Soul Conquered (19 page)

Josh

I stagger out of Grace’s grasp, but
I’m standing, which is a pretty enormous feat, because when Lucifer laid hands
on me, something in me wilted. It’s like poison is spreading slowly through my
body.

I don’t want to explain that to Grace. Not now. Not in the
middle of this chaos. So I’m avoiding her gaze by blocking her from Lucifer’s
view, and as long as there’s breath in me, that’s where I’m staying. The
problem is, there might not be breath in me for much longer. I just tried to
kill Lucifer, and yeah, I hurt him, which I admit feels pretty damned good. But
my best wasn’t enough.

“Josh, you have to move,” Grace says, tugging at my
shoulders. “You can’t fight this. Please don’t make me watch you suffer. That
would be worse than anything he’s about to do.”

I swallow hard, feeling myself growing weaker and knowing my
end is near no matter what I do. It’s already done.

There has to be something I can do to protect her, even if
it’s my last act. I search around us for inspiration, but all I find is
destruction and Lucifer, who’s edging toward us. He’s drawing it out, playing
with us like rats in a cage.

“Please, Josh.” Grace’s voice cuts deeper than the poison in
my veins. I can’t help but cry as I finally turn to embrace her.

“Did I say you could have a romantic good-bye?” Lucifer
bellows. His shadow grows over us and somehow pulls us apart. I try to hold
onto her, but Grace is ripped from my arms with a shriek. I spin around, nearly
falling over with the effort it takes to move. It’s like every vein in my body
is drying up and constricting, as if I’m being strangled from the inside.

Lucifer’s shadow blots out all light. It’s grown enormous
behind him, with wings and horns. One clawed hand holds Grace high in the air
as her legs race like she’s trying to outrun its grip.

The hand squeezes her until she stops flailing and then
glides toward Lucifer, where its gnarled fingers open, releasing its hold and
dropping her onto the floor.

“Kneel,” he commands.

Grace is a mess as she follows his orders. She’s trying so
hard to keep it together, but she’s crying, and it’s hurting my heart as much
as the poison.

I start forward, but the great shadow flings out its hand,
knocking me back across the room. Painfully, I drag myself back up so I can see
what’s happening. Lucifer’s eyes glow with Hellfire. I recognize that look, and
I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of the torture that comes after.
“No.” What I intend to be a loud cry comes out only as a hoarse whisper. The
best I can do is crawl forward as Grace writhes on the ground, screaming.

The shadow blocks me again. I hesitate. If it hits me again,
I probably won’t stay conscious. Then how will I help Grace? But I can’t just
stop trying. There has to be something…

That’s when I see him.

Noah’s stepping up behind Lucifer again. I’ll be damned if
I’m going to stop him like Mr. Griffith did. I’d rather help Noah do him in.

So maybe I’m not completely Angelic, but I’m okay with that.

“Stop!” I force out the scream, rushing forward with one
last burst of sheer willpower. I need to make sure Lucifer is completely
distracted.

The last thing I see is the claw hurtling toward me before
everything goes black.

Noah

The bastard is about to die.

He answered my question without meaning to. How many times
has Lucifer ranted about being a high and mighty Archangel and how they’re so
much better than any human? If one of the ridiculous rules is that my blood is
deadly to Archangels, then my blood will be deadly to Lucifer.

Josh created a distraction by running at him, but it only
buys me a few seconds. I push my fingers into my own wound, forcing through the
pain and wooziness. With a great scream, I thrust my blood-soaked hand onto
Lucifer’s neck.

He shrieks. His great shadow flings its arms back and
shrinks as every window in the lobby bursts into a million shards. The lights
flicker and erupt in tiny explosions, and we all cover our ears and drop to our
knees as Lucifer drops to his.

Through the ear-piercing spectacle, I see him reach behind his
neck, contorting in a very inhuman way. He rips his own skin off the back of
his neck where I touched him, leaving a wound that gushes thick black liquid.
It looks something like tar.

