Last Rite (26 page)

Gabe shoots Luc a warning glance, and Luc hangs his head.

Panic kicks in my chest. “What?”

Neither says anything.

“Is everything okay? You said Faith was there,” I say, looking at Luc.

He glances at me then at Gabe, who won’t look at me.

“Tell me what’s going on!”

Finally, Gabe looks up. When he speaks, his voice is low and pained. “Faith is dead. Aaron killed her.”

“No.” It feels like someone kicked me in the stomach, and the word comes out in a whoosh. I close my eyes and focus on breathing. When I finally can, I say, “Everyone else is okay?” I know it’s selfish, and I feel sick thinking about Faith, but I have to know about my family.

“Your family is safe,” Gabe answers.

“What happened? Who’s Aaron?”

Gabe presses into the wall and sighs, but his body remains tense, his muscles coiled tight. “The guardian I sent to protect Maggie.”

His answer throws my thoughts into chaos. I can’t make any sense of it. “A guardian
angel
? A guardian killed Faith?”

He nods, and I see it’s taking an effort to keep himself together.

“Gabe?”

His fists clench and his face twists as he fights for control. He turns toward the window as a pained growl rips from his lungs. It hurts just to listen to it, and I know in that instant, from the despair in that sound, that she told him. He knows she loved him.

I don’t dare say anything. I don’t dare move.

He pulls a hand through his thick platinum waves and turns to look at me. “She trusted me, and I let her down,” he says. “It’s my fault. I killed her.”

I move slowly toward him. Luc looks away as I wrap my arms around him and send him my heart. I don’t want him to hurt. I want to do for him what he’s always done for me.

After a few minutes, his breathing slows. He lifts a hand and strokes my hair. “Thanks.”

I pull away and look up into his face. “I owe you about a thousand more.”

His smile is small and sad. “Maggie’s fine,” he says, and I realize he’s picked the still barely contained panic out of my head.

I’m afraid to say what I’m thinking, but he already knows I’m thinking it, so, “Is this Aaron still protecting her?”

He shakes his head. “Maggie can take care of herself.”

I’m losing control of the panic. I feel it snaking its way up my throat. “What does that mean?”

He glances at Luc again then back at me. “She has her own gift. She’s a human Shield.”

“A what?” Grandpa and I say together. I look up and Grandpa’s standing in the kitchen with a mug in his hand.

Gabe blows out a sigh. “She appears to be able to manipulate electromagnetic fields to form an energy field around herself—and anyone close to her—that functions as a Shield.”

“How do you know?” I ask.

“Aaron attacked me. Well … actually, Matt attacked me first. Grace stopped him with some sort of prayer, and then Aaron decided to finish the job.”

Fear swirls into the panic already climbing my throat as my last shred of hope for Matt evaporates like fog in a breeze. Still in a bit of a daze, I choke back the lump rising in my throat. “Grace … what?” I ask.

He closes his eyes and drops his head. “It appears your sisters have been given gifts that would be useful to your survival—and theirs.”

I take a second to process that. I’ve always known there was something different about Grace. “What can Grace do?”

“She sees auras—a being’s true essence,” Gabe says warily, but then a cautious smile curves his lips. “And, handily enough, she can repel demons.”

I take a deep breath. “Well, that explains a lot,” I mutter.

“It does.”

Everyone’s heads snap to the silky disembodied voice in the darkest corner of the hall. Two green eyes glow out of the black.

20

Not-So-Divine Intervention

FRANNIE

In a heartbeat, Luc has me behind him and Gabe is standing in front of us with white lightning crackling over the hand pointed in Lucifer’s direction.

“Stop!” I say, wriggling out of Luc’s grasp.

Lucifer steps down the hall and the dim light slanting through the bedroom door reflects off His golden hair, casting a halo around His head. A lazy smile quirks one side of His mouth and His eyes pierce mine. “We meet again, my lady.”

“She’s not your lady,” Luc says, his tone measured. I can see that he’s not afraid of his old king, but he pulls me behind him again.

Lucifer’s eyes flash to Luc. “Oh, but she is. And yours too.”

“Stop,” I scream again, and push past Luc to Gabe, tugging on his raised arm.

Everyone freezes, and for a long heartbeat it’s silent. Then I feel Grandpa’s arm ease around me.

