Michaela woke screaming. Clark hunched beside her, pressing his hand to her mouth. She fought for a second before she recognized the pink hair and fierce blue eyes above her. She stilled. Sweat ran down her face, soaking her shirt and the cot. Clark released his grip on her face.

“Are you crazy?” he sputtered. “You could wake the dead screaming like that!”

Michaela sat up shakily. “Sorry.” Her eyes settled on her arm, where a shallow gash stretched across her bicep. The blood was dried, but the wound was recent.

“What happened there?” Clark asked, worried.

“I had a vision.”

“A vision gave you a cut? What was it about?” Clark took her arm and inspected her cut. When he looked at her again, his aqua eyes were wide, his long lashes matted from sleep. He set his jaw in a way that reminded her of Gabriel. He would die too if her dream became reality. Everyone would.

“The end of the world,” Michaela answered. She drew in a deep breath, covering the cut with her other hand. Clark sank onto the cot with her and pulled her into his side. Michaela relaxed against him.

“Fantastic. That’s awesome really. I’ve always wondered what that would be like.”

“Clark,” Michaela said. “I’m serious.”

Clark sighed. “I know.” He wrapped his arm farther around her body. “Maybe it was just a bad dream. A dream that cuts you…”

“It wasn’t just Earth that collapsed, but Heaven and Hell too. It was like they were all tied together, when one went so did the others. Everyone would die,” she whispered.

“Is that normal?” Clark asked, confused. “I thought during the apocalypse, only the world ended, but Heaven and Hell would be fine, right?”

“Not the way I saw it in my dream,” Michaela answered.

“This wasn’t, like, tomorrow or anything, right?”

Michaela shook her head, and Clark exhaled in relief. “Abel had the Seven Seals, which will take him a while to acquire. Those scrolls are the only way to end the world. You have to break them apart individually and in a certain order. Only…”

“What?” Clark asked.

“Only I don’t think Abel understands that by destroying Earth, he will destroy Heaven too—and himself,” Michaela answered.

“Are you certain he doesn’t know about the seals’ power?”

Michaela shook her head. “I’m sure, because I didn’t know. We all thought the seals would end Earth and the humans’ time on it. No one could know breaking the seals would end Heaven and Hell too.”

“Why would he even want to end the world? Does he hate the humans that much?”

“I think he does,” Michaela said. “He wants purity. Perfection. By ending Earth, he cleanses Heaven. There won’t be any more impure souls to judge.”

“But there won’t be anyone.” Clark shuddered. “There’s still a chance it wasn’t real.”

“It was real.” Michaela shuddered, and Clark held her tighter. “It’s going to happen.”

“Okay,” Clark said. He tried to sound strong. “Is there anything we can do?”

With a deep breath, Michaela stood from the cot and faced Clark, who looked at her expectantly. She had a plan.

“We have to end Abel’s reign. We have to show everyone who he really is before it’s too late. If we can prove what he has done, the holy angels will cast him out.”

“Then he can’t end of the world if he isn’t General,” Clark added.

“Exactly.”

Clark’s father met them at the tunnel’s exit a few hours after the sun had set. Clark and Michaela climbed through the fruit stand and into the cab of the truck. The ride back to the toolshed was long and bouncy, but Michaela felt better with each mile they put between them and the compound. Her dream had lifted the fog in her head, and for the first time she could see clearly.

A week had been too long. Michaela should have left the moment she saw Zarachiel and knew what Abel was capable of. A true holy angel would never desecrate an innocent angel’s body like Abel had done to Zarachiel, which meant Abel would stop at nothing to achieve his Purification. She recalled the manic excitement and joy she had seen on his face as he watched Earth burn. His fever for a pure Heaven was growing, building, and consuming him. If he wanted to break the Seven Seals, he had to have gone mad.

“Here we are,” Isaac said a while later. He stopped the truck beside Clark’s Chevelle.

They made quick work of unloading the gear. Isaac gave them more food and water. And a large bag of weapons that made Michaela’s eyes gleam. Isaac handed Clark a wad of money too.

When the car was loaded, Michaela shook Isaac’s hand. “Thank you, Isaac. I appreciate your help.” She smiled at Clark’s father, who seemed to melt a little. His hard, leathered face softened.

