Author's Note:  

This is it, Hedonists. The end. Finally. Thankfully (for me, anyway). This is a 10k word monster of a chapter, but there was no way else to break this down and as battles go, 10k seems fitting. I've never wrote a chapter back to front before, but that's how this has all come about. I started with a large section at the end, then wrote a few paragraphs at the beginning and then, like a jigsaw puzzle, had to somehow piece the whole bloody mess together. It's scrappy, it's definitely a mess, but I'm going to be unapologetic about this one and just let it go. This book has been a year's worth of work, research, crying into my notebook, giving up, coming back to it, wishing I'd never started the bloody thing in the first place, hating it, being a bit addicted to it and most of all, loving the bones of it and all the characters it gave to me. 

Thank you for your support and patience the whole way through. It's not easy being one of my readers. I know this. I write sporadically and this year has been tougher than ever on my non-existent writing schedule. This is why I adore you all so much for sticking with me, even when I seem to give so little in the way of regular updates. 

Anyway, here it is. I'm uploading three parts in total - the final chapter, the epilogue and the final part. I would ask that if you would be so kind, please do leave a vote and comment on each. It helps with the algorithms and the rankings and also makes me feel all warm and squishy inside ;-) 

Thank you again for everything. I adore you xxx

* 

'Ethan,' I whispered urgently. 'I can't do what you asked. I don't know how.'

He pulled me close again, smiling as he trailed the backs of his fingers of his now-blackened hand down my cheek. 'Just let go, Casey. Trust your instincts. Trust yourself. You can do this.'

I swallowed my fear and nodded, still unsure that I could do what he wanted, still sure that his faith in me was misguided.

'Oscar, look after Addi.' Ethan gestured to Addi, who was standing behind us all, still staring wide-eyed up at the Archangels as if hypnotised. I couldn't blame him. Even with their terrifying wings of fire, they were still dazzling to the eye. They were rising up into the air now, retreating towards their forces, the screech of the Cherubim heralding their return.

Oscar's nose wrinkled as if he didn't much like his appointed role as Addi's guardian. 'And what exactly are you going to do?' he said to Ethan.

'I'm going to do just what I promised.' Ethan turned back, directing his gaze not towards the members of the Divine Council, but towards Blake, who stood poised and ready.

In a move that confused me, Ethan nodded at him and Blake hesitated, before slowly nodding back.

'What's going on?' I said. 'What's happening?'

'I hate to say it, but it looks like Blake is going to get what he's wanted all this time. Me, fighting their corner.' When he saw my confused expression, he sighed. 'We don't have a choice, we can't fight them all.'

His gaze flickered almost warily to Oscar, who was staring at him intently, a strange expression on his face that I couldn't work out, but before I could open my mouth to ask, Ethan looked away, focusing on the battlefield in front of us. Clasping my hand in his, he lifted it up, so I could see the electric blue veins running from my wrist to my elbows. With his other hand, he traced his fingertips along the path of the cerulean tributaries.

'I remember the first time I saw the Endorian fire flowing through my mother's veins,' he said. The soft touch of his fingers sent a thrill cascading over my skin, the heat creeping through my limbs and burying deep into my stomach. 'We'd travelled down to Luxor because my father and Berith had some business at the temples on the east side of the river. My mother wanted to take advantage of the time there by visiting the night souq, the street market where she said she could find the most beautiful silk fabrics in all of Egypt. When we got there, she realised we were being tracked by agents of the Council, and we ended up being cornered.'

He smiled wistfully and bit down on his lower lip. 'I was just a kid and hadn't quite mastered the art of ripping open dimensional gateways in the way I can now. There were so many of them and my father and Berith were too far away to help, but then, when I thought that would be it, that we were dead, my mother held out her arms and the blue light was running under her skin, just like this. It lit up the dark corner of the souq like no amount of oil lamps or candles ever could. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I remember being so terrified that we were about to die and then I saw that light and all at once, I knew everything was going to be okay.'

Raising my wrist to his lips, he pressed his open mouth against my skin. The warmth of his breath felt so good. The touch of his mouth on my wrist was like the first wave of a high, ascending, feeling weightless, anticipating that hit of pure euphoric bliss.

'Everything's going to be okay,' he said, squeezing my hand as he lowered it, looking out again at the vast bleached landscape. His eyes widened a little as he surveyed the two armies, and a glint of something which looked suspiciously like exhilaration sparked in the obsidian blackness.

'If I didn't know you any better, I'd say you were getting off a little bit on this?'

Ethan grinned. 'Maybe I am? Michael was right. There are so many pathways to take. I would never have believed that once. It all seemed so fated to head in only one direction, but they were wrong, the Tibetan witch was wrong. I can feel it. Standing here, with you by my side, I can feel it, Casey.'

He leaned over to kiss me again, looking almost drunk and I was swept up in his zealous excitement, wondering if this had tipped us both over the edge and right then, I didn't even care. Maybe he was right. Maybe as long as we were together, everything would be okay.

We could do this. I could do this.

'When?' I said, looking up at the shield above our heads as the blue light crackled across its surface.

Blake had raised his hand to give the signal, and when he dropped it, with a battle cry to rival the fiercest of warriors, the frontlines of the opposing forces began to run towards each other across the vast battlefield.

'Now would be a good time,' Ethan said, his eyes narrowing, as we watched the gap between the armies grow smaller and smaller.

I studied the umbrella of light. It looked so strong, so impermeable.

Let go, Brogan. Let go.

With an intake of breath, I reached out with both hands and touched my fingertips to the shield. It crackled and sparked under my touch, and then began to dissolve, peeling away from where my hands remained, the electricity cascading outwards until finally, there was nothing left between us and them.

With the barrier gone, Ethan braced his feet against the floor as a stream of Powers began to break off from the rest of the forces, taking to the air and speeding towards us, their golden wings resplendent. Holding out his arms and, I noticed, still grinning, Ethan sent a surge of energy at them that undulated through the air, causing tumultuous ripples like a great tidal wave. It crashed into the Powers at the front with such force that they exploded in front of my eyes, wings torn, limbs ripped free, scarred faces once so terrifying, now full of terror when the wave hit them.