Lucifer peers over my shoulder at Grandpa. “Except for the blue eyes, the resemblance is uncanny,” He says, then shifts His gaze to Luc. “Wouldn’t you say?”

Luc doesn’t respond but continues to stand between us, jaw ground tight and murder in his eyes.

Lucifer looks back at Grandpa. “He was my Left Hand, your father, and he gave it all up for you.”

I can’t read Grandpa’s expression as he stares at Lucifer. “Frannie shouldn’t have to pay for my sins,” he finally says.

My heart collapses and I turn to him. “Grandpa. No. Don’t ever think that.” I wrap my arms around him. “This doesn’t have anything to do with that.”

Gabe still has his lightning hand pointed toward Lucifer, and Luc looks ready to spring at any second. I have to defuse this. There’s no choice. I dig deep and push with my mind, “We’re all on the same side,” I say. “Let’s talk about this.”

Slowly, the crackle of electricity over Gabe’s hand lessens as his arm lowers.

I turn to Grandpa and pull him deeper into the family room. “Go to your room and stay there,” I whisper to him.

“I’m not leavin’ ya with that—”

“Please, Grandpa. I can’t let anything happen to you.”

His eyes narrow and he moves to his old recliner and sits. My stubbornness came from somewhere. I hold my breath for a second then blow it out in a long sigh. I sit on the couch and turn to the boys. “Everyone sit.”

Their eyes clash for a brutal moment and I brace myself for all hell to break loose, but then Gabe and Luc come over to sit on either side of me.

Progress.

“As you wish, my lady,” Lucifer says, dropping into the loveseat across from us.

I glower at Him. “First of all, stop calling me that. You’re not helping.”

He sinks deeper into the loveseat, lacing His hands behind His head as if settling in for a baseball game, and twitches me a private smile. “I’ll call you whatever you’d like. But you need to understand that you’re not a common mortal. You are much more than that.”

Something inside me twists as both Luc and Gabe stiffen, and I hope my shake isn’t very noticeable. My pulse pounds heavier with each passing moment and I ache from the tension.

“I am pleased, however, that your protectors are taking their duty so seriously.” Lucifer’s gaze shifts from Luc to Gabe and lingers over his bandaged shoulder. His green eyes spark. “Though I feel compelled to mention that they’re both looking a little worse for wear.”

“Then why did you use Matt to lure her away?” Gabe shoots.

“Because I needed a moment alone with her to get us to this point, where we can sit down and discuss this,” He answers with raised eyebrows.

“So, we’re here now,” I interject. “How do we do this?”

Lucifer smiles. “We talk.”

I inhale deeply and I think to myself,
here we go
. “Okay, so, Lucifer. You want to return to Heaven, yes?”

I decide I imagined the flash of His eyes and the minute pause ’cause, when He answers, His whole face brightens. “Yes, my lady.”

“And you’re willing to give up your power over Hell.”

“My reign in the Underworld means nothing to me. To return to the Kingdom, I’d relinquish it without hesitation.”

I glance sideways at Luc and Gabe. The look on their faces is not what I was hoping for. Luc is coiled tight, ready to spring, and Gabe has his twitching lightning hand on his knee as they stare Lucifer down with blatant distrust.

And that’s when I realize how futile this is. A few words are not gonna break down eons of history.

I cringe away from the realization that the only way this is gonna happen is if I make it happen. I don’t want to force them with my Sway. But …

I look back at Lucifer as I struggle with what to do. He gives me an “I’m trying” shrug. His devil-may-care expression hardens, however, when I reach for Gabe’s and Luc’s hands and give them a squeeze. I breathe deep to settle my nerves.

“This is real. Things are on the edge of changing forever. Do you see how big this is? How can this not be what I was meant for?” Trying not to think about it, I push the thought with my mind and ignore the knot in my gut. “This is what I’m meant for—to bring Heaven and Hell together.”

Gabe’s shake slows and Luc softens slightly. “How can you possibly know He’s sincere?” Gabe asks, but it’s no longer in anger. I can tell he’s thinking about it.

I look across at Lucifer, who shrugs again.

“Give me something to show you mean it,” I say.

Lucifer’s brow lifts. “Whatever you wish. Name your peace offering.”

“Taylor.” Tiny shards of ice stab at my gut as I say her name, and I realize my request is spectacularly selfish, but it’s what I want more than anything.

