Gabriel’s smile disappeared. “This world that once was a gift has become a revolting curse in which people are judged by their skin or who they love and not by their deeds. Those who are most vulnerable and in need are the most ignored or vilified. If the Son were alive today, He would be scorned and feared, and that is what mankind has done. Children kill children. Mothers and fathers murder their young. Strangers kill strangers by the dozens, and—the worst sin of all—it is often done in the name of who is Holy. That is what man has done since creation.”

Okay. He kind of had a point there. Mankind could be pretty terrible. “Not everyone is like that, though.”

“Does it matter when it takes only a small part of decay to rot and destroy the entire foundation?”

“Yes. It matters. Because while there are terrible people out there, there are many more who are good—”

“But are they? Truly? No one can cast a stone, and yet that is all man does.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You’re wrong.”

“You say that, with your limited experience, when I’ve had thousands of years of watching man aspire to nothing? Watching man become so obsessed with the material and the fallacy of power that they will sell their own sons and betray their own countries to make a profit? Time and time again, I’ve witnessed entire nations fall and the ones birthed out of the ashes follow the same path as the ones before them. You think you know better?”

“I know enough to know you’re making broad—like, huge—generalizations.”

“Tell me, what festers in that human soul of yours? The need to make the world better? The desire to protect? Or is it consumed with carnal needs? Is it full of anger over his betrayal... Misha’s?”

I sucked in a sharp breath.

“It was I who came to him. I who was able to sway him and from whom he learned the truth. He knew what needed to be done to rectify this, and while you might have ended his life, you did more damage to yourself than you could have ever done to him. Your heartache. Your rage. It was your ruin. Your human soul is corrupt.”

The same words Sulien had spoken carried a different weight now. There was a heaviness of truth, but it was more than that. “Humans are complicated. I’m complicated, capable of caring and of wanting multiple conflicting things. Those things do not necessarily corrupt.”

“You’ve killed without guilt.”

He had me there.

“You’ve broken rules.” He stepped toward. “You, like the human side of you, are capable only of destruction. Man treats life like it means nothing but flesh and bone. Therefore it will no longer mean anything more.”

My stomach hollowed. “So, God wants this? Wants the end of the world?”

Gabriel smirked. “God no longer wants anything.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means that the infallible has failed, and I can no longer stand by and do nothing. I will not stand by. There will be a new God as this Earth is cleansed and only the truly righteous will remain until they, too, cease to exist and none will be left when all is said and done. This beautiful Earth will return to how it was meant to be.”

I exhaled roughly. “And that God is you?”

“Don’t sound so dismissive, child. If I have learned anything watching over humans,” he said, sneering at the word, “it is that they will follow and believe just about anything as long as it’s easy.”

Well, yet again, he had a point. “I don’t think ending the world is easy.”

“It is when you don’t know it’s happening until it’s too late.”

I stilled.

Gabriel chuckled and the sound was beautiful, like rolling waves. “I will undo both Heaven and Earth, and no one will know until it’s too late, until nothing can be done. Then God will know that the words of the messenger were true.”

He sounded...insane.

Like, if he was some random person on the street, someone would call the police. But since he was an archangel, he also sounded downright scary.

“With this portal, I will open a rift between Earth and Heaven, and a being born of true evil and the souls who belong in Hell will enter Heaven,” he said, a dreamy look settling over his features. “Evil will spread like a cancer, infecting every realm. God and the spheres of all the classes will be forced to permanently close the gates to protect the souls there. Heaven will fall during the Transfiguration.”

Oh my God.

“Then, every human that dies will no longer be able to enter Heaven.” His smile returned, a thing of pure joy. “Life on Earth will be rendered pointless as those trapped souls become wraiths or are lured into Hell to be tortured and fed upon. There will no longer be a need for demons to remain hidden since angels and God can no longer interfere. With only Wardens and humans left, Hell will reap this Earth.”

Horror swamped me. “Why? Why would you want to do that? To billions of people. To Heaven?”

