That sounded nice. My human body was wearing thin. Lucifer's had to be as well. They took us directly to Vincent's living room, and we collapsed on his couch to wait. I draped myself over the three of them.
When I was nearly dozing off, a door slamming jerked me back to full alertness. "Vinnie's home," Lucifer said with a gleeful smile.
We jumped up and whirled to face the doorway between the living room and kitchen. He'd come in the back door, through the kitchen. Luc and Michael flanked the door, leaving Gabe and me in the middle of the room to draw his attention.
He rustled around in there for a minute, then the noises went silent. "Hello?" He called.
A man appeared in the doorway, and almost immediately his eyes widened in shock. His tawny skin paled considerably. "Demons," he gasped. "Et abier—"
Luc cut off his words by wrapping a strong hand around his neck. "No. You won't be cursing anyone today."
With a gasp, Luc let go of the man's neck and shook his hand. "How?" he demanded.
Vincent turned to run, but Michael grabbed him by the throat this time. "He's an angel!" Lucifer yelled. "Or something."
Gabe and Michael's powers roared to life as they pulled them forward. They worked together to subdue Vincent, and Michael was soon able to let go of his neck.
"You two do that so well," I mused. Vincent walked around the couch and sat down in front of me. He had no choice. Michael and Gabe controlled his movements now. I couldn't sense his nature to tell what kind of angel he was, but I knew he wasn't an Arch, so he was no match for my guys.
If only I had my power. I sat on the coffee table, knee to knee with the man, and studied him.
"I know that look," Luc whispered, but I ignored him. "Don't interfere."
He was right. My power called to me. There was something it wanted me to know, but I didn't know how to heed it in this body. Grabbing the little sliver available to me, I prodded the mysterious angel's psyche, and it erupted in front of me.
Had I had access to my full range of powers, I would've seen this in the hospital the second I laid eyes on him.
"Oh, you've got a nasty aura, don't you?" I murmured.
Reading and interpreting auras had been one of my gifts from the moment of my creation. God bestowed me with the ability to read a true nature. But it wasn't easy, especially with such limited power. The wretch said something, but his words fell on deaf ears.
I whispered my findings as I wove my magic through his aura. It didn't want to do it, but it knew our job. Punishing the evil was our bread and butter, and there were few eviler than this Vincent.
"He is a sadist, for sure," I mused. Squinting at his coloring, I tried to decide if the upper right corner was more gray or brown. It sort of morphed between the two. "And he likes girls." When the realization stuck in my head, I was yanked out of my trance-like state and lost the ability to read him. "Young girls." The words dripped off my tongue like vomit. Standing, I walked around the coffee table to put space between us. "He's a pedophile, and he's killed. I didn't get time to tell how much he's killed, but the browns in his aura confirmed that. He enjoys chaos and pain."
Vincent glared at me but was unable to do anything thanks to the hold we had on him. "Let him speak," I said.
"I have nothing to say," he snarled.
"Okay, then. I'll speak." I bent over and looked him in the eye, keeping the coffee table between us. He couldn't hurt me, but I didn't want to be that close to something so disgusting. "Do you know who we are?"
He nodded. His eyes darted to Luc. "You're human, though. You can't hurt me. And they're Archangels."
Laughter bubbled up my throat. In my human body, it was easy to retain my humanity. Through all this mess, all the pain and heartache, I wanted to find my daughter, I wanted to find Raphael and get answers. But until this moment, I hadn't wanted to hurt anyone. I didn't want to punish. My eternal responsibility hadn’t seemed so vital, so real. As a human, nothing else mattered besides human trivialities. Uploading videos. Cooking dinner. Crafting a healthy marriage. I nearly laughed out loud.
I'd forgotten who I was. As I stood in the living room of a pedophile murderer, I remembered. My soul recognized its duty. My mind flowered, the history and weight of my station enveloping me and welcoming me back.
And then, my magic remembered. Eternal responsibility for the damnation of souls meant strong magic, nearly unparalleled. It was mine, part of me, and it wasn’t content being squashed back, unused.
My body flooded with power, every pore expanding with the terrible magnificence of my might. It lifted me off my feet, like the first stretch after a long nap. The power flexed, and I spread my arms and let it expand as much as I could.
But the human shell wasn't meant to hold this much. The atoms and molecules quickly became strained as the magic expanded them to their max. I quickly created a barrier between the power coursing through my soul and the physical encasement of my human persona. When it was in place, seconds later, I landed gracefully on the carpet. The awesome feeling of might had lessened, but my absolute knowledge of who I was hadn’t.
"You're glowing," Lucifer whispered. "Why are you glowing?"
"She has her power," Michael said. All three of them looked at me in awe.
I only had eyes for Vincent. "Hello, my child," I said warmly. "I'm so happy to meet you. I am Lilith. The Queen of Abaddon."
