Last Rite (35 page)

Luc’s arms pull me tighter. “You have lots of support, Frannie. We’ll figure it out as we go,” he says.

As if on cue, Maggie walks past my door and peers in. Dad grabs her and tucks her under his arm. She squirms for a second but then settles into his side and looks at me expectantly.

I heave a sigh. “But…”

“You’ve already accomplished so much, Frannie,” Luc says, brushing his fingertips over my cheek. “You just need to tap into your power and—”

“Spread the love,” Grace interrupts.

I look up to find her tucked under Dad’s other arm. The way she looks at me still creeps me out a little, but at least I understand it now.

“Spread the love,” I repeat skeptically. “How is that gonna bridge the gap between Heaven and Hell?”

“Have faith, Frannie,” Grace says, and I can’t help thinking of Faith. Lead rolls through my stomach at the thought of everyone I’ve already lost. Faith, Taylor, Grandpa … and Matt.

“Matt…” I look at Dad. “Is he gonna be okay?”

“He’s safe. Once he’s atoned, the Almighty has agreed to allow him to join the Grigori. He may be of some help to you, but his powers will be limited.”

Out of nowhere, I feel the pull. It’s becoming more familiar now. The first time I felt the faint tickle in my chest, I thought I had indigestion. But now I know what it is. And I know what I have to do.

“Speaking of Her…” I jump into Luc’s unsuspecting arms and he fumbles for me, almost dropping me. “Bye, Dad!” I say as I close my eyes. I think of where we need to go and instantly I have that sickening sense of floating again. I hear Luc groan.

“This is so different from phasing. I keep thinking I’ll get over the motion sickness,” he says through clenched teeth.

The rush stops and I open my eyes. I grab Luc and pull him tighter when I feel him let go of me, suddenly afraid of losing him too.

He reaches up and trails a finger along my cheekbone, and I can see my glow reflected on his hand. “This…” he says, “… is going to take some getting used to.”

I weave my fingers through his. “It’s just me, Luc.”

His eyes slide to mine and his expression is reverent. “I always knew you were too good for me.”

I shove him hard. “Stop looking at me like I’m some sorta god!”

“But you are.”

“I am not!”

“Well, you’re certainly
something
,” he answers, waving his hand in a circle at me.

I pull him close, rubbing strategic parts of myself into strategic parts of him, wanting him to look at me the way he used to—with reckless abandon. I close my eyes and spin us in a circle.

When I open my eyes again, Luc is gazing into them, a wicked smile on those angelic lips. “Well, this opens a whole new world of possibilities,” he says with a spark in his eyes, his voice thick.

I press my lips to his and his electric kiss causes my heart to skip. “So, you’re getting over that ‘too good for me’ crap?” I say when our lips part.

“Working on it,” he whispers into my ear, then his lips glide across my cheek and find mine again.

I jump at the sound of a throat being cleared. When I turn and look around the Collective, Grandma is sitting in a white wingback armchair.

Luc is immediately on his knee.

“The meeting is set,” She says into the silence. “Are you ready?”

I feel myself starting to shake, but then Luc’s fingers thread into mine from where he kneels next to me. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

She gains Her feet and the chair instantly vanishes. “Good.”

“I still don’t really understand this,” I say. “Am I still mortal? And why did Luc go back to his body?”

“Both of you need to be able to travel through planes into all three realms. That’s easier if you have a corporeal form to return to on Earth, but neither of you is mortal.”

I feel dizzy as I try to process that. “We’re immortal.”

She nods, moving closer.

I buzz all over and realize I’m glowing. “So … are we angels?”

She laughs. “No. You are …
unique
.”

I’m not sure if I like the sound of that. “Unique,” I repeat warily.

“Both of you are one of a kind. You, my dear, are borne of three worlds, and Luc…” She touches Luc’s shoulder, beckoning him to stand, “… is borne of Hell but belongs to Heaven.”

Luc stands and we share an uncertain glance.

“So, that makes us…?” I press.