“Of course, Michaela. I always believed in you.” He squeezed her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing the soft skin. “I just couldn’t put the Descendants in jeopardy by sending them to help you after you fell.”

“I understand, Isaac,” Michaela said. She hugged him, which surprised them both.

Blushing, Isaac cleared his throat. “Well, anyway, you’re in good hands.” Michaela nodded and slid into the passenger seat, her eyes drifting to the side mirror.

Instead of saying anything, Isaac pulled Clark into a tight hug. Clark wrapped his arms around his father and hugged the man back. The sight made Michaela smile.

When Isaac drew back, Clark’s eyes watered slightly, and he quickly turned away. His throat was tight, but he managed, “Thank you, Dad.”

“I love you, Clark.”

Clark only nodded and walked to the car like he didn’t trust himself to respond. Before he opened the door, Isaac said, “Your mother would be proud.”

Clark’s head jerked up. Isaac was smiling. “I know,” Clark said.

Clark settled into the car. With a deep breath, he turned the engine over. He took one last look in the rearview mirror where his father stood watching before he pulled away.

They bumped along the farm road for a bit before he turned onto the small two-lane road, heading away from the Descendants’ compound.

“That was touching,” Michaela said.

Clark grunted. He fiddled with the radio dials.

“Are you okay to drive? Do you want me to?” Michaela asked. She was already smiling, because she knew the answer.

“Hell no.”

The shower’s water slowly turned to ice as Michaela stood beneath its stream. The shampoo and soap long since washed away. When she got in thirty minutes ago, the water had been scorching and her thoughts had been on Gabriel. It was ice now, and she didn’t feel anything, standing naked and shivering as she watched the water swirl down the mildewed drain. She was still thinking about Gabriel.

Michaela got out of the shower and wrapped a towel tightly around her until she felt warm enough to dress. She pulled on a different pair of ragged jeans. Her foot went through a hole in the knee, causing it to rip even farther. She cuffed the sleeves of a worn Jimi Hendrix shirt and shoved them up past her elbows.

Clark sat up in bed when Michaela came out of the bathroom. A slight shadow of a beard sprouted on his youthful face. His eyes were bloodshot; the skin underneath was swollen and dark. He had driven straight from Kentucky to Charleston. When they had finally picked a motel next to the Ashley River early this morning, he had fallen into bed, exhausted. He hadn’t even snored.

“You look awful,” Michaela commented.

Clark raked his hands across his face. Michaela toweled her hair dry then pulled on her boots. She tucked her hair through the back of a ball cap. Clark regarded her with squinted eyes.

“It’s too early for stealth mode,” he said, grumbling.

“It’s the opposite of early.” Michaela turned on the lights. “You’ve been sleeping all day.”

“Ouch.” Clark shielded his eyes. “Are you feeling okay? How’s your arm?”

She shrugged. “Fine.” Michaela sat on the edge of the dresser and chewed on her fingernails. Her feet jigged frantically.

“Super duper.” Clark groaned into his hands.

“Did you not sleep that well?” Michaela asked.

Clark yawned; his jaw popped with the effort. “Like a baby,” he said. “I just need about twenty more hours, and I should start to feel normal.”

“I offered to drive some.”

“I was fine.”

“Oh, well in that case, get up.” Michaela slapped his leg eagerly. “Get ready and let’s go.”

Clark collapsed back onto the bed. “Go where?”

Confused, Michaela said, “To find the place Cassie is working?”

“No.”

“No?”

Clark sighed heavily. He sat back up on the bed and grabbed his phone off the bedside table. “This isn’t the 90’s. You should go find coffee, and I’ll Google research facilities and hospitals around here with an angel in their logo.” He burrowed farther down in bed to emphasize his point. His phone’s screen lit his face blue in the dim lighting.

“Google?” Michaela asked.

“It’s a human thing.” Clark’s voice sounded muffled. “But seriously, coffee.”

When Michaela returned with a large thermos of coffee from the lobby, Clark was still in bed. She opened her mouth to yell when he waved the phone at her. She didn’t see the screen, but Clark had a cocky smirk on his face, which told her all she needed to know.

“Sometimes I’m so good I impress myself. Did you bring sugar?”