The king’s face pinches into a grimace. “I’m not able to give you a condemned soul. For that, you’d have to go to your beloved Almighty. Would you accept a lost brother in lieu?”

“Matt,” I whisper. “Could you make him an … angel?”

“Once again, his ultimate fate is not for me to decide, but I can release him from Hell’s service. He’d be free to return to Earth as a Grigori.”

I glance sideways at Gabe and don’t miss the pain in his eyes. He feels responsible for Matt’s fall. Would it ease his guilt if Matt had a second chance?

“If He gives us Matt, will you believe Him?” I ask.

Gabe’s tortured eyes turn to mine, but he doesn’t answer.

I look back at Lucifer and can’t stop the glare. “And I want you to call Hell off my family. I want Marc and any other demon lurking around them gone.”

An amused smile plays over His strong features as Lucifer rises from the loveseat and steps toward me. “Anything else, my lady? Maybe a cheeseburger and fries?”

“Stop calling me that,” I answer through gritted teeth.

He holds out His hand and the boys are instantly on their feet glaring at Him. I glance between them and Lucifer’s outstretched hand.

I need to keep His trust.

Luc and Gabe both stiffen as I reach for His hand and He draws me to my feet. “I will return with your peace offering,” He says, the heat of His gaze scorching me. Then, in a puff of sulfur, He’s gone.

GABE

My head is cotton candy, and I know it’s Frannie’s Sway. I can’t decide if I’m contemplating this because she wants me to or because in some little corner of my mind, I know what she’s saying makes sense.

Since I first was asked to Shield her as a child, I’ve known she was meant for something big. Huge. And she’s right. I can’t think of anything bigger than bringing Lucifer back to the Kingdom. But believing that’s possible entails a certain degree of trust in Lucifer, and that’s where I get stuck. I didn’t know Him as an angel. Sometime before the War there may have been some good in Him. But I’m certain that the Almighty was right in His decision to cast Lucifer down, which means any chance at redemption is long gone.

Frannie glances up at the clock, which reads nearly midnight. “I need to get home,” she says.

“It’s late,” I say. “Your sisters are safe. They’re sleeping behind your father’s field.”

I see the scrunch to her forehead that means she’s preparing to argue.

“Frannie,” I preempt. “Showing up now will only frighten them. They’ll be fine until morning. We’ll go first thing. Promise.”

Her eyes narrow. “First thing,” she repeats.

“First thing,” I confirm.

She breathes deep and looks at me a moment longer. “C’mere,” she says. “Let me change your bandages.” She grasps my hand and turns for the bathroom.

I follow her and she closes the door and proceeds to pull gauze, tape, and antibiotic ointment out of one of the drawers. Tugging me over to the toilet by my shirt, she places the supplies on the edge of the counter and sits me on the toilet seat. She leans in to me as she gently slides my sweatshirt over my head.

“You have no idea how worried I was,” I say to distract myself from her proximity, and her smell, and the way I want to pull her to me and never let her go.

She peels the tape back from my skin and grimaces. “I’m pretty sure I do.”

“Why did you run?”

Something hardens in her expression as she dabs at the swollen red crater in my shoulder with a damp cloth. “You know why.”

“I told you Maggie was fine. It’s a miracle you got here in one piece,” I say, all the pent-up anger, fear, and frustration of the last twenty-four hours bleeding through into my words.

“You wouldn’t let me come back, and I had to see for myself,” she answers, indignant as ever. “Plus, they’d found us anyway, so it wasn’t like we could stay in Florida.” She tosses the bloody cloth into the sink and smears some ointment on the gauze.

That much is true, but … “Coming back here probably wouldn’t have been the next choice on my list.”

She places the gauze on my shoulder and yanks the first-aid tape a little harder than necessary to tear it. “I had to see for myself,” she repeats. She throws the sweatshirt in the trash.

We emerge from the bathroom to two sets of inquiring eyes.

“Do you have a T-shirt Gabe can have?” she asks Ed.

He scoots into the bedroom and comes back holding a black T-shirt with a red Mustang across the chest and tosses it to me.

I slide it over my head, careful of Frannie’s bandages. “I’ll take outside,” I say to Luc. “You keep an eye out here.” As I stride through the family room to the door, Luc’s and Ed’s eyes follow me. And so does Frannie, a scowl fixed firmly on her face. She’s not done with me.