Her iridescent smile broadens. “Unique.” Her expression turns sympathetic when She sees the apprehension break across my face. She loops an arm around each of us. “I know this is a little overwhelming. We’re charting new territory. But things will unfold from here and we will all learn. You will figure out the rules as you go.”

Panic flutters through me, making me feel queasy. “I’m gonna screw this up.”

“You will be fine, my dear girl, as long as you follow your heart.”

“My heart…”

She gives my shoulders a squeeze. “You should always keep Grace close when you’re on the mortal coil, but there’s no point bringing her where you’re going now. Maggie and Kate, on the other hand…” She contemplates this, tapping a finger on Her chin. “I don’t think so. I don’t expect any trouble this trip, so we should show good faith.”

“Maggie’s been a total pest. It will be good to give her something to do,” I coax.

“Next time.” Grandma grasps Luc’s hand. “Are you ready for your first day on the job?”

He drops to his knee again, keeping his head bowed. “Yes, your Grace.”

“Very good.”

“Will Michael be there?” I ask.

Grandma’s smile is warm. “It will go better if you meet with them individually to start. You’ll know when it’s time to bring them together.”

She winks and cold mist swirls around us, like being sucked inside a cloud, and then She’s gone.

Luc stands from his kneel and I weave my fingers into his hair. “So, where were we?”

His laugh is indignant. “You’re joking, right?”

I press harder into him. “Not really.”

“The Almighty just sent us on a diplomatic mission, and you’re going to blow it off…” he says in a clear attempt to scare me into submission. What he fails to realize is that the defiant set to his face just makes him that much hotter.

“I wasn’t gonna blow it off. Just delay it for a few minutes,” I say with a shrug.

His strong arm around my waist crushes me to him. “We’ll have time for that later,” he whispers in my ear.

I love how his body is saying one thing and his lips are saying another. My hands slide up his chest. “You’re sure you want to wait,” I tease.

With his smile, warmth spreads through me like a wildfire.

“You’re stalling,” he says. “The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can get you alone.”

An involuntary grin pulls at my lips. “Now we’re talking.”

He kisses me as I close my eyes, and we swirl through time and space.

We’re still kissing when I feel the crush of lava rock under our feet and the stench of brimstone stings my nose. A trickle of sweat rolls between my shoulder blades and I squirm in Luc’s arms.

“
Damn
, it’s hot,” I say when he pulls away.

He closes his eyes, his face pinched in a grimace, his whole body tensing.

I reach up and trace my index finger over the piercings in his eyebrow and down his cheekbone. “Is it hard being back here?”

He heaves a sign and nods. His eyes open and he peers over my shoulder at the source of the flickering vermilion light. All his defenses bristle. “It’s too quiet,” he says warily. “No screaming.”

The strong sulfur of brimstone makes my eyes water as I glance around and take in my surroundings. High stone walls rise in front of us, scarred by heat and eons of abuse. Over the top of them, ruby waves illuminate the surrounding gray, like light reflecting off a pool. The blistered iron Gates are ominous, black and bulky, and a sense of hopelessness creeps into my heart just looking at them. Through them I see the flicker of a huge white flame in the distance, and past that, roiling violet and gold lava. As I stare, the Gates swing wide, and Rhenorian saunters through in his ginormous human form. In his hands is a heavy wooden sign. It’s roughly carved, and from this angle I can’t read what it says.

“Are you going to stand there like a couple of Ozone Heads,” he calls, with a red-hot glare in our direction, “or are you going to help me with this?”

Luc grasps my hand and we move to where he stands, our heels crunching loudly over the coarse lava rock. Rhen props the large chunk of wood against the Wall and unhooks the old, charred sign hanging next to the Gates from the rusty chains. He hands it to Luc.

“‘Abandon hope all ye who enter here,’” I read and grin at Luc. “Your boy Dante?”

He nods without taking his wary eye off Rhen.

“You’ve always been so melodramatic,” Rhen says with a scowl as he hooks the new sign up. “I’ve never liked that. So cliché.”

Luc glares and I’m starting to think bringing Maggie might have been a good idea.

“Hey, bitch. You dead too?”

My breath catches at the sound of Taylor’s voice.

