"Lightning can kill an angel," I said. "If it hit you, there would be a good chance you'd die."
He nodded. "We can't think of anything else outside of calling in more angels to combine power. But that's dangerous, too, because we don't know for sure who is behind this or if multiple angels are scheming together.”
"Can't you think of anything else?" I asked.
Gabe shook his head. "There's one other thing, but it's very difficult to do, so we'd like to avoid it."
Ugh. I didn't know if I wanted to ask what would be more difficult than possibly being struck by lightning. "Okay. Let's do it."
I grabbed my phone and car keys and headed toward the garage. "You coming?" I asked.
"Well, actually, we didn't want you to come," Gabe said. "Because of the danger."
"If you succeed in killing Lucian, I'll die anyway. What's the difference?" I spread my hands. If they managed to kill me, at least I'd be able to go see Ariel.
"Okay. But we'll just pop over," Michael said.
I looked down at my hands. I was holding my purse and car keys, having been ready to drive to Lucian's office. "Oh, yeah. Okay." I was too used to being human.
Michael held out his hand. I took it and closed my eyes. When I opened them, we were standing in the alley behind the office.
"Spread out," Gabe said. "Lil, get far away from the building."
"I know where to go." There was a strip mall across the road. "I'll go wait at the cafe tables across the street.” I turned away but paused. "Be careful," I said over my shoulder. "I don't want to lose either of you."
Gabe nodded, so I walked around the building, careful to keep to the side where Luc wouldn't be able to look out the windows and spot me. And also making sure he was the only one in the office. We didn’t want a mass murder scene. Just one murder.
Settling in at the cafe, I think I upset the server by only asking for water but I wasn’t there to fill up. I just wanted to keep my eyes on the office and make sure nobody got hurt.
Except Lucian, of course. I'd had enough of this bullshit. I wanted him to die and to give me Lucifer back. If nothing else, he might know who had cursed him. Even if he wasn't the perfect husband, I was beginning to miss my abrasive mate.
He wasn't perfect, for sure. But he was mine.
The sunny day darkened as clouds moved rapidly into the area. "Strange," the server said. "I didn't think it said we'd get rain today."
"Yeah," I murmured, trying to see if I could spot Michael or Gabriel. "Weird."
A movement to the right of the office drew my eye. I could just see Gabriel's light blond hair through the bushes near the road. I presumed Michael was somewhere on the other side of the building, probably standing well back from the danger zone.
Thunder rumbled overhead, and the server scurried inside. Lightning flashed across the clouds. I leaned forward, watching and ready to see where it would land.
One, two, three strikes of lightning crashed out of the dark clouds as the wind whipped my hair all around me. Two of them hit the lawn in front of the office, but one hit the bushes. They erupted in sparks.
The bushes that hid Gabriel. A few flames flickered around the spot I’d seen him just moments before.
The chair I sat in flew backward as I launched out of it, running across the street without even looking to see if any cars were coming.
I made it to the bushes at the same time as Michael. Crouching down, I found Gabriel clutching his arm. "I was hit," he gasped.
Michael crowded in, so I shuffled out of the way so he could get to my love. "Heal him," I hissed.
"This is beyond me," Michael said. "I'll need help."
I peered around the hedge of bushes, but nobody had seen us go in there. "Lucian is looking out the window," I whispered. "Go now, but don't stand up."
Clearly, I’d forgotten about the poofing away.
When I looked back to them, they were gone. I sighed and rocked back onto my butt. How was I going to explain to Luc that I was stuck downtown with no vehicle? I tried to think of a way I would've gotten to his office without driving myself. I wasn't dressed in workout clothes, and even if I was, it was way too far to jog, even for me.
