"No promises, Babe." And poof, he was gone.
"No promises, my ass," I grumbled.
Lucian stepped out onto the back porch. "Connie," he called. "What are you doing out there?"
I tapped into my limited supply of magic and used it to make my words resonate with the hound. "You act like a dog and do as I say."
He woofed.
"Go greet Lucian like a dog happy to see his new owner."
The hound bounded across the back yard as I walked forward. "Honey, we're keeping him," I said.
Lucian's face lit up. I smiled because Lucifer also loved the hounds. He played with my pack and exercised them frequently. "He's a sweet dog, but don't you think he might have an owner?"
Gabriel had done too good of a job on him. His coat looked freshly brushed and he looked healthy as if he had an owner that took good care of him.
"I'll post on social media," I said. "And tomorrow I can call the pound and give our info in case someone tries to look for him there."
Lucian nodded. "Come on in, boy, I've got a nice steak thawed you can have for dinner."
As I followed them inside, my heart was torn. It would've been so nice to stay here and enjoy the rest of our human cycle together. Raise our baby, act normal. And Lucian was so sweet for wanting to find the dog's owners. Lucifer would've done the same, I was sure.
"What should we call him?" I joined them in the kitchen.
"Hmmm. How about Jellybean?" Lucian grabbed the dog's face, which to him looked like a sweet retriever. I knew what he looked like underneath and naming a Hellhound Jellybean was just a delight. In a way, he resembled an American bulldog, if American bulldogs were jet black with red eyes and the size of small horses.
"I love it," I said. "Hello, Jellybean." I crooned to the ecstatic dog while Lucian cut the steak into bite-sized pieces for him. As if the beast wasn't capable of going out and catching pretty much any prey it wanted for his dinner.
Oh, well. Jellybean was a part of our complicated, tragic family now.
13
Lilith
Previous lifetime...
Too soon,we would have to start our human life cycles, and the thought made my heart ache as a need to enjoy every moment of that time with my angels came over me. I went to the half of the castle that was out of Hell, specifically built in part of the between so that I could spend time with Gabriel and Michael. Here, it felt less like a castle in Hell and more like a modern home. And in this place, I also got to feel more like a woman, and less like I had the responsibility of an entire realm on my shoulders.
And my angels just got to be people too.
"Gabriel," I called, moving through the hall into the comfortable sitting room. "Michael!"
Gabriel, my jokester, appeared, lying down on the couch.
Michael walked into the living room from the kitchen, crunching on an apple. “So, what’s the game plan before you have to be human again?”
Gabriel sat up on the couch, leaving me room to sit down beside him.
“Lucifer has given memorethan enough instructions,” Gabriel said.
Michael grunted, and Gabe and I swung our gazes to him. “I told him I’d pass on any important information Lilith missed, but that’s just because I know she’s getting irritated by him.”
Man, I was going to miss these guys so much.
I scooted closer to Gabe on the couch and patted the open cushion beside me. "Come here."
This situation was never easy on any of us. Probably not even Gabriel, even as callous as he seemed about our human life cycles. To be fair, we'd all lived and died so many times that they'd become a bit blasé. However, the days beforehand we all felt a little extra sentimental.
