He shut his eyes and put his forehead to mine. “You have it.”

When he stepped back, I clenched my right fist and spoke to the sky. “I am the Messenger, Gabriel, she who is set over all the powers. I evoke thee, Azrael, the Destroyer, lord of the shepherds of the dead.”

I waited for that brilliant flash of light announcing the arrival of an angel, but there was none. My mouth opened in surprise and fear and I gaped at the ring on my finger. It grew warm when I used its power, but Azrael did not appear. Nothing happened.

“No, no,” I moaned. “Why won’t it work? I don’t understand!”

“What’s the matter?” Will asked, eyes bright with worry.

“The ring,” I said. “It won’t work. I did exactly what I did when I called Azrael last time. I don’t understand why it fails now.”

Will looked on toward the dark horizon. “Sammael’s army is coming. What should we do?”

I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. “I will fight without Azrael’s glaive.”

Madeleine returned then, touching down from the sky and folding her wings back.

“Is Sammael down there?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Lilith leads them.”

My jaw set and I searched the incoming army of Hellspawn. “Where is Sammael? He’s the one I want.”

“You can’t defeat him without the hallowed glaive,” Madeleine warned.

I gave her a sharp look. “Whether I have Azrael’s glaive or not, I must fight. I have returned to Armageddon and now I must meet my brother in combat.”

“Ellie,” Will pleaded. “Sammael’s armies are here. We can fight them first, then figure out why Azrael won’t be summoned.”

“No,” I said firmly. “We must kill their leader and the demonic will scatter, confused and without orders. We must cut the head off the serpent and then deal with the rest. This is our best chance. Madeleine, take control of the front. When the demonic reach the edge of the hill, charge.”

She left and I climbed to the crest of the stone wall once more. “God give me strength,” I whispered to the stars.

The armies of Hell flooded into the valley to clash with the angelic and demonic reapers who fought for Heaven. Soon my ears would fill with battle cries, dying screams, and the clash of metal.

“I am the Messenger, Gabriel, she who is set over all the powers,” I called out. “I evoke thee, Sammael, the Lord of Souls and Fallen angel of death. I am the Will of God and you shall come forth, incubus, the serpent with the lion’s face, the venom of God—”

“That is enough name calling,” came a voice that sent snakes through my belly. “I heard you the first time, little sister.”

The sky flashed with blackness, impossibly darkening the night for an instant, and lightning cracked across the clouds. The blade of the scythe ripped through the sky first, encrusted with the eyes of the humans whose souls he’d devoured as if the dead eyes were jewels. Trophies dangled from the staff of the scythe—human and animal hair, bones, and teeth—and I stared into the face of the grinning skull mounted atop the enormous blade. Sammael, boasting his true Fallen form, emerged from the shadows, his charred, skeletal wings spread to a pitiful width, the joints cracking and burned tendons tearing. His armor gleamed like oil slicks in the moonlight, and the horns on his head cut through the failing light like spires twisting toward the heavens.

He touched the ground, settling light as a feather. Flanking him was his pair of pet leonine reapers that had come through the void when he was released from the sarcophagus. Their dark slate coats rippled over sleek, sinewy bodies, and when their eyes—as golden as Sammael’s and mine—found my face, they snapped their powerful jaws and the bone spikes in their manes prickled. Will stepped close to me, shielding me as they circled us both.

“Gabriel, Gabriel,” Sammael crooned. “Look at you, all grown up and come to Armageddon to sound your horn. I warned you what would happen if you stood against me.”

I summoned my Khopesh swords and angelfire swallowed them, the white light devouring the darkness. My wings burst free and I launched myself off the ground at him with a fierce cry. I lifted a sword—and then teeth clamped around my ankle and yanked me back to the earth. I fell onto my hands and knees, grinding rock into my skin, and before I could turn to see what had hold of me, it dragged me backward across stone. I whipped around, beating my wings to break free. one of the leonine reapers stepped in front of me and I turned my head to see the other had been the thing to chomp down on my ankle. I swore as the leonine in front of me moved in for the kill. A figure blurred above it and it looked up, hissing like a crocodile, as Will swung his sword through its neck. The leonine’s head went spiraling through the air, its quilled mane scattering spikes across the ground.

With that threat gone, I shoved my free boot into the dirt and kicked off. I spun in the air, sweeping an angelfire-drenched sword toward the remaining leonine reaper’s face. It was smarter than its brother; it dropped me and opened its jaws to roar as it backed off. My boots found the earth again and I stomped toward the reaper, wings wide and swords swinging. It sank onto its haunches, skeletal tail swaying left and right, talons kneading the rock, carving gouges into the surface. Then it sprang, claws questing for me, but exposing its unprotected chest. I stepped aside and slashed a sword, cutting deep into the leonine reaper’s chest. It loosed a scream that was almost humanlike and it hit the ground, shredding earth with its claws as it slid to a stop. It whirled and came at me again. This time I stood firm and didn’t give in as I slashed my sword again. My blade cut through the hard cage of bone and tore the tender organs within. The reaper’s body burst into angelfire and ash, vaporizing around me.