Ryan was pale, but he had stopped coughing up blood. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

He managed a weak smile for Claire. “How about a kiss...just in case?”

Claire tenderly touched his forehead. “I'l tel you what, Cowboy. You come out of this alive, and I'l kiss you.”

“You promise?” he said.

“I promise,” Claire said, letting go of his hand.

In the emergency department's waiting room, Jared sat on the sofa next to me, Kim kept to herself, alone in a chair, and Claire stood with Bex in the corner. No one spoke, further discussion was unnecessary. We were waiting for someone to tel us if they had saved Ryan, or if Claire would die.

Claire kept her eyes closed, concentrating on everything she felt from Ryan. Her clothes were ripped and filthy, and her platinum pony tail had given up holding her hair in place hours ago. Once in a while she would twitch, and I wondered if she could sense when they used the scalpel, or if it was difficult while he was under anesthesia to sense anything at al . Jared would have answered my questions, but it was hardly the time.

The tension in the room was unbearable, but the waiting was worse.

I watched the faces of the people walking by. Some noticed our rag-tag group, some didn't. Glancing around the room, passers-by would no doubt wonder if we'd been in some sort of large accident. The news of the wreckage that was once St. Anne's would soon spread, and I worried that the hospital would be crawling with police officer's soon.

The random thought occurred to me that those staring had no idea the pretty platinum blonde they couldn't help but notice could be dead in the next forty-eight hours. Claire was the strongest, most amazing woman I had ever met, and she looked so helpless in that moment—so hopeless.

Final y, she broke the silence. “That's it,” she snapped, stomping her way to the door.

Bex stopped her. “Whoa...where do you think you're going?”

Claire shoved at her brother, fighting to get free. “I can help him. I have to do something; I can't just sit here!”

Bex grabbed her face, cupping her cherubic cheeks in his hands. “They won't let you in there, and if force your way in, you'l just distract them from what they should be concentrating on.”

Claire slammed the side of her fist into Bex's chest. “Let me go!”

Bex maneuvered his hands to get a better grip on Claire's arms, but she stopped struggling. Her eyes grew wide with fear.

“He's fading. They're losing him,” she said, her voice sad and frightened.

Claire's body bent backwards, stiff and unnatural.

I stood, cupping my hands over my mouth. “What's happening?” I cried.

Jared stood with me, restraining me with his hands on my shoulders as Bex cradled his sister, and then helped her to the ground.

Claire relaxed, and then stiffened again.

“Help her! She's having a seizure!” I said.

Jared turned my head, refusing to let me witness Claire's body writhing on the floor. “No, she's not. They're shocking him with a defibril ator.”

“What?” I said, pul ing away from him.

Claire lay in Bex's arms, limp. “He's dying,” she whispered, a single tear fal ing from the corner of her eye, down her temple, into her ear. Her eyes were nearly vacant, fixed on the ceiling.

“No,” Bex said. He closed his eyes. “Don't take her,” he said softly. “Please don't take her, too.”

A sob escaped my throat, and I buried my face in Jared's chest. “They can't do this to us,” I said. I pushed away from him, then, raising my fists to the ceiling in a rage. “You can't do this to us! We are the good guys, and this is what we get? How dare you! How! Dare! You!”

“Nina,” Jared said.

“It's not fair!” I screamed.

Jared enveloped me in his arms and kissed my hair. His fingers pressed into my skin, and I suddenly felt guilty, knowing Jared was suffering the agony of losing his baby sister, and then feeling my sorrow as wel .

“I'm sorry,” I said, holding him tightly. I took a breath, and focused on numbing al of my emotions.

“Don't do that,” Jared said, sensing my efforts. “You don't have to do that,” he whispered.

“I don't want you to hurt anymore than you already are,” I said, tears spil ing down my cheeks.

“Claire?” Bex said in a strange tone.

I closed my eyes, terrified to peek out from Jared's arms to see Claire's lifeless body. There was stil so much I didn't know about Hybrids and the curse. Jared had prayed for Gabriel to take him quickly; maybe Samuel had taken mercy on her, and couldn't bear to see her suffer.

