“It is natural to feel fear,” I continued, “but tonight I offer you courage. It is all that I can offer you. I cannot guarantee victory or even your lives, but take of me my courage and glory will be yours. I thank you for fighting with me through the eons and for fighting with me tonight for possibly the last time.”

A great energy rolling through the hills made me lift my gaze. I took in the sight of yet another army—this one led by Cadan. He had come through, just as I knew he would. I smiled, because I was no longer afraid of the emotions I felt. Among the demonic reapers who had turned their backs on Hell was a force of at least one hundred heavily armed humans. They had to be Ethan Stone’s promised mercenaries, humans who had trained to combat the demonic reapers—yet tonight they submitted to the command of one.

I heard hissing and spit curses, the shuffling of boots and clinking of metal blades coming from the angelic reapers, who clearly weren’t as accepting of the new arrivals as I was. The humans who had joined the demonic were battle scarred and seemed to be champing at the bit for action in the field. What they lacked in numbers and supernatural strength, they made up for in grit and passion.

“Gabriel,” Cadan said when he stopped at Will’s side and his opalescent eyes met mine.

My smile widened. “My friend.” I lifted my head to address our growing army. “Tonight we are all friends. The world is not so black and white as we have believed for a very long time. once our enemies, these reapers are now our friends, and we are united against a common enemy.”

Ronan came forward, flanked by two demonic reapers, a male and a female. “This is Anders and Adara,” he announced. “They will join Cadan and me in leading the demonic infantry.”

I offered them a warm smile and withdrew my heavy wings. “Come with me,” I said to my generals.

They followed me a little ways higher up the hill covered with the ruins of an ancient city along a path meant for tourists and excavators. I beckoned them to a bit of open ground where I’d been devising our main tactic. They studied my formations etched into the dirt. I marked our location on the hill and down into the valley where Hell’s armies would come.

“Where did you learn all of this, Ell?” Cadan asked, marveling, his eyes following the path of our formations.

I frowned at him. “I am the archangel Gabriel, second only to Michael in Heaven. I led our armies to victory over Lucifer and then over the Nephilim. This is not my first battle.”

His mouth twitched. “Oh, right.”

“When the demonic armies come,” I said, “they will expect us to be defensive, stand our ground, and to defend the hill. I don’t care about this hill. It’s just rock and dirt. We will not wait here while they overwhelm us with their numbers. They will attempt to wrap around us, to charge our front and fold around us like wings on either side until we are crushed. We must do that to them first. We must take an offensive approach.”

“We have to stay spread out,” Will said.

“Yes,” I agreed with a nod. “It will spread us thin and weaken our ranks, but if we surprise Sammael’s armies, then we can even the odds, perhaps even gain the upper hand.”

Madeleine studied the diagram in the sand. “But how? We are at the top of this hill and they can see everything.”

“Not everything,” I said. “They won’t be able to see behind the hill and they won’t expect us to charge at them. This is an infantry battle, but that doesn’t mean we’re limited to the ground. our center—led by Will and Madeleine—will charge down the hill at the enemy center and catch them by surprise. They will certainly not expect that we have demonic reinforcements. Even I never expected so many. Thank you, Cadan. As our center charges, I want our wings—each led by Marcus and Ava—to fold around the enemy center, trapping them. I will need you to divide the human soldiers between our wings. our demonic forces will come from overhead. We will trap them in the front, on the left and right, and from above. We will give them nowhere to run and we will annihilate them.”

“And their leaders?” Berengar asked. “Lilith and Sammael?”

“Leave them to me,” I said. “Do not attack them, because you will not survive. Keep the formation, keep driving. Wait for my signals to close the wings and to swarm from above. Does everyone understand? Cadan, Anders, Adara, get your infantry behind the hill. Do not engage until I tell you to. Ava, Marcus, the rest of you, prepare your forces.”

Cadan nodded and took his captains with him to move the demonic troops, while Ava and Marcus went to divide the angelic troops into the wide, thin front with flanks that would—if successful—close on the armies of Sammael and Lilith.

Across the valley, a wall of space began to shimmer like heat rising from the pavement. Shadows moved through the darkness, headed directly for Har Megiddo. Their shapes crawled across the earth like the flames of an inferno licking across the ceiling of a burning room, only these flames were pitch-black in the night. The armies of Sammael began to pour through the Grim—five thousand demonic reapers, maybe ten.

“Madeleine,” I called to her, catching her attention instantly. “Scout the edges of their forces. Find Lilith and Sammael and return to me with their locations.”

She gave a curt nod, spread her wings, and lifted into the air. It was now time for me to summon Azrael and claim the hallowed glaive.

“Stay close to me,” I said to Will and took his hand. “I need your strength now more than ever.”