Still, they kept on coming, still streaming out from the main body of the Angel army and seemingly not depleting the vast numbers there. Behind them, the Demons and the Angels stretched out endlessly, the violence of their fight making the ground shake with each bombardment and with the roar of their battle cries. The Powers were taking a dual approach, some earth-bound, some taking to the air, but the Demons appeared to be holding strong, wielding a strength I had never imagined in the face of the Council's forces.

I watched with horror and awe behind Ethan and Oscar, who had both positioned themselves in front of Addi and me and were hurling a vicious onslaught at the oncoming Angels. Again, and again they unleashed energy that tore apart the Powers, Ethan's force notably the far superior of the two Demons, as it smashed into the warriors so forcefully that they disappeared, sucked into the void as I'd seen him do in the Vaults. With each wave of attack and each successful defeat, I caught Oscar stealing glances at Ethan as they fought side by side, a hint of admiration and pride curling up the corners of his mouth. I couldn't help but wonder if he was remembering a time when he had been Berith, remembering Lucifer and when they had fought like this, as friends, as brothers.

In his element, his inky-black obsidian eyes blazing, his strong arms and blackened hands wreaking havoc and fear among the Powers, Ethan had never looked more beautiful. He was breath-taking. Captivating. So fucking mesmerising that I almost didn't see the Angel that had somehow managed to slip through the force of Ethan and Oscar's assault, pin-wheeling and diving through the air with perfect precision like a high-wire trapeze artist.

Before they can do anything and occupied with a second wave of soldiers that came at them with ferocious force, the Angel careened straight for me and Addi, its mouth wide in a triumphant cry, its needle-sharp teeth growing ever closer, talons outstretched like a bird of prey about to tear apart its prize. Energy tore from its hands, a thundering swell that cut through the air. Without thinking, I pushed Addi down and raised my arms over my head, turning my face away from the impact of those deadly razor claws.

The jolt that hit me almost made my knees buckle, but when I found myself looking into Addi's wide, awe-filled eyes as he crouched behind me and realised that I was unhurt, I turned back to see that a disc of electric blue light was emanating from my upheld arm. The shield I had made not only protected us from the first bolt of Angelic energy, but the second one too that had been fired off quickly as the Power was about to hit, its close-up face now a picture of undiluted rage.

'It's not stopping,' Addi cried out.

Gritting my teeth, I could do nothing but stand firm as the warrior ploughed into us.

The shield didn't give, but the force of the impact forced one of my knees to crash to the floor and I pushed out with my arm instinctively, attempting to thrust the Power away from us. The Angel shrieked as the electricity made contact with its body and it lurched to one side, tumbling to the dusty ground and rolling in the ashen dirt, the blue light crackling over the surface of its skin. Its scream was ear-splitting as it ended up on all fours, its great golden wings curled up. Dazed, it shook its head, and tried to stand, its honed, muscular body jerking as the last tendrils of Endorian power rippled over its flesh. Digging its claws into the ground, it managed to half-stand, its body still sagging, attempting to open its wings again to help it balance on shaky legs.

'Fuck,' I whispered. 'Fuck it.'

My feet crunched against the grit as I ran at it, white noise crowding my head with static. Behind me, Addi was shouting, screaming at me to stop, telling me I was fucking crazy and maybe I was, but I had to do something. I couldn't let that thing get to its feet. If I did, then we were as good as dead.

The Power, clearly still struggling to regain control of its senses, turned to look at me, blinking at first as if in disbelief that this scrappy-looking human was even daring to attack it. When I was almost upon it, the creature's face turned, twisted, that awful smile lighting up its molten features, and it rose almost to its feet, its wings opening up fully, the golden hue of its feathers dazzling my eyes.

I blinked away the glaring light, but refused to stop, holding out my arms. Beneath my skin the blue veins were glowing, growing brighter with each step closer that I took, and then when the Power was just a few metres away, it burned the brightest of all, the heat erupting from my hands. The fireball hit the Angel's wings with so much force that it was flung backwards where it rolled, desperately trying to extinguish the flames. These were no ordinary flames though and I knew that no amount of rolling around in the dirt was going to dampen their strength as they consumed the wings, before quickly spreading over the Angel's shoulders and down its back.

The Power was screaming now, a scream so chilling that I think it would have had anyone shrinking to the ground with their hands over their ears to drown out the horrible noise. But not me. I listened to its screams, watching as my Endorian fire swallowed the creature whole, watching until it was done, and the creature finally collapsed dead on the ground, smoke rising from its body and the pungent smell of burnt flesh hanging in the air.

A hand grabbed at my own, warm, familiar, and I turned to look into Ethan's dark eyes.

'You're a fucking warrior, Casey Brogan,' he said, his voice tinged with admiration. 'Come on,' he said, urgently, pulling me away. 'Stay close to my side, yeah?'

Ethan and I ran towards the main body of the fight, slowing now and then for him to push out at the advancing enemy, the incredible force of his energy taking out whole lines of Powers like they were nothing. I ran with him, looking back to see that Oscar was not too far behind, but keeping more of a distance to protect Addi, firing off shots at any Angel that drew too near, but it wasn't Oscar that the Angelic Army were interested in. As we neared Blake's army, the Angels, realising we were now about to join the fight, seemed to press forward with a hungrier energy than before, with the Dominions now advancing too.

Keeping close to Ethan's side and now in the crushing midst of the battle, with the Demons all around us, we worked almost in tandem - Ethan forcing the air at the Angels like a hurricane, his hands tearing, twisting, pulling their bodies to pieces, and me, hurling balls of Endorian fire at any that managed to get too close. Soon the air was thick with the cloying stench of blood, sweat and burning flesh, and my ears were ringing with screams and shouts, cries of pain and triumph.

My muscles were beginning to ache with the effort of the assault, despatching one Angel to its death, only to be confronted by yet another, and yet I felt oddly exhilarated by it all. My veins tingling, my skin hot and glistening with perspiration, I was feeling the buzz of every kill, fuck, just feeling the high of the battle and the high of knowing that Ethan was there, by my side. It had never felt so right as it did then, fighting alongside him, feeling the warmth of his body heat, feeling the strength of his power, feeling his eyes flicker towards me every now and then, meeting mine, the grin plastered on his face only being replaced by a dogged, gritty determination whenever he turned to face another assailant.