“Nina,” Jared said, nudging me. “Look.”

Claire sat straight up, looking herself over, and then to the doorway. She didn't speak, she just waited. Final y, a nurse walked in, slightly confused by the spectacle on the floor.

“Er...we just stabilized Ryan. We had to remove his spleen to stop the bleeding, but he's a fighter. I'l come back when we know more.”

I looked up to the ceiling, stunned. “Um...I'm sorry. Th-Thank you.”

Out of the corner of my eye, a black figure appeared next to me. I jumped and recoiled, grabbing at Jared until I realized who it was.

“Samuel,” Jared breathed.

I frowned, and Samuel smiled in response. “You are unhappy with me, young Grey.”

“You haven't been much help,” I said, too angry to hold back.

He smiled, his white teeth a stark contrast to his rich, dark skin. “It appears to me that the situation is under control,” he said, making his way to Claire. He leaned down, touching the top of her head with his massive hand. “Ryan wil be fine, I'm told.”

Claire smiled, another tear fal ing from her eye. “Thank you, Sam.”

Bex and Claire embraced each other with raw relief. For the first time I heard Claire giggle. Her wet eyes were bright, and the sound of her laughter chimed in the air, reminding me of Lil ian. Bex laughed along with her, wiping the tears from his eyes as they celebrated together.

Jared squeezed me to his side, and Kim's mouth widened to a large grin. It was as if we could al breathe again.

“He's going to make it?” I said. The question was redundant, but I had to hear it again.

Samuel nodded once. “Yes,” he said, confident.

He returned to my side, and I wondered if any of the passers-by could see him. No one seemed to notice the half-dressed giant in the room.

“We stil need your help,” I said. “We've read the book. We've al came close to death more than once trying to get our hands on it to find a loophole. Jared didn't find anything.”

Samuel looked to Jared, who shook his head with a frustrated expression.

“I think you already know the answer,” Samuel said.

Jared sighed. “I was kind of hoping that would be a last resort.”

Samuel touched Jared's shoulder. “It's a means to an end, isn't it?”

With his last words, Samuel blinked from the space he had once occupied. Jared sat in the chair, pul ing me into his lap, lost in thought.

Bex helped Claire to her feet, and then walked her to the sofa. “He's right. It's what you should have done al along.”

“Stop,” Jared said.

The nurse returned, this time with a smile. “He's in recovery, now. He's doing wel .”

“When can I see him?” Claire asked.

“Soon,” the nurse said, offering a comforting smile before leaving the way she came.

Claire col apsed against the back of her seat. “That was close.”

“Too close,” Bex said, hugging her against his side.

“What is Samuel right about?” I asked.

Bex glanced at Jared, waiting for his brother to answer. When he didn't, Bex began, “We just started a war. The only way to win is to convince Heaven to fight with us.”

I shook my head. “But we've tried. They won't help.”

One side of Bex's mouth turned up. “They wil if you give them something to fight for. They won't let Hel destroy the baby once it's born. We just have to protect you until it gets here.”

“What baby?” I said.

Jared peeked at me from under his brow. “The baby you're carrying.”

Everyone in the room stared at me, waiting for my reaction.

“Me?” I said, touching my palm to my chest. “But I'm not pregnant. We haven't....”

“Ew...ew...stop,” Claire said, shaking her head.

“Just once,” Jared said, looking up at me sheepishly.

I remembered the night I begged Jared to help me forget about the chaos surrounding us; the night he said it wasn't a good time to tempt fate. I didn't realize at the time he had spoken literal y.

“How long have you known?” I said, taken aback.

“The fol owing morning. I knew something was different...it took me a week or so to pin point exactly what.”

“I'm....”

“With child,” Bex said. “Expecting. Bun in the oven. Knocked up.”

“Hey,” Jared said, disapproving of Bex's last choice of words.

“Pregnant,” Claire said, her eyes bright.

Kim sighed. “You total y ruined my Spring Break. Just saying.”

I took internal stock of my body, waiting to feel different, but it never happened. “No. I mean...I don't feel pregnant.”

