“You can’t do that!”
“She can,” said Ian, stepping up beside me. “Watch her.”
“I’m establishing a new council, to govern the celestial laws fairly and honestly. Gideon.” The bereft angel nodded at me grimly. “Raven. Ian. Can each of you step forward? The three of you all have a mix of blood, of powers. Your allegiance was never to a side, but to your heart. I trust the three of you to keep peace and balance in the world. Will you accept?”
“It’s all I have now,” said Gideon simply.
Raven raised an eyebrow, and a small, sad smile spread across her face. “I’ll do it for Devin,” she said. She held out her hand. I took it, gripped it tightly in mine. Our hands buzzed with the power that flowed between us, connecting us. “You know, you really surprised me, Skye.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I know I can never make it up to you, but—”
“Stop,” she interrupted. “You’re changing the way of things. So that it won’t ever happen again. And that’s enough.”
I turned to Ian. “What do you say?” I asked. “You can be the council’s liaison to earth—the Rogues and humans need someone like you to look out for them.” I smiled. “Like you’ve always looked out for me. This is what you were meant to do—remember?”
Ian grinned, his freckles stretching across his face.
“I told you, you helped me find my place,” he said. “I would be honored to do this.”
Astaroth fell back, helpless, as I held my sword aloft. Silver flashed through me as the wind blew around us, the sun broke through the clouds, and night became day. The whole beach flooded with light.
“It’s done,” I said, tears in my eyes. “It’s over.”
Across the beach, Asher and I found each other. I began to run at the same time he did, and we met in the middle, pulling each other close and holding on tight. The wind still howled around us, and we pressed together, my dress and hair blowing in all directions at once.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” He yelled over the wind. “To give up your wings—and be human?”
“Yes!” I cried. “But only if you come with me. I promise we’ll be a team from now on. I’ll fight for you over and over. I’ll never stop fighting for you.”
“I may be a Rebel,” Asher said, his voice cracking. “I may be free to think and feel what I want. To choose what I want. But I didn’t know what love was until I met you. I didn’t have anything worth fighting for until I fought for you. I’ve never had a choice about how I feel. Wherever you go—I’m going, too.”
I remembered sitting, curled up with Asher in the big Adirondack chair on our deck, as the moon rose above us in the sky, and he kissed the top of my head and said:
“I have a choice, Skye. I have the power to choose whatever I want. And there is nothing that I’ve ever wanted more.”
If I had understood then what was going to happen, I would never have let him go. I would have said the same thing. I would have meant it.
And it wasn’t too late.
“I choose you, Asher. I want so much more than just memories. I want more than just one moment of happiness. I want to live and not know what the future holds.”
We leaned into each other, and the wind and light raged around us, blinding us, and we kissed in the middle of that vast expanse of beach as if we were the only two people in the world. Suddenly, a searing pain sliced through my back. Asher’s face contorted in a grimace. Silver liquid pooled with blood in the sand at our feet. And then, our wings were gone.
I held out my hand to him. He took it.
“Partners,” he said.
“For always.”
I looked into his eyes. We both knew that Astaroth was right. In the course of time, war would break out again, cities would fall and be rebuilt, and people would be born and live and die, and we would always fight for the balance, and that’s life. It existed in cycles, ebbing and flowing, and this might not be the end. But maybe it was a new beginning.
And I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next.
We held hands and looked at each other.
“Are you ready?” I said. “To jump?”
“I’ve been ready for a long time,” said Asher.
And together we closed our eyes and let ourselves fall.
29 
I opened my eyes.
The tiny, glowing lights, the click of high heels against the gymnasium floor.
The taste of punch and the sound of laughter.
My boyfriend’s dark brown eyes, smiling as they realized I was awake.
It all came rushing back to me.
“We’re back,” I said. “We’re at prom. We made it.”
“I knew we would,” said Asher. He offered me his hand and pulled me to my feet. The hem of my ethereal dress swept across the floor. There was not a trace of the battle on it—the sand, the surf, the blood, all of it, gone. Left back in the other world.
“How did it—”
“I don’t know.” He smiled. “But we’re lucky, Skye. We’re so, so lucky.” He pulled me into his arms, and I pressed my face into his chest. The familiar gray T-shirt. The beat-up army jacket. The scent of cinnamon and pine, the woods, my home, washing over me.
It was over. It was all over.
Somehow, incredibly, and against all odds, I had saved the world.
“Get a room, lovebirds!” Cassie came bounding up to me, her pale pink dress shimmering in the light and a prom princess tiara perched on her head. I grinned. “You did it, Skye! You really did it! Dan, come here! They’re back!”
“Babes,” Dan yelled from across the floor. “Leave them alone. They’re having a moment.”
Cassie pouted. “But I want to be part of it.”
“Come here, Cass,” I said, pulling her into our hug. “Dan, you can be part of it too!” Dan came sprinting over and pounced on us.
“Dad!” A little voice cried. I turned my head, and Earth was running full-speed across the dance floor. I followed her path to where Aaron stood by the door to the gym. Beside him was Aunt Jo, her hand in his, her head resting on his shoulder.
“Hey, Trouble!” he cried, kneeling down so Earth could jump into his arms. “Were you good for Cassie?”
“Duh,” she said. “You were only gone for, like, a minute.”
She caught my eye and winked at me. “Thank you,” I mouthed.
Behind them, James Harrison looked around. Suddenly, his face lit up. Ian was standing by the punch bowl, grinning at his dad.
“Ian!” Cassie cried, waving him over.
“Ian, what are you doing here?” I asked. “I thought—”
“Rogues live on earth, right?” He said with a wink. “Maybe I’ll be the first Rogue in my family to graduate high school, stick around. Besides,” he said. “Can’t I keep the peace from homeroom?” We laughed.
“We made it through the battle, and junior year, guys,” I said. “Can you believe it?”
“It didn’t seem so daunting back in September,” said Ian.
“Senior year is looking pretty good, huh?” I grinned at him.
“Ooh,” Cassie cried, “this is our song. Daniel, shall we show them what we’ve been practicing?”
“I believe,” he said, extending his hand, “we shall.” Cassie put her hand in his, and he twirled her out onto the dance floor. And then, before my very eyes, Cassie ran toward Dan and he lifted her up into the air. She squealed, the light from the disco ball reflecting off her pale pink dress, as she spread her arms wide like she was flying.