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"They knew that stopping Lucifer is more important than an individual life," Daniel said "More than anything else that has happened, let this convince you of how urgent our task is here"

The silence around thehs came from Miss Sophia Luce didn’t have to look to knohat it meant

An arm encircled her waist A familiar mop of black hair rested on her shoulder "Coet you two cleaned up"

Daniel handed Luce over to Arriane and Annabelle

"You girls go ahead"

Luce followed the angels nu several closets until they found what they were looking for: a small black lacquered door that opened onto a circular, less room

Annabelle lit a candelabra on a tiled table near the door, then lit another one in a stone alcove The red-brick rooe pantry and had no furniture but a raised, eight-sided baptisreen-and-blue mosaics; outside it wasto Earth

Luce felt miserable and dead inside Even the baptisirl whose cursed soul was sorabs because she’d never been baptized as a child--about to wash away the dust of two dead angels Was saving Luce and Daniel worth their souls? How could it be? This

"baptism" broke Luce’s already broken heart a littleher mind "This won’t count"

Annabelle found a sink in the corner of the rooe wooden bucket of stea hot water into the tub Arriane stood next to Luce, not looking at her, just holding her hand When the bath was full and refracting a deep blue-green from the tiles, Annabelle and Arriane hoisted Luce above the surface of the water She was still wearing her sweater and jeans They hadn’t thought to un-dress her, but then they noticed her boots

"Whoops," Annabelle said softly, unzipping the them aside Arriane lifted the silver locket over Luce’s head and slipped it inside a boot Their wings fluttered as they lifted off the ground to lower Luce into the ater

Luce closed her eyes, slipped her head beneath the water, stayed a while If she shed a tear, she wouldn’t feel it if she stayed subed She didn’t want to feel It was like Penn had died all over again, fresh pain exposing old pain that still felt fresh to Luce

After what see time, she felt hands slip under her array dust It didn’t shimmer anymore

Luce didn’t take her eyes off it until Annabelle started tugging her sweater up over her head She felt it lift off her, followed by the T-shirt she’d been wearing underneath She fumbled with the button on her jeans How e to be free of the at it on the floor

She ran a hand through her wet hair to wipe it frorimy it was Then she sat on the bench at the back of the tub, leaned against the side, and started shivering Annabelle addedto stop Luce’s tremors

"If I’d just stayed out in the hallway like Dee told me to--"

"Then Cam would be dead," Arriane said "Or so to ht The rest of us knew that going into this, but you didn’t" She sighed "So couts, Luce"

"But Gabbe--"

"Knehat she was doing"

"That’s what Daniel said But ould she sacrifice herself to save--"

"Because she’s ga" Arriane rested her chin on her arer into the water, breaking up the dust "But knowing that doesn’t make it any easier We all loved her very one"

"She is gone Gone frohest altar in creation"

"What?" That wasn’t what Luce meant She meant that Gabbe was her friend

Arriane’s brow furrowed "Gabbe was the highest of the Archangels--you didn’t know? Her soul orthI don’t even kno many others It orth a lot"

Luce had never before considered how her friends were ranked in Heaven, but now she thought about the tiht her food or clothes or advice She’d been Luce’s kind, celestial mother "What does her death mean?"

"Way back when, Lucifer was ranked first," Annabelle said After a pause, she glanced at Luce, registered her shock "He was right there, next to all the action

Then he rebelled and Gabberanked next to the Throne is a ," Arriane murmured "Ask your buddy ol’ pal Bill"

Luce wanted to ask who ca stopped her Maybe it had once been Daniel, but his place in Heaven was in jeopardy because he kept on choosing Luce

"What about Molly?" Luce finally asked "Does her deathcancel out Gabbe’s? In terms of the balance between Heaven and Hell?" She felt callous talking about her friends as coht now, the answer h a little lower in the ranks," Annabelle said "This was before the Fall, of course, when she sided with Lucifer’s host I knoe’re not supposed to speak ill of the dusted, but Molly really used to bug uiltily

"But solanced at Luce "To answer your question, the balance between Heaven and Hell can still be struck We’ll just have to see how things play out A lot of things that matter now become irrelevant if Lucifer succeeds"

Luce looked toward Arriane, who’d disappeared behind the door and sneezed three tied, she was holding a white towel and an oversized checked bathrobe "It’ll have to do for now We’ll find you a change of clothes before we leave Jerusalem"

When Luce didn’t ue like she was coaxing a horse out of its stable, and held the towel out for Luce to step into