CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
KENNEDY
The plan is nothing short of insane.
Actually, calling it insane is generous. It’s batshit crazy, concocted by a group of immortal warriors who think “subtle” means only breaking half the things in a room instead of all of them.
But it’s the only plan we have.
I stand shaking in the center of The Firehouse’s war room, which is really just Alastor’s office with all the furniture shoved against the walls, and I look around at the most dangerous beings I’ve ever met.
Blood Angels, my bestie, a vampire witch, a goddess, the literal King of the Underworld, and then there’s me, a very confused human therapist, who is apparently very much in love with a broken Archangel.
“So let me get this straight,” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose as I pace back and forth.
“We’re going to lure Pestilence into a trap using Themis, the literal goddess of Justice, as bait, all while simultaneously searching for Reaver and convincing him not to carry out whatever crazy plan Pestilence wants him to enact? While trying not to die.”
“When you say it like that, it sounds complicated,” Jaxon says with a grin.
“It IS complicated!” I snap as I flop down into one of the leather-bound chairs we have pushed against the wall.
“She’s got a point,” Salem agrees, leaning against Michael’s side. My best friend looks entirely too comfortable planning supernatural warfare for someone who was relatively human only five years ago.
Alastor spreads a glowing map across the table because, of course, they have magical maps. “The timing has to be perfect. Pestilence expects Reaver to deliver Themis to the Underworld. She’ll have her forces positioned to capture her the moment she crosses over.”
“Which is when we spring our trap,” Asher continues, his tactical mind clearly in overdrive. “Hades and Cain have been working with the Treachery Prison warden to create a containment spell strong enough to hold Pestilence.”
“For how long?” Gabriel asks the question that is hopefully on everyone’s mind.
“Long enough,” Cain says grimly. “The spell will hold her until we can figure out a permanent solution. Which, I’ll remind everyone, needs to happen quickly, because containing a Horseman of the Apocalypse is like trying to hold back the ocean with a bucket.”
“At least it’s a magical bucket,” Zachriel adds, clearly trying to lighten the mood.
“Yeah… well, it’s still just a fucking bucket,” Cain shoots back.
I look around the room at the assembled warriors. Asher, Jaxon, Zachriel, Michael, Cain, Alastor, and Gabriel—seven of the most powerful men in existence, and they are all willing to risk everything to save Reaver.
My Reaver.
The thought sends a warm flutter through my chest, immediately followed by a spike of anxiety. What if we’re too late? What if he’s already done something irreversible? What if Pestilence has broken him in ways even torture couldn’t?
“Kennedy?” Salem’s voice pulls me from my spiraling thoughts. “You okay?”
“Fine,” I lie. “Just mentally preparing to break into Heaven and stop my boyfriend from making a catastrophic mistake.”
“That’s the spirit!” Hades cheers with far too much enthusiasm. The King of the Underworld looks downright gleeful about the chaos we are about to unleash. Aradia, his wife and the daughter of the very goddess whose palace we’re about to infiltrate, looks significantly less thrilled.
“I still think there has to be another way,” Aradia says softly. “My mother is a lot of things, but a pawn she is not. If we could just explain—”
“Themis made her choices a long time ago,” Hades interrupts, his voice gentler than I’ve ever heard it. “This isn’t about good or evil, love. It’s about power and pride. She won’t listen because she loves both far too much.”
Gabriel’s voice cuts through the discussion like a blade. “He’s right. Themis believes she’s protecting the natural order. In her mind, the Blood Angels she created are abominations that need to be controlled or destroyed. She won’t change.”
The bitterness in his tone makes me wince. Gabriel loved Pestilence once—loved her enough to destroy the world. And Themis punished him for it, turning him into the first Blood Angel as a reminder of his sin. If anyone should be seeking revenge, I would think it would be him.
The irony that we’re now trying to save another from Pestilence’s clutches isn’t lost on anyone.
“Alright!” Alastor shouts, his alpha energy filling the room. “Here’s how this goes down,”
“Who made you the leader?” Hades questions, and I swear I feel the floor quake beneath my feet.
“It’s my fucking office. If we were at The Inferno, you could lead.
” Alastor rolls his eyes and shakes his head before he continues, “Anyway… Asher, Jaxon, Zachriel, Michael, Cain, and I will position ourselves around the Dimmu gate in the Underworld. Gabriel, you’ll be our ace in the hole.
Stay hidden until Pestilence commits to the trap. ”
“She’ll be expecting me,” Gabriel warns. “I just don’t think she’ll be expecting the healed and pissed off version she’s going to get.”