Kim raised her hands, letting them fal with a slap on her thighs. “Seriously. How are we going to travel to Jerusalem with Preggo over here?”

“She'l go,” Jared said, letting a smal smile pass over his lips.

The nurse knocked on the window, gesturing to the gurney she was wheeling down the hal . It was Ryan. She whispered into his ear, and he lifted his hand, giving us the thumbs-up.

Claire stood to fol ow, pausing at the door way. “We'l al go.”

“Looks like we'l be waiting until Ryan is better before we're going on our trip,” Jared said, pul ing my hand to his lips. “We could tend to a few things while he heals.”

“What's that?” I asked, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

“There's a pretty little chapel on an island I'd like to take you to.”

I couldn't help but smile. “I guess we'd better.”

“What are you doing Saturday?” he asked.

“Homework,” I said flatly. “Mountains of homework.”

Jared frowned. “Sunday?”

I mirrored his expression. “I guess you're busy tonight?”

Jared's brows shot up. “You want to go tonight?”

I nodded.

He shook his head enthusiastical y. “We can go tonight if you want. We can go now.”

“I'm ready,” I said.

Jared grabbed each side of my face, pressing his warm, wonderful lips to mine. “How is is possible that I just went from almost losing everything I've ever loved, to getting everything I've ever wanted...al in the same night?”

“Do you believe in guardian angels?” I asked, kissing him again.

Epilogue

“One bathing suit, one white dress, and a few undergarments. That's what I've packed for my wedding getaway,” I said, watching as Jared effortlessly clicked closed the buckle of my seat belt.

“That's al you need, Sweetheart,” he smiled, checking the buckle one last time.

The stewardess went through her routine, and then the pilot came over the speaker, informing us of our place in line for takeoff and the current weather in Nicaragua.

“Should be a pleasant flight, Mr. and the soon-to-be Mrs. Ryel,” the pilot said.

Jared's grin stretched the width of his face. “I might have paid him extra to say that.”

“I figured as much,” I teased. I looked out the window to the dreary Providence weather. In just a few hours, I would be lying on my favorite Caribbean beach with my husband. It didn't seem real.

The chartered jet taxied out to the runway, and within moments gained momentum, shuttering until the wheels left the ground. The lights of Providence became smal er, until they were just a cluster, separated from other cities by the dark countryside.

I relaxed against Jared, my eyes heavy.

Jared kissed my hair. “Do you think you'l have good dreams?”

“Yes,” I said without pause. “Maybe I'l dream about our baby. Maybe I'l see what she'l look like.”

“She?”

“Yes, it's a girl,” I assured him.

“And what if it's a boy?” Jared asked, playful y nudging me.

“It's not. It's a girl.”

“Blonde, of course,” Jared said.

“With blue-grey eyes,” I sighed.

“No. She'l have your eyes,” Jared insisted.

Before long, I dozed off, sleeping deeper than I had in months. I didn't dream of our baby, or of Jack or Gabe, or anything at al . I closed my eyes and was lost in a peaceful darkness until Jared kissed me awake when we were about to land.

The pilot made his announcements on the intercom, and Jared checked my seat belt one last time.

“It's fastened,” I said, smiling.

“I just want to make sure....” he said, laughing once to himself.

We landed without event, and once we set foot on the pavement, I grinned. “It hasn't changed a bit, except for the number of people waiting on us this time.”

“We only have two suitcases, and no tech cargo. It's been an easier trip for me this go-round.”

“I'd say so,” I laughed.

Jared carried our suitcases to an old, rusted pick up truck, after a short drive, our island chauffeur slowed to a stop beside the pier. As we boarded the smal boat Jared had secured for us, it occurred to me how unlikely it would have been for anyone else to have made arrangements at such late notice, and so early in the morning. Jared, however, had enough connections to do whatever he set his mind to.

“It's awful y dark to be wandering around in the ocean, isn't it?” I said, unsure as the boat captain steered in the general direction of the island.

The boat was quickly swal owed by the night, and the cool air off the water won over the thin fabric of my jacket.