"Okay," he whispered through the tightness in his throat. "I'll break the spell."
I released his throat but kept the rest of him tightly bound in my power. "Do it."
"It's not an incantation. It's a spell in the necklace around my neck."
Striding forward, I grabbed the gold chain around his neck and pulled a large purple gem out from under his shirt. Closing my fist around it, I fought the surge of power from it, trying to suck my magic away. With a yank, the chain broke, and the stone rested in my hand.
"Now what?" I asked.
"Crush it," he said.
I considered his words. He could've been leading me into a trap. Crushing it could make it explode or something, but I didn't see how I had much choice. More and more of my magic slipped away every second, and Lucifer didn't look good. He'd slipped into full unconsciousness now.
Dropping the stone onto the hardwood floor, I stomped it with my hiking boot. A real stone never would've crumbled without considerably more pressure, but this one did. My magic slammed into me, and Lucifer opened his eyes with a gasping breath.
Jumping to his feet, he surged forward, and I was shocked to realize he was lipping full of power.
But it felt all wrong. "Luc," I whispered as he lashed out at the bound angel.
The man's head separated from his body as Lucifer roared his anger. I watched the wretch's soul separate from his ruined body and sighed as I wrapped it in my power to hold until we could deal with it. We'd never get any information from him now. "Why'd you do that?"
Luc grunted and held out his arms, fully flexed. He cried out again, a low, guttural sound. As fast as he'd filled with power, it disappeared. "It wasn't my power," he said when it was gone. "Whoever's power he stole in that gem is returning to them now. I just borrowed it for a second."
"Why'd you kill him?" I asked. "Now we can't question him."
"Because Raphael and Mark, the one I killed, underestimated what a human could endure. They warned me I'd pass out as soon as we entered the house. I nearly did, too, and my eyes closed. But I didn't go out. They thought I did and spoke freely. This schmuck was being blackmailed. He killed an angel not too long ago and Raphael found out. He wasn't really on Raphael's team, so to speak."
"Then why'd you kill him?" I asked.
Luc brushed my question off. "Would've happened anyway. He killed his friend in cold blood. Any of the angel courts would have condemned him."
I rolled my eyes. "You should've left it to them."
"Sorry," he said. "Once Raphael left, he kicked me around, slapped me a bit. Then told me what a piece of garbage I was over and over. My temper got the best of me."
I grabbed his hand and pulled him close. "You were so worried about me getting hurt. I should've taken you with me. If you had your powers, there would be no match for you, but you don't."
He grunted and hugged me back. "Don't remind me."
I pulled Mark's soul close and took us back to the barn. Gabriel and Michael waited there with Joel and bound Uriel. "Ah, I see you were successful." I narrowed my eyes on Uriel, then used my power to stick him to the wall beside Genevra. "Joel, would you be a dear and put this soul with the one you're holding for me?"
Joel's eyebrows drew together. "I don't want to know, but yeah. I will." I felt his magic tug the sphere holding Mark’s soul toward him. "Ugh," Joel muttered, then disappeared.
"One to go," I said. "Did you happen to get all those ingredients?"
Gabe nodded and pointed to a plastic shopping bag on the floor. "I put Sandalphon on it," he said. I poked through the ingredients and looked up. "No blood of the unborn?"
Gabe grimaced. "I didn't want to do it."
I rolled my eyes at his squeamishness and focused on Genevra. Using my power like a needle, I poked into her stomach and the tiny bundle of cells in her uterus. It was just old enough to have blood pumping through its little body. I didn't need much, just a few drops, which I carried down to my waiting hands. Unscrewing the tiny vial that held the angel blood, I added the blood of the unborn to it. "Whose blood?" I asked.
"Mine," Gabe said. "I was going to make Sandalphon but figured mine would be more powerful." Probably a good call.
"Let's go," I said. "Who is going with me and who is staying here?" We didn't all need to go. Once I got past the ward it would be easy.
"I'll stay with Luc," Gabe said.
Michael grinned at me and wiggled his eyebrows. "Let's go," he said.
