Holy shit. A little fifteen-year-old with a major attitude just made me fall to my knees. And she made it look easy.

I was so screwed.

Standing, I grit my teeth. If I succumbed so easily to her, I couldn’t imagine what I could do for the Dark Prince when he asked me to open the gates of Heaven.

“Again,” I ordered, locking my knees. Step one of my plan to free Sera and Raksha was to learn to withstand the Dark Prince’s power over me. I had to do this.

That flash of purple in her eyes was back. “Kneel.”

My legs buckled and I went down with a groan. Beating the ground with a fist, I stood quickly.

“Again!”

We tried it twenty more times before Lincoln intervened. “Try using your powers. Bring forth your Raphael healing power and… I don’t know, try to push the command away.”

That didn’t really make sense, but I knew what he was trying to say. Just locking my knees and physically trying to withstand it obviously wasn’t going to work, so it was about time I relied on another tactic.

Lincoln turned to Emberly, who looked bored out of her mind. “And can you do something different, so she isn’t anticipating it? Can you make her do things without speaking out loud?”

The teenager squirmed a little under Lincoln’s direction. “I can try.”

Great. Something was about to happen, and I didn’t know what. Thanks, hubby.

I called forth my light magic and let it rest in my palms, unsure what to do with it, when her eyes flashed purple again. Out of nowhere, my right palm opened and smacked me in the forehead, splashing my face with light magic, which tickled.

Oof.

Emberly giggled a little, and I cut her with a glare.

“Again.”

I wouldn’t give up, no matter what. It wasn’t in me to quit. Sera would never give up on me, and I owed her the same courtesy.

Two

Being married was cool, but Lincoln had some serious PTSD about my kidnapping. It had been a month now since our wedding, and he would not leave my side. I was surprised he even let me go to the bathroom alone. Classes, Emberly’s training, girl time with Shea, time with my mom? He. Was. There. If I thought it was just because he wanted to hang out with me, I wouldn’t mind, but I knew it was because he was afraid of me being taken again.

Today was his first day back at work. He was going out into the war zones for a night shift, and Shea was staying over at the trailer with me. Blake and Darren had been assigned to help command the army outside the walls, and were frequently away from campus, doing night shifts in the war zone. Tonight, Lincoln would meet up with them, to help with the effort.

“Maybe I should ask for more time off.” He paced our trailer, raking his hands through his hair.

“Babe.” I never used pet names with him, but I would if it would get his attention and make him stop for a moment. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”

It wasn’t like Lincoln could do much if Lucifer showed up here. Lucy felt all powerful at times, and I wasn’t sure Lincoln could take him down like he thought he could.

“I just wonder if I should maybe take a year off. Until this whole thing is over.”

I could see the stress in his body, in the way his shoulders bunched up, arms always slightly flexed. Padding over to him, I wrapped my arms around him.

“We need the money. I have my heart set on buying an actual house one day for all our kids to live in.” Not to mention he paid for my mom to live in Angel City as well. Something I told him he didn’t need to continue to do, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. My checks were a lot smaller than his, and I wasn’t even sure I would be paid since I was banned from going into the war zones until Lucy was dead.

A huge grin lit up Lincoln’s face. “All our kids?”

I chuckled. “Like one or two of them.”

He shook his head. “Nope, you said ‘all.’ That’s at least four.”

Laughter pealed out of me. Standing on my tiptoes, I pressed my lips to his, claiming his mouth in a deep, passionate kiss. Pulling back, I ran my fingers along the scruff at his jawline, and then leaned forward once more, my mouth on his as his hand came up around my neck, bringing me closer.

When I finally pulled away for good, I was a bit breathless. “I think we’ll do better if life settles back to normal, ya know?” I couldn’t live in fear. I refused to do it.

A resigned sigh left his chest. “Okay, but you know it’s only ‘normal’ right now because you drank that stuff, which means he can’t track you anymore.”

Yes, drinking the protection spell Raphael had made was some sort of safety net for the time being, but Lucy knew I was here. I was sure of it. Where else would I seek shelter? Lincoln had also taken the protection spell, and was hidden from Lucifer’s prying gaze, so I managed to take comfort in that.

“You have my cell number. Call me any time to check in.”

He sighed again. “I’m only agreeing to this because Shea is going to be over here with you, and I know she’s as protective as I am.”

“If not more.” I nodded. “She said she was bringing rope to tie our ankles together in case I got taken in the night.”

Lincoln looked impressed. “That’s a good idea.”

I snorted. “She was kidding.”

I hope.

A loud banging rattled the trailer door. “Knock knock, bitch!” Shea’s voice called out, and both Lincoln and I grinned.

“Go!” I told him, pushing him lightly.

He fought against me, and instead of moving toward the door, he pivoted, reaching out to cradle my face in his hands. When his lips claimed mine, in a knee-weakening kiss, I moaned into his mouth. Desire pooled between my legs, and I was half tempted to send Shea away and ask him to call in sick to work.

“I love you, Brielle Atwater-Grey.”

A grin pulled at my lips. I thought he might think that my desire to hyphenate my name was silly—we had Mikey to carry on the male line or whatever—but part of me just couldn’t let go of my dad.

“I love you too.”

“It’s dark out here!” Shea griped through the door, and Lincoln smiled.

“Yeah, and it’s a full moon, so let us in,” Luke called out too.

Cocking his head to the side at the sound of Luke’s voice, Lincoln opened the door. Chloe, Shea and Luke were standing there with a box of Cloud Nine donuts.

“So, it’s a party?” Lincoln asked, as my friends shoved past him and into the trailer.

“You bet your sweet ass it is. Third years only.” Luke blew Lincoln a kiss.

With a grin, my husband met my eyes, holding them for a long moment before waving goodbye.

After the door closed, Luke popped open the box of donuts, and grabbed a purple one with lime green stripes. I had no idea what emotion it induced, but I was sure it was yummy.

“Did you see Tiffany’s face when Delacourt announced Brielle would be back in classes tomorrow?” He gossiped, taking a bite. The moment it hit his tongue, he moaned ,and collapsed onto the sofa.

I chuckled, taking a seat next to him.

“But… but… shouldn’t she be a second year? She missed everything!” Chloe whined in a fake Tiffany voice, which caused us all to crack up even harder.