"Nah," I said. "I meant what I said. "I'll send you back. We're keeping Uriel. If Raphael thinks anyone blabbed, it'll be him."
Ezekiel laughed, but the sound was choked and more like panic than humor. "He's in another realm," he said. "I don't know how to get to it, or if you even could. But he's been planning this for hundreds of years. He recruited me and Genevra nearly two hundred years ago."
I had to let my mind wrap around that one. He'd been planning and waiting for our next Earth cycle. That was the only explanation. He'd thought having Luc as a human would've given him the perfect scenario to complete his plans.
"Why does he need Ariel?" Lucifer whispered. He had his gaze honed in on Ezekiel. "If he just needs a bit of her blood, why not take it and be done?"
Ezekiel shrugged. "I don't know. I'm sorry. I wish I had a better answer for you."
I studied the young angel as he spoke. "He means that."
Luc looked at me and nodded. He was well aware of my ability to get the truth. "Opening realms without a key or doorway takes years. We'd need to find a Relic or someone that knows where the realm is to force them to help us get in."
"We don't have that kind of time," Michael whispered. "We've got to get you to Hell within days. Possibly within hours."
My heart sank. I knew what was coming. They were going to pressure me to abandon the search for Ariel and focus on trying to get us back to Hell. On the one hand, it could be helpful to be in our true forms. Lucifer having his power back couldn't hurt, for sure, and even though I was almost at my normal level of ability, the human body fettered it because I had to keep a layer of protection running throughout it so that my magic didn't burn the body to a crisp.
Leaning close to Ezekiel, I flooded his mind with power. He had no mental blocks up like his sister had. I couldn't read his thoughts, but I was able to manipulate his emotions the way I had Genevra to make her scream. "Ezekiel." He snapped his gaze to me. "Is there any more knowledge that would benefit us to know?" I layered the desire to tell the truth and an urge to please me into his brain.
He shook his head. "Nothing I know of. Uriel might know more."
Uriel's mind wasn't so easily broken. We didn't have the time it would take to wear him down. He was an Archangel of the first order, making his betrayal all the more devastating.
I wasn't good with memories, but Michael was. "Can you wipe his memory?" I asked. "Leave him blank for a good three days, then we'll drop him back where we found him."
"Raphael will know we had him." Lucifer shrugged. "Just kill him and put his soul with the others."
"The others?" Ezekiel squeaked.
"I won't go back on my word. I don't care if Raphael knows. This child has time to turn his life around and make things right. So does his sister."
Before I left to get Genevra and bring her in for her memory to be wiped, I focused on Ezekiel one more time. "Boy, we will be watching to make sure you do just that."
He nodded vigorously, then his face went blank as Michael began his work. "Be right back," I said.
Appearing in the barn, I put my hand on Gabriel's shoulder. He stood in the stall door and glared at Uriel.
"We got a little more information," I said. "It will help."
Uriel had his gaze fixed over our heads. He could see us but not hear, thanks to the handy wards from the ruby. "I don't see any point in questioning him," Gabriel said. "He won't budge."
"I know." I sighed and removed the ward. "Uriel. Any chance you want to be a pal and give us the information you have?"
He didn't move a muscle.
"I thought not. Okay, then." Genevra watched me with wide, terrified eyes. She remembered the pain and probably had no idea it had all been in her head. After pressing a kiss to Gabe's cheek, I grabbed Genevra and took her to the living room.
"Just finished him," Michael said. Ezekiel's head was flopped back on the couch and his mouth wide open. A soft snore drifted from the back of his throat. "He's sound asleep."
"What did you do to him?" Genevra cried. "He's just a kid."
"Yeah, but you're not." I sat her beside him and loosened her upper body so she could touch him and see for herself he was fine. "How could you lead him into this?"
She didn't answer.
"He told us everything he knew," I said. "Listen to my voice, you'll know I speak the truth."
"You got into my head." She snarled at me like a feral cat. I nearly rolled my eyes. "You could be lying, and I'd never know it."
