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“No!” I said, slamming my hand on the ancient wooden table. “I will not let you sacrifice your soul for me. Lucifer will make your time in hell unbearable.”
“I can handle it,” my father said.
“You can deal with it... forever?” I gawked. “For-ever,” I repeated.
He shrugged and then nodded. “Yes. As long as I know he can never get to you or Tom, I’ll endure.”
I lifted my hands in the air and walked away. I would never win this argument with my dad. He was hell bent and hell bound.
“Please, Ty,” my mother said and he turned to her.
“Babe, you had to know this was only temporary. Forever was never in the cards for us, right from the beginning.” She went to argue and he held his hand up. “I don’t belong here and if my sacrifice saves our son, you damn well know I’ll make that choice any day and twice on Sunday.”
The room burst into arguments against the plan laid before us. Everyone from my uncle, who I was named after, to my half-sister, voiced his or her disdain with the idea. I stepped outside the little hut, unable to deal with the erupting chaos.
My part was set in stone now that I had Uriel’s grace blazing in my blood. I had to take back my body and close every portal to Hell that existed.
Getting into my body shouldn’t be hard with the power of Heaven behind me. The difficult part would be getting Lucifer out and keeping him out. Otherwise, I risked infusing him with the grace Uriel gave me and that would be disastrous.
The only hiccup... neither Damian, Valerie, nor I could relinquish Lucifer’s spirit to Hell from anywhere other than within Hell’s portals.
It had to be someone who navigated the boundaries of the spirit world.
It had to be someone born of angel blood.
And it had to be someone who had fallen from grace.
My father was the only one in Heaven who met the criteria and I was his motivating factor. That would haunt me each time I destroyed a portal, because every time I closed a door, my father’s chances for freedom diminished.
One of the silent observers stepped out next to me and I glanced at him. It was the actor who played my father in the movie Survival Games. I remembered his death. He dove in front of a bullet meant for my mother.
“I never got the chance to thank you,” I said, meeting the eyes that mirrored Tom’s.
He gave me a nod. “My sacrifice didn’t go to waste. Neither will your father’s. I once said your dad was the most courageous man I’d ever met,” he said and glanced at the landscape. “He still is.”
I huffed and crossed my arms, leaning against the white wall. “But trading an eternity with my mom for unending agony...” I trailed off just shaking my head.
“When you become a father, you’ll understand why he’s willing to endure an eternity at Lucifer’s hands for you,” he said and turned to go to wherever he called home up here.
“What about you?”
He stopped and turned. “I may have been able to circumvent the boundaries of Heaven a couple of times, but I’m not an angel descendant,” he said. “And I never fell from grace.” He lifted his hands in a shrug.
“Watch over my mother?” I asked and his features softened.
“Until the end of time.” He turned and disappeared around the corner.
The bickering continued, and the door opened again. A familiar face I hadn’t seen earlier gave me a smile.
“Sarah.” I smiled back and gave her a hug.
“Hey,” she said. “Can you do me a favor when you get back?”
The fact she said when gave me an indication of the faith she had in me.
“Sure.”
“Tell Steve not to sweat it,” she said. “I know it probably won’t make a difference, but I understand why he did what he did. I wasn’t pleased, but I guess the alternative was far worse. Besides, I finally found happiness up here with my sister... and all.” A glint in her eyes shimmered like there was more.
“I will,” I said and followed her back inside.
Sarah stepped to Eric’s side and the glance they shared told me just how good Heaven had been to them. She slid her gaze to mine and offered a smile, confirming that she and Eric both had found their happily-ever-after.
“End of story!” my dad bellowed, holding his hands in the air to stop the chatter. “If I don’t do this, Lucifer wins.” He scanned the crowd and his gaze landed on me. “If I don’t, Lucifer wins,” he said directly to me.
And therein lay the crux of the situation. No matter how devastating the sacrifice, I couldn’t let Lucifer win. It was a very personal battle now. I clenched my jaw, crossed my arms and nodded assent.