The ground exploded near my feet, sending plumes of white dust billowing up into my face and I stumbled, alarmed as a fissure appeared in the dry, white earth, wide enough to swallow my feet.

'Casey, watch out,' Ethan shouted, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me away, just in time.

A tall, lithe Dominion, no doubt the one to fire the explosive shot that had made the ground open up, came hurtling through the melee, its moves surprisingly graceful, its hair flying around its shoulders like a cascade of silver silk. With a cry that contorted its beautiful face into something quite repulsive, it released a hail of hard, focused bolts of energy that came at us with such speed that I felt the first ones rip through the air by my face as I pulled out of their way, the fierce velocity burning at my skin. I heard Ethan cry out and judder against me, and I knew he'd not been so lucky. He'd been hit, not badly, but a small trickle of blood was snaking from his temple where the skin had reddened instantly.

Furious, I reached out and sent a torrent of fireballs at the Dominion, my rage burning deep within as I unleashed it all on the oncoming Angel, which sped towards us on nimble feet, its body sliding through the onslaught, bending and twirling, achieving seemingly impossible angles to dodge the Endorian flames. I kept on going, now joined by Ethan, and just when I thought the Dominion would manage to reach us, I watched, amazed, as a bolt of Ethan's energy and the blue flames from my own hand intertwined as they flew through the air, sparks flying from the connection of our two powers, and hitting the Angel in the centre of its chest. The Dominion stopped instantly, looking down with bewilderment at its chest where the blue fireball was swirling, tendrils of electricity snaking outwards like tentacles and disappearing into its body. It shuddered, stumbling back on its heels. Then, in a similar way to how the shield had dissolved outwards, the Dominion's chest began to dissolve, the sparks travelling out from the central point where the combined energy of Endorian and Demon was working its terrible magic. The Angel's body shook, convulsing and jerking, until finally, looking up at us, its eyes wide and full of a fear it didn't seem to understand, what was left of it exploded into flames, the air behind it opening up and swallowing it like some invisible monster that had been waiting for the right moment to bite.

Ethan relaxed against my back, his arms tightening around my waist, but our relief was short-lived when a huge shadow passed overhead, and a bird-like screech of such ferocity filled the air.

Instantly, Ethan pulled me down to the ground.

A Cherubim swooped low, clutching at a Demon close to us and lifting him up into the air, where it ripped him clean in half, tossing the two pieces of his body across the battlefield and showering those below it in blood. It ascended, turning in a wide arc, its monstrous gold-tipped wings spread wide as it coasted, before turning back. Even from where we lay prostrate on the ground, I could see that the beast had us in its sights, its sunken eyes fixed upon us both. With another shriek, that scratched at the skin on the back of my neck and sent my stomach plummeting, it dived towards us and Ethan jumped to his feet, yanking me to mine.

'Run, Casey,' he urged.

'No, no,' I cried. 'I'm not leaving you.'

'Just fucking run,' he said, with a snarl, and then, with a grunt of effort he pushed at the air in front of me, sending me flying backwards away from him, as he turned back to face the oncoming monster. Skidding to a halt many metres away, I stared open-mouthed as he ran in the opposite direction, leading the Cherubim away from where I stood. He was fast, really fucking fast, but the Cherubim was picking up momentum, its wings stretched wide, making the most of the air currents and gaining on Ethan with every second. My heart thudded in my chest as it drew closer to him, stretching out its misshapen clawed hands, just like a hawk getting ready to attack.

'I'm not leaving you,' I murmured, watching Ethan get further and further away.

I began to run, weaving in and out of soldiers still grappling with each other, somehow managing to dodge the bolts of energy, feeling the icy air suck on my skin too many times, the cold grasping voids opening up close to me as if desperate to pull me in. One Dominion came too close, and with a cry, I blasted at it, sending fire twisting into its long hair. It shrieked, batting at the flames with its hands and was then lost in the throng as I kept going, not even bothering to glance behind me. Looking ahead, my chest aching, head spinning, I saw that Ethan had broken free of the edges of the battle, a wide expanse of wasteland in front of him.

Just when I thought the Cherubim would fall upon him, and no doubt the Cherubim thought the same, judging by its victorious scream, Ethan tumbled and rolled, sliding backwards so he was now facing the monstrous Angel. Holding out his arms, he pushedat the air, a force so strong that the shockwaves of it sent a fierce wind blowing across the battlefield, sending dust flying up in mushroom clouds. I shielded my face from the worst of it, feeling the grit sting my eyes and skin and when the wind finally died, I lowered my arms and looked desperately out across the battlefield.

Everyone had stopped. Every Shedim. Every Angel. And they were all looking in the same direction.

They were all looking at Ethan and the Cherubim.

Ethan was where I had last seen him, laying on his back, shoulders lifted off the ground, arms raised, perfectly still.

The Cherubim was suspended in the air, its body bent and frozen as if it had been hit hard in the mid-section, its long muscular arms outstretched, thin, bony fingers splayed. Its terrible mouth was set wide, in a silent rictus scream that would never come, its gaunt face stricken in agony. The sheer size of the beast was huge in comparison to Ethan, and yet, he held the monstrous creature there, almost as if he had stopped time itself, almost as if the beast was as light as a feather from one of its wings.

Everything was eerily quiet.

Clenching his hands into fists, Ethan made a sharp twisting motion and the Cherubim bucked in the air, its long neck stretching backwards. With its arms spread wide, its claws twitched, desperate, hungry, in agony, and Ethan pulledagain, his face grimacing with concentration as he did so. The Cherubim's mouth opened wider, impossibly wide almost, as its arms were bent at sharp angles, the snap of bone echoing across the battlefield.

