His smirk widened. “Or I can do what I always wanted… serve no one but me.”
The archangel leapt into the Soul Destroyer. For a minute he screamed in terrible agony as it ripped at him, and then, he was gone.
Caine turned to her. The black veins had spread up his neck and gathered on his face. The black veins spidered in the white of his eyes, and then his head tilted back.
A second later, he collapsed to the ground.
So did Surcy. The poison the Goddess of Life had used to infect Caine through Surcy was a powerful one. It wouldn’t just destroy him. It would destroy her too.
They’d warned her they didn’t know what would be left of her to be reborn.
Her breath puffed out in front of her and tears flowed from her eyes, tears of relief and sorrow. It was done. Caine was destroyed. The Immortals would take control again, and everything would be different.
Better.
So much had been lost.
But all that mattered now was that it was done.
Closing her eyes, she knew the instant the poison consumed her entirely, because there was nothing. Nothing left of her.
Then came the darkness.
23
Mark screamed as the Immortal touched his head. His memories exploded in his mind, and then, it all came back to him. Surcy. Daniel. Tristan.
Everything.
Including the fact that Tristan had killed Daniel.
The Immortal drew back his hand. The being’s golden-eyed gaze held his. “We, the Immortal Ten, have been restored to power. You are an angel who will serve us.”
Mark nodded, even while he tried to force air into his lungs. He’d killed Daniel. He’d worked for Caine. He’d betrayed everything he’d ever believed in.
And yet… his memories were fuzzy. The Immortals had won. Caine was gone.
He should be happy.
Turning, he saw that Tristan was kneeling beside him, recognition in his eyes. So his gargoyle brother remembered it all too.
Now what were they to do?
“You may rise,” the Immortal said.
They both stood.
“Go and find a place,” he commanded.
They turned to see lines of white and dark-winged angels lined up perfectly in the throne room. They found a place in one of the lines and waited, for what they didn’t know.
From behind them, a line of people walked on a path through the angels. When they reached the dais, they spun. All wore matching golden robes. Instantly, he recognized the Immortals they had saved. The ten most powerful beings in existence sat upon ten golden thrones that had been concealed by darkness for far too long.
The God of Summer remained standing, staring out at the ranks of angels. “We are the Immortal Ten. We have ruled here since the beginning of time… until the usurper Caine came. He was the child of the God of Sin and the Goddess of Winter, a being with the unexpected ability to manipulate minds. He used his powers against all of us. He manipulated our thoughts. Some of us he killed over and over again, ensuring we remained ignorant of who and what we were. Some of us he manipulated into prisons of his own making, but he made a fatal mistake. He knew that the Goddess of Life had had a child… but he did not understand her role in restoring us to power.”
The God of Summer gestured with his hand and suddenly a woman appeared, surrounded by dark-winged angels. She blinked in confusion.
“Where am I?”
The Goddess of Life stepped forward and smiled. “Daughter, Goddess of Hope, you are home.”
But there’s already ten of them. How can there be more?
“I don’t understand,” she said.
“The Goddess of Life concealed your father. Caine believed you to be an Immortal, but he didn’t understand that you were more powerful than the ten of us… because your father wasn’t a simple mortal.” He hesitated. “It’s me.”
The woman’s eyes widened, and Mark recognized her as Sharen, the demon-hunter that Surcy had saved many times before. She was an Immortal?
An eleventh Immortal?
“Come to me, daughter,” the God of Summer said.
Sharen stepped forward, but three massive angels stopped to block her path.
“What do you want with her?” One of them asked, the defiance in his voice surprising everyone in the room.
The Immortal smiled. “Not to worry, Alec, she is safe.”
Alec didn’t move. A small hand grasped his arm and pulled him back, and then she walked forward, lit by the same inner glow as the other Immortals.
Without being told, she knelt.
Her father smiled. “There are only ten thrones. Ten judges to decide the fate of man. To make you a judge would destroy the balance.” His gaze moved to the Goddess of Life. “We have decided how to ensure you may survive within this world, but not overthrow the balance. You, my daughter, will help with the great changes that will now occur. Many demons will be angels soon, and many angels will be demons. Someone with knowledge of all the realms will need to help with their adjustments, while we focus on our job—to judge mankind.”
She looked up at him. “I can do that. But not alone.”
“Then, you will have your lovers at your side. Not ours to command, but yours.”
A surprising smirk touched her lips. “I’d prefer they be given free will.”
He raised a brow. “Are you certain?”
“Yes,” she said, with absolute certainty.
“Is that all?” he asked, and there was a fatherly humor in his voice.
“I’d like Surcy and her lovers too. This is a big job, and I could use an angel I trust at my side.”
His smile faltered. “You may have her lovers, but not Surcy.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because Surcy… she has been reborn as an angel. But she paid the ultimate sacrifice in this war. Her mind is gone. Who she was. Not just her memories. Everything.”
Sharen rose, her jaw clenched. “Bring her to me.”
Her father raised a brow. “My daughter, we have all tried to restore her mind.”
“And yet none of you are the Goddess of Hope.” Tears gathered in her eyes. “She gave up everything, father. Everything. I may
