The black pit looked better and better. If I sank into it, I might go into an oblivion where it didn't hurt as much.
Gabriel watched me, a concerned expression on his face. "We're going to find her," he said. "Raphael can't disappear off the face of the earth." He focused on Michael and pulled the soot off of his body. His eyes narrowed and it whirled in the air until it formed a small ball, then he walked into the bathroom with it. When he came back, the soot was gone. “There,” he said, then walked around the bed to slide in beside me. I adjusted myself so I could let him hold and comfort me.
As I rested my head on Gabriel’s chest, I sighed and tried to go to sleep.
And tried.
And tried.
"Lil?" he whispered a while later. "Want me to try to take your mind off of things?"
My heart wasn't in it, but it was better than lying there deep in my sorrows all night. "I guess," I replied.
Chapter Two
Within minutes, Michael was asleep, one one side and Gabriel on the other. I didn't move out of fear of waking either of them and soon I drifted off.
Lucifer woke all of us some time later. "Get up," he said. "It's time to think about a spell."
Michael wiped his eyes groggily. "Easier said than done," he said. His voice croaked with sleep.
"Yeah, usually only Raphael has access to relics like that," Gabriel said.
"Ariel is the blood of the two most powerful Fallen in creation," Lucifer said. "There must be a blood spell we can use."
"Those witches don't like helping us," Michael said. The bed creaked and shifted, indicating he was getting up. With a sigh, I rolled over and sat up. "I'm taking a shower," Michael said and headed for our bathroom.
Lucifer raised his eyebrows at his friend but didn't comment. Michael knew our home was his, always. He turned his gaze to Gabriel. "Come downstairs when you're cleaned up, too. I'll make you both something to eat."
He sent me a look I couldn't decipher and went downstairs. Gabriel sighed and pulled me closer. "How's he been?"
"Pretty bad," I admitted. "He's harsh. I think his power is causing him to feel moments of extreme rage."
Gabriel rubbed my back idly. "He's right. We need to go to more extreme measures. I'm not sure Raphael is in this realm anymore."
Sitting up, I looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean? He can't get into Hell, and you would've been able to find him easily in Elysium, right?"
"Exactly. We would've found him in Elysium in an instant. And we've combed earth. I don't think he's here." He sighed. "Elysium has been in an uproar because we can't find him."
"I agree," Michael called from the bathroom. I hadn't even noticed the shower had shut off. "But Archangels doing a spell is foolhardy at best." He opened the door and a cloud of steam came out.
Rolling over, I let Gabriel up to go shower while Michael rustled through Lucifer's drawers for clothes. "Can you stay long enough for me to wash your clothes?" I asked.
"Depends on what Luc wants to do about a spell." He shrugged and put on a pair of Luc's flannel pajama pants. "Not that there are a lot of options," he muttered.
With a sigh, I rolled out of bed. I still had on my pajamas, but I'd at least taken a shower this morning. Nothing seemed important except worrying about Ariel, but I was pretty sure I'd started to smell, so I'd forced myself into a shower.
Michael followed me downstairs where Luc was working his way through a stack of grilled cheese. I was impressed he even knew how to make that. Lucian had been a good cook, but I was sure Lucifer could've counted on one hand the number of times he'd been in the kitchen. "Gimme," I said. He smiled at me in relief, glad to hand off the job.
Gabe walked in a while later, toweling his hair. "What about The Scythe?" he asked. I turned from the stove with the spatula in my hand and watched Lucifer's face light up.
"That's an idea," he said. "But it's so hard to get to."
The Scythe was the weapon Cain used to kill Abel. It marked the beginning of the end for Mankind, and Cain became the first demon in Hell upon his death many years later.
He now controlled one of the lower levels of Hell and helped with rehabilitation, but the weapon he'd used to murder his brother had been imbibed with a significant amount of magic during the act.
Dark magic.
