Epilogue

Yah looked over at Luce, who was staring patiently back at him. Yah merely raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, my love, I know. It was a rather unconventional method of getting those two soulmates together," Luce admitted. "But it did accomplish quite a few of our goals all at once."

Yah continued to stare at Luce, but the cheeky devil only chuckled in response. He slid his chair closer, so close that they were almost touching.

Almost, but not quite.

Yad to admit, at least to themselves, that Luce's method had accomplished quite a bit. It had thrown the soulmates together, it had cleaned up a bit of universal disorder in the underworld, and it had effectively dealt with the souls who might be redeemable.

Still…

"Was Mammon beyond redemption, then?" Yah questioned.

"I could find no soulmate for him. He had only love for himself left, and I think he disdained the very thought of humans and demons joining. Sometimes, my love, there are those that cannot be helped," Luce gently responded.

Yah sighed. Yes, there were those that were beyond redemption. It had always been that way for mortal souls, but it had not used to be so for the immortal.

"Do you think we do more harm than good?" Yah asked. "Do you think we are selfish?"

Luce leaned back in his chair, staring intensely at Yah.

"Would you have all of this disappear?" Luce asked, waving his arm so that the wall behind them became a view of the universe. "Yes, there is pain. There is torment. There is grief and sadness, and there are those who are lost. But there is also love, there is also hope, and joy, and happiness. Would you see all that disappear?"

Yah stared at the stars and planets, the great creation that had begun so very long ago.

"Sometimes, those that are lost manage to find their way home," Luce added. "Is that not what we are doing? Allowing souls to find their way home, to find their other half?"

Yah looked over at Luce and chuckled. "You are truly the devil on my shoulder, Luce."

Luce laughed with them, and eventually they both turned to stare back at the wonder of the universe.

"You just had to go and create free will," Luce muttered. "It really does make everything quite a bit more complicated."

Yah smiled softly at that. "It was free will that brought you to my office, Luce."

Luce looked surprised at that, and Yah took some pride in still having a few surprises for the old devil.

"Did you think I brought you here?" Yah asked.

"I did," Luce muttered, looking a little put out. "I thought my urge to return again and again was your doing. I must admit to being a little grumpy that it wasn't. I liked the idea of you wanting my presence here with you so much that you ordained it."

"I did want your presence here. I still do. But I would never have forced you, Luce," Yah answered. "I wanted it so much that sometimes I wondered if I had forced it without even meaning to," Yah confessed.

"Oh Yah," Luce murmured, reaching out but stopping just short of touching their face.

Yah closed their eyes, and they imagined that hand upon their face, gently touching their skin. It was a beautiful dream.

"You hugged Kushiel," Luce stated.

Yah opened their eyes and looked over. They did not sense jealousy from Luce, but then they didn't know everything about their devil, either, just as Luce didn't know everything about them.

"Kushiel has forgotten the old taboos. His soulmate has grounded him in the flesh, as well," Yah admitted.

The hug had been an indulgence. Yah didn't think they'd felt touch since this universe had been created. They hadn't known what would happen when they'd reached a hand out to Kushiel, but they could not help but do it. The urge had been too strong, and the joy at being touched… it had been too great to resist. Yah frowned, hoping that they had not offended their devil.

"I am glad you got to have that touch, my love," Luce assured them. "I would wish that all your children would forget the old taboos. You have been too long without affection."

"I have you," Yah whispered.

"You do. And I am not one of your children, either," the devil smirked, winking at Yah.

To be touched in the way that Luce spoke of… Yah could not let themselves imagine such a thing. They turned back to the wall where the view of the universe resided, gesturing to it.

"In order for the universe to continue, some free will had to be given even to immortal souls. It has made things… trickier," Yah admitted.

"Yes, I should have realized," Luce agreed. "I trust you, though, Yah. I trust whatever you have had to do. Just as you have trusted in me."

Yah waved their hand, then, and the scene changed. It was now a boardroom, and identical looking angels and demons sat at a long table across from one another in identical chairs.

"Something will need to be done about them," Yah admitted. "Minos and Adam have made progress, but the leadership team disrupts our plans without even realizing it."

"Yes, I have an idea for that," Luce admitted.

Yah looked over, raising an eyebrow again. "A plan like you had for Kushiel?" they asked.

Luce merely chuckled. "It got the job done, even if it was a bit unconventional. I'll get the job done here, as well. Trust me, my love."

With that, Luce blew a kiss across the room and disappeared.

Yah sat back, staring at the boardroom. Yes, they did trust Luce to handle the leadership team. They waved their hand again, and flashes of demons and humans flew across the wall, all presumably soulmates. Things were moving quickly now. Quicker than they had anticipated.

A picture of a small, cramped office scattered with papers flashed by, and Yah immediately stopped on that scene.

They couldn't make out the features of the angel in the office, which was odd indeed. Could this be the "cute little angel dude" who was also working on bringing soulmates together? The one that Arioch had a vision of? If it was, why were they hidden from Yah? No angels should have been hidden from their sight. Yah also knew they were hidden from Luce, and no demons could hide from his sight. It made no sense.

Yah leaned forward, squinting, and they waved their hand again, attempting to bring the image into sharper focus.

Instead, the wall cracked, and the image disappeared. Yah watched, intrigued, as the crack then ran backwards and vanished, just like it had never been there.

Interesting.

It seemed that while Luce dealt with the leadership team, Yah had a certain angel who they needed to track down.

What'sthe deal with the hellhound? Keep reading for a preview from the newest series, Hellhounds of Paradise Falls, by Shannon Mae.