But of course, it wasn't enough. He didn't care about my threats. He knew I'd never hurt Ariel. Raphael stared at me and smiled. "I don't believe you."
Time to reveal how much we knew. "Her name is Mia Schmidt. She was pregnant the last time I saw her," I said. "And I'm going to peel her skin from her body one layer at a time until it's gone."
That got his attention. He stared at me with wide, angry eyes. Some of the insanity seemed to recede as he focused on me. "You wouldn't. She's pregnant."
I smiled wider. "Even better. I'll keep her alive, then, and when she has the baby, I'll take it." I wrapped my arms around myself and closed my eyes. Rocking back and forth I smiled and looked down as if holding a baby in my arms. "I'll raise it since you deprived me of raising my own child. Then, I'll peel her skin off. Once she's nothing but exposed muscles and nerves, I'll begin to unravel them. Have you ever done that?" I chuckled and shook my head as if having a fun conversation with a friend. "Man, it takes forever, but the screams..." I sighed. "They're great."
Raphael looked more and more horrified as I spoke.
Putting my hands on my hips, I squinted at him. "Your plan was creative; I'll give you that. You fooled all of us and had some careful planning." I shook my head and tutted at him. "But it lacked a certain panache." I dropped my voice and sneered. "It needed more blood."
He swallowed. My words had worked. I'd never taken the skin off of someone in my entire long life. The thought was repulsive.
He stuttered. "I-I can't get her here with this magic wrapped so tightly around me."
"Yes, you can," Lucifer said. He'd been watching me with a smile on his face as if he enjoyed letting me work. He wrapped one arm around me. "I know you better than you realize. There's no way you haven't linked with her. Bonded. Tell her to bring the children and come here, now. If you do as we say, you have my word she and the children will not be harmed. I'll restrain Lilith."
Raphael looked from Luc to me and back.
Lucifer cocked his head. "You know I'm not lying. I wouldn't."
Raphael nodded. "And me?" he said boldly.
"You?" He had the audacity to ask. As if we'd do anything but kill him. "You're going to die, either way we go," I said in a girly, soft voice. "How you act now determines how gruesome your death is."
He looked from me back to Lucifer, then nodded behind us. "They won't let you torture me."
I looked over my shoulder to see the angels massed behind us. Michael, Gabriel, and Joel stood front and center with their jaws set and their arms crossed. They looked pretty damn pissed to me.
Joel held up one finger. "Yes, Raphael. Yes, we will. You are no longer an Archangel. You are no longer an Angel. You are a Fallen, and as such, you belong to Lucifer and Lilith."
His tan complexion paled. Raphael looked from angel to angel, but nobody gave him an inch. "You can't do that. I'm one of the original Archangels. I'm an Elder."
Lucifer leaned forward. "Not anymore. You're mine, now."
I giggled. "Fun, isn't it? Now, what'll it be?"
He swallowed and looked me in the eye. His insanity still floated behind his eyes, but fear overshadowed it. "Fine," he said. "I'll do it."
Raphael blinked several times. "She's coming."
"Get ready," I called over my shoulder.
I still controlled the flow of power, but our job wasn't done yet. Michael disappeared and as Mia appeared, her stomach swollen with another of Raphael's children, and my daughter holding one hand and their son holding the other, Michael reappeared with Mary in tow.
Throwing up another web, I wrapped Mia and both children in it. "Don't be scared," I called. "We won't hurt you."
I looked at Mary. "Do it!" I shouted. We had no time to waste. Ariel was incredibly strong, and right now she was waiting on Raphael or Mia to tell her to move or act before she did anything. But if she figured out what we were doing, we were all fucked. The power radiating from her was massive, nearly as much as we wrangled already.
An unheard-of amount. It scared me for her future. How would we teach her to use this much power? How would we raise her when she was so strong?
19
Mary reachedher hand toward Ariel and plucked a hair from her head, then put it in a bowl in her hand. Michael waved his hand and the bowl floated in midair as a flame appeared underneath it.
Mary chanted."Est in potentia moveri. Et quod corrumpere exercitum. Affer mihi magicae, ubi usus agam respectu boni."
Lucifer squeezed my shoulder, then walked closer to Mary. In my distraction, I didn't feel Raphael gathering up his and Lucifer's power. I should've expected him to try something, but I was so engrossed in seeing if it worked with Ariel that I let my guard down.
