By
Merri Bright

What’s in a name?
Everything.

When I left Sanctuary in a cloud of glitter, I thought I knew exactly who I was. But in the Celestial Realm, it’s clear I had it wrong. And so did everyone else.

According to the shiniest of all the Celestials, I’m something new and unexpected. To my surprise, I also have a family. But their warm, naked welcome won’t matter, because I may have left a part of my soul back in Sanctuary, and I’m fading fast.

All alone, armed only with an unusual gift from the Goddess of Glitter, I must sing myself across the void to rescue my nemesis/secret crush, the lost angel I’ve loved forever, my best birch’s mate-to-be, and the million-thread-count sheets I desperately miss. But to win against the Abyss, permanent, painful choices will need to be made.

And this time, I’m not the sacrifice.

If you haven’t read the first two books in this series, STOP! This book begins where the last one ends!

Okay so, Mikhail and Feather have a daughter Precious, she’s also mated with Righteous ‘Ry’ and Gavriel is also her mate and well so is Seraphiel ‘Rafe’. Feather will die. Ravel is a brother who is the Great Gate, he’s someone they need to save as well.

Feather is returning to Sanctuary to get those left behind. Ry and Mikhail will be giving her all the energy they can for her to make the journey.

This is a favorite scene.

They don’t mean it to be unkind, but they think of me as cute. One of them called me a little sweetheart.” She inhaled sharply in horror, and I scowled. “I know.” 

Feather sat up slightly. “Can you both read their thoughts, too?” 

I shook my head, while Ry answered, “Not at all. It’s annoying.”

“Wait, too?” I squinted at her. Feather just tapped her nose in our tell you later, birch sign language. Time to change the subject. “What’s wrong with these sheets?” I asked, feeling the weave as I pondered the unexpected social inequity here. “They’re rough.” 

“Like Earth sheets,” Feather agreed. “I’m not going to stay here. Sheets that suck? Idiots who think you’re cute instead of epically hot and dangerous? Ashholes who can’t see how glorious my baby girl is? Our baby girl,” she amended, taking my hands. Her grip was frail, her hands trembling. She took a shaky breath, and I could tell I wasn’t going to like what came next. “I have to go back, birch.” 

“Nope, not happening.”

She smiled weakly. “So, funny story… You know my birthmark? It’s Gavriel’s.” 

“No way.” I blinked, trying to process that. “He hated you.” 

She snorted a little. “Wow, just say it, why don’t you? ‘Your soulmate, from like, before you were even created—’” 

“I didn’t mean it like… like that,” I stammered. But I sort of did. We both stared at each other with comically wide eyes. “He didn’t know?”

“Nope. I’m guessing he knows now, though.” She rubbed her birthmark gently, and I could feel the energy flowing from it and dissipating. “Is it mean to hope it feels just like this for him? Like your soul guts are being unspooled slowly and stretched out for miles?”

I felt like I might throw up. “How are you still alive? Fear speared me. “Is he alive?” 

She smiled. “Mikhail and Righteous and the blue clouds are keeping me going for now. But it’s not working well enough. They say if Gavriel had died, I would have, too. So maybe Sanctuary is keeping him going. I guess I’ll find out.” 

“But… will you be able to come back?” 

She tried to answer, but fell into a coughing fit. Righteous stepped up, handing her another glass of glowing water, and filled in the details for me. 

I held up a hand. “Let me get this straight. You’re planning to go alone, across the Abyss, back to Sanctuary. Through the gate somehow? And get Gavriel—”

“And Arabella,” she broke in, able to speak again. I made a mental note to drink some blue juice myself. “And Percy and Hope, too. I swear I’ll bring her here by her hair if I have to.”

I swallowed. Of course she would think of me. I grasped her hand tighter. “Don’t do that, birch. She likes her hair pulled.” 

“Things I did not need to know for two hundred, Sunny,” she snarked. 

I took a deep breath to keep from crying. “I have a few questions. First, how do you get out of this realm? Isn’t it a big deal, like they only send Celestial Messengers every thousand years or so?” 

“Yes. I’ll have to carry a super important message.” Her eyes twinkled, and she tapped her nose again. I knew that mischievous look. It gave me hope. 

“How are you going to get back into Sanctuary?”

“Pfft,” she said. “Details are for amateurs. I’ll use my Heigel Jelly powers—”

I stifled a laugh. “Birch. You’ve got to stop calling High Angeli that—it makes you sound demented.”

“She is demented,” Righteous butted in as he took the water glass back.

“Rude.” Feather pulled a face at her mate, then flipped her hair. “Anyway, then I’ll use my Heigel Jelly powers and my sparkling personality to convince the gate to open up, but…” 

“But what, girl?” She had turned a weird shade of pink. 

She gulped, and rushed out the next words. “But also apparently the gate is sort of my brother.” 

We locked eyes in horror, then both yelled, “EWWWW!”

When we finally stopped laughing and taking back every time we’d discussed the gate’s hotness, I blurted out, “This isn’t a plan. It’s a suicide mission.” I couldn’t stop thinking of all the things that could go wrong.

She whispered back, “If I stay, it is for sure.” Before I could apologize, Mikhail walked back into the room.

“When are you going?”

“She must leave tonight.” Mikhail’s voice was lower than ever, gravelly with emotion. “They’re preparing the Celestial gate now.” 

“You’re not even strong enough to stand. How are you going to sing your way back to Sanctuary?” 

The twinkle in her eyes got more pronounced. “That’s the best part of this whole plan. But for it to work, I need a favor.” 

“Anything,” I promised, crushing her close to me. “What can I do?” I would give her my wings if they would help her. 

“I need you to babysit for the rest of the day,” she whispered. “Because apparently, merging is the best medicine they have up here. And Daddy Bear and Anaconda Pants over there are gonna play doctor with me up until the very last minute.” 

For a moment, it was like the first day I’d met her. She laughed, a mixture of sly, naughty, and wide-eyed innocence. Joy filled the room as Ry and Mikhail joined in. Feather seemed rejuvenated by the sound of the laughter, as if positivity alone had some sort of healing effect. Maybe it did? Who knew how stuff worked in this realm. 

As she kissed Precious and Dado goodbye, I told myself it was all going to be fine. It had to be. Because if Feather wasn’t with me, this place wouldn’t be any sort of Heaven at all.
Bright, Merri. Rising Feather (The Forgotten Angel Book 3) Kindle Locations (924-969). Bright and Dark Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Arabella has woken up and Gavriel finds out some things he didn’t know. First, she was a messenger, Thysia. She was mistakenly joined with Feather in the Well of Souls. Feather’s birth mark is Gavriels feather that Seraphiel was sending asking for help. There are so many factors involved here.

Seraphiel comes back on a rampage, but eventually, listens to Gavriel.

They need time to get everyone to the Celestrial Realm, and Gavriel, with Arabella/Thysia’s help gets everyone to listen to Feather since she’s apparently renamed Gavriel and made herself the leader of Sanctuary.

This book had me crying and holding my breath through so many scenes as well as laughing and glitter and so much more as the very well-earned Happily Ever Afters happen.

5 Contented Purrs for Merri!

Once upon a time, Merri Bright tucked romance novels behind all her textbooks and read love stories instead of the lessons. Now she writes the same kind of books she’s always loved, dreaming up stories about naughty angels, misunderstood demons, sexy shifters, growly Alpha males, and all sorts of dragons.

She drinks cinnamon tea while she writes, and believes in the power of naps, kitten cuddles, long walks with her dog, and that ice cream and a good book can fix anything.