“I’m going back home.” To her real home. The only one she’d ever had. Sam. He was home to her. Love. Safety.
Hers.
Seline turned away, and her hands pushed against the doors.
But Delia was still talking. She warned, “You won’t have a memory. Not of heaven. Not of Sam. Not of the life you knew before him. That all gets wiped away in the fall.”
Az hadn’t known who he was at first, either. “Az’s memory came back. So did Sam’s.”
A pause, then Delia said, “Provided you can stay alive, and all those Other out there desperate for angel blood don’t kill you and drain you, then your memory will come back. Eventually. But that eventually part is different for every angel. It could be months. Could be years. You’ll walk the earth, alone, hurt, thinking that you have no one.”
So she walked alone for a few years or Sam suffered for a millennia. Um . . . not such a hard choice.
“Why?” Delia’s voice was ragged, and Seline knew the angel realized there would be no changing her mind.
Seline shoved with all of her strength, and the doors flew fully open. Light washed over her. “Because I love him.”
A sharp breath. “That’s just what Erina said.”
Now she risked one final glance over her shoulder. “I guess I am like her.” So much more than she’d realized. Then Seline tilted her head back and felt the light warm her flesh. “I’m ready to go home.” I’m ready to fall.
Not for punishment. Not because she’d sinned. But because she loved.
All you have to do is ask for help.
Her eyes closed. “Please,” Seline whispered, and knew that she was heard. “I want to fall.”
The wind whipped in her ears. The floor beneath her feet disappeared. Her body plummeted. Fast, faster . . .
The pain would come, she knew it, yet right then, all she could think was—
Sam.
Blood dripped down his back. Sam didn’t feel the pain any longer. The skin was gone. Stripped slowly away by an angel with no mercy.
It didn’t matter. The flesh would grow back eventually.
“You can’t do this,” Az said, pacing in front of him. “This plan is just insane. You were always desperate to get off the clouds, and now you’re bargaining to get back upstairs?”
Sam didn’t speak.
“Insane,” Az muttered again.
The light scent of roses teased Sam’s nose. He spun around. “Seline!”
“No.” Delia drifted down beside him. She clasped her hands in front of her body, and her gaze darted to the blood-splattered ground, then back to him. “You don’t need to sacrifice. No trade should be made.”
And with her words, the pain came back, only this time it was a different kind of pain. One that seemed to slice right through his heart. “Seline?”
A brief nod. “Sh-she fell.”
His head sagged forward even as his hands clenched into fists.
“Well, damn.” From Az.
“When?” Sam demanded. Seline.
“Moments ago. I tried to stop her, but she wanted you too much.”
His chest ached.
“She knew the risks,” Delia told him quietly. “But she still chose to fall.”
A shadow drifted over the ground, and Sam felt the hard rush of wind around him. .
“Are you ready, Sammael?” Uriel asked, voice, low, grating. Ready for his sacrifice? But Seline had already sacrificed, and this bastard didn’t know . . .
Sam turned toward him. “I’m afraid there’s been a change in plans.”
Uriel’s eyes widened.
Sam braced his legs and got ready to attack. “I’m gonna have to tell you to f**k off now.”
Uriel backed up a step, and Sam saw the flicker of fear in his eyes. Once an angel tasted an emotion—even fear—the feeling could sneak back inside anytime.
“Actually,” Sam drawled slowly, “I think I might be gettin’ my pound of flesh back, and then tellin’ you to f**k off.”
Before Uriel could escape, Az grabbed him.
Az. His brother kept surprising him.
“Uriel . . .” Sam stalked toward him. “Before you dish out more pain, I think you might need to experience a bit of it yourself.”
Uriel snarled and fought against Az’s hold. “Delia, Delia, help me!”
She shook her head. “Sorry, but I have my orders. And you’ve made someone upstairs very angry. Punishment is coming. ”
Delia flew into the sky.
Sam slammed his fist into Uriel’s face. Bones smashed. “Punishment’s here.”