Satan took Jared’s throat in his hand and lifted him off the ground. Jared gripped the man’s arm with both hands as his feet dangled above the floor. Moving his arm to the side, Satan held Jared in the best position to watch the end.
Long, blackened fingers reached for the child. Without thinking, I pulled her to the other side of my body, and with my free hand, gripped the Devil’s wrist. It was cold and thin. My skin blazed against it.
“Don’t. Touch. Her,” I breathed.
He frowned, noticeably confused. He tried to advance his hand to my child, but he was unable to move.
“That’s far enough, Lucifer,” Samuel said. As usual, he had blinked into our plane without detection, but time Eli was with him.
“What is this?” Lucifer said, struggling to reach the child. He was clearly straining, but he was powerless in my grasp.
Eli smiled. “Daddy says no.”
Lucifer wrenched his hand back, his eyes wild with anger. “He’s allowing this…this human to defy me?” he howled, dropping Jared to the ground. “Do you know what this means?”
“War?” Samuel grinned. “Too late.”
Satan began to speak, but Eli held up his hand. “Enough, Lucifer. It’s over. He has chosen to spare the child.”
Lucifer charged at us, he arms extended, his fingers curled, preparing to kill the baby angel in my arms. Just before he reached us, he was blown back and held against the wall. Large, long fingers curled around his neck. Lucifer’s eyes widened. The Prince of Darkness was afraid.
“Gabriel?” Lucifer said, surprised.
“He said enough,” Gabriel snarled. “Go back to your pits, Satan. He will not ask it of you again.”
“Dad!” Bex said, his hopeful and excited expression matching Claire’s.
A figure stepped into the room from outside, through the broken remains of the windows. It was Michael, battle worn but victorious. “Enough.”
Samuel stood beside Michael, crossing his arms; Eli stood before the warriors. His immaculate white shirt was a stark contrast to their heavy armor. Another form stepped over the broken glass and into the room, and then another. Soon, twenty members of Michael’s army were in the room.
“The time of great suffering has come,” Lucifer seethed. He stepped to the side, away from Gabriel’s grip.
Eli lowered his chin. “You will leave this family alone. Hell will leave Gabriel’s children, and their children’s children, alone. He has commanded it,” he said firmly. “The child has found favor with God.”
“It is not human!” Lucifer hissed.
Gabriel took a step, his hands balled into fists at his sides. “She is my granddaughter.” His voice boomed, but he did not yell. “I swear to the Most High, your punishment will have you wishing for the pits of Hell if you threaten her again.”
“Vile!” the Devil screamed. “Vulgar! Iniquitous! Despicable!” After his tantrum, he smiled. “Well. He’s finally stooped to my level. How delicious.”
“Blasphemy!” Samuel said, taking a step. Eli stopped him.
Before Eli could utter a command, Satan disappeared.
I took a deep breath, letting out a sob. Jared crawled back to us, wrapping his bloody, sweaty arms around our daughter and me. I shook as I cried, kissing my baby’s soft, delicate forehead as Jared kissed mine.
“Claire?” Ryan said, holding her in his arms.
Eli calmly walked across the room, kneeling beside them. “You look a fright.”
Claire managed one weak laugh. “Really? I thought for a brush with the Devil I look pretty fly.”
Gabe joined them, evaluating her wounds. “Pretty ugly, kiddo.” He looked to Eli.
Eli motioned to Samuel, and Samuel was suddenly kneeling next to Eli, lifting Claire from Ryan’s grasp.
“Wait,” Ryan said.
Samuel ignored him, setting Claire on her feet. Her clothes were still ripped, but the gashes from her face and body had disappeared.
Gabe helped Ryan to his feet with one hand, and hooked his arm around Bex’s neck with the other. “Thank you,” Gabe said, seemingly to himself. I knew it was God he spoke to.
Ryan pulled Claire into his arms and smashed his lips onto hers, kissing her over and over. “You okay?” he said, visibly upset.
She smiled. “Just another day at work.”
He hugged her tightly, a single tear running down his dirty cheek. He breathed in quickly, and then exhaled a faltering breath.
“In case I forget to tell you later,” she said, pulling back. “I kinda love you.”
Ryan laughed once. “Just remember who said it, first.”
She nudged him, and they turned to watch Bex slowly return to Kim’s body. He frowned, trying to hold back the overwhelming sadness that we all felt.
Ryan fetched a sheet from the corner of the room, and Claire helped him to spread it on the floor. Bex lifted Kim’s body from the floor, laying her gently on the sheet. He straightened her bent legs, and crossed her hands against her chest.
Eli stood next to Ryan. “We offer Kim’s soul to you, Father. Please welcome her into your kingdom, and your arms. Extend comfort to her father and to her friends, and remind them daily that the sacrifice she made, was made in love.”
“I’m sorry,” Bex said, covering her face with the sheet.
Ryan choked, and he and Claire wrapped their arms around each other.
My emotions were so tapped that I couldn’t find the tears to cry. I just stared at her outline under the sheet in disbelief. She was really gone. I imagined the horrible task of informing her father, and Beth. How we could possible explain how she died?
“We’ll take care of it,” Jared said. “She’ll receive the burial and respect she deserves.”
“I just want her back,” I said quietly. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have left. We would have all been safe if I’d just stayed in the Sepulchre.”
Jared touched my cheek. “Anxiety is a struggle for anyone. You did what you believed you had to do in the moment, and the survival instinct is nearly impossible to ignore as a Hybrid. You didn’t want this. Kim knew that.”
I nodded, but knew the guilt would haunt me for a lifetime. The threat I felt in the tomb was very real at the time, but looking back, I let my fear get the best of me, and it cost Kim her life. I would carry that for the rest of my life.
Gabe kneeled beside me to better see his grandchild. “She’s absolutely beautiful,” he said, touching her tiny hand.
“Thank you,” I said, my eyes finally filling with tears.
“You don’t understand what you’ve done here,” he said, wiping the tender skin under my eye. “You saved her, and she will save us all.”
“That’s a big job for a little girl,” Jared said, looking down to the precious bundle in my arms. “Good thing she’s strong like her mom.”
I lifted my chin, and touched Jared’s lips to mine. His lips were warmer than mine for the first time in months. His scent mixed with our baby’s, and I felt lightness from relief that was vaguely familiar. Feeling safe was like a distant memory, and it came to me in such a surreal way, as if I couldn’t trust it. But, our family was safe. We earned a new beginning for us, for all of us, that Heaven had created. With that thought, I looked on the precious beauty in my arms. “Eden,” I whispered.
“What was that?” Jared said, nearly euphoric.
“Her name is Eden.”
My hands were soaking wet. I wiped them on my gown, but they immediately became moist again. You can do this , I thought. This is nothing. Definitely been through worse. I had, but there were hundreds of people watching. Waiting.
I turned to look for my husband. My eyes weren’t what they were when I was pregnant, and it was very frustrating returning to a normal human after experiencing life with abilities. An arm waving above the crowd caught my attention, and I saw Lillian smiling from ear to ear. Next to her was Cynthia. Bex, Claire, Ryan sat in a line on the other side of my mother, with Jared on the end, trying to keep hold on an excited and wiggly Eden. She was ten months old, with rolls on rolls, and wavy blond hair. Her cheeks were so chubby that they hung down like a basset hound’s. I could see her big blue eyes all the way from my seat. She stood on Jared’s lap, bouncing and waving, flashing her two gapped front teeth. It seemed to be all Jared could do to see around her, but it was her big brown bow that obstructed his view. I couldn’t help but laugh watching him try to see around it.
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