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Until now

When Luce opened her eyes, night had fallen The air was so cool her ar The others huddled around her, so quietly she could hear crickets whistling in the grass She didn’t want to look at anyone

"It was because ofyou, Daniel, but the punishment was for me" She paused "Am I the reason Lucifer revolted?"

"No, Luce" Caave her a sad smile "Maybe you were the inspiration, but inspiration is an excuse for doing so for an entrance into evil He would have found another way"

"But I betrayed him"

"No," Daniel said "He betrayed you He betrayed all of us"

"Without his rebellion, would we have fallen in love?"

Daniel smiled "I like to think ould have found a way Now, finally, we have a chance to put all of this behind us We have a chance to stop Lucifer, to break the curse and love each other the ays wanted We canhile"

"Look," Steven said, pointing at the sky

The stars were out in droves One, far in the distance, was particularly bright It flickered, then seehter than before

"That’s them, isn’t it?" she said "The Fall?"

"Yes," Francesca said "That’s it It looks just like the old texts say it would"

"It was just"--Luce furrowed her brow, squinting--

"I can only see it when I--"

"Concentrate," Ca to it?" Luce asked

"It is co in this world," Daniel said

"It wasn’t the physical transit from Heaven to Earth that took nine days It was the shift from a Heavenly realm to an Earthly one When we landed here, our bodies weredifferent We beca us," Roland said, looking at the golden pocket watch that Dee iven hio," Daniel said to Luce

"Up there?"

"Yes, we ht up to the limits of the Fall, and then you--"

"I have to stop hiht back to the way Lucifer had looked at her in the Meadow He looked like he wanted to crush every speck of tenderness there was "I think I kno"

"I told you she would say that!" Arriane whooped

Daniel pulled her close "Are you sure?" She kissed hioing to let Lucifer take theoodbye to their friends, reached for each other’s hands, and took off into the night They fleard forever, through the thinnest outer skin of the ate of space

The moon becah hazy clouded galaxies and by other loith red gas and striped rings of light

No aan to understand how Daniel could go for days without rest; she was not hungry or thirsty She was not cold in the frozen night

At last, at the edge of nothing, in the darkest pocket of the universe, they reached the peri between dimensions Inside it was the Fall

Daniel hovered at her side, his wings brushing hers, transh the Announcer first Don’t get hung up there Move through until you find hio in alone, don’t I?"

"I would follow you to the ends of the Earth and beyond But you’re the only one who can do this," Daniel said He took her hand and kissed her fingers, her pal "I’ll be here"

Their lips met one last time

"I love you, Luce," Daniel said "I will love you always, whether or not Lucifer succeeds--"

"No, don’t say that," Luce said "He won’t--"

"But if he does," Daniel continued, "I want you to know that I would do it all again I will choose you every time"

A calmness came over Luce She would not fail him

She would not fail herself

"I won’t be long"

She squeezed his hand and turned away and plunged through darkness, into Lucifer’s Announcer

EIGHTEEN

CATCH A FALLING STAR