She was out of the In Between. She was. . . free.
But Tohrment was down below.
Her body began to shake, rage shooting through her, the anger so deep and abiding she wanted to claw through the door and have a harsh word with the Scribe Virgin or Lassiter's Maker or whoever the sick bastard was who dealt out fates.
After having traversed the great distance from where she had first started, only to find that the prize was nothing but another sacrifice, she was livid to the point of violence.
Not holding anything back, she let herself go, throwing herself at the portal, beating at it with her fists, tearing at it with her nails, kicking at it with her feet. She uttered curses that were vile and called the holy forces names that were villainous -
When arms shot around her waist and began to drag her back, she attacked whoever it was, baring her fangs and biting into the thick forearm -
"Fucking hell! Ouch!"
Lassiter's indignant voice cut into her temper, stilling her body until she just heaved to catch her breath.
The damn door was utterly uninjured. Uncaring. Unmoved.
"You bastards," she hollered. "You bastards!"
The angel turned her around and shook her. "Listen to me - you're not helping here. You need to calm the fuck down. "
With a force of will, she pulled herself together. And then promptly sobbed. "Why? Why are they doing this to us?"
He shook her again. "Listen to me. I don't want you to open that door - just stay here. I'm going to do what I can, okay? I don't have a lot of pull, I may not have any at all - but I'll give it a fucking shot. You stay right where you are, and for the love of God, do not open that thing. Once you do, you're in the Fade and I can't do shit. Are we clear?"
"What are you going to do?"
He stared at her for a long moment. "Maybe I'm finally going to be an angel tonight. "
"Wha - I don't understand. . . ?"
Lassiter reached forward and cupped the side of her face. "You two have done so much for me - hell, we've all been in our own In Betweens, in a way. So I'm going to offer up everything I've got to save the pair of you - we'll see if it's enough. "
She clasped a hold on to his hand. "Lassiter. . . "
He stepped back and nodded to her. "You stay here and don't get your hopes up. The Maker and I have not had the best relationship - I may just get incinerated on the spot. In which case, no offense, but you're screwed. "
Lassiter turned away and walked into the whiteness, his big body disappearing.
Closing her eyes, Autumn tucked her arms around herself and prayed for the angel to work a miracle.
Prayed with everything she had. . .
Chapter Seventy-Four
Down below on earth, Tohr felt as though he was losing his ever-loving mind. Lassiter was gone. Autumn was gone.
And a terrible sense of logic was making him wonder why he hadn't guessed at the mechanisms they'd been working under for the past year.
Wellsie had been trapped in the In Between by him.
And Autumn. . . had been trapped in the In Between by herself.
Then by loving him, and forgiving not just him but herself, she had been freed - so just like Lassiter, she had been granted what she had not even known she was in search of: She had been given at long last the entrance to the Fade, that which she had been denied when she had taken her own life in a fit of terror and agony.
Now she was free.
"Oh. . . Jesus. . . " he said as he let himself fall into John's strong arms. "Oh. . . fucking hell. . . "