With a howl of rage so loud, so deep, so full of dark hatred, Ethan clawed at the air, dragging his fingers through it as if tearing flesh from bone and as he did so, the Cherubim's huge wings were torn free from its body. Silvery feathers hung loose and bloodied in the air. Still holding the beast's ravaged body there, Ethan sat up, deftly curling his legs underneath him until he was able to pull himself up to stand.

I held my breath.

Raising one hand higher than the other, he pushed downwards, and the wingless Cherubim hit the ground hard, but still Ethan didn't stop there. He pushed and pushed, the bleached tundra rippling like quicksand beneath the Angel. It began to suck on its body, the white earth becoming fluid, leeching at the Cherubim as it weakly struggled against it, all its formidable strength now gone. Down it went, more of its body disappearing into the gaping maw that had opened up in the ground, even though I knew there was no sinkhole there, just Ethan pushing the Cherubim's body into the earth, crushing it, suffocating it.

Burying it alive.

Finally, when the creature's head disappeared under the surface and the ground settled back into place one more, Ethan dropped his hands to his sides, his fists clenched as he stood alone, away from the two armies that had stopped to witness the death of a Cherubim.

Had this ever happened before? Had one ever been killed? From the expression on the faces of every Shedim and Angel there, it appeared not.

The silence that followed was unnerving, like watching a stone flying through the air at a pane of glass and knowing there was nothing you could do to stop the inevitable. It was going to shatter.

When it did finally shatter, and the screams began, I jerked my head towards the sound, holding up my arms, the blue veins instinctively glowing brighter as if alerting me to the danger at hand.

The Archangels, who, I had noticed, had held back for most of the battle so far, remaining to the rear of their forces, overseeing the conflict and issuing orders to their commanders, were now hovering in the air, their heads thrown back as they screamed up into the skies. They screamed in unison, as one, and the sound they made – full of agony and fury - was terrifying to the core, but nowhere near as terrifying as the sound that greeted them in return.

Despite the skies above being completely devoid of cloud or blemish, a clap of thunder rolled overhead. The ground quivered, trembling as if it already anticipated the oncoming storm, knowing that what it brought with it was something far worse than twisters and Biblical hail. All around me, a murmuring arose, voices full of fear, whispers of terror and panic. I looked wildly at those closest to me and saw how they were all looking up at the skies, desperately searching for something.

Something was coming. Something, something...

When the skies split open, lightning forced its way through the dark fissures, sheets of pure brilliant white, dazzling. The Demons covered their eyes, some dropping to their knees, in terror or act of defence, I wasn't sure which, although I had a suspicion it was a heavy mixture of the two. Gasps and cries of panic drifted up into the air as the thunder and lightning raged on, growing in power, bathing the battlefield in blinding light one second, plunging us into a terrible darkness the next.

When the light was extinguished, agonising seconds ticked by as we languished in the dark. I could smell the sweat from bodies close by, the stench of blood evading my nostrils, the tension building, solidifying into something I felt like I could reach out and touch. It was a claustrophobic noose that tightened around my throat and cut across my chest like the burning rake of Angel claws.

An agitated chittering noise filled the air, followed by a long, drawn-out hissing.

Somewhere close to me, a Demon whimpered.

When the lightning hit again, illuminating the skies with an intense burning light, I saw them.

The screams of the Archangels had summoned the Seraphim.

They reigned in the sky above us, four colossal grotesque creatures, even larger than the Cherubim and they were just as I remembered them from the vision Ethan had shown me, although infinitely more horrifying to behold in the flesh.

They twisted and writhed together, their serpent tails interlocked, always touching as they spun and turned in the air. Their enormous wings, six pairs on each Seraphim, were a shimmering mass of beauty and terror, emanating a gleam of molten gold that made many shield their eyes from the glare. Adjusting to the blinding brilliance, I stared up at them, my mouth open with dread and awe.

The coppery scales of their snake-like skin looked different to how I had seen through Lucifer's eyes. Then, the scales had appeared almost like the most beautiful armour, shined and polished to perfection, but now, they appeared dullen somehow, and there were patches where no scales remained, the skin underneath tarnished and puckered.

The four Seraphim surveyed the battlefield below them, their black soulless eyes taking in the two armies and the devastation of the endless war. I found it odd that both the Seraphim and the Shedim should have those oil-slick eyes and yet Ethan's had always contained so much life, so much vibrancy and emotion that the Seraphim clearly didn't possess. They were connected, born of the same species and yet that's where the similarities ended.

Michael and the others flew closer to the Seraphim and a wordless exchange seemed to take place, that results in the Seraphim opening their terrible mouths and releasing a stream of that same awful chittering sound that I'd heard when the dimension had been plunged into darkness. Together, they all turned their gazes to the place on the ground where the Cherubim had been killed, and the Seraphim, looking down at Ethan, hissed violently, the skin stretching tight across their angular cheekbones as they did so.

Amazingly, Ethan didn't flinch under the weight of their glare. Instead, he remained perfectly still, his head raised, hands balled into tight fists by his sides. Everything about the way he returned their stare looked like a challenge, the ultimate fuck youto the creatures that had not only cast out his Father, but who had killed his parents and haunted him his whole life.

My heart hammered hard in my chest in alarm and fear for him then, standing alone, so far away from Blake's army and the protection of the other Shedim, and standing so far away from me and whatever good my powers could do.

I was so lost in a world of fear for him, that I didn't even see it coming.

My body was yanked backwards, and my arms pulled behind me as I was dragged along the ground. I kicked out with my feet, unable to stop myself, my heels scraping in the dirt. When I finally stopped moving, my hands were gripped by an icy vice, and I tried to struggle against whatever held me, whipping my head around to try and see.

Blake was standing a few metres behind me, his arms outstretched, feet braced against the floor.

'What are you doing?' I screamed at him.

He arched a dark brow at my question. 'It was always going to be this way, witch.'

'Bastard,' I spat, kicking out again, even though I knew it was pointless. He pulled hard and my arms were yanked again, this time the coldness creeping up to my elbows. I craned my neck to see, noting with horror how my arms had disappeared into a void, the air around them rippling and pulsating.

