body. “If you go alone, you're dead. And then he'll kill them anyway, because why wouldn't he?”

I knew he was right. Rhodes wasn't offering a genuine exchange—he was trying to eliminate me, the one person who knew the truth about his plans, who had the allies and the will to stop him. My family was just leverage, a way to force my hand.

“I'm not going alone,” I said finally, decision crystallizing in my mind. “But I am going.”

Levi studied my face, searching for something. Whatever he saw there must have convinced him, because he nodded once, his expression grim but resolved. “Then we plan. We gather our allies. And we make damn sure that when you walk into Elysium tomorrow, you've got an army at your back.”

I reached across the table, taking his hand in mine. “Thank you.”

He squeezed my fingers lightly, careful of his strength. “Don't thank me yet, sweetheart. We've still got to figure out how to pull this off.”

Over the next hour, we reached out to everyone—Lacey and Abbie at the Great Eternity Hall, Farrah and Wyatt, Erin and Rey and the other demon hunters, Aspen and Boise, and finally, Kadriel and the Lost Legion. By early afternoon, we'd arranged to meet at the warehouse to plan our next move.

I left Rhodes's message unanswered. Let him wonder, let him worry. It was a small act of defiance, but it gave me a sliver of satisfaction in the face of his threats.

* * *

The warehouse was crowded with allies by the time Levi and I arrived.

Lacey and Abbie had set up a makeshift command center with the crates, spread with maps of Elysium that Kadriel had provided.

Farrah and Wyatt stood nearby, deep in conversation with Erin and Rey.

Aspen and Boise were examining what looked like small glass vials filled with a shimmering golden liquid—the elixir made from the lilies, I realized with a surge of hope.

And in the corner, standing slightly apart from the others, was an angel I recognized—the one who had guided us to the Lost Legion's hideout in the mountains. He straightened as we approached, offering a formal nod.

“Ariella,” he said, his voice deep and resonant. “Leviathan.”

“Didn't catch your name last time,” Levi said, his tone carefully neutral. Since his transformation, he'd been even more guarded around the angels, as if afraid they might see the demon lurking beneath his controlled exterior.

“Tarek,” the angel replied. “Commander Kadriel sent me to represent the Legion. The others are making their final preparations.”

I nodded, grateful for his presence. “Thank you for coming.”

“The commander believes in you,” Tarek said simply. “That's enough for us.”

His words warmed me, a reminder that despite everything that had happened, despite the betrayals and the losses, I wasn't alone in this fight. I had allies—powerful ones—who were willing to risk everything to help me save Elysium.

“Everyone's here,” Lacey called, drawing our attention to the center of the room. “We should get started.”

We gathered around the table, a circle of determined faces above the spread of maps and diagrams. Lacey took the lead, her expression serious but confident.

“Rhodes has made his move,” she began, gesturing to the phone where I'd shown her his message. “He wants Ariella in Elysium tomorrow at dawn, alone. Obviously, that's not happening.”

Murmurs of agreement rumbled through the group.

“We have two primary objectives,” Lacey continued. “First, stop Rhodes before he can use the dagger on Adona. Second, rescue Ariella's family and Ezekiel.”

“Have you figured out how we’re supposed to get into Elysium?” Rey asked, his arms folded across his chest.

Abbie held up one of the vials with golden liquid. “That's where these come in. Thanks to Ezekiel's lilies and Commander Kadriel's knowledge, we managed to create the elixir that will allow non-angels to cross into Elysium.”

“And we have more than we hoped for,” Lacey added. “Enough for everyone here.”

“That's the first part,” I said, taking over. “Getting in. But we need to be invisible once we're there. Rhodes will be expecting me to bring backup, regardless of his warnings. He'll have guards posted, watching for any sign of intrusion.”

“Which is why we've been working on this,” Lacey said, producing another set of vials—these filled with a clear, shimmering liquid.

“Invisibility potion. Lavinia shared the recipe with us.

It won't make us completely undetectable, but it'll make us hard to spot, especially if the angels aren't specifically looking for us.”

“How long does it last?” Farrah asked, taking one of the vials and examining it with a practiced eye.

“A couple of hours, give or take,” Abbie answered. “So timing will be crucial.”

I leaned over the map, focusing on the central square where Rhodes had instructed me to meet him.

“I'll enter through the main gate, alone as requested.

The rest of you will come in behind me and split into teams, taking different paths toward the central square, staying invisible until we're ready to act.”

“And when will that be?” Wyatt asked.

“Once I have eyes on my family and Ezekiel,” I said. “And once we've confirmed where Rhodes is keeping the dagger. We can't move until we know both.”

“We'll need to neutralize Rhodes quickly,” Tarek said, his voice grim. “He's powerful, and he'll have his most loyal followers with him.”

“We might have something,” Abbie said. We all looked at her. “While both potions were brewing, Lacey and I worked on a binding spell specifically designed for archangels. If we can catch him off guard, we can immobilize him long enough to take the dagger.”

“And what about Adona?” Erin asked. “Where does she fit into all this?”

“Kadriel believes she's being held in the Celestial Tower,” Tarek explained, pointing to a structure on the map. “Heavily guarded, but not impossible to reach if we create enough of a distraction elsewhere.”

For the next hour, we refined the plan, assigning teams and mapping routes through Elysium. It wasn't perfect—there were too many variables, too many ways it could go wrong—but it was the best we could do with the time and resources we had.

“Remember,” I said as we began to wrap up, “Rhodes is expecting a trap. He'll be prepared for almost anything. Our advantage is numbers and surprise. Once we lose either of those, the odds shift dramatically against us.”

“We understand the risks,” Rey said, his expression solemn.