"If death calls for us, what's the difference if you sign the oath or not?" my emotions started running wild.
"It will impact the angels of the third heaven, your mortal realm of the second heaven, and even the demons of the first heaven," Dantalion reminded me.
I still wasn't sure where I fit in with God's plan. "What do we have to do?" I was afraid to ask, our claws still locked together.
"We must face them… together. You now have half-demon blood mixed with full fledged demon blood. There is only one way to defeat them or you will remain prisoner here forever."
"What if I told you I'm in love with you?" I protested.
"I would think myself lucky," he leaned closer. "I love you too. Just realize, even if I'm not always with you physically, I'm still always with you," the contours of his body consumed me, shutting out everything around us.
When my eyes finally looked into his, I saw the familiar angelic glow, his shape-shifted body once again my Guardian Angel's.
"This is where we pray," his voice sounded of heaven. He held a dagger, the same one the night of the ritual at The Tomb, its hilt holding a tiny vial of liquid inside. "It holds an elixir of perpetual life mixed with poison… a life for a life."
Together, we defied our curse.
The Courtyard within the mortal realm cast a brilliant glow, its neutral ground opening up the heavens to Judgment. Nine orders of angels maintained their place above hallowed ground, the stone walls setting the borders below. The sunken area beneath eye level, below the stone pillars and altar of jagged stone would soon await the Council of the Brotherhood of the Four Kings of Hell. Scratched into the ground, a ritual circle commenced in the Southern Realm.
Four winged guardians stood watch over the eternal flames, Satan taking his place on the throne, his crimson aura of death floating above his expansive wings.
Belial was seated to the North, divided half in blackness, the other half in light.
Lucifer, fallen son of the morning, faced the East, looking very much like his brother Satan, anxiously awaiting the trials.
Leviathan's serpent form coiled around his throne facing West, fire burning from his mouth, scorching hot against his reddened eyes.
Dantalion returned me back to Rowan and the army, standing outside the ritual circle. Every demon of the Goetia was present at The Summoning. Gwynnedd and Samael stood in the background, awaiting the trials, while Dantalion moved toward the circle, still clasping the dagger tightly in his angelic hands.