'Azazel!' Ethan's voice rang out loud across the inhospitable terrain. The armies had parted, retreating on either side like the waters of Red Sea did for Moses, leaving nothing but a wide expanse of barren wasteland between Ethan and us. He began to walk briskly towards us, but Blake held up his hands and called out to him.

'Stay where you are, Helel, I'm warning you.'

'The fuck I will,' Ethan shouted, not stopping.

I shrieked as the void pulled me in deeper, my left arm sinking right up to the shoulder. Immersed fully in the invisible sinkhole, the pressure increased, my arm stretching backwards at an angle. When I thought it couldn't possibly bend any more, the bone snapped. The pain flared hot and intense and I screamed, my legs turning to jelly beneath me. The invisible binds were the only thing stopping me from collapsing to the ground now. Gasping for air, I hung there, the pain in my arm not fading.

'Stop, Helel, or I swear, I will break her other arm,' Blake called out. 'I will snap every bone in the witch's body before you can even get close.'

Ethan came to an abrupt halt, his hands twitching, fingers moving as if he was desperate to attack, but unable to do anything while I was caught in Blake's clutches.

'What the fuck are you doing?' Ethan raged. 'I fought for you. She fought for you.'

'All this time, Helel and you still fail to see the bigger picture,' Blake shouted back. 'The days of your Father's rule over the Fallen died with him, but his legacy lived on to keep us forever cursed. Lucifer was nothing but a fool, a selfish, misguided fool who did not deserve his place on the Divine Council. His actions led us into darkness and then he left us there while he wandered the Earth with his witch lover.' Blake's face had reddened, his anger growing. 'No longer will we suffer this life he forced upon us. No longer will we endure this pathetic existence, lost in the wilderness without the Seraphim to guide us.'

'Are you fucking insane?' Ethan shot back, his voice echoing out. 'Think about what you're saying, Azazel! Think about the pain they inflicted on us all over the centuries!'

'They inflicted it on us, Helel, while you sat quaking in whatever dimension you created for yourself. Don't talk to me of the pain of the Shedim when you turned your back on your kind a long time ago. Lucifer poisoned you, Helel. He poisoned your mind to the truth and infected you with his lies.'

Turning his face up to the skies, where the Seraphim and Council waited, Blake called up to them.

'Blessed Seraphim!' Blake pleaded with them, gesturing to me. 'Rightful descendants of the Throne, this is proof of my devotion, proof of my commitment to you! I will give you the witch. Do with her what you will, but I beg you to grant the Shedim a pardon. We denounce Lucifer. We denounce the ways of the First to Fall. We will no longer defy your rule. Please, I beg of you, redeem us our powers and let us all be as one again.'

On hearing his words, the Seraphim spun faster and faster, never breaking the circle.

'The Gospel of Helel is a heresy. A falsehood. Lies from the Endorian witch to subvert your rule and bring dissent to the ranks of the Angels. It is I that will bring balance to our kind. It is I that will end this war and bring peace again.'

The Seraphim opened their mouths, that awful chittering noise making me shiver, despite the endless burning in my broken arm. Michael hovered closer to them, his huge fiery wings beating at the air. He remained there, in silent consultation, until finally, he turned back to face Azazel smiling, his eyes blazing with triumph.

'You speak the truth, Azazel,' he said. 'The Seraphim have seen it. They accept your most generous gift. The witch is a great prize indeed.'

Ethan stared wildly from the Seraphim to Blake.

'You will not do this, Azazel, I won't let you,' he shouted, stepping forward.

Blake laughed coldly, dismissing him completely. 'And what will youdo, Helel? You stand alone now. Will you fight us all?'

My heart ached for him then, the pain in my chest rivalling that of the pain in my arm. Blake was right. Ethan was alone. A distant figure on the edges, vastly outnumbered by the united forces of the Angels and the Shedim. He stood, his chest heaving in and out, his face contorted with a desperate panic that seemed so unlike him. For a moment, I thought he would strike as his hands balled into fists, the anger and panic peeling from him in waves. Instead, his shoulders dropped, his gaze falling to the ground at his feet.

Laughter echoed all around us. I glared daggers at Blake, at his ultimate betrayal. Lucifer had been right about him all along. He'd never planned to destroy the Angels, just to seek out his place among them.

'So be it,' Michael called out, his voice a trill of glee, as he drifted down to the ground with the other Archangels by his side. They stood on the other side of the great divide between the two armies. 'The deal is done, Azazel. We will end this. Your faith and devotion will bring the Cursed Ones back under the control of the Great Seraphim. You will bring the witch to us now.'

Before Blake could speak, Ethan called out, holding out his hands, palms up in a placating gesture.

'Wait! he said, panic lacing his tone. 'Don't do this, please. I'll trade.'

Michael turned his head to look at him, his eyes narrowing. 'Trade, Helel? And what exactly will you trade for the life of the Endorian?'

Ethan inhaled. Paused. Inhaled.

'Not what,' he replied. 'Who.Me. You can have me, but you let her live.'

My breath caught in my throat. 'Ethan, no,' I gasped.

'I will trade,' he said again, ignoring me, his stance stiffening as it had when he'd stood in silent challenge to the Seraphim.

Michael and the other Archangels studied him shrewdly, before drawing close to each other, bending their heads low. They closed their eyes and above them the Seraphim began to spin even faster, that horrible chittering sound becoming louder and more agitated.

Michael's eyes snapped open, his head jerking to one side. 'And you will come freely?'

'Yes,' Ethan called out. 'Yes, but you let her go. You bring her here with Berith and the human and you let them all go. Do that, and you can have everything I've got.'

'Dear goodness,' a voice said, close to my ear and I snapped my attention to Juliette, who now stood near my side. Strangely, she looked neither proud or triumphant – two things I would have expected from her in this moment – instead, a tinge of fear laced her expression, her eyes wide, her mouth open, as she stared at Ethan.

'Raphael,' Michael instructed the boyish Archangel. 'Read him. Tell us if he is speaking the truth and means to relinquish his power in trade for the girl's life.'