He glanced at the sun’s position and inhaled.
“Game on,” he announced, bringing his gaze back to mine, and the hardness and resolve reflected in his eyes made me shiver. I had never seen his ‘angel of death’ persona, but now I understood. He pulled it off like no one I’ve ever seen.
He broke eye contact and crossed to my mother. Without a word, he pressed his lips to hers, lingering the way I had with Valerie. This was a true goodbye kiss and he had to forcefully unwrap her arms from around his neck and step away.
“Love you,” he whispered and turned, sending a nod at everyone else before stalking to my side.
“Dad?” my half-brother Eric said.
My father turned, meeting his gaze.
“Give ’em hell,” he said, but there wasn’t the usual upbeat lilt I remembered. Instead, he turned and circled his arms around my mom.
“Will do,” my dad said and grabbed my arm, leading me out the door. I think he moved quickly so he didn’t change his mind, but it was enough to form a lump in my throat. He glanced down at me. “It’ll be just fine,” he said and I tried on a smile to acknowledge him, but I’m sure it failed at being anything near reassuring.
Michael and Uriel stood in the inner sanctuary around the mighty tree and my father led me through the maze of fruit and flowers and stopped at the last bridge. The conflict surfaced in his hesitation and when his head shook and his jaw tightened, I pulled back.
“You don’t have to do this.”
He met my gaze and planted a kiss on my forehead. “Yes, I do, and so do you.” He ruffled my hair. “I love you, CJ, and I’m so proud of the man you’ve become.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I said and stepped onto the bridge with him.
Fog rose from the stream, blocking out the rest of heaven, but light bathed the interior, and the ground faded, giving us a clear view of a snow covered Paradise Cove.
Lucifer was still unconscious, but now had my open shirt draped askew over his shoulders and the jeans on but the belt was looped around his wrists behind the chair. His feet were bare and a shade of red that wouldn’t be pleasant to wake to. Valerie stood nearby, dressed in a warm down coat that must have been one of Jennifer’s from the house. Tom and Damian flanked Valerie like silent guards, and Raven laid out her fortifying stones, making it safe for them to be within arm’s length of Lucifer.
“He has to be awake,” Michael said and leaned on the trunk of the tree.
“Can they see us?” I asked and all three of them shook their heads.
The only one on the ground who seemed distracted when we spoke was Tom.
“Tom can hear us. Can’t he,” I asked.
Tom tilted his head in response, as if he was listening to a distant storm. He shook his head and Valerie gave him a sideways glance.
“I thought I heard something,” he said and her eyes widened. She hadn’t ever been to Paradise Cove, so she had no idea what kind of mystical powers it contained, like the one that allowed my brother to talk.
I had to smile at the awe that lit her eyes and the real hope that sprang into her face.
Lucifer stirred, pulling his head up enough to crack an eye, before it dropped, lolling on his shoulders again.
“The belt isn’t going to be enough to hold him,” I said and again Tom perked up.
A low rumble skittered across the sky and everyone looked up at the storm clouds gathering overhead. I don’t ever recall seeing an electrical storm over the Cove in the winter. Plenty of snowstorms, but thunder and lightning in the dead of winter were a rare occurrence.
Lucifer’s eyes blinked open in confusion. I know what he last remembered and for a second, I felt pity, but it vanished just as quickly when he licked his lips and said to Valerie, “Help me.”
He was playing the game again and raw fury encompassed me when Valerie stepped forward.
“It’s not me,” I growled and Tom’s hand reached out, grabbing her arm, stopping her from stepping into the circle and outside of their protection.
The way Lucifer’s gaze transitioned from helpless beggar to wrathful archangel was enough to make everyone step back.
“You ungrateful bitch,” he snarled.
I glanced at Michael and Uriel, receiving a nod. My dad gave me a quick hug and then the power of Heaven gathered around me, forming a powerful lightning bolt. My father winked and growled, “Game on!”
Lightning filled the sky, sending a spear straight toward Lucifer’s heart.