Page 49 of Absolved In Death

I saw the lightbulb turn on in her mind as her eyes lit up. Her brows furrowed as she put the pieces together. “Does that mean the vision will come to pass… Will I have to fight Red alone?”

“Not necessarily,” I honestly answered her. “Your father reminded me that prophecies are vague and open to interpretation. What you saw is one of many outcomes. What you heard is a riddle with multiple meanings.”

Desmond grabbed his tablet off the end table, and showed us the prophecy written out. Below it was multiple bulleted notes, all different interpretations of what the prophecy could mean.

“We’re assuming the vision and prophecy are related, but you could have just happened to channel Az’s powers while God sent the prophecy to you,” Desmond explained. “The ‘mighty must take the fall’ line can easily refer to Az, because he’s a fallen angel.”

“Or Michael. He’s taking a hiatus from his position in Heaven to be with us, which can be interpreted as a ‘fall’ of sorts.” I was surprised I didn’t think of this angle while laying awake at night, tossing and turning. It made sense.

“I do want to stress how important it is for Diana to train as hard as she can.” Des leaned forward, so his forearms rested on his thighs. “We can sit here and talk about interpretations all we want, but Diana needs to be prepared for every eventuality. Even facing Red on her own.”

“Agreed,” Ares and Bash both said.

“Jinx, you owe me a mimosa,” Bash quipped at Ares.

“If mimosa is a euphemism for sex, I’ll raincheck. Des is right. I have to train Dianahard, starting right now. It’s going to be back-breaking, exhausting work, but you can take it.” He cracked his knuckles, completely oblivious of how his words could be interpreted. We tried to hold back our smirks and barely contained laughter, but it was an impossible feat.

“She just got trained this morning…” Mal bursted into a laughing fit. Diana shot him a soft glare holding zero heat, because she was laughing too.

“Yeah, I spared her back, though. Taught her a lot about hands and knees combat,” Bash cackled.

“I made sure she knew all about how to escape if she gets tied up.” Desmond’s straight-faced delivery made me laugh so hard I started crying. I didn’t realize how much I needed a good laugh.

“Quit the sex jokes. This is serious, guys,” she said. “After I’m done giving my speech to the troops today, I’m all yours, Ares.”

He licked his lips, devouring her with a wolfish gaze. “Good, cause I’m going to train you. Then I’m gonnatrainyou. I’ll call you all when it’s time for the third-round group training. If anyone has a train conductor outfit, feel free to wear it for some role playing.”

For fuck’s sakes, why am I getting a semi right now?The thought of all of us running a train on Diana was too much this early in the morning.

“Let me rephrase. I’m all yours for magical training purposes,” she said.

“Suit yourself, Little G. Either way, we’ll turn you into the most lethal supernatural being in the universe,” Ares promised her.

And so began the training of Diana Morningstar, Lethal Supernatural Combat Assassin.

16

DESMOND

All of the barracks were built around a large grassy clearing troops already started calling The Pit.Veryoriginal.The entire army gathered here, packed elbow to elbow to hear Diana speak. I had forgotten how much they adored her, many of them hanging off her every word as she impressed upon them how important our cause was. She was almost done with her speech, and the awe-struck expressions on their faces was something I had rarely seen in followers before.

“We fight for ourselves and the human world. For our right to live within the statute of secrecy without oppression. For freedom from a megalomaniac Satan consumed with power and greed. We are not pawns for his domination plans!” her voice rang out amongst the crowd, magically enhanced to reach the very back of the crowd. “The very existence of the world we’ve come to know depends onus!”

Thousands of soldiers broke into a roar of applause. Diana smiled at them, waiting for the cheering to fizzle out before continuing.

“This war will not be easy. There have been casualties who gave their life for the cause, and their sacrifice will never beforgotten. No, we will remember them through victory. We will train for them, together. Get stronger,together. Destroy our enemies on the battlefield,together!”

Diana worked up the crowd, unifying them through loss and hope. As she captivated our troops, I saw the makings of a true leader. Of a woman who could inspire others.

“Red will rue the day he deceived us and perverted the powers of the Satan position. He will regret coming for my father and my family. But most of all, he will regret fucking each and every one of us over. This may seem like the calm before the storm, but mark my words—this is only the beginning of Red’s retribution, so we need to get ready, Team Morningstar! I’ll see everyone in the new training building in half an hour.”

The troops excitedly cheered, many of them making their way to the building.

Don’t push yourself too hard today. I have a surprise training exercise for you tonight,I reminded her as she chatted with some raven shifters.

Diana had started the habit of shifting into a raven and flew with them every week. They gave her flight pointers, and showed her how to inflict serious claw damage. Diana had a way of making the troops feel important and building relationships while keeping her leadership boundaries in place. She was endearing, a quality I often struggled with.

That better not be another sex joke,she groused while smiling at their leader, The Morrigan.

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