Raphael stepped forward, his movements slow and wary, crossing the bleak battlefield, his bare feet crunching against toughened, white grass and bleached-out dirt. He stopped, still some distance away from Ethan and cocked his head to one side, his dark lustrous curls falling foppishly down the side of his beautiful golden-scarred face. He stood, much like Michael had when he'd first presented himself to us, in that odd ballerina pose, heels together, fingers splayed by his side. So beautiful and yet so eerie in his alien stance.

After a few seconds, when everything seemed to pause, apart from the odd movement from the soldiers, a shifting of feet against dust, a movement of wings, the low chittering of the Seraphim, Raphael took a deep breath that seemed to weigh heavy on his shoulders. His hands relaxed by his sides, he turned to face the army behind him. Golden tears glistened against his pale skin.

'The Son of the Cursed dost speakest the truth. He is filled with love for the girl and dost offer himself as sacrificial lamb in her place. He wouldst come to us now freely and completely and give all of his soul to the Blessed Seraphim and all of their kin.'

Juliette flinched, a small shocked exhale escaping her lips.

'What is it?' I said to her. 'I don't understand. What does that mean?'

'It means,' Juliette said, dragging her eyes away from Ethan, keeping her voice low, 'that Ethan will relinquish his power to the Seraphim. He is part-human, after all. They will drain his soul and he will allow them do it.'

My world fell away, the ground collapsing beneath my body.

'No,' I gasped. 'No, he can't.'

'No,' she repeated, almost robotically, but I noticed, with a slight tremble to her voice. 'He can't. He won't.'

I looked at her questioningly. Her body was stiff, arms rigid, back straight.

Something was wrong.

She seemed stunned. Maybe she had never thought he would do this. Maybe somewhere in that twisted, cold heart, she cared for him more than she ever dared to admit and now, instead of winning her prize, she would have to watch him sacrifice himself.

'Juliette,' I said. 'I know you care for him. Do something. Help him. Please.'

Juliette looked at me sharply, as if I'd reached out and slapped her across the face. 'Stupid girl,' she hissed, her lips drawing back from her teeth, lipstick smeared across her skin like clown-paint. 'I cannot help him now. I cannot help any of them. Only myself.'

'What do you mean you can't help any of them? Juliette?'

What truth we refuse to believe,' she said, turning her gaze back upon Ethan. Her eyes were glassy with fear and I drew back from it, not understanding and yet feeling her terror as if it was an infection that had seeped from her body into mine. 'The Last Judgement is upon us,' she whispered, almost in a daze.

She was mad. She had to be. Nothing she said was making any sense now and my anger flared at her refusal to help, when it was clear she was upset about the prospect of what Ethan was about to do.

An incessant murmuring had arisen among the opposing armies, an excitable thrum of noise that made my desperate heart pound in my chest. He couldn't do this. He couldn't give himself to them. Not for me. Not for anything.

'Bring them forward,' Ethan called out. 'Have Blake and his guards come with them. I will go with them once Casey, Berith and the human are safe. You will let Berith take them from this place, once I am by your side, Michael.'

Michael seemed to consider this, looking to Raphael for confirmation. The Archangel, still crying, inclined his head once to affirm that what Ethan offered was no trick.

'As you wish, Helel,' Michael said. 'Azazel, take the traitor Berith and his human pet to the trading point and bring Helel back to us.'

Blake, who seemed somewhat reluctant to release me, a deep frown marring his forehead, stepped closer to me. His expression was grave as he removed the binds on my hands. My broken arm fell free, the dead weight of it sending fresh waves of pain through me and I held it to my chest with my other hand, doing my best to breathe through the agony that was enveloping me.

'You would do well to heed my warning now, witch,' he whispered. 'This is not a battle you could ever win. Raise that one good hand against us and we will strike you down and the abomination that you carry.'

I glared at him with disgust and rage, hating to see the smirk on his face as the tears began to fall down mine. Taking my arm, he began to pull me forward, my legs shaking with every step.

A shift in the air close to me drew my attention and I looked behind, confused, as Juliette backed away, her eyes still wide with fear as she slid in between the mass of Shedim on my left. A swish of her full skirts, a flash of emerald green silk and she was gone, disappearing into the throng. Where the fuck was she going? What did she know that I didn't?

The journey across the battlefield seemed like the longest and most arduous I had ever taken. With each step, I felt the hatred of those around me. With every step, I felt the sunken, soulless eyes of the Seraphim burying under my skin. With every step, as I drew closer and closer to Ethan, my chest tightened, my throat burning with the sobs that threatened to overwhelm me.

Soon –too soon– I was standing face to face with Ethan, just metres apart.

I let the sob bubble up into my throat then, unable to hold it back any longer as I sunk to my knees in the dust and the dirt. I was pathetic. Pathetic and weak and not worthy of the sacrifice he was willing to make.

'I want a moment with her,' Ethan said to Blake. 'You can give me that, can't you?'

Blake hesitated.

'Come on, Blake,' Ethan said again, his voice softer now, his eyes imploring. 'This is the least you can do. I'm begging you. Give us some time, please.'

'No tricks, Helel,' Blake warned.

Ethan laughed, but his face twisted with pain, as he seemed to swallow his own sorrow. 'I've got no tricks left, Blake. No jokes. Nothing. All I have is her and I'm about to lose that too. I just want to speak with her. To say goodbye.'

The other Demon nodded, stepping back and motioning his guards to escort Oscar and Addi to one side.

Ethan moved closer, dropping to his knees in front of me, placing one hand gingerly around my waist, careful not to crush my broken limb between us. His face was battle-weary, white earth and blood smeared over one cheek. I hated the way his body sagged in defeat, the way he titled his head to look at me, that innate sadness in his eyes that brought echoes of Lucifer's same expression.

'What are you doing?' I croaked, hardly able to force out the words as the tears streamed down my face and my chest ached heavy with pain. 'You can't do this, Ethan. You mustn't.'

'I can, and I must,' he said, firmly.

'No,' I said, vehemently shaking my head, the tears now falling onto the white, dusty ground. 'No, please, don't. I'm not worth this kind of sacrifice. I'm just not.'