“Please don’t sacrifice yourself… again,” Jenna pleads, adding in a playful wink.
“Don’t you worry that pretty little head of yours.” He winks back. “Ten years was enough time to be away from you. I don’t plan for there to be anymore. So, let’s get Reaver, save the world, and relax for the next decade or so,” he adds with a loving smile that makes Jenna blush.
“Fan-fucking-tastic,” Alastor blurts out before moving on with the tactical efficiency of a general who’s seen thousands of battles. “That covers the Underworld team. Now for Team Heaven. Hhhh-hhhh-hhh,” he mock cheers as if we were the star players on some underdog team.
When he turns to look at Salem, Aradia, Jenna, and me, all humor is gone. “You five are the only ones who can access Themis’ palace without triggering every defensive ward in the Heavens. Kennedy and Jenna because you’re human—”
“Sort of human. More like human adjacent,” Jenna murmurs so quietly I almost don’t hear her.
“Right. Correction, human adjacent and Salem, because you’re a vampire witch with no angelic signature, Aradia, because you’re Themis’s daughter, and Hades, because… well, because you’re you.”
Hades grins. “I do love a good family reunion.” Aradia shoots him a look that promises an argument later, once they’re safely back.
“The secret portal that Asher and Reaver discovered as children will get you into the palace grounds without alerting the guards,” Alastor continues. “From there, you’ll split up. Salem, Aradia, and Jenna will search for Themis. We need to make sure she’s not actually part of Pestilence’s plan.”
“And if she is?” Salem asks.
“Then we have bigger fucking problems,” Asher answers grimly. “But I don’t think she is. Themis might be a lot of things, but she’s not stupid enough to team up with Pestilence, no matter how badly she wants revenge on us.”
“Hades,” Alastor sighs, “you’ll guard the entrance. Nothing, and I mean nothing, gets in or out without your say-so.”
“And what about me?” I ask, even though I already know the answer.
Alastor’s expression softens. “You find Reaver. You’re the only one who can get through to him right now. The only one he’ll listen to.”
“No pressure or anything,” I mutter, feeling way out of my comfort zone. Before I can ask “What if I don’t find him”, Michael steps forward, pressing something into my hand. I look down to find a small crystal pendant on a silver chain. It’s beautiful and pulses with a soft, warm light.
“Communication charm,” he explains. “We’ll all have one, just in case something goes wrong—”
“You mean, when something goes wrong,” Cain corrects, and I nearly burst out laughing when Asher smacks the towering Enoch Demon across the head. “Ugh! What the fuck?”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Asher scolds.
“Anyway!” Michael shouts over the chuckles now coming from everyone, “you’ll be able to reach us.”
I clasp the chain around my neck, feeling the crystal settle against my sternum. The warmth is comforting, like a tiny piece of safety I can carry with me into the literal Heavens.
“Everyone clear on the plan?” Alastor asks, and a chorus of affirmatives fills the room.
“Good. We move in one hour. Get your gear, maybe some rest, and meet back here.” He pauses, his ancient eyes sweeping across all of us. “And for fuck’s sake, try not to die. I’m tired of filing paperwork.”
The room erupts in movement as everyone disperses to prepare. I find myself standing alone—well, not alone. Salem appears at my elbow with that supernatural stealth that still freaks me out sometimes.
“You doing, okay?” she asks for the second time today.
This time, I don’t bother with the lie. “I’m terrified.”
“Well, that’s a relief. Terror means you’re smart enough to understand how dangerous this is.”
“You do realize that’s not as comforting as you think it is.”
Salem laughs and pulls me into a hug. “You’re going to be fine. You’re going to march into Heaven, find your grumpy Archangel boyfriend, tell him he’s being an idiot, and drag his sorry ass home if you have to.”
I contemplate her words for a moment. I haven’t even had time to process everything that’s happened to me in what I thought was a few days, when the reality is it was nearly a year.
And now I’m about to infiltrate a goddess’ palace to look for a man who thinks I’m better off without him.
I am the epitome of needing therapy or, at very least, some serious couples counseling.
“What if he doesn’t want to come home?” The question comes out small and scared, revealing all my deepest fears. “What if Pestilence has convinced him he’s doing the right thing? What if he really believes I’m better off without him? Or worse, what if he’s right?”
“Do you love him?” she asks, and I don’t even have to think about the answer.
“I’ve loved him since the moment I met him,” I reply without hesitation.