Page 31

All around us, the injured were being tended to, their blood staining the white marble floors as they were carried to the tower's infirmary.

I watched as Erin expertly bandaged a gash on Rey's arm while Farrah, leaning heavily on Wyatt for support, created small ice compresses for those with minor injuries.

“The elixir won't last much longer,” Aspen warned, checking a small timepiece he'd pulled from his pocket. “Maybe another hour at most. We should start arranging transport back to Earth for everyone who needs it.”

I nodded, the practicalities of our situation slowly filtering through the fog of exhaustion. Our non-angelic allies couldn't remain in Elysium without the golden lily elixir—and once it wore off, they would be violently ejected from the realm.

“We’ll make sure everyone who needs to leave can do so safely,” I said.

Levi squeezed my hand, his eyes questioning. “And you? Will you stay?”

Before I could answer, movement near the observatory entrance caught my attention.

Three figures were making their way through the rubble—Ezekiel, supporting my mother on one side and my sister on the other.

Their wings were folded tightly against their backs, and all three looked exhausted but unharmed.

“Ariella!” My mother broke away from Ezekiel, rushing toward me with tears streaming down her face.

She enveloped me in an embrace so tight it made my ribs ache, but I didn't care.

I hugged her back just as fiercely, burying my face in her shoulder as all the fear and longing of the past five years crashed over me like a wave.

“I'm so sorry,” she whispered, stroking my hair as if I were still a child. “I should have believed in you. I should have known you could never do the things they accused you of.”

“It's okay, Mom,” I said, my voice muffled against her shoulder. “You couldn't have known.”

She pulled back, her hands framing my face as she studied me with tear-filled eyes. “Look at you. My baby girl, all grown up.” Her gaze flickered to Levi, who stood a respectful distance away, watching our reunion with an unreadable expression. “And with quite the interesting companion.”

Despite everything, I found myself laughing. “That's one way to put it.”

Adriel approached more cautiously, her expression guarded in a way that made my heart ache. She had always been the more emotional of us, quick to laugh, quick to cry, quick to forgive. This reserve was new, a sign of how deeply Rhodes's lies had affected her.

“Hi, Adri,” I said softly, using the nickname from our childhood.

She studied me for a long moment, then stepped forward into a brief, tight hug. “I didn't want to believe what they said about you,” she whispered. “But after a while, when you didn't come back, didn't try to contact us…”

I squeezed her gently. “I know. And I'm sorry. I wanted to, but it wasn't safe—for any of us.”

She nodded against my shoulder, then pulled away, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. Her gaze, like our mother's, drifted to Levi. “So, a demon, huh? That's unexpected.”

I reached for Levi's hand, drawing him closer. “This is Levi. He saved my life. More than once.”

Levi inclined his head with unusual formality. “It's an honor to meet Ariella's family.”

My mother looked him up and down, her expression unreadable. Then, to my surprise, she stepped forward and embraced him as well. “Thank you,” she said simply. “For protecting my daughter when I couldn't.”

Levi stiffened for a moment, clearly caught off guard, then awkwardly patted her back. “She protected me just as much,” he said, his voice gruff with emotion he was trying to hide.

A throat cleared behind us, and we turned to see Adona standing with Kadriel and several other archangels who had remained loyal throughout the crisis.

Despite her restored form, Adona still looked shaken, her normally immaculate appearance disheveled, her wings showing signs of damage from her transformation.

“Ariella,” she said, her voice stronger than I would have expected given her ordeal. “A word, if I may.”

I squeezed my mother's hand reassuringly before following Adona to a quieter corner of the observatory. Levi moved to stay behind, but Adona shook her head.

“No, please join us,” she said. “What you've done for Elysium today gives you the right to be part of this conversation.”

We gathered in a loose circle—Adona, Kadriel, three other archangels whose names I didn't know, Levi, and me. Despite the informal setting, I could feel the weight of history in this moment, the sense that decisions made here would shape Elysium's future for generations to come.

“What happened today cannot be allowed to happen again,” Adona began, her gaze moving from face to face. “Rhodes and Ylena exploited weaknesses in our system—weaknesses I allowed to develop through my own complacency.”

