Last Rite (24 page)

But I can’t. I need to find the strength to do this.

“Do you?” He shakes His head but then lifts His tortured gaze back to mine. “Do you know why He cast me out?”

“Pride…?” It comes out as more of a question than I mean it to.

He regards me with deep green eyes and a sad smile lifts the corners of His mouth. “That’s what they’ve led you to believe, isn’t it?”

“All the stories … the Bible … they all say that.”

He sighs. “Mortals are more comfortable when they have someone to blame. It makes them feel safer to compartmentalize everyone into good and evil. If they know where evil lives, they can avoid it. They want everything clear-cut. Black and white.” His eyes meet mine and His voice hardens. “Nothing is black and white. It’s all shades of gray.”

“I don’t…” I trail off as He backs away from me and threads His fingers into His hair, frustration etching His face.

“Good and evil are not separate. They’re two sides of the same coin. No single being is all good, just as no single being,” He says, pounding His fist into His chest over His heart, “is all evil. I was cast out because I loved God above all others.” His green eyes plead with me. “Does that make me evil?”

“But…”

I force myself to stand still as He moves closer, not sure what I’m feeling. This angel is Lucifer. I know that. But He
is
an angel. What if what He’s saying is true? I can’t help thinking that maybe He’s not pure evil. As if to validate everything I’m feeling, His next words tear my heart wide open.

“Take Matt for example. He’s not evil, Frannie. He’s the same brother you’ve always known. He has your best interest at heart. He’s trying to do the right thing by you.”

I feel tears well in my eyes and I swallow back the throbbing lump in my throat.

“He’s going to be fine. I won’t let anything happen to him. And if I come back…” He says, His eyes locking on mine, “so does he.”

I only realize I’m crying when I hear my breath hitch on a sob.

There’s sympathy in His gaze, and for an instant I almost forget who He is. He lifts a hand toward me, but drops it again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I need your help. Things can be as they were meant to be. Just one word, Frannie. That’s all it will take.” His voice is like cool silk, so enticing, and I feel myself becoming lost in it.

I’m mesmerized by His closeness—by the feel of the power coursing through Him into me. Filling me. I shudder, and that word,
yes
, is perched on my lips. “How were things meant to be? What are you asking me to do?”

He lays His hand softly on my shoulder and the pendant flares. “Bring me back.”

18

The Devil’s Own

GABE

I duck and roll as Aaron’s celestial blast, tenfold stronger than Matt’s Hellfire, takes out the hedge to the left of the door. My field is designed to repel Hellfire, but it’s useless against celestial attack. Because that’s never supposed to happen.

“Think about this, Aaron,” I say, gaining my feet.

“I have. More than you know. I’ve had a near eternity to think about it.”

I summon my own power and the celestial energy coursing through me stings my mortal flesh, but it’s a relief to know I can still manipulate it to my will. “Destroying me is not going to serve your purpose.”

An icy grin slits his face. “But it will feel
so
good.”

“So, then, you’re ready to join Matt in Lucifer’s kingdom? Because, if you do this, that’s where you’re headed.”

“There are two mortals whose memories will tell a different story. The image of Matt attacking you is what He will receive.” He shakes his head slowly. “And the only other witness is a Grigori, who will swear that I tried to protect you.”

“Daniel will not lie for you,” I say.

A confident smirk settles over his face. “I wasn’t referring to Daniel,” he says coolly as Faith steps from behind the maple tree in the back corner of the yard.

She stares at me for a long heartbeat with dark, dead eyes.

“Faith…”

Her beautiful face twists with pain. “I would have done anything for you.” A tear leaks over her lashes and down her cheek.

Aaron chuckles. “You know what they say about a woman scorned.”

I look at her, begging her with my eyes. “Please, Faith. Just go inside.”

Instead, she tucks back behind the tree.

“We’ve had a little talk, and she sees you for what you are now. She understands how you manipulated her.” A malevolent smirk twists his face. “As I said, there will be ample proof that Matthew is responsible for your death. So tragic when a pupil turns on his mentor.” Aaron’s hand lifts like a shot, and a blast of white lightning rips past my head as I roll to the side.

I hear Faith scream from behind the tree. “No!”

