"Jellybean!" I screamed.
Lucian turned around to see an empty bowl and a very naughty dog looking up at me with big eyes.
"Bad boy," I said in a low voice, worried about the poison.
Lucian grabbed the bowl and the instant he looked away, Jellybean burped. A small burst of fire erupted from his mouth. If I knew hellhounds, and I did, that meant his body had burned up the poison.
"Well." I walked into the utility room and slapped the mop into the floor sink to be cleaned later. "I'm done. I'm taking a bubble bath. Feed yourself."
Lucian gave me a dumbfounded look. "Did I do something?"
"No, darling, you are perfect as always. I'm just feeling grumpy." I shrugged. "Sour mood, I guess."
After patting him on the cheek, I headed upstairs. There had to be a way to get Lucifer back. This was getting frigging ridiculous.
25
Constance-Lilith
My sigh felt like it came from my toes. I was in the office, setting up a photo shoot. I'd already cleaned the house (which hadn't needed cleaning), made lunch, picked at it, and folded a load of laundry. I still had hours before Lucian came home. I couldn't leave, because if I set one foot out of this house I'd go straight to Anna's.
"Gabe? Michael?" I'd called for them several times already, but they were ignoring me.
To my surprise, they popped in this time. Jellybean gave a lazy woof from his spot on the sofa in the corner of the office.
"I hear you're a very bad boy," Michael said. He ruffled Jelly's ears. The big oaf just chuffed and closed his eyes.
"Very bad." I put my hands on my hips and stared at him. "But now what?"
"Now, I tell you I've been to see Ariel."
My heart slammed in my chest when I processed his words. "You did? When? How is she? Are they taking good care of her?"
Gabriel walked toward me as I walked out of my videoing area. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and kissed my hair as I stared at Michael.
"She's perfect. I watched as Anna rocked her and put her down for a nap. She was wearing clothes I know we didn't take over there, so they've shopped for her already. And then I checked her over while she slept. She's in perfect health. She does have a slight allergy to the formula they're using, but I put that idea in Anna's head with a sliver of magic, so she'll correct it before it becomes irritating to her little tummy."
I sighed in relief. The weight of the world lifted from my shoulders momentarily with the knowledge that my baby girl was safe and healthy. "Anything else?"
"She grinned in her sleep, but then she farted, so it was just gas." He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. "I did get you these."
He pulled open an app, then handed me the phone. Gabe helped me walk to the couch and slapped Jellybean's big rump, so he'd get off. I sank into the cushions and swiped through several pictures of Ariel sleeping in the crib I'd painstakingly picked out for her. Gabe and Michael sat down with me and put their hands comfortingly on me wherever they could reach.
At the end of the photos was a video. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I listened to her sigh in her sleep with one fist raised and resting beside her face.
"I heard Anna coming after this, so I hightailed it out of there." He took the phone and pressed a few buttons. Seconds later, my phone dinged from my desk. "There. They're in your inbox now. To hold you over until you can see her again."
I swiped the tears away. "Well? Do you have any more good news for me?"
They shook their heads in unison.
Moaning, I flopped back on the couch. "There has got to besomethingwe can do."
Gabe looked at Michael. "We haven't tried one thing. It's especially dangerous, and the way things have been rebounding on us, we're kind of afraid to."
"What?" I narrowed my eyes and waited on the explanation.
"If he's the only one at his office, we could call down lightning on the whole building. It would likely kill him." Gabe shrugged. "But if we do it, we have to make sure we're very far apart from one another. If it rebounds on one of us, either Michael or I, we'll need the other to heal us."