Lucifer places his hands on the floor, breathing heavily,
and glares at me, eyes swimming with that same tar-like substance and veined
with blue electricity. “You dare?” His voice booms and the ground quakes again,
dropping me back to my knees just as I’m trying to stand.

“You fool!” he screams. “I gave you everything. You were set
to rule the Earth. But you’d throw that away for a sister who caused you so
much pain and an Angel who tried to kill you?”

“Siblings fight,” I say, becoming oddly calmer as the chaos
Lucifer’s unleashed heightens. He’s off balance. And hurt. And despite him
looking angrier than ever, he’s never seemed so weak. “But she’s still my
family. I guess you wouldn’t get that, though. Since you murdered your brother
and all.”

I lift my head high as I find my footing. I am his equal. I
know
that. It’s why he hasn’t destroyed me yet.
He can’t
.

But does that mean I can’t destroy him?

He straightens up and cracks his neck. We circle each other
slowly, much like how he was with Michael when I first arrived.

When I move in front of Grace, I stop so she can run to
Josh. I know it’s what I’d do if Keira were hurt. I can’t help but glance over
at her and am bolstered by the shock and love so clearly written on her face.

When I look back to Lucifer, he’s smiling. Shit.

“Oh,
Keiraaa
,” he sings.

She rises and walks toward him, looking more lost than I’ve
ever seen her. It’s almost like she’s on autopilot. She kneels without being
told.

“It’s time to suffer like you’ve never suffered before while
Noah watches. That’s what love is, you know: suffering.”

She looks up at me, frightened.

“Keira isn’t your slave to punish anymore, Lucifer.”

“I will do whatever I want with her. I am her master.” His
eyes flash with blue fire, and Keira cowers.

“I am the One,” I say to Lucifer.

“Yes. The One who is supposed to cement my rule!
‘Crown
the King of Hell with his blood sacrifice.’
That was the promise!”
Lucifer’s voice booms all around once again. “Not to try to
rip the Crown from
my head
.”

He sounds like a child—a spoiled child. Maybe that’s
exactly what he is. And then, suddenly, everything clicks into place. Blood
sacrifice. King of Hell. I glance at the Angel’s gray body, and I know what it
all means. “Was that the promise?” I ask, smiling. “Because I understand every
word of the prophecy, and I know exactly what I have the power to do.”

Lucifer waves, and Keira falls to the ground in a silent
scream. Filled with the knowledge of my own power, I wave my hand just as
quickly, and Keira relaxes, breathing hard. I motion for her to move beside me,
which she does. She’s still confused and frightened, but she’s also glancing at
me with an awe I’ve never seen before. She steps through the broken shards of a
chandelier to get to me, and I smile. I doubt it’s an accident that it’s here,
and I have every confidence I’ll find exactly what I need. “Lucifer, your reign
is at an end.”

Reaching for the scattered chandelier pieces at my feet, I
rummage for only a moment before I find the perfect thing. It’s a circle from
the inner part of the fixture, rimmed with broken, jagged points like icicles
standing at attention.

I place a hand on Keira’s and tilt her face up toward mine.
“I hereby crown the new Queen of Hell.” She stares up at me and raises her
eyebrows in question as I place the circle of broken chandelier carefully on
her head.  As I adjust it, I nonchalantly break off one shard and cup it
in my hand.

“How dare you! You are what you are because of me! I’ll tear
her apart. I will tear all of your loved ones apart! I will unleash unspeakable
horrors upon them that you can’t even imagine, and you will watch it all.”
Lucifer sounds like an animal now, reduced to carnal rage. He’s unstable, but that
makes me more confident than ever. He’s ready to strike, so I have to move
quickly.

“I love you,” I say to Keira, who continues to watch me with
that awed look as I turn and walk toward Lucifer.

“You think you can kill me? You just tried your best and
failed, and that was while I was distracted. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Lucifer laughs as I grow close.

It’s like walking into an inferno. Heat rolls off of him in
waves, and it becomes harder to breathe the closer I get. Still, I keep going.

I stand nose to nose with Satan. “You know, the blood of the
One isn’t enough to crown the King of Hell. I have to make a blood
sacrifice
.”

