"What do you mean heaven is falling?" Scott asked, looking around at the worried faces, feeling the rain soaking him to the very core.

"By opening the tear the divider between the worlds is collapsing. Heaven sits in between that, and it won't last." The cracks shattered the sky as far as jacota could see. "I didn't mean to make one that big!"

"Relax. Just breathe," Hunter said, starting to stress too. "If we find the other Gods, maybe your combined strengths can fix this huge black hole thing."

"They won't help me! I caused this!" Jacota felt like screaming until his lungs burned and his throat felt like sandpaper. Everything crumbled around him, sucking out any hope he had left, replacing it with a sticky feeling of guilt and dread.

William clung to Sam, feeling very unsafe. If they needed a quick exit, only Sam could give him one. He couldn't run from anything and was now dependable on those close to hide him from the face of danger.

"This is Lucifer's fault, not yours," Jeronah spoke coldly, thinking of his estranged brother. "The angels made you for this war because they knew a great betrayal would try to destroy them. They didn't know who would cause the betrayal. You mustn't blame yourself."

"They had so much faith in me." Jacota wanted to run into the black hole, never to be seen again. "I did all of this to save Corey and Panuleon. Do they not see that?"

"Their own prodigies have backfired. We will all be on your side, even if we are made to be on the side of the angels."

Everyone turned towards the couple who lay on the grass. Panuleon had passed out because of his injuries, Luka sat with his parents, and Corey was unaware of his surroundings. He hadn't even noticed the gaping hole in the sky as he stroked his fingers through his angel's hair, soaking his forehead with tears.

"What if we lose?" Sam asked, catching Margo's gaze and feeling nauseous.

"That is not an option." Duke stood boldly. His home on the other side was getting burnt to the ground by demons. "Where's Lucifer? Is he dead?"

"I did stab him in the heart with a pen," Scarlet mumbled.

Veronica wanted to congratulate her but decided that the timing wasn't right. "Lucifer has no heart. I won't be surprised if he comes crawling out of that hole with two heads."

Kaiden grunted an amused response, but he was more focused on his soulmate. Milokan and the rest of the angels seemed to wear a heart as heavy as the world. Most might not like to admit it, but heaven was a part of them. Panuleon was cast out of heaven thousands of years ago, and he still heard the angel's whispers every day. "What do we do then? How do we fix this?"

"It's not your mess to fix," Jacota said miserably, too ashamed to look at the sky.

"We are all here for this war. It is our mess," Kaiden said, thinking the black lightning cracks would be a cool feature for the natural sky. Though he was from Hell and their decor is not for the faint-hearted. "You saved our friends, the least we can do is fight alongside you."

Hunter squeezed his mates shoulders, not sure what else he could offer other than instructions. "Summon the other Gods. We need them here too."

"We're already here," a voice said inside Jacota's head. He snapped his eyes up and scaled the forest. "Where?" he replied, now feeling the tingling in his fingers.

"Watching from a distance," the voice said. "You betrayed the angels I see. Were the angel and the human's lives worth heaven's death?"

"They mean a lot to me and everyone here."

The voice was silent for a moment, then suggested a deal to Jacota that would be unwise to refuse. "If we fight with you in this war, we'll do it my way. I'm the leader of the God's now. I can do it better than you without even trying." Hearing the snarky tone built a bitter taste in Jacota's mouth.

"I'm speaking to the God of fire," he said to Hunter, then took a breath to reply as blankly as possible. "You're getting your arrogance and leadership mixed up. You're not a good leader if other Gods are afraid of you." Jacota could almost hear the sizzling of flames crackling from his palms. "I know the other Gods can hear this because I am your true leader. I will lead this battle, but I need your help and your strengths to close this tear. It's out of hand. I can't do it alone."

Jacota waited longer than a minute and didn't get a reply. Every second wasted was a second closer to the destruction of heaven. "I'm on your side." A voice said, this time, it wasn't in Jacota's head. He turned to see the man with strange green eyes and vines flickering around his fingers.

"Vale," Jacota said, inspecting the God of nature with curiosity. He wore the same verdant green blazer and quirky floral printed trousers. "Where are the other-" Jacota's voice was silenced by the appearance of four Gods, all holding their heads high despite the black lightning cracking the sky.