“Don’t do this, Aaron,” I say, regaining my feet.

My heart slams into my ribs as I see Faith slip out from behind the tree and move slowly in around Aaron, her eyes wild with fear. With a quick glance, I try to warn her back, but I don’t dare do more and draw his attention to her.

“Aaron,” I say, lifting my hand, hoping to keep his eyes trained on me. “This is a really bad plan. Even if He believed I was destroyed by Matt, you wouldn’t be in line for my job. He’d want another Dominion.”

“I’ve proven myself over and over. For eons I’ve done exactly as I was asked. He’ll see that and reward me. I’m sure of it.”

“What He’ll see is your pride.”

“No.” He shakes his head violently, lightning crackling over his raised hand with the flare of his temper. “I’ve never put another above man. That’s where Lucifer went wrong. It’s because of my love of man that I want your job. His children need someone who can truly protect them against Lucifer.” The hand at his side opens, gesturing around him. “And all anyone has to do is look at where we’ve ended up to know you’re not up to the task.”

I watch as Faith flanks his blind side. Before I can do anything, she jumps on his back, pulling him off balance. They fall to the ground and I fly at them as Aaron turns and lays his hand on Faith’s arm. I wrap my arms around her mid-dive and pull her out of Aaron’s grasp, but, just at that instant, there’s an electric jolt that runs through her into me.

I groan and roll off Faith as the scent of burnt flesh hangs heavy in the humid night air. Faith convulses and then lies motionless on the ground.

I’m barely off the ground when he unleashes another bolt. This time I don’t get out of the way quickly enough and his blast strikes my arm. In my celestial form, this would do little physical damage, but in my new pseudo-mortal body, it rips a chunk of flesh from my shoulder, leaving a bloody crater, and throws me to the ground.

Aaron’s eyes pull wide as he sees the damage he’s inflicted. His gaze flicks from the wound to my face. He raises his arm, very slowly, as his expression of disbelief shifts into triumph.

The slam of the back door draws his attention and, instead of unleashing his blast on me, the streak of lightning from his palm shoots toward Maggie, who stands wide-eyed on the back porch. She barely has time to flinch before the lightning consumes her.

My cry, “No!” morphs into a growl as I unleash a bolt of my own and the celestial charge rips through my flesh. Aaron screams and drops to the ground as my blast connects.

And then something slams into me, where I sit dazed on the ground. At first I think it’s Faith—that she’s not dead after all—but then I realize it’s Maggie.

I can’t understand how she’s not a pile of ashes on the porch. I watched Aaron’s bolt hit her. There’s no way a mortal could survive a direct celestial blast.

“Get up!” she screams, tugging my arm, snapping me from my daze.

I gain my feet just as Aaron’s retaliatory flash reaches us, but instead of incinerating us, it splinters around us as if it’s hit an invisible barrier. I feel the distinct crackle of a field that isn’t mine surrounding us.

When the lightning stops, I look into Maggie’s terrified eyes. “What did you do?”

She starts shaking and steps closer to me. “I … I don’t know.”

I look down at Aaron, who glares up at me and fades out. Faith lies crumpled on the lawn, faint tendrils of white smoke curling around her.

I pull Maggie to my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

She nods, but she’s staring past me at Faith, looking anything but okay.

“Where’s your father?” I ask.

Her voice is shaky as she responds. “Inside. With Grace.”

I reach out but am still unable to identify what the energy crackling around us is. It’s definitely some sort of field, but it’s not mine.

Something to do with electromagnetic fields?
Daniel had mused about Maggie’s power.

He was right.

Maggie is a human Shield.

A sigh heaves my chest. It’s not just Frannie and Grace. There’s much more to this family than being Nephilim.

My heart lifts and sinks all at the same time. Maggie and Grace will protect Frannie in ways even I can’t. Grace can repel the nefarious, and Maggie can protect her from physical attack from both the infernal and celestial. But it means they’ve both just become soldiers in the war.

Maggie hugs me so hard I’m surprised, in my current state, that she doesn’t crack a rib or two, but I don’t let her go, and as I hold her, flooding her with peace, I feel the crackle of electricity soften and disappear as her shaking slows.