Lucifer’s eyes grow wide, and in that moment I see real fear.
I know I have one chance to do this right.

I lift the sharp piece of crystal between us.

“Your toys won’t hurt me.” Lucifer says, but his expression
is gaunt. He knows what’s going to happen.

I stab myself in the chest.

Damn, it hurts. The pain is all I can think about as I draw
the shard of glass back out with trembling hands. Lucifer’s expression turns to
sheer horror.

I nearly fall to my knees as blood pours from the wound,
making my vision blur. With the last of my strength, I lunge forward and fall
on top of Lucifer, soaking us both in my blood.

This time, the shock wave that ensues blows everything and
everyone to the ground.

The shadow of the beast curls in on itself and disintegrates
into a pile of ash as Lucifer writhes, his entire front painted in my blood.
Smoke sizzles from his skin, and his eyes sink inward like someone long dead.

Keira is instantly beside me, prying me off of him, trying
to stop the bleeding with her hands. She’s fussing over me and crying. I turn
my head to continue watching Lucifer’s body and the gray slowly spreading from
his forehead to his fingertips.

Blackness invades the corners of my vision. My chest grows
numb, which is a relief. I grasp Keira’s hands and gaze up at her beautiful
face. It’s the last sight I want to see.

Grace

“Noah?”

I scramble to my feet, not quite believing what I’ve just
witnessed. But despite what he’s done—what he’s accomplished—all I
care about is what happened to my brother.

“Noah!” I scream as I slide down to join Keira on his
opposite side. The floor is slick with his blood, and I shake my head back and
forth like I can reverse what happened by refusing to accept it.

“Please, Noah. Please don’t be dead.”

I can’t understand why Keira isn’t uttering a sound. But
when I glance up at her, ready to take out my anger, I see the look in her eyes.
She watches him, holding his still hand, and I know what she’s feeling. As much
as my heart breaks for my sweet baby brother, I know how I would feel if it
were Josh taken from me.

It’s how I felt when Josh leapt in front of Cam’s blade to
save me.

I scoot over and put an arm around her, pressing my head to
hers, and we cry together.

At some point I feel Josh kneel beside me and pull me into
his arms.

Finally, Keira stands, wiping at her eyes. “Where do you
think he is?” she asks, timidly.

“I hadn’t considered… I mean… He’s down…there, right?” I
ask, still gripping Josh for support.

Keira hesitates. “I’ll check. But I’m not so sure. He did
just kill Lucifer. My Hell, he
killed
Lucifer.”

Keira disappears. I cling to Josh even tighter, holding my
breath.

Keira reappears, dismay on her face. “He wasn’t there” is
all she’ll say.

“He’s got to be in Heaven,” Josh says softly. “He saved my
life. My fight with Lucifer poisoned me. I was sure I was done for, but I just
opened my eyes, and all the pain is gone. As is Lucifer.”

He was dying? And Noah saved him. He saved us all. Of course
he must be in Heaven.

“Go find him,” I say to Josh, finally releasing my grip.
“Find Noah.”

“I wish I could bring you with me,” Josh says, standing and
pulling me into his arms with such earnestness I want to cry. I cling to him as
he’s surrounded by the warm glow of Heaven and press my eyes closed, relishing
the all-too-familiar yet distant sensation of it.

“Grace?” Josh sounds frightened.

I open my eyes and glance up. I’m standing by the gates of
Heaven, clouds swirling around my feet. I let go of Josh and take a step back,
turning around and around, half expecting to burn to the ground, but I don’t.

“What? How?” I ask, tears swimming in my eyes.

Shona runs toward us and hurls herself at me, throwing her
arms around me with a squeal. “He did it! Michael brought you back.”

“Shona, Michael’s dead. So is Lucifer.” Josh pulls her back
by the elbow.

Her face contorts with grief and understanding.

“But Noah. He died so that Lucifer would be ended,” I say.
“Please tell me he’s here.”

Shona’s eyes fill with pity. “I’m so sorry, Grace.”

“No. He has to be. It doesn’t make sense. He wasn’t in Hell.
He…” But Josh and Shona exchange such a sad look that it stops me.

