CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE #3
“Reaver!” Themis bellows from across the room, and for a moment, I think my time to fall has come.
But then, an air of softness surrounds her.
The wind that made her hair dance with fury ceases, and her hair is once again perfectly coifed.
She inhales deeply before stepping closer to me.
“I may have been too harsh in my judgments.”
“Perhaps?” I bark before I can think better of it, breaking the moment between Kennedy and me. “Don’t you mean that maybe—just maybe—there’s room for mercy alongside your unique brand of justice?”
Themis inclines her head slightly, and I recognize it for what it is—the closest thing to an apology we are likely to get from the goddess of Justice.
“I will… consider it.” She nods carefully, and with a flick of her hand, I feel the collar from my neck fall to the floor.
It clanks a few times before coming to a stop at Themis’ feet.
“But make no mistake. This is not forgiveness. They are all still fallen, and the punishments I doled out still stand.”
“We know,” I acknowledge simply, because if I’ve learned anything in my centuries of existence, it is not to argue with the goddess of Justice over semantics. “And I’m going to guarantee they’re all okay with that.”
The tension in the room finally starts to ease, like someone opened a pressure valve. As the adrenaline begins to fade, Kennedy sags against me, and I pull her closer, wrapping my arm around her protectively.
“Can we go home now?” she asks, her voice muffled against my chest. “I’ve had about enough Heaven for one day.”
“Honestly? Same.” I press a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in her scent and letting it ground me. “Let’s get out of here before Themis changes her mind.”
“Good idea,” Gabriel pipes up. “I’m about seventy percent sure she’s still considering smiting at least one of us.” Gabriel moves to stand beside us, clapping me on the shoulder with enough force to remind me he is still an elite warrior and my elder.
“It is good to fight beside you again, brother,” he says quietly.
“You, too.” I meet his eyes, seeing centuries of shared battles and brotherhood reflected there. “Even if you did let the others have all the fun trapping Pestilence without me.”
“Someone had to play distraction.” Gabriel grins. “Besides, you were busy making grand romantic declarations, so I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
He’s right, I don’t.
As we make our way toward the archway, I feel something I haven’t felt in a very long time.
Peace.
Not the manufactured tranquility of Heaven, but real peace. The kind that comes from knowing you’re exactly where you are supposed to be, with exactly who you’re supposed to be with.
“Reaver!” Themis calls out just as we reach the doorway. I turn, half-expecting her to change her mind about the whole mercy thing.
Instead, she looks directly at Kennedy, and for a moment, all rational thought leaves my body. The notion that Themis is about to let us walk out without consequences has me shielding Kennedy, ready to take any punishment Themis is about to mete out.
With a flick of her wrist, I’m moved aside without so much as a thought.
A testament to the tolerance she showed us.
“Take care of him,” Themis says, and there is something in her voice that’s not quite warmth but maybe understanding.
“Fallen or not, he was once one of Heaven’s finest warriors.
He deserves happiness, even if he finds it in an unexpected place. ”
Kennedy straightens, meeting the goddess’ gaze without flinching. “I will. And for the record, he’s still one of the finest warriors. Nothing will ever change that.”
Themis’s lips twitch, not quite a smile, but close.
“Indeed,” she coos, then her expression hardens back into divine authority. “Now leave my palace. And Reaver?”
“Yeah?”
“Do not ever return uninvited, or next time I may not be so… lenient.”
“Noted.” I give her a mock salute that probably costs me about a century of potential goodwill. “But just so we’re clear… if Kennedy needs me to storm Heaven again, I will. Without hesitation.”
“I know.” Themis nods, and this time, there is definitely regret in her voice. “That’s what makes you dangerous, and perhaps… worthy of the redemption you seek.”
It isn’t forgiveness or restoration. But it is acknowledgment, and coming from Themis, that is more than I ever expected.
As we finally step through the archway and begin our descent from Themis’s palace, Kennedy leans into me, and it takes everything in me not to whisk her away into one of the many bedrooms in the palace and show her exactly how thankful I am for her.
Instead, I kiss her head. “I love you,” I confess, the words are coming easier now. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I’m sorry for a lot of things.”
“You don’t need to be sorry, you just need to never do them again.”
As we descend from Heaven with my brothers and sisters-in-arms, with the woman I love safe in my arms, I realize something profound.
Being imprisoned in Treachery was the best thing that ever happened to me, in retrospect.
Not in reality. In reality, it sucked, and I wouldn’t recommend it.
But it led me to this moment, to Kennedy, and to the realization that I am never alone.
No matter how dark my thoughts get, no matter how deep in despair I think I am, Kennedy will always be my light.
And that is worth any punishment, any judgment, any price Themis, Pestilence, or even Treachery can levy.