Ethan's cheek muscles hardened, his brow darkening. 'Fucks sake, Casey, when are you going to finally get it? When are you going to realise that you are worth it?' He sounded pissed, his voice tinged with an anger that hit me hard. 'You are. And I didn't need the damn Gospel to tell me that. I didn't need it to tell me I would fall in love with you, because I knew that from the moment I saw how much fire you had inside of you. I didn't need it to tell me that I would beg you to spend a lifetime with me, because I knew I wanted that the first time I saw how hard you fought to survive. I didn't need it to tell me that I would walk across a battlefield for you, because I knew that as soon as I first laid eyes on you. I fucking love you, Casey Brogan and I would do anything – anything – to keep you safe.'

I stared at him, my breath catching in my throat, unable to form the words.

He sighed, his shoulders dropping, but the smile came nevertheless. Small. Sad. Heart-breaking.

'It was all written, Casey. This was written. It was all there.'

'What do you mean?'

'This,' he said again, as if I should understand. 'How it would all end.'

I frowned. 'But you said there were choices. Pathways. You said that, Ethan.'

'I know I did. I almost believed it too,' he said, his voice cracking. 'I almost forgot everything they told me. I almost forgot everything that was in that damn book. My parents told me we could never run from this. I mean, fuck, we tried, Case. We ran around the world so many times, our heads were spinning. We ran, but they knew. Deep down, they alwaysknew what my destiny held, just as they knew it was never something I could run from. Even after they'd gone, I kept running until I was so bloody tired that I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't run another step and so what did I do? I hid from it. I hid from this, stupidly thinking that if I stayed hidden, my destiny would never find me, but it doesn't work like that, does it? Destiny always finds a way.'

I jutted out my chin obstinately. 'But, it's only finding a way because you're allowing it to. If you left now, if you refused to go with them, then things would be different. You don't have to go with them.'

I do,' he whispered. 'There was only ever one true pathway, Casey, and it was the one the Seraphim saw the day my father sought counsel with them. The reason they wanted me dead. Because I'm the only one that can finally end it all. I'm the only one that can end them all.'

Ethan pressed his forehead against mine and closed his eyes for a second, his face crumpling. When he opened his eyes again, he was staring intently into mine and I saw it all so clearly then. I understood his words, I saw everything just as he saw it, I saw everything just the way it had been written and I remembered just why the Seraphim had been so terrified of Ethan being born into this world. Juliette's face swam into my head, her fear, the strange things she had whispered. She'd known. She'd known that Ethan didn't intend to just hand himself over. He intended to wipe them all out.

'No,' I gasped. 'No.'

Ethan glanced towards Blake, lowering his voice. 'Please, Casey, please listen to me. I have to finish this now. Angels? Demons? It makes no difference. They are one and the same. Look at them. Both want to control this world, but it doesn't belong to them. The First might have been the first Angel, but the First was not the first being to walk this earth. Humans were here long before we arrived. The First Angel knew this and knew we didn't deserve to claim it. That's why the Seraphim killed her.'

My mouth fell open. 'Her?'

'The First was female, Casey, or at least as close to it as it was possible to get.'

I rocked back on my heels, feeling overwhelmed by his words, overwhelmed by the pain in my broken arm, but mostly overwhelmed by what I knew he intended to do.

'There must be another way,' I said. 'There has to be. You can persuade them, Ethan, if anyone can change things, you can.'

'This is the only way things can change. Usurping one dictator, only empowers another. The demons just crave power. You saw what Blake is prepared to do to get that. They've always been the same. My father hoped for so much more, he hoped they understood, but even after the Fall, there were those Demons who sought to claw their way back only because they desired the supremacy they had lost. They never followed Lucifer, not really. They never understood his teachings. They thought he wanted to crush the Council so that he could take control, and when they realised that he didn't, they betrayed him. My father neverwanted to sit on the Throne of the First, he never wanted to rule, he just wanted humans to have a choice. He thought he could change things, but he didn't have the power to do that. He never did. But I do, Casey. I have that power. I've always had it. More power than all of them combined.'

He laughed then, rolling his eyes, where his own tears glistened against the inky orbs.

'All those damn names they gave me and the only one that mattered, the most important one of all? Bringer of Dawn. That's what I was destined to do. Bring a new dawn to the world. Without them.'

I clutched onto his shirt with my uninjured hand, pressing my face into the warmth of his neck. He smelt good and safe and beautiful. He smelt like life and hope and air that I could breathe and like everything I had ever wanted. He couldn't do this. He just couldn't.

'Please,' I sobbed. 'Please don't leave me. Not now. I need you. We need you.'

'And I need you both alive.' He leant down to kiss away the tears that still fell. 'Which is why I have to do this, there's no other way, but I can't do it without you. You're the key. That's why you're in the book, Casey. The Tibetan witch saw it and that's how my mother knew about you. We have to do this together.'

I shook my head, confused. 'I don't understand.'

He took a breath. 'When I walk away, they'll be coming with me.' His eyes flickered to Blake and the guards. 'Now, when you see me start to run, you hit me with everything you've got.'

'W-what?' I stammered.

'You let it go, Case. Everything you've got. As hard as you can, I want you to hit me with it.'

He didn't mean this. It was insane. He couldn't mean it.

'No, no, I can't!'

'You have to,' he said, firmly, cupping my face in his palms and holding me steady. 'You have to. This is the only way I can keep you both safe. They're not going to let you leave this place, Casey. They can't. You're too dangerous. Do you honestly think the Seraphim wanted the Endorians dead just because they knew you could protect the Shedim? They wanted to destroy the Endorians to stop you and I from ever meeting. They wanted your kind dead, Casey, because they knew what you and I would be capable of when our powers were combined.'

I stared wild-eyed at him, understanding. Finally understanding. Oscar had told me, but I hadn't understood then. I'd thought he meant Ethan and I could combine our powers to destroy the Seraphim, I hadn't once considered what it could really mean. How could I? And how could Ethan expect me to do this? I'd be killing him. I'd be killing us.

'I won't do it,' I said. My voice was shaking. 'I won't, Ethan.'

'Casey, it's written. You and I were always going to end up here.'

'I don't give a shit if it's written or not,' I snapped, seeing Blake take a step forward and instantly lowering my voice again. 'I don't care. Please, Ethan.'

