Chapter Twenty-Two
Nova
“Let me heal you first,” Joy urged, kneeling beside Sebastian.
What remained of his clothes had been scorched by the trip through Hell. August had materialized new pants on him right before they all lost their powers, but that was the only thing holding him together.
I didn’t know exactly what had gone wrong.
Joy, Maureen, Payne, and Jackal had gone to the southern gate to distract the Devil.
August, Isabella, and I had caused a stir outside the western entrance while Sebastian slipped through a descending soul’s portal into Hell.
The plan had worked. All of it had—until Sebastian returned without Kitty.
He shoved Joy’s hand away and stood. “We don’t have time. Someone separated us on purpose. Kitty might already be back in Hell!”
August’s brow furrowed deeply, his jaw clenched. “He’s right. Our powers are back now, and the Devil’s not our only concern. Harvest wants her. What if he’s the one who pulled her away at the last second—separated her and Melinda from Sebastian?”
My stomach twisted. “If Harvest has her—”
Sebastian didn’t wait for me to finish. He faded with Isabella instantly. Joy and Payne followed seconds later.
I looked to August, who stalked toward me, the tension in his shoulders so tight it looked painful.
“August,” I said, a plea in my voice. He needed to be ready for what we might find. If Harvest had her while she was mortal…if we were too late—
“It’s okay,” he interrupted, his voice low and firm. “I still sense her essence. Let’s go.”
He placed a hand at the back of my neck, and in a flash of light and color, he faded us again.
We landed in near-total darkness.
Well... not entirely.
Three vibrant orbs hovered several feet away, casting a white-hot glow that made my eyes sting.
The others were already there, frozen, staring at the lights as if spellbound.
It took me a second to realize they weren’t just lights.
They were beings.
And in the middle, limp and cradled by one of them, was Melinda.
My breath caught.
Her head dangled at an unnatural angle. A sharp pain tore through my chest as I strained to detect the rise and fall of her breath.
Nothing.
Magic flared through me, tingling down my arms and into my fingers as I stepped forward, refusing to believe what I saw.
“What have you done to her?” I shouted, flinging my arms forward as magic crackled from my fingertips, surging toward the first orb of light.
The blast struck.
A sharp ping echoed through the air, followed by a metallic ding—like something large and round had dropped and rolled in front of us. I didn’t take my eyes off the lights to check.
August stepped in, gently placing his hands over mine. “They’re angels,” he said. “They didn’t harm her. They’re here for her.”
“But why?” Joy asked, voice sharp, eyes narrowing. “They’re risking becoming fallen just by being here.”
A low, serene male voice spoke from within the blinding light. “We look after our own.”
“It’s time for Faye to return,” another added, the tone steeped in reference.
Faye?
Were they talking about…Melinda?
“We must go,” the third said, and all three lights moved in unison, Melinda cradled between them.
“Wait!” Sebastian barked. “Our sister— Kara!”
“The Dark One has her,” the angel in front replied, stepping out ahead of the others. He moved toward us—not to speak, but to bend low and retrieve something from the ground.
I stiffened instinctively, readying another spell—until I saw it.
A coin.
Smooth. Large. Gold.
The same one that had clinked on the stone floor earlier.
The angel’s hand closed around it.
And everything inside me froze.
That coin…
I knew that coin.
Because I made it.
Desperation launched me forward, voice cracking with urgency. “Wait!”
The angels paused mid-step.
They didn’t speak.
They didn’t move.
But I could feel their attention shift—three beings of unseeable light suddenly aware of me in a new way.
My breath hitched, chest burning.
Please…please let me be right.
Tears welled and blurred my vision, but I strained to see beyond the glow. Just a glimpse. One glimpse, and I’d know.
“Where did you get that? Can I see it?”
I didn’t wait for the angel to answer. I stepped forward and plunged my hands into the light. My fingers landed on cloth—his chest. I slid them upward to his shoulders, then down his arms, following the line of muscle until I reached his hands.
“What are you doing?” the angel demanded, jerking back— but not fast enough. My fingers snagged the coin hanging from his neck, and I yanked it free.