“You couldn't have known what they were planning,” one of the archangels protested.

“Perhaps not,” Adona acknowledged. “But I should have been more vigilant, more involved. I trusted my archangels blindly, delegated too much authority without sufficient oversight.” She sighed, looking suddenly ancient despite her ageless appearance.

“And Elysium nearly paid the ultimate price for that trust.”

“So what happens now?” Kadriel asked, her injured arm still held carefully at her side despite no longer being in a sling.

“Reform,” Adona said simply. “Meaningful, lasting change to the way Elysium is governed. More transparency, more accountability, more democracy, for lack of a better term.”

I blinked in surprise. The concept of democratic governance was almost unheard of in Elysium, where Adona's rule had been absolute since the realm's founding.

“And greater unity with other supernaturals,” Adona continued, glancing at Levi. “Rhodes's fear and hatred of non-angelic beings blinded him to the strength that comes from diversity, from alliance. If today has proven anything, it's that we are stronger together than apart.”

“The Lost Legion would be willing to help with these reforms,” Kadriel offered cautiously. “If our exile is officially ended.”

Adona's expression softened. “Kadriel, old friend.

Your exile was a mistake—one of many I made in trusting Rhodes's counsel too readily. You and your followers are welcome to return to Elysium, with all rights and privileges restored.” She looked at me.

“As are you, Ariella. Your name will be cleared, your service honored as it should have been from the beginning.”

I nodded, grateful but still too overwhelmed to fully process what this meant for my future. “Thank you.”

Adona straightened, her wings extending slightly in a subtle display of renewed authority. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe I owe an explanation to all of Elysium.”

We followed her to the edge of the observatory balcony, where she could look down on the courtyard below.

Angels had gathered there in the hundreds, looking up at the tower with confusion and fear written across their faces.

The fighting had stopped, but tension still hung in the air like storm clouds.

Adona raised her hands, and her voice, amplified by magic, carried to every corner of the Celestial Tower and beyond.

“Angels of Elysium, hear me. Today, we have faced a betrayal without precedent in our history. Archangels Rhodes and Ylena, whom many of you trusted and respected, plotted to overthrow me, to reshape our realm according to their own distorted vision.”

A murmur ran through the crowd, some angels nodding as if they had suspected as much, others looking shocked and disbelieving.

“They framed an innocent guardian, Ariella, for crimes she did not commit,” Adona continued. “They allied with demons, they murdered fellow angels, and today, they nearly succeeded in destroying everything we have built together over millennia.”

She gestured for me to step forward, and reluctantly, I did, feeling hundreds of eyes turn toward me.

“This guardian, whom many of you were told was a traitor, has instead proven herself the truest protector Elysium could ask for.

At great risk to herself, she returned to us with the truth, with allies willing to fight for our realm, and ultimately, with the means to save me from Rhodes's corruption.”

I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment as some angels in the crowd began to murmur my name, a few even raising their wings in a traditional salute of respect. This was the last thing I had expected or wanted—to be held up as some kind of hero.

“In the days to come,” Adona said, “we will begin the work of rebuilding—not just our physical structures, but the trust that has been damaged, the unity that has been fractured. This will not be easy, nor will it happen quickly. But I believe, with all my heart, that we will emerge stronger for having faced this trial together.”

She lowered her hands, and the magical amplification faded, her final words meant only for those of us standing closest to her. “Thank you, all of you. Elysium stands in your debt.”

Then, to my complete shock, Adona embraced me.

The leader of Elysium, the most powerful angel in existence, pulled me into a hug as if I were family, as if I were worthy of such intimacy.

For a moment, I stood frozen, too stunned to react.

Then, slowly, I returned the embrace, feeling the tremors that still ran through her frame despite her show of strength.

“I meant what I said,” she whispered, her voice for my ears alone. “Elysium needs guardians like you—ones who remember what we truly stand for, even when others forget. Whatever you decide about your future, know that you will always have a place here.”

As she released me and turned to address the other archangels, I felt a strange mix of emotions wash over me—relief, exhaustion, a tentative hope for the future.