The weight of his gaze burned into my profile, but I didn't look at him. I couldn't stand to see the look of disapproval. "I know you meant well," he said. "And I'm trying so hard to understand your pain and the pain you were in. But if we don't find her, I'll never gaze upon my only offspring's face."
With those words, he stood and walked inside, leaving me on the porch steps chewing on my cheek in frustration.
Gabe and Michael came back soon after. I had just enough time to compose myself and cool off my face in the bathroom sink so they wouldn't know. "Joel is working on recruiting more help to find Raphael and Ariel," Michael said when he walked in. Luc heard him and came from wherever he'd been hiding in the house. "But asked us to continue the demon hunt. Most of the angels are out of Heaven right now, hunting demons."
"What are they doing when they find them?" I asked.
"They either kill them, which returns them directly to Abaddon," Michael said. "Or taking them to purgatory to re-enter that way."
"Either way, they could just get back in and leave again," I said. "It would be better if one of us stayed here. Have the angels bring the demons directly to us. The other can continue city-hopping to send them back en masse," I suggested.
Gabe's eyebrows flew up. "That's genius. That way the ones the angels get can't re-enter the Earth realm."
"And we can stop as many as possible from leaving even if the gates are opened," Lucifer said. "There is no higher word than mine and Lilith's in Abaddon. Not even Asmodeus can override it."
"Not that he'd want to," I added. My brother hated being in charge while we were in our Earth cycles. He did the least amount possible, including, when anyone bothered to ask, telling demons and Fallen to do whatever Lucifer and I would tell them to do. He was irritating, but he was the next most powerful Fallen in Abaddon when we were absent.
We'd instilled rules and regulations with harsh punishments over the years, anyway. Rule breakers were generally dealt with whether we were there to do it or not. Punishments of larger-scale problems would wait until Lucifer's return, but otherwise, Abaddon carried on business as usual.
I doubted it was so business-like now. "Why hasn't Asmodeus come for us?" I asked absently as they continued discussing the logistics of dealing with demons out of our home. "Seems like when this got bad, he would've come right away to check on us."
Lucifer brushed it off. "Eh, he's probably just overwhelmed trying to shore up the gate and walls," he said.
"Gabe, you wanna go city hopping with me again?" I asked before Lucifer could tell me to stay here. He could sit his ass here with Michael. "Luc and Michael, you two can stay here and try throwing power out farther and farther to try to lure demons here."
Luc's jaw worked like he was chewing back a retort, but he nodded curtly and disappeared into the house again. "Talk to him," I whispered to Michael.
Michael pressed a soft kiss to my lips and cupped my cheeks. "Be careful," he said. We disappeared with his hands still on my face.
We hopped from city to city all over the world for days on end. When we were exhausted, we'd return to the little house and catch a few hours of sleep. Lucifer worked day and night, sending the demons brought by angels back to Abaddon. He slept in the living room, which they'd rearranged. Now the couch from my study was in there, too. Luc slept on one and Michael on the other. Word had spread among all the ranks of angels and they all knew to bring the demons directly here, to the living room.
After six days of it, we returned home to find Joel in our living room with Lucifer and Michael. "Just giving an update," he said when we walked in. "You have good timing."
I sat on the sofa opposite Lucifer and pressed close to Michael. "Go ahead."
"Raphael did have a few followers that have come forward. They have renounced him and given some information, but not much. If they aren't lying, it means he told each follower something different. We can piece a bit of it together, but we are missing a lot of information. He must have many more followers that have not denounced him."
"I want names," Lucifer growled. He may have been in his human body, but he was the Lord of the Darkness. The most brutally powerful Fallen in existence and one of the most powerful Archangels. Only Michael and Gabriel rivaled him, and they were on his side.
And Raphael, but unfortunately, he was not on our side.
"I can't give names," Joel said. "We only have suspicions. I won't have you torturing angels when you're not sure."
We'd been glad to get Joel on our side because he was a rule-follower and was unlikely to have fallen in with Raphael. Now, that rule-following was pretty damn annoying.
"What can you tell us?" I asked. "We need to sort this and find Raphael. It's more than just Ariel." My voice rose, fueled by my frustration and exhaustion. "It's the gates of fucking Abaddon," I yelled.
Joel held his hands up. "I get it. I'm not saying I won't help. I've got the name of a human. I'm following all sorts of angelic leads. I don't have time to follow human leads. But it seems possibly credible. But if you do anything evil to the man, I'm out. You'll be on your own and I'll use the resources of Heaven without you."
We exchanged a long look, Luc and I. "Agreed," he said after I gave him an old signal we'd worked out. I pursed my lips slightly. Not enough for anyone to notice unless they knew our code. If I'd flared my nostrils slightly, the answer would've been no.
"We will not do anything that might displease God," I said.
Joel seemed placated. "Okay. The woman's name is Mia Schmidt. She lives in Würzburg." He stood and looked at our exhausted states. "Good luck. I'll tell the angels to hold off on bringing any demons for the time being."
He disappeared, leaving us with a lead that could be a dead end. It could also lead us to our daughter. I jumped up, energized with hope. "Let's go."
We suited up before we went, strapping our holsters and handguns on again. No rifles, they were too cumbersome. Even Michael and Gabriel put weapons on. "We're dealing with humans," Gabe said when Lucifer teased him about it. "Can't be too careful. They're unpredictable."