“That belongs to me!” he snapped.
“Nova!” August grabbed my hips, pulling me away. “Do you want me to kill an angel? What the hell are you doing? I’d rather you attack him than—than touch him like that!”
I didn’t answer.
I was already staring at the coin, turning it over in my palm. Light bounced off the worn surface, making the five slashes etched into it gleam like old scars.
Five marks.
One for each of us.
Finn. Cloud. Odin. Sofia. Me.
I had carved those marks myself, shaky hands and all, then given it to Odin. He tied it to a piece of old rope and wore it proudly like armor.
My lips trembled. My hands shook.
“This is Odin’s,” I whispered.
August’s voice softened. “Are you sure?”
My tears answered before I did. I turned toward him, lips quivering, breath hitching in my chest as grief and something dangerously close to hope cracked me open.
“I know it is. My bones know it. My soul knows it.” I was full-on crying now. “This is Odin’s.”
I faced the angel again and reached into the light, pressing my hand to his chest, then trailing up to his face.
“Turn off your light,” I said. “I want to see you.”
“My light is a part of me,” he replied, voice hard with confusion. “Give me my coin.”
“That’s your coin?” I asked, smiling through the tears. “I made this for Odin. You wouldn’t have given it up—not even in death.”
My fingers brushed his jaw.
There was hair there. A beard. He was taller than me now, broader. The idea of my scrawny, scrappy Odin growing into this—this angel—was almost too much to believe.
Unless…
Unless he’d been chosen. Unless death hadn’t ended him—it had evolved him.
My heart squeezed. Three angels had come.
Three lights. Three souls lost.
My voice cracked as I stepped around him to look toward the others.
“Is this Finn and Cloud?”
“That’s not our names,” the one on the left said—but his voice faltered, like he wasn’t sure.
Three lights pulsed, brightening and dimming as I rushed to hug each of them.
“Do they lose their memories when they go to Heaven?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder at August. He followed quietly, but every time I looked back, he was smiling—shaking his head like I was something wild and lovely he couldn’t make sense of.
“It would make sense,” August replied. “Look how boring they’ve gotten. And tall, too.”
“So, you think it’s them?” I asked, half-laughing through the lump in my throat.
“Of course, it’s them. They might not remember, but they haven’t left since you touched them.” He stepped into the light and placed a hand on the chest of the one I believed was Odin. “You recognize family, don’t you, Odin?”
“We’re not who you think we are,” Odin replied, pulling back. “We’ve risked enough. It’s time to go.”
I wiped my eyes and gave them space. “Then go. If you have to.” I held out the coin. “Do you want it back?”
Odin hesitated—then stepped forward and took it from my hand. “Yes. It belongs to me.”
“I’m glad I got to see you all again,” I whispered. “Even if you don’t remember me, I’m thankful you stayed together.”
They left in silence, and I waited until the last light vanished before falling apart.
August caught me as I crumpled, pulling me into his chest.
“Sofia would have made them stay,” I whispered against his shirt.
“Asking an angel to stay in the Underworld is asking them to forsake their light.”
“So, Melinda was an angel?” Isabella asked, stepping up behind August.
“It makes sense,” Sebastian murmured. “No wonder she saw so much. But why ask to come if this was how it ended?”
“I think she had a reason,” Isabella said, reaching for Sebastian’s hand. “And whatever it was, we should be thankful. All Melinda’s ever wanted was to aid the Reapers.”
“I’m sure she died for a good reason,” Joy added. “But it doesn’t change the fact that Kitty’s back in Hell.”
August exhaled into my hair, holding me closer.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “We should have asked the angels more. Instead, I—”
“Reunited with family,” Isabella finished, smiling gently.
“Kitty’s essence is strong. She’s well. We’ll try again,” August said. After a pause, he tilted my chin toward him. “You’re with me, right? Odin, Cloud, and Finn have their own paths. Yours is with me. We might cross paths with them again, but you’re mine—and I’m yours.”
My heart swelled. I leaned in and kissed him.
“Always.”