Grace
“Noah?”
I scramble to my feet, not quite believing what I’ve just witnessed. But despite what he’s done—what he’s accomplished—all I care about is what happened to my brother.
“Noah!” I scream as I slide down to join Keira on his opposite side. The floor is slick with his blood, and I shake my head back and forth like I can reverse what happened by refusing to accept it.
“Please, Noah. Please don’t be dead.”
I can’t understand why Keira isn’t uttering a sound. But when I glance up at her, ready to take out my anger, I see the look in her eyes. She watches him, holding his still hand, and I know what she’s feeling. As much as my heart breaks for my sweet baby brother, I know how I would feel if it were Josh taken from me.
It’s how I felt when Josh leapt in front of Cam’s blade to save me.
I scoot over and put an arm around her, pressing my head to hers, and we cry together.
At some point I feel Josh kneel beside me and pull me into his arms.
Finally, Keira stands, wiping at her eyes. “Where do you think he is?” she asks, timidly.
“I hadn’t considered… I mean… He’s down…there, right?” I ask, still gripping Josh for support.
Keira hesitates. “I’ll check. But I’m not so sure. He did just kill Lucifer. My Hell, he killed Lucifer.”
Keira disappears. I cling to Josh even tighter, holding my breath.
Keira reappears, dismay on her face. “He wasn’t there” is all she’ll say.
“He’s got to be in Heaven,” Josh says softly. “He saved my life. My fight with Lucifer poisoned me. I was sure I was done for, but I just opened my eyes, and all the pain is gone. As is Lucifer.”
He was dying? And Noah saved him. He saved us all. Of course he must be in Heaven.
“Go find him,” I say to Josh, finally releasing my grip. “Find Noah.”
“I wish I could bring you with me,” Josh says, standing and pulling me into his arms with such earnestness I want to cry. I cling to him as he’s surrounded by the warm glow of Heaven and press my eyes closed, relishing the all-too-familiar yet distant sensation of it.
“Grace?” Josh sounds frightened.
I open my eyes and glance up. I’m standing by the gates of Heaven, clouds swirling around my feet. I let go of Josh and take a step back, turning around and around, half expecting to burn to the ground, but I don’t.
“What? How?” I ask, tears swimming in my eyes.
Shona runs toward us and hurls herself at me, throwing her arms around me with a squeal. “He did it! Michael brought you back.”
“Shona, Michael’s dead. So is Lucifer.” Josh pulls her back by the elbow.
Her face contorts with grief and understanding.
“But Noah. He died so that Lucifer would be ended,” I say. “Please tell me he’s here.”
Shona’s eyes fill with pity. “I’m so sorry, Grace.”
“No. He has to be. It doesn’t make sense. He wasn’t in Hell. He…” But Josh and Shona exchange such a sad look that it stops me.
“How can he not be anywhere?” I ask.
He can’t just be gone. He was human. He’s supposed to be in Heaven or Hell. There’s no other alternative, except when an Angel or Demon is ended…
“Oh!” Tears burn my eyes, and I cover them with my hands. They burn, literally. Like a Demon. “What’s happening to me? How can I be both here and a Demon?”
Josh rushes to my side, but I’m almost afraid to touch him, even though I was holding him moments before. I’m so confused.
Shona taps her chin and places a hand on my shoulder, unafraid to touch me. “Calm down, Grace. I believe that when Lucifer died, he relinquished his control over you. So in a way, you are like Josh now. Because Noah’s blood didn’t injure him like it should have, Michael surmised that Josh will always have a bit of Demon inside of him.” She smiles. “And you’ll always have a bit of Angel in you. You two are unique. If I had to guess, I’d say Josh could visit Hell as well. You may well be the only two beings in the universe that can freely visit either place.”
“I don’t care what you are, as long as we can finally be together,” Josh says, reaching for me. “But we have to go back and tell Keira that Noah isn’t here.”
I nod, taking his hand. I don’t want to break her heart, but she has to know.
We appear back in the demolished lobby of the once-beautiful hotel, where I gasp at the sight of Noah’s body, still on the floor. Then I glance up to find Keira and a second Noah tangled together in the center of the remaining chaos.
Josh clears his throat, and they separate, Keira practically glowing like I’ve never seen before. I guess that’s how she looks when she’s actually happy.
“You’re here!” I scream and rush forward into Noah’s arms.
Noah spins me around and sets me back down with a grin. “Apparently you can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“But you said he wasn’t in Hell.” I glare at Keira for making me worry so much.
“He wasn’t,” she says, taking his hand and entwining her fingers with his. “He just appeared here after you left. I thought you sent him down to me.”
We all turn to Noah in question. He can’t be alive. Not with his body lying on the floor feet from us.
“I made the choice,” he says.
“What choice?” I ask, exhausted and confused.
“I’m going to miss you,” Keira says, tears springing to her eyes. She must understand something I don’t.
“But I’m not leaving you for Heaven,” Noah says, pulling her close. “I’m staying where you are. I chose with my blood sacrifice. That was the prophecy. I crowned myself King of Hell.”
“So the prophecy—” Josh starts.
“Meant that I got to decide whether Lucifer’s way was right or not. It was a Day of Judgement for him—not for humanity. And I got to decide who should be the new King.”
“But to do it,” I say, finally understanding with awe, “you had to sacrifice yourself, spill your own blood in order to destroy him.” All this time, we all assumed the One was supposed to be unadulterated evil. No wonder Noah never seemed to fit as the Antichrist.
“I guess I just have the ability to see things like they are. Except maybe when it comes to those a little too close to me.” Noah gives me a shy half-smile that melts my heart.
“You’re choosing Hell? For me?” Keira asks, interrupting the moment. “But you deserve—”
“To be with the woman I love. There’s no more Lucifer to hurt us and keep us apart. Hell’s going to be different from now on.” Noah draws Keira close and strokes her hair back from her face, making Josh clear his throat again before they start kissing.
“So what do we do about…that?” Keira asks, nodding toward the decaying corpse of Lucifer.
“And that?” Josh says, pointing at Mr. Griffith’s corpse, too.
“We rule,” Noah says, turning back to Kiera and tapping her makeshift crown. “My queen.”
Keira laughs, clapping her hands together, and then throws herself at Noah once again.
“So they’re just going to make out. In the middle of this mess,” Josh says.
I turn to him with a smirk. “I’d say they’ve waited long enough. And so have we.” And without another word I launch myself at Josh, throwing my arms around him and tangling my hands in his curls. “We can finally be together,” I say, searching his vivid blue eyes.
“Together forever,” he confirms, teasing my lips with his before settling into the sweetest, most passionate kiss we’ve ever had.