Antiphon

I swallow my pride, along with the thick lump in the back of my throat. “Wait.” I follow him to the desk and slide into the leather chair. “What alternatives?”

His eyes soften and his expression hints at amusement. “It appears there’s someone in the mortal realm who wants you back. Quite desperately, actually. It’s really quite touching. It also happens that this someone has a fair amount of Sway, which apparently extends to the celestial, because Gabriel is having a difficult time saying no.”

My head spins. Is it possible? Could Frannie have enough Sway to will me back to life? I’ve never heard of such a thing happening. But I’ve also never heard of a demon becoming human.

“From the look on your face, I take it this would be an acceptable alternative?”

I snap out of my musings to find a smile on my face and a tear coursing down my cheek. I wipe both away and look hard at Michael. “Is it possible?”

“It is. But there are conditions. This isn’t a free pass.”

My heart sinks. A catch. There’s always a catch. “What conditions?”

“What we know is that Frannie changed you. Her Sway is powerful.” What he doesn’t say, but I read in his eyes, is that by powerful he means dangerous. A mortal with Sway over mortals is one thing. But a mortal with Sway over the infernal and celestial is quite another. He’s scared of her.

As if he read my thoughts, because I’m sure he did, his temper flares. “She wants you now, and she got you by making you mortal.” He spits out the last word as if it tastes bad. “What none of us knows is what will happen when she doesn’t want you anymore. Humans, after all, can be quite fickle.” A self-satisfied smirk settles across his features as he listens in while I ponder that.

I know it was Frannie’s Sway-her love-that changed me, but I’d never stopped to consider what would happen if her feelings changed. If she didn’t want me anymore, would I stay human? Die? Change back into a demon?

“What conditions?” I ask again with a heavy heart. There’s no use putting up a front when he’s in my head.

“Convince her to forgive herself so Gabriel can tag her for Heaven.”

It sounds simple enough, and it’s what I’ve wanted her to do all along, but I don’t miss the look in his eye as he says it. Something vacillating between greed and lust.

“What will happen to her once she’s tagged?”

“That’s not your concern,” he says dismissively with a wave of his hand.

I spring out of the chair. “Like hell it’s not.” My hands on his desk, I lean across it, toward him. “She wants a life. If she’s tagged for Hell, she won’t have one. She’ll be King Lucifer’s puppet. Tell me that won’t happen if she’s tagged for Heaven.”

“I can’t say what will happen. It’s not my call.”

My voice shakes as I fight to keep my rage in check. “I don’t believe you.”

He stares at me and shakes his head. “You poor, pathetic boy. Acting like you have any pull here. You will do this, or you’ll burn in the Inferno.”

I look back at myself. White. I can’t see how it’s possible, but I’m clean. No black. No gray. No red. White. “What sin sends me to the Inferno?”

His smile is amused, but there’s frustration hidden behind the facade. “You’re joking.”

I can’t read his thoughts, but I can read his eyes. He’s bluffing. I keep my voice soft-calm-as I call him on the lie. “You don’t have to send me back to Frannie, but you can’t send me to the Abyss.”

His eyes flare red for just a second before he pounds his fist through the top of the desk. To my ears his voice sounds as indistinct as a thunderclap, but in my head I hear the words within the roar clearly. “Maybe not, but I can make you wish I had!”

Can Heaven be a living Hell? If there’s anyone who could make it that, it would be Michael. But it’s better that it’s my living Hell-not Frannie’s. Before looking into Michael’s eyes, I would have thought Frannie being tagged for Heaven was a good option. They generally don’t use their own too roughly, and with Gabriel looking out for her.

Now I’m not sure. Frannie’s only chance at a life may be if she stays untagged. Gabriel wouldn’t betray her. would he? “Fine. The Abyss it is.”

Shock stretches his eyes wide. Apparently that’s not the answer he expected. In his misplaced confidence, he forgot to spy on my thoughts. “I don’t think you understood me. You’re doing this. I’m giving you a second chance. You should be grateful.”

“I don’t believe in second chances.” I turn and walk out the door. As I slam through it, Michael’s growl trails off, and everything goes quiet and white. I’m drifting again. If this nothingness is Heaven, I may have made the wrong choice. I’m not sure I can just drift for all of eternity.

But then I picture Frannie’s sapphire eyes, and I’m no longer drifting, I’m soaring. I hear Frannie laughing, smell the clove and currant of her soul, feel her touch as surely as if she were here with me. And then my essence is swirling and blending with hers.

This is Heaven.

Frannie

In my dream, Luc and I are dancing under the stars-spinning and laughing like we’re one person, sharing one body. I feel him everywhere, inside and out. His touch feels like Heaven, and I hear myself moan. I want to be this close to him forever-to die right here in his arms.

“Frannie?” Gabe’s voice is soft in my ear. As I open my eyes and they adjust to the harsh lighting, it takes me a second to get my bearings. We’re still in the waiting room at the hospital, and I’m cradled against Gabe’s chest. “Hey, Frannie, wake up,” he says, smoothing a hand over my burned and snarled hair.

It’s the sting in my shoulder and the telltale smell of singed hair that confirms that it wasn’t all just a really bad dream.

“Frannie?” he says again.

“Yeah, I’m awake. Can we just go home? Please?” I say into his chest as I feel tears sting my swollen eyes.

“Hey,” Gabe says, and I feel his finger under my chin, lifting my face to look at him. When I look at his face, he’s smiling, and the pain is gone from his sparkling blue eyes.

“What?” I ask. “What happened?” I look up at a smiling doctor in green hospital scrubs.

“Your friend is out of surgery,” the doctor says. “I truly can’t explain it, short of a miracle. They resuscitated him in the ambulance, but he was in bad shape when he got here. We lost him for a long time on the operating table, but we were able to get him back. He really shouldn’t have survived. ”

“So. what are you saying?” The desperation in my voice rings clear.

“It looks like he’s going to be fine. We’ll know for sure in the next few hours. Just keep praying.”

My heart explodes into a million pieces and I start to hyperventilate. Tears course down my cheeks as I struggle to breathe, and I bury my face in my hands. “Oh my God. Luc.”

Chapter 23

On a Wing and a Prayer

Frannie

They finally let me in to see Luc this morning, but I can’t bring myself to even look at him. Because, after everything, I know what needs to happen, and I’ve spent the last two days agonizing over it. I stare blindly out the window at the mist falling outside, making everything look filmy and ghostlike. I know I should say something, but I don’t trust my voice. I pull a deep breath and try to concentrate on what I have to do.

I lean my forehead into the glass. “The doctor didn’t say he found anything. weird in there when he was