"Then I'll go there." Michael nodded in the opposite direction. They both gave me a soft kiss and went left and right.
"We'll go straight." I looked out toward the never-ending crowd of souls and tried not to feel disheartened. We'd had setback after setback and blow after blow. Even with all the magic we had, it couldn't find Raphael or break into his realm.
But until I had my daughter in my arms, I wouldn't stop trying. I pumped my wings and rose in the air to fly higher over the souls.
Luc followed me, searching the masses of souls with his eyes as I spread my awareness throughout them. He pointed out colors that could possibly be Vincent, but I quickly figured out how to dismiss human souls. I didn't really need him helping visually, but he needed to feel useful, too. His daughter was missing, and he didn't even have the magic to help look.
I kept one feeler on Michael and Gabe so I wouldn't lose my sense of what an angel felt like in the mass of human souls. Plus, if they found him while we were connected, I'd know it.
No matter how far we flew, the souls kept going.
Gabe had been right. There were millions of souls here. They floated in their own personal space, with several feet between each of them. No matter how many I delved, doing hundreds or maybe thousands at once, they were human. All human, over and over.
We searched for hours, flying high over the masses, as high as we could go in a realm with no sky. The farther we went, the more hopeless I felt. Shouldn't Vincent have been closer to the gates? He wouldn't have been in here very long. "This is a nightmare," I whispered.
Luc flew closer and took my hand. "It is. This is our nightmare, set up by someone that knew exactly how to create it for us. I'm not sure what we did to deserve this, but if it's a punishment for something, it's working. I definitely feel punished."
I was nearly ready to give up, and not just the search here in Purgatory. The whole mission. I was nearly ready to let Raphael win. I'd do whatever he wanted if he'd let me have Ariel back. Exhaustion began to set over me. We'd never truly recovered from our transition to ethereal bodies. After only a little sleep we'd set off on another mission, another dead-end lead. And Lucifer never had healed from the failed spell. My wings were tired. My arms were tired, though I didn't know why. They didn't help me fly. Lucifer must've been ten times wearier. He hadn't complained though, so I tried not to. I wanted to whine and cry and gnash my teeth and stomp my feet. But I didn't. I kept flying.
"It's time to turn back," Lucifer said.
"A little more," I said. "If you're too tired and need to turn back, you can. I'll meet up with you at the gates." I squeezed his hand and smiled at him as we continued flying farther and farther out. "You've got to be about to drop."
He shook his head. "I'm hardier than you give me credit for. I'm staying with you."
He was right. His strength wasn't all in his magic. He was an incredibly powerful man. Angel.
Just as I sighed and was going to turn to him and admit defeat, I felt Gabe get excited through our bond. His energy washed over me, giving me hope when all seemed hopeless.
What is it?I sent my thoughts to him. We couldn't always converse this way, but I used my magic to make it work for us now. It was too much trouble for day-to-day conversations. Plus if we weren't careful it could get very invasive.
I think I have him.
"He's got him," I whispered, then relayed the information to Michael.
Lucifer grinned as I focused on Gabriel again. "Meet us at the Gates." They were the only way in or out of Purgatory. Once we had Vincent, if we needed to take him out of here, we'd have to go out of the gates.
"Let's go find out what this son of a bitch has to tell us," I said and tugged Luc's hand. We launched ourselves back the way we'd come with renewed vigor.
13
We flew back much faster,and my wings lost their tiredness in the excitement of finding Vincent. My curiosity and hope burned away my exhaustion.
What could he have to say? Why did he try so hard to contact me?
We arrived back at the gates, ignoring all the souls we passed—what else could we do? We couldn't help them, not yet. Gabriel, Michael, and the soul of Vincent were already there. I recognized it immediately. "That's him," I confirmed. It had the same disgusting coloring I remembered.
His soul pulsed when he heard my voice. "Is he awake?" I asked. I poked at him but didn't want to delve into him yet. That could be dangerous.
"Now what?" Lucifer asked. "Can we take him out of here?"
I shrugged. "Even if we do, what will we do with him? He's a pure soul. He needs to be dealt with in Abaddon. We can't take him there."
"There's no way to talk to him that I know of," Michael said. "Except possession." Vincent's soul pulsed again. "Ugh, it seems like that's what he wants."
We all moaned. The thought of being possessed by this sicko was repulsive. Plus, what if he gained the upper hand? In theory, he could take control of my body and leave me a helpless passenger of my own self.
Yeah, right. Like I'd ever let that happen.
