"Something is odd, though," Michael said. "The baby herself is perfect. As long as nothing traumatic happens to you or her, she'll be born without complications."
I glared at Gabe. "Traumatic like her mom dropping dead?" Which is what would've happened if Gabe had successfully killed Lucian.
Gabe shrugged. "I keep telling you, if Lucian died, I'd get to you immediately and take care of the baby."
"You've said that only once, and it didn't reassure me. I want to say goodbye to her, find her a home, a proper home. If I can't raise her, I need to make sure she's cared for."
Gabe's jaw dropped. "I'm sorry. I didn't look at it like that." He looked stricken. "Lil, I know this is traumatic for you. I see it. I'm so sorry."
Michael shook his head. "But Gabriel is right. We just don't have any way of knowing how much time we have. The gates could stand for a century or they could fall tomorrow. And if they were directly attacked? I think they would fall. We could shore them up, but…”
There were too many what-ifs to count.
I nodded. "I know. We're taking a gamble every single day Luc is on Earth. If this was engineered by someone with the intent of attacking the gates when they were weak, their plan is working. But why would someone want to attack the gates? Contrary to popular belief, we're all on the same side. We want demons in Hell with the sinners, the evildoers. The unrepentant."
Michael nodded. "We're all on the same team." He sighed and waved his hand over his face. His glow dimmed and features altered until he looked like Adam again. Similar, but not exactly the same.
I sat up on the bed and pushed pillows up behind me for support. "What are you doing?"
The Constance in me was sad at seeing her husband's best friend. Human memories tried to swamp me, but I pushed them back. He was the same person, even more so because he'd remembered himself while human.
"I'm going to go inspect Lucian now that I'm at full power. It takes some time once I’ve turned back to my angel form. Maybe I can see if I can get anything else off of him. Because there's something else I sensed in the baby, but I need to check Lucifer before I can be sure."
I nodded. "You won't tell me what?"
Michael scooted off the bed. "Don't worry, it's not bad, but might be a clue to who did this. I just need to make sure I'm not confusing the aura I sensed with Lucifer's."
Turning my head up, I puckered my lips and waited for a goodbye kiss. He popped one on my lips and disappeared.
Gabe hopped up and held out his hand. "Come on. Let's go watch TV until he gets back."
"I didn't understand why you were so resistant to getting Luc back to where he belongs," he explained. "I thought maybe your human side was influencing you."
"No, I have to settle the baby. Having a baby is enormous. Huge. I don't think you get that."
"I do, truly." He walked into our living room and looked at me as I paused in the doorway. "I'm sorry. I understand now that you can't just walk away from the baby."
"Could you?" I narrowed my eyes at him, waiting on his answer.
"Of course not. But I figured it would happen like Constance's body died, you went and fixed up Hell while I got the baby to a human hospital where they'd make sure she was okay. Then you'd come help me get her settled. You're looking at it the other way around. You'll settle her, then settle Hell."
I nodded. "Okay. I forgive you. And I do get why it's important to get us back to Hell, but for right now, the most important thing is that I go pee."
Several minutes later, I joined Gabe in the living room where he had one of my favorite true crime shows on. Snuggling beside him with a blanket, we lost ourselves in the storyline while we waited on Michael.
It only took him the span of an episode. He blinked into the living room and plopped down on my other side with a sigh. "Nope, I was right. Lucian has Lucifer's magic deep inside. Feels like you do in that aspect. And I sense the curse, but I think I delved a little deeper because I can tell it's a layered curse. There must be a different one for his long life and for blocking his personality."
"I'm still fuzzy about why the personality block was necessary."
Michael shrugged. "More than likely, Lucifer would be predisposed to live a dangerous life."
Lucifer's past human liveshadbeen wild. "Yes, that is true. He's always the rebel, the daredevil. The bad guy that women love."
Michael rolled his eyes. "Why don't they love the good guys."
Bless him. He was the consummate good guy. "They do, honey. That's why I keep you around."
"Well, Lucifer being exactly as I'd expected leaves us with a huge clue. I sense Sandalphon on your baby."