'You do care,' he replied. 'Don't come at me with that don't-give-a-shit-Caseystuff, because I know you care, and I know you understand this is the only way. You might not want to admit it, but you know.'

And I did know. I did, and I wanted to raise my head to the barren, bleak skies and scream louder than the Seraphim, louder than the Cherubim, louder than all of them combined. I wanted to scream until the world split into two and took everything with it into the chasm I had created.

He tried to pull away then, and I still held on, ignoring the excruciating pain in my arm as I pressed against him, ignoring the wave of nausea the pain kicked up in my stomach.

'Don't make me,' I begged, as he stood, and I was forced to stand with him, still refusing to let him go. How could I let the one good thing in my life go? The pain in my arm was nothing compared to the agony of a life without him. The thought of it was making my chest burst, my throat burn, my heart die. 'I don't want to do this without you.'

Ethan smiled, cupping my cheek in his hand.

'But you can, and you will. You will.'

He pressed his mouth against mine, kissing me hard, deep, strong. When he drew back, he was smiling.

'I told you that you were the most powerful creature I knew,' he whispered. 'You got me to finally face my demons, and I didn't think there was a being alive that would ever make me do that. Now, you do what I said, yeah? You give it all to me, all your fire, everything you've got and then you put up that shield. You put it up over you and Addi and Oscar and you don't take it down, no matter what you see, no matter what you hear. Promise me?'

Taking a deep breath, he looked over to where Blake stood.

'Okay,' he said. 'I'm ready to go now.'

As he began to walk away, flanked on either side by Blake and the guards, the Seraphim rose up, their long serpent-like tails twisting together as they moved in the air, spinning together, their wide, vicious mouths stretched wide in what looked like triumphant, glee-filled smiles.

I felt Oscar's firm grip on my good arm, holding me back.

'Easy now, girl,' he croaked hoarsely, close to my ear. 'Easy.' His face was stricken, pained, and a single tear slid down his ruddied cheek.

Addi moved to my other side, his hand on the small of my back, nose pressed into my hair.

My heart flipped when Ethan halted and gestured to Blake to wait. Slowly, he turned back to look at me, a strange expression on his face as he tilted his head to one side.

'You're a forest fire, Casey Brogan,' he called out. 'Try not to burn the whole world down when I'm gone, yeah?'

With a wink, he turned and began to run towards the waiting forces, with Blake and the guards crying out as they pursued him.

'Wait for it, girl,' Oscar said, gruffly, his voice breaking. 'Wait until he's close.'

I sobbed, raising my arm as if reaching for him and instead, summoning everything I had, and with a cry of pain that wracked my whole body, I did it, I let it all go.

The Endorian fire that streamed across the battlefield was like nothing I had managed to release so far. I felt it come deep from within, a burning so strong that I thought I was on fire, the flames consuming bone, muscle, flesh and yet it wasn't me that they consumed.

Just as Ethan reached the edges of the armies waiting for him, as they closed in on either side, he turned, throwing himself in the air and spinning, his own arms outstretched to catch the blue fire as it hit. The flames quickly enveloped him, spreading over his body, like wildfire and I watched, now on my knees again, as the Seraphim realised what was coming and began to scream like nothing I had ever heard. The Archangels rose up, their frightened eyes fixed upon me, their burning wings beating furiously as they tried to gain traction in the air.

'Casey,' Oscar urged, grabbing hold of me. 'The shield! Now! Put up the fucking shield.'

They were coming our way and from where I knelt in the dust, I could see Michael's enraged face twisting, his flesh shifting, his beautiful flawless skin becoming scarred, almost as if the heat from his bones was melting it from within. He was screeching as he flew at us, followed closely by the others and without barely thinking about it, I held out my hand again as if to protect us from their attack and the shield appeared instantly, a flickering blue light ballooning overhead.

Just when I thought the Archangels would hit the shield, the air juddered, held still, then juddered again and they were frozen for a second, their mouths wide with shock, faces stunned. Then they were sucked backwards, back towards where Ethan was suspended in the air, arms outstretched on either side. A ripping, tearing sound like a crack of thunder resounded across the battlefield as wings the same obsidian-black as his eyes and hands tore free from his back, sending his body upwards as if in flight. Blue sparks rippled across the inky feathers, the flames spreading right to the tips. Ethan continued to speed upwards, getting closer and closer to the terrified Seraphim.

On the battlefield below, the Shedim and Angels were panicking, understanding the threat that was now among them, realising, finally, the true power that Ethan possessed, understanding the power of the son of the First to Fall, understanding the true legacy of Helel, the Archangel.

He was now completely engulfed in the Endorian fire now, a shimmering, blazing blue light that was growing stronger, the light intensifying at his core until I could barely even see the outline of his body. Brighter and brighter it became, spreading, swelling, dazzling until it became difficult to look upon without burning at my eyes.

They were screaming now, they were all screaming and so was I, hammering my fist against the shield, slamming my palm against it again and again, the sobs wracking my chest, begging him not to do this, begging him to stay with me, even though I knew it was too late.

I couldn't stop this. I couldn't stop him.

'Don't leave me,' I screamed. 'Don't you fucking leave me.'

The light exploded outwards then, a light so savage, so blinding, so merciless in its ferocity and hunger that I shrank to my knees, shielding my face from the infinite glare, until everything was white – white and paralysing and all-consuming, laying waste to everything in front of us.

The world imploded with a deafening boom and a quaking that knocked me to the ground, and then... nothing.

Unfurling myself from Oscar and Addi, who lay curled beside me, I climbed unsteadily to my feet, staring wide-eyed through the shield that remained intact, staring out at the barren wasteland.

The empty wasteland.

The Shedim. The Angels. The Mighty Seraphim and their Divine Council. The ones who had controlled our world for thousands of years. The ones who had lied to us. Manipulated us. Held themselves as Gods above us.

They were gone. All of them.

And Ethan was gone with them.

I fell to my knees again. Everything was still. Everything was silent.

Silent.

Calm.

Dead.

'Enough, Helel,' I whispered. 'Enough.'