“Why?” he shouted, causing a bolt of fear to pierce my chest. Sulien whipped around. “Why? Have you not been listening? Mankind does not deserve what they’ve been given, what they’ve been promised! God has failed by refusing to hear the truth! I’ve been shunned because I dared to speak up! Because I dared to question. No longer have I been sent to spread the gospel or to lead. I’ve been relegated to the lowest spheres. Me! The voice of God! His evermost faithful!”

“You want to end Earth and Heaven because you got fired from being God’s hype machine?” I was dumbfounded.

“You know nothing about loyalty.” His chest rose and fell with deep, heavy breaths.

I thought of Thierry and Matthew and Jada. I thought of Nicolai and Danika, and all the Wardens in DC. I thought of Roth, the Crown Prince of Hell, and Layla, and Cayman. I thought of Zayne, and I shook my head. “I know what loyalty is. It is you who has no idea.”

“And it will be you who helps me complete my plan. How does that feel?”

“How do you think I’m going to help you?”

“During the Transfiguration, this area will be charged with power—the kind that can create that rift. With my blood and the blood of Michael, the gateway to Heaven will open,” he explained. “Since Michael knows better than to risk being caught on Earth, your blood will do just fine.”

Summoning my grace, I let it take hold, and as the Sword of Michael formed, he smiled. “I’m partial to my blood, so no thank you.”

The archangel dipped his chin. “Silly girl. It was no request.”

41

Gabriel came at me, his arm extending as a blinding golden light flowed down it. A sword with a semicircular blade formed.

It was much, much larger than mine.

There wasn’t a moment to think about the fact I was about to battle an archangel. All I could do was fight, and hope that Roth and Cayman stayed down.

I blocked his blow, rattled by the impact and unprepared for his strength. The one hit nearly knocked me down. I swung my sword toward his chest. He blocked it with one swipe, forcing me back a step. I attacked, sweeping for his legs, but he anticipated the move. I spun, but he was faster. Our swords connected, spitting sparks and hissing. I pushed and then stumbled forward as the archangel disappeared and reappeared a few feet in front of me.

“That’s not fair,” I said.

“Life never is.”

I charged him, and he met my attack, throwing me back like I was nothing more than a paper sack. On and on we went, circling and attacking. He met each blow with his own shattering strength and moved faster than I could. Each time I blocked him, I felt the blow through every atom of my body.

Even with the bond, exhaustion was beginning to peck away at me, making my arms feel heavier and my swings slower. The sparks from our connecting blows spit into the air as the repeated impact jarred my bones. Sweat dripped down my temples as I feinted to the right, arcing my sword. Gabriel slammed his down, knocking me back.

“Stop,” he urged, not out of breath. Not even remotely tired. “You’ve never trained for this. Your father failed you.”

He was right, and the truth sent anger pounding through me. I’d trained with daggers and in hand-to-hand combat. But when it came to sword fighting, all I had was instinct.

“It’s not enough,” he said, and my startled gaze fixed to his. “You’re intelligent enough to have come to that conclusion.” I blocked his next brutal swing, but it nearly caused my sword to collapse. “You were trained to deny your nature. I trained my son to embrace his.”

“Looks like that worked out well.” I gritted my teeth as I darted left and kicked out, catching Gabriel in the leg. It was about as helpful as kicking a wall, based on the way he arched his brow.

“Considering you’re mere minutes from losing control of your grace while he is over there checking his Picture Book, I’d say it has worked out quite well for him.”

I faltered. “Picture Book?”

“Instagram,” Sulien corrected. “It’s Instagram, Dad.”

I blinked.

“Whatever,” Gabriel muttered, his bare foot slamming into my midsection, knocking the air from my lungs.

“You...you don’t even know what Instagram is?” I gasped through the pain. “And you think you’re going to end the world?”

His lips peeled back in a sneer.

My arms shook as I leveled the sword in front of me, trying to keep distance between us. “I bet you think Snapchat is called Picture Talkie.”

Sulien snorted. “Actually, he thought Snapchat meant snapping your fingers when you talked.”

“Really?” I spared the Trueborn a brief glance.

“Yep.” Sulien slipped his phone into his pocket. “But you’re still getting your ass kicked.”

“At least I don’t call Instagram Picture Book,” I retorted.

Gabriel’s all-white eyes pulsed. “I am bored with this. You cannot win. You will never win. Submit.”