“You know I will.” Popping onto his toes, Noel pressed his lips to Gideon’s cheek. “We’ll see you after.”
As Noel backed away, Jai stepped forward. He reached out, and Gideon clasped his arm just below the elbow. Jai did the same. Their foreheads met, eyes locked. They didn’t say anything, but they didn’t need to.
Gideon tilted his head and placed a chaste kiss to Jai’s forehead, and Jai’s eyes squeezed shut for a moment as a shudder wracked him. But when they parted, they were dry-eyed and fierce.
“I’ll take care of them,” Jai promised, and Gideon smiled.
“You always do.”
A tear burned down my cheek as Gideon gathered his supplies, tightening the straps of his tactical vest. I trembled like a leaf as he prepared to leave us. What if this was the last time I ever saw him? What if he didn’t make it? What if none of us did?
“Giddy.” My voice broke, and he was there in an instant.
“Remember your training. Listen to Uriel and stick by Jai and Noel. Don’t doubt your instincts. You’re strong and brave and capable. You fight like the man I know you to be.” His eyes were wide and wet, and I choked on a sob. “You are… you’re gonna be fine.”
“Come back to me. That’s an order, soldier,” I said, and he nodded, just once.
“Yes, sir.”
Then he kissed me right there in front of everyone. I cinched my arms around his neck as if my grip would be strong enough to keep him here. I kissed him back with everything I had and everything I was. Our bond was wild and desperate, and I clung to it with all the strength I possessed.
“I love you, I love you, I love you.” I repeated it again and again as I drank in his peppermint and sunshine and damp earth.
“And I will wait for you on the shore,” he rasped in my ear, before he ripped himself away from me as he stormed toward Michael.
“No!” I cried, lunging forward, only to be hauled back by Jai. “This isn’t goodbye! Don’t you dare say goodbye to me.”
“You are so precious to me, kapara,” he said as he glowed brightly, Michael’s hand on his shoulder. His green eyes were soft and loving, but the sorrow there was debilitating. “And I will love you until the universe burns out.”
“I’ll see you after. I’ll find you!” I cried, and his sad smile wrenched my heart out of my chest.
“Until we meet again.”
“Gideon!” My scream died as he disappeared in a flash of light. A guttural moan shredded my throat as I collapsed into Jai’s arms. I tried not to cry because tears were for after the fight; they had no place on the battlefield. But they streaked down my cheeks as ugly sobs punched from my chest. “He said goodbye. Why did he say goodbye?”
“He’s gonna be fine,” Noel said as he wiped away my tears. “He will find us after it’s over. Just like he did the last time. You’ll see.”
“He said goodbye,” I said.
Jai wrapped his arms around me from behind, kissing my scalp. “Gideon is more capable than half this army combined. You have to trust him to take care of himself. And you need to stay alive for him, okay? He’ll be so pissed if you die on him.”
My laugh was broken and sharp, but it helped keep the weeping at bay. I nodded, allowing Jai and Noel to embrace me between them. Their fear vibrated through the bonds, belying their confident words, and we clung to each other, trembling.
But Jai was right. I had to focus on keeping myself alive. I wasn’t any help to Gideon dead. I would fight for him. I would mow down anyone who stood in my way. And at the first opportunity, I would sever Lucifer’s head from his shoulders. The faster the battle ended, the higher chance we’d survive.
“We stay together,” I said. “You stay with me.”
“Until the end,” they said.
Shaking my head, I glared at them both. “This isn’t the end. We’re not… I will not say goodbye to either of you. You hear me?”
Noel kissed me. He tasted like fear, and I hated it.
“I love you,” he said, his eyes a violent purple.
“No,” I whimpered.
“This isn’t a goodbye,” Noel said fiercely, “but I love you. Okay? I will never not love you.”
“I’m gonna take care of you,” I said. “I won’t let anything happen to you. We’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
He cut me off again with a kiss, and I choked on a sob as I kissed him back with all my strength. It didn’t last long enough before Jai ripped me from Noel’s hold and lifted me into his arms. He buried his face in my neck and exhaled harshly.
“We’re not dying today,” he rasped. “I won’t let us die.”
“I’m scared,” I confessed.
“Me too.” He pulled back with a brittle smile. “But whatever happens, we face it together.”
“Together.”
“I love you, Riles.” I shook my head, and his smile cracked down the middle. “I love you.”
The tears were hot on my cheeks as I glared at them. “Stop saying goodbye to me.”
They hugged me between them, and I poured out my love for them. Because in case… in case…
“I love you. I love you.” I clung to them as they squeezed me tight, their foreheads meeting above my head.
“I got you, No,” Jai said.
A tear slipped down Noel’s cheek. “I know. I’d follow you anywhere.”
Cupping the back of Noel’s head, Jai pressed his lips to his Other’s forehead. We stood like that a long time, soaking in the final moments of peace before the inevitable storm. But that was all it was. A moment. Fleeting and thin.
Uriel said, “They’re coming,” and our moment slipped from our fingers like sand in an hourglass.
With a deep breath, I released my Secondaries and cleaned away the last remnants of tears from my cheeks. We exchanged determined looks before I straightened my shoulders and stepped to the edge of the hill. The ground dropped away sharply, not quite a cliff, but close. We could see the entire battlefield from here, and my squad and I stared at the edge of the tree line. Watching. Waiting.
For several long minutes, nothing happened. The army below us ebbed and flowed, angels shifting with anxiety. The sky darkened above us, angry clouds building in the distance. The drums beat faster.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Noel’s fingers twined with mine. Jai’s hand tightened around the back of my neck. Thunder rumbled, and the air was heavy and oppressive. I’d never been so scared in my life, the fear settling deep in my bones and leaving me freezing. I fisted my free hand around the angel wing pendants tucked beneath my uniform. This was it.
All at once, the sounds around us died, like even Heaven knew we stood at the point of no return. Then the tree line rippled, and bodies stepped out of the shadows. Three of them. I was too far to see the details, but I knew them. The scars on my back tingled, and I swore I heard Lucifer’s voice in my head.
“Hello, pet. How I’ve missed you.”
Lucifer. Berith. Asmodeus. They stood motionless for several seconds before they advanced. And their army flooded after them.
“Maker have mercy,” Noel breathed in terrified wonder.