Lucian shook his head. "I can't see why an Archangel, one of the highest in the universe, would want the gates to fall. I don't know."
The humans liked to believe the Archangels and Fallen were at a huge war with one another. We were, in some ways. The Fallen believed the humans deserved free will, the right to make choices, make mistakes. Hell worked as a reform school of sorts, with most of the souls that came to us being redeemable. They'd been hurt to the point of lunacy or born with a defect that made their mind work in strange and unsettling ways. Very rarely were they truly evil. Those that were, ended up being demons.
"Does he want Hell on Earth?" I asked. "Could that be his end goal?"
None of us knew. Until we heard from Raphael, his intent could've been anything.
"So, how do we kill me?" Lucifer sat forward and put his face in his hands. "This is a nightmare."
I put my hand on his back. He sighed and stood, pacing in front of the couch. Jellybean jumped up and followed his footsteps back and forth. "How bad are the gates?"
"Bad," I said. "I obviously haven't seen them, but I've seen a low-level demon, and then there's Jellybean."
Lucifer stopped and looked at me. "What about Jellybean?"
Laughing, I waved off his silly questions. "Oh, stop."
He turned around and stared at the dog, who still looked like a retriever. After a few seconds, he stepped back. "Oh. I didn't see that before."
Gabriel waved his hand and the glamour on the Hellhound disappeared. He morphed from a cheery-looking golden retriever to a huge, black beast. His big jaws spread apart in a grotesque doggie grin. Lucifer gave me an incredulous look. "You named him Jellybean?"
Laughing, I grabbed the pooch's head and kissed him. "No. You did, if you recall."
Michael and Gabriel burst out laughing, and even Lucifer gave me a good chuckle. "But he showed up here out of the blue. If he got out of Hell, the gates are crumbling. There's no telling how many demons are roaming the world right now."
Gabriel held up a hand. "Hundreds. We've got angels searching for them constantly. If we had a contact inside Hell, we'd enlist the help of your forces, but with you two here, we can't get in to talk to anyone."
"Can we go see her?" Lucifer asked.
His question hurt my heart. I'd been afraid he'd ask it. "I've been avoiding going to her," I said. "If her adoptive mother thinks we're going to come whisk her away at any point, she might back out."
"Could we sneak in when they don't know? I just want to see her." Lucifer took my hand and pulled me close to him. "Oh, Lil. What you must have gone through."
I buried my face in his chest and tried not to burst into tears. "I wanted you there for the birth, but at that point, we were still trying to kill you. We couldn't have Lucian there, witnessing a birth assisted by magic."
He tightened his hold on me. "I know. I understand. Maybe when it all calms down, Michael or Gabriel can share the memory with me."
I nodded, rubbing my face on his suit jacket. He still looked like Lucian, but having my capable, strong husband back was a comfort.
And it seemed he'd kept some of Lucian's heart with him. I couldn't remember the last time Lucifer had held me like this.
We stood like that for several minutes, whispering words of love and regret, until Michael cleared his throat. "I could take you to see her. We can distract the parents so you can spend a few minutes with her."
The thought of seeing my Ariel again brought more tears to my eyes and made my heart soar. "Please, Michael."
Gabe hopped up. "I'll go see what they're doing and see if we can just make them sleep for a few minutes. Give me five and follow."
He disappeared, and we walked into the kitchen. Now that I knew I was going to see Ariel, I was ravenously hungry. I munched on a slice of pizza and ignored the butterflies racing through my stomach at the thought of seeing my baby again. What if I couldn't leave her?
"She's gone." Gabriel appeared and dropped that bomb without any of us realizing he was even in the room.
I jumped a mile and whirled around. "What do you mean? Where are they?"
He looked scared. "They're there. The baby is not."
My heart froze. He had to be mistaken. "Take me there. Now."
He grabbed my hand and we appeared in Anna's living room. Lucifer and Michael materialized beside us moments later.