"Bren Ash, the God of fire, is not very fond of you," Vale said, almost amused by the conflict. "But you're correct. He is arrogant, and frankly, I hate him and wish him a horrible death in this war." He twiddled a leaf cufflink, looking composed for someone who knew heaven fell as they spoke. "So," he rubbed his hands together, smiling like he was ready for a nice sit-down meal. "Let's shut that hole in the sky. I don't know about you, but I would rather not fight angels."

"Do you think it'll be enough power?" A woman asked. Her hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, complimenting her fine jawline and high cheekbones. "I'm Miyu Ikeru, God of truth."

Jacota shook her hand, moving his eyes to Cordelia. He smiled until an ear-splitting crack tore above their heads.

Vinny huddled closer to his son and husband. Oliver's head injury made the human delirious. Panuleon couldn't heal him until he woke from his healing slumber. "Keep your eyes open," the vampire whispered, holding Rayvon's hand, rubbing his thumb along his knuckles for reassurance, ready to protect those he loved the most.

"What do we do?" Cordelia yelled over the horrible grinding sound.

Jacota held his hand out, offering it to Vale. "Help me fix this."

Vale slit his eyes, watching the God of lightning through his eyelashes. There was a darkness to his stare, but a twinkle of trust. He reached out and held Jacota's hand, and the power surged through him like an electric current. Jacota's hand was like the end of a live wire, pumping him full of energy. Vale gasped. Jacota's mighty status shared through the other Gods as they held hands to form a line.

Everyone moved out of their way so they could stand in front of the black hole. The tear had grown to the size of a block of flats, ten stories high. It pulsed and flickered at speeds too fast for human eyes. The heart of the tear was vantablack, darker than the shade of Lucifer's soul and scarier than nightmares. Jacota had a sickening feeling that there was no end and if anyone were sucked through, they'd fly forever.

"Summon your powers!" Jacota yelled.

Hunter felt prickling pride as his hairs stood on end. His mate took charge like the leader he was born to be.

The Gods closed their eyes, breathed deeply, and reached for their strengths until it surged through each other. Their palms filled with a hot buzz and the downpour hammered against their bodies. The moist air made it hard to determine what was sweat and what was rain.

The Gods stood together, tall, proud, and powerful. Their superior auras formed a wild bubble of dominance. Any Alpha felt an overwhelming feeling to kneel in their presence.

"Ready?" Jacota roared, and the Gods raised their united hands. A gold glow around their hands pulsed to the beat of their synced hearts, growing stronger and stronger until they opened their eyes. Their natural colour was replaced with a precious swirling gold, illuminating their pupils. "NOW!"

With one deep breath, a Gold light broke free from their chests, forming a colossal zap of power directed towards the tear. It developed a gold ring around the black hole, giving the illusion of it being something as beautiful as a star, dying, burning, twinkling.

Wide eyes watched as the Gods dropped to their knees like batteries getting drained of power. The black hole started to shrink in agony as the gold light attacked. A disease, eating away until there was nothing left.

"It's working," Scott breathed, frozen with amazement.

William had to cover his ears. He couldn't cope with the noise, sounding like a thousand cars screeching their tires on fresh tarmac.

The tear continued to shrink as the power continued to grow, funnelling from the Gods, taking everything they had. The black cracks froze and started to close. Stitching back together as the tear shrunk to the size of a small two-story house, shrivelling up like a wrapper on a flame.

Vale cried out in pain. The tear was taking every ounce of energy he had, and his hands were dropping, as were the others apart from Jacota.

"Keep going!" Jacota yelled, also feeling the strain on his bones. Everything hurt and his eyes stung from the light, but the tear kept shrinking and shrinking until it wasn't.

Two of the Gods had lowered their hands. Their heads rolled back, and the power from them vanished.

"NO!" Jacota yelled, watching the Gods drop like a wave until he was the only one left. The gold power disintegrated, and Vale tore his hand away to hold his chest, panting for air.

"We're not strong enough," he choked, "not without the others. We need our mates too."

Jacota watched with hollow hopelessness until his chest felt tight. The tear was continuing to grow, quicker than before.