I spin and find her propped on the Wall just inside the Gates. She looks catlike, in sleek black, with her pink and yellow spiky hair.

For a second, I can’t even move except to shake my head.

She pushes away from the Wall and starts to walk through the Gates, but Rhenorian holds up a hand and growls. She stops and shrugs with a doleful smile. “If you’re not dead, what are you doing here?”

I glance at Luc, who inclines his head toward Taylor, indicating that it’s okay for me to go to her. “I’m … um…” I stumble, unable to think. “Is that really you?” I say, moving slowly toward her, feeling a little numb.

“The one and only,” she says with a sideways smile.

I can see her essence, pale gray with specks of green, gold, and brown. “Oh my God,” I breath.

When I reach her, she pulls me into a hug, even though that was never really our thing, then shoves me away and smirks. “Yeah … about that. Think you could put in a good word for me? This heat is killing my complexion.”

Rhen leers at Taylor and growls, but she doesn’t back off. Instead, she gives him her signature lascivious smile. “Don’t be that way, big boy. You knew it was too good to last.”

I find myself smiling so hard I’m convinced my face is gonna crack. “Careful, Tay. I’m not sure you’re helping your cause,” I say in warning.

Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “There’s a cause to be helped?”

“That’s what I’m here to figure out … how to make that work.”

Her face goes slack. “Seriously?

“The Almighty never planned for Hell to be like this,” I say with a wave of my hand toward the Gates.

Her eyes pull wide. “And you know this because…?”

I cringe a little against Taylor’s reaction. “Because She told me.”

“
She
told you,” she says, incredulous.

I nod as Luc steps up beside me and lays his hand on my shoulder. “She did,” he confirms.

“Guess there was more to that holier-than-thou thing you had going on than I gave you credit for.”

I glance down at myself and still can’t get over the glow. “I guess so.” I step back to get a better look at the new sign hanging over Rhen’s head:

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

I meet his gaze. “Let’s talk, Rhen.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There’s something bittersweet about wrapping up a trilogy. My characters are so real to me that it feels sort of like saying good-bye to a close friend. I hope you’ve all enjoyed Frannie, Luc, and Gabe’s journey. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming along for the ride.

I also want to thank all the people who have been so patient in their guidance and support of this trilogy. They deserve more credit than I do for getting these books into so many hands. First, thanks to my truly fabulous agent, Suzie Townsend, for her love of Luc, Frannie, and Gabe and for all her tireless work on my behalf. She’s a sparkly rock star. My seriously cool editor, Melissa Frain, has once again helped me make this book into the book I thought I wrote. I’m forever indebted to her for her faith and trust in me as a writer. Thanks to the Tor Teen team, including but not limited to Aisha Cloud and Seth Lerner, for all their support behind the scenes.

I learned early on that the most valuable tool to my writing is a critique partner who will be honest and supportive with her feedback. Andrea Cremer has been a godsend. Not only did she help make this book what it is, but she named it too! Thanks also to Kody Keplinger, sounding board extraordinaire, who, on several occasions, has dropped everything at a moment’s notice to read for me.

There aren’t words to properly thank my family, who has been uber-understanding about all the time I’ve spent with my imaginary friends. I couldn’t have asked for a more incredible group of people in my corner.

And because, yes, my muse is still a wannabe rock star, I want to send a special thanks to the amazing artists who shaped the characters and the story. Ben Burnley and Breaking Benjamin were a huge influence to the overall story. Breaking Benjamin’s “Give Me a Sign” is the song that embodies Frannie’s journey; “Dear Agony” is the musical embodiment of my most conflicted character, Gabe. A huge thanks to Rob Beckley and Pillar for “Rewind,” the song that shaped Luc. Thanks also to David Draiman and Disturbed for the dark and haunting song “The Night,” which shaped this novel as a whole.

TOR BOOKS BY LISA DESROCHERS

Personal Demons

Original Sin

Last Rite

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lisa Desrochers is the author of
Personal Demons, Original Sin,
and
Last Rite
. She lives in central California with her husband and two very busy daughters. There is never a time that she can be found without a book in her hand, and she adores stories that take her to new places and then take her by surprise.