“How can he not be anywhere?” I ask.

He can’t just be gone. He was human. He’s supposed to be in
Heaven or Hell. There’s no other alternative, except when an Angel or Demon is
ended…

“Oh!” Tears burn my eyes, and I cover them with my hands.
They burn, literally. Like a Demon. “What’s happening to me? How can I be both
here and a Demon?”

Josh rushes to my side, but I’m almost afraid to touch him,
even though I was holding him moments before. I’m so confused.

Shona taps her chin and places a hand on my shoulder,
unafraid to touch me. “Calm down, Grace. I believe that when Lucifer died, he
relinquished his control over you. So in a way, you are like Josh now. Because Noah’s
blood didn’t injure him like it should have, Michael surmised that Josh will
always have a bit of Demon inside of him.” She smiles. “And you’ll always have
a bit of Angel in you. You two are unique. If I had to guess, I’d say Josh
could visit Hell as well. You may well be the only two beings in the universe
that can freely visit either place.”

“I don’t care what you are, as long as we can finally be
together,” Josh says, reaching for me. “But we have to go back and tell Keira
that Noah isn’t here.”

I nod, taking his hand. I don’t want to break her heart, but
she has to know.

We appear back in the demolished lobby of the once-beautiful
hotel, where I gasp at the sight of Noah’s body, still on the floor. Then I
glance up to find Keira and a second Noah tangled together in the center of the
remaining chaos.

Josh clears his throat, and they separate, Keira practically
glowing like I’ve never seen before. I guess that’s how she looks when she’s
actually happy.

“You’re here!” I scream and rush forward into Noah’s arms.

Noah spins me around and sets me back down with a grin.
“Apparently you can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“But you said he wasn’t in Hell.” I glare at Keira for
making me worry so much.

“He wasn’t,” she says, taking his hand and entwining her
fingers with his. “He just appeared here after you left. I thought you sent him
down to me.”

We all turn to Noah in question. He can’t be alive. Not with
his body lying on the floor feet from us.

“I made the choice,” he says.

“What choice?” I ask, exhausted and confused.

“I’m going to miss you,” Keira says, tears springing to her
eyes. She must understand something I don’t.

“But I’m not leaving you for Heaven,” Noah says, pulling her
close. “I’m staying where you are. I chose with my blood sacrifice. That was
the prophecy. I crowned myself King of Hell.”

“So the prophecy—” Josh starts.

“Meant that I got to decide whether Lucifer’s way was right
or not. It was a Day of Judgement for him—not for humanity. And I got to
decide who should be the new King.”

“But to do it,” I say, finally understanding with awe, “you
had to sacrifice yourself, spill your own blood in order to destroy him.” All
this time, we all assumed the One was supposed to be unadulterated evil. No
wonder Noah never seemed to fit as the Antichrist.

“I guess I just have the ability to see things like they
are. Except maybe when it comes to those a little too close to me.” Noah gives
me a shy half-smile that melts my heart.

“You’re choosing Hell? For me?” Keira asks, interrupting the
moment. “But you deserve—”

“To be with the woman I love. There’s no more Lucifer to
hurt us and keep us apart. Hell’s going to be different from now on.” Noah
draws Keira close and strokes her hair back from her face, making Josh clear
his throat again before they start kissing.

“So what do we do about…that?” Keira asks, nodding toward
the decaying corpse of Lucifer.

“And that?” Josh says, pointing at Mr. Griffith’s corpse,
too.

“We rule,” Noah says, turning back to Kiera and tapping her
makeshift crown. “My queen.”

Keira laughs, clapping her hands together, and then throws
herself at Noah once again.

“So they’re just going to make out. In the middle of this
mess,” Josh says.

I turn to him with a smirk. “I’d say they’ve waited long
enough. And so have we.” And without another word I launch myself at Josh,
throwing my arms around him and tangling my hands in his curls. “We can finally
be together,” I say, searching his vivid blue eyes.

“Together forever,” he confirms, teasing my lips with his
before settling into the sweetest, most passionate kiss we’ve ever had.