“Go inside. Find your father,” I say, guiding her gently to the door.

Once Maggie’s inside, I turn back to Faith. I kneel at her side, and for all the good it will do, I pray that it’s a celestial that comes for her. I reach for her, but her form is already becoming less substantial as she starts to fade from this plane into the netherworld. I breathe away the ache in my chest and stay with her until she evaporates like fog. When she’s gone, I kneel for a moment more before reaching for my phone and calling Luc.

LUC

I’m just climbing into the Shelby when the phone in my pocket vibrates. I snap it open.

“Frannie’s at her grandfather’s,” Gabriel says. His voice is thick, and panic kicks hard in my chest.

“What’s wrong? Is she okay?”

His voice hardens. “Just get to Ed’s.”

I’m peeling out of the parking lot before he’s even finished the sentence. “I’m on my way.”

“I’ll meet you over there,” he says, and then he’s gone.

The drive feels like an eternity, even though it can’t be more than five minutes. I race into the driveway and my door’s open before I’ve stopped.

When I see Gabriel pounding on the door, I do a double take. His arm is in a makeshift sling and his shoulder is haphazardly bandaged.

I rush up next to him, adrenaline pounding through my veins. “Why are you knocking? Just shift in there.”

“I can’t,” he snips. “There’s some kind of field.” He pounds again. “Frannie!” he yells.

“Why isn’t Ed answering?”

He shakes his head. “Matt said something about him not being himself.”

“Unholy Hell,” I mutter. Panic kicks harder in my chest at the revelation that someone has managed to possess Ed and throw up a field that even Gabriel can’t penetrate. “Keep trying,” I say as I bound away from the door.

I skirt around the house and peer through the family room window. The room is dark, but as I watch, a light flicks on in the corner and Ed staggers slowly toward the door. He looks drunk—or postpossession, which can knock the Hell out of a mortal. He moves from one piece of furniture to the next for support as he makes his way to the door.

I jog back to the front of the house as he approaches the door and reach the porch just as he cracks it open, leaving the chain latched.

“What do ya want?”

“Ed,” I say. “Frannie’s here, and she’s in danger. Please let us in.”

His gruff scowl pulls into concern. “I told ya this mornin’. I haven’t seen her.”

I fight to stay calm. “Ed, listen to me. I know this doesn’t make any sense right now, but I’m telling you the truth. She’s here. She’s in the house.”

His eyes grow suspicious. “I’d know if she was here.”

“Please trust us.”

That’s when his suspicious eyes shift to Gabriel. “Who’s us?”

“This is Gabriel. Please let us in, Ed.”

He takes in the sling and the bloody bandages under Gabriel’s singed T-shirt. “You’re
that
Gabriel?” he asks, skeptical. “The angel that’s been helping Frannie?”

Gabriel nods, but guilt flits over his features.

He stares a moment longer, then the door slowly closes while Ed undoes the chain. For a second, I’m not convinced he’s going to open it again and Gabriel shoots me a panicked glance, but then it swings wide and Ed stares us down a moment longer.

“She ain’t here,” he says, but he seems less adamant.

“It’s a really long story,” I say. “How are you feeling?”

He rubs his temple. “Like I’ve been trampled by the Budweiser Clydesdales.”

“It’ll pass,” I say as Gabriel loses patience and pushes past Ed into the house.

“Frannie!” he calls just as a door in the hall opens and Frannie spills out.

FRANNIE

It sounds like a battering ram is coming through the front door.

Lucifer looks down on me, a hint of desperation in His eyes. “Say it, Frannie. Pledge yourself to me and make me what I was meant to be.” His hand, which had been soft on my shoulder, tightens uncomfortably.

I hear Grandpa’s bedroom door open, and I skirt around Lucifer toward the door, pulling out of His grasp. I remember that I’m naked except for the towel when I feel His fingers trail over my back. I yank on my jeans and a tank top and bolt for the door. Lucifer grabs me around the wrist before I make it.

“Do you believe in me?”

I turn and pull away from his grasp. “I do, but I need to go. Grandpa needs my help.”

He shakes His head as a slow smile creeps across His lips. “It’s nothing your grandfather can’t handle.”