Page 86 of Absolved In Death

“How…how is this possible?” he asked.

“We’re the Morningstar dynasty. We make everything possible,” I replied cooly.

Within minutes, Red’s second wave was dwindling. Steam billowed from his ears, and I felt his magic swarming, searching for a way to break him out of our trap.

Phase two,I linked my guys. It was time to finish this fight, once and for all.

Desmond, Zaz, and Bash faded to the rooftop, followed by Lucifer and Michael. Ares revealed himself in his full godly glory, and the rest of us followed suit. We formed a circle around Redright before he broke my magic’s hold on him and dropped to the ground.

Red’s jaw dropped when he saw my men outside of the Pit’s prison.

“And you thought we’d never see each other again?” Lucifer mockingly asked.

Red lashed out with a weak strike, and my father didn’t bother blocking it. He let it roll off him, and fizzle onto the floor.

We all joined hands, powersharing as a group. I felt everyone’s magic rushing through my veins, like a hit going straight to my head. As I looked at the piece of shit in the center of our circle, I remembered how he sent his men after me when I was a regular mortal woman, for circumstances out of my control. Then I thought about how he almost killed me in the airport, turned Mal and Desmond against me, hunted us all relentlessly, harassed my family, kidnapped Nonna, and tried to kill Zaz. He also made me push myself to my absolute limits…and doubt myself. He was a dark, tumultuous storm cloud that hung over me for months.

I remembered how he wanted to torture my men on that stage. How he hurt so many mortals without any regard for their lives…like they were lesser. He ruined our statue of secrecy, and although we put a bandage on the issue, we’d never be able to go back to the way things were.

My fury and rage culminated into something I had never experienced before. Something deadly and painful to carry inside me. I unleashed it on him, expelling the magic from my body in one deadly strike to Red’s chest.

Red’s death was anticlimactic. He fell to the ground, and the little life he had promptly left his body. My magic blew a hole clean through him, and pale, viscous blood oozed from the wound. Zaz crouched down, using his healing magic to confirm his death.

“He’s gone,” Zaz said, smiling at me. He got up and wrapped his arms around me in a huge hug. “You did it, honey.”

Lucifer and Desmond used their fire magic to cast a rapid flame that incinerated the body within seconds. Q’s familiar black fog curled around the battlefield, taking out the few enemy soldiers left behind. For all intents and purposes, the war was over.

A shrill roar and thunderous cheers in the distance caught my attention. Oisín and the raven shifters flew through the sky in figure eights as the soldiers on the ground cheered. Some of our buildings were on fire and the camp center was torn up, but it seemed our casualties were low. All in all, this version of our final battle was everything I had hoped for.

I unfurled my red wings, flying high in the sky over the battlefield. Everyone grew quiet as they waited for me to say something.

“Red is truly dead and gone, his body nothing but a pile of ashes on the ground. Instead of pissing on them like I wanted to, I want to take a moment and reflect on our accomplishments. To be grateful. To send a silent thank you to every single being who sacrificed to make this war a success. To those who gave their lives for this cause.”

I paused for a moment of silence, and as their heads started to lift, I continued on.

“Today and tomorrow, we shall celebrate, but then we’ll get to work. The war may be over, but a new era is just beginning. The time for rebirth and rebuilding is upon us.”

Lucifer joined me, giving me a side hug as he waited for the crowd’s applause to die down. “We have fought for a new world, and we’ll make it happen, together. The Morningstar era starts now!”

The Morningstar era. The end of war. A time where my men and I could finally enjoy the life we always wanted. Together.

30

EPILOGUE

“Do you think she’ll go for it?” Lucifer asked me. He sat on the edge of his desk, his arms crossed as he lost himself in thought.

We had all been deep in thought recently, about one thing or another. How to rebuild Hell. Setting the chaos in the human world right. Restructuring our relationships with paranormal beings.

All of us have been hard at work, but Lucifer was living and breathing his role as Satan. Working morning, noon, and night. He struggled to balance it with his personal life. Michael often talked to me about how neglected he and Marilyn felt, and it tore me apart inside because I knew Lucifer was trying. He came to me for relationship advice all the time, and sometimes it was super awkward, but I dealt with it because seeing her parents happy made my honey happy.

He wasn’t actively an asshole—it was just the job. There was no way a single being, regardless of how powerful they were, could be Satan.

Which is why I came up with a crazy idea. Then I ran it by Quelier, who didn’t find it crazy at all. He devised a plan on how to make it happen.

“Maybe. She knows she’s your heir apparent, so I’m sure the thought of ruling Hell has crossed her mind at some point,” I said.

“I think my plan is solid. Publicly transfer power to Diana, and serve in an advisory capacity. The guys will each retain leadership roles, but they’ll be restructured so Diana doesn’t carry the load you carried. She’ll have an advisory board, which includes you, Michael, the guys, me, Judas, Zeus, and Hades,” Q summed up his plan in a nutshell. He wore a deep burgundy suit today, and it played off his strawberry blond hair well, surprisingly. “If anyone isn’t on board, they die. Easy peasy.”

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