Desecration (Hellbound #3)

Having prevented the apocalypse, Amelia believes that her ordeal is over. It's not until after she's cut off the wings of her guardian angel, Gabriel, that she starts to worry that that isn't the case. After confessing he pledged to Fall in exchange for Lucifer saving her life, she realizes the gravity of the act he had her commit. When Lucifer arrives to personally escort Gabriel, Dane is in tow. Gabriel also promised to serve Dane for the next five hundred years in Hell so long as Dane never comes near her again.

As Lucifer takes Gabriel away, Amelia has to piece her life back together. After moving in with Sarah and Alex, she spends her days feeling depressed, guilty, and unable to exist as the human she knows she isn't. Without the ability to tell anyone what is wrong with her, she has no one to confide in--certainly not Dahlia, who has taken over guarding her.

Six months later, she provokes Dahlia into showing up. Remembering that fateful day when Gabriel said he would have gone through Hell to find her, she realizes that she should do the same--if only so she doesn't have to carry around the guilt of him suffering in her place. After some convincing, Dahlia indirectly gives Amelia the solution to her problem of actually getting into Hell. Connecting her with a demon named Maz, Dahlia uses a millennia-old favor to get him to help Amelia find a way to get into Hell.

Begrudgingly, Maz takes her down into Hell. They immediately begin to butt heads at every step along the way. Eventually, she discovers the reason Maz doesn't want her anywhere near him. As they follow leads to discover what happened to Gabriel and how they can get to him, they fight an attraction to each other. Finally giving in, she finds strength through Maz's encouragement that she's been missing. As they get close, she starts to worry if she'll ever see him after she and Gabriel leave Hell.

With very little left for her on Earth, she wonders if she even has anything worth returning to, whether Gabriel will assume things will just pick up where they left off, and whether she'll be able to say goodbye to Maz when the time comes.