Laughing, I pulled out of his arms. "Nothing, you big lug. I'm probably about to get my period. Feeling emotional. Go to work."
With another kiss, he did as I said. Men always accepted the period excuse, even amazingly intuitive ones like Luc.
As soon as the garage door shut behind him, Michael and Gabriel appeared in the kitchen.
I tried to focus on cleaning up the breakfast dishes. They knew me well and didn't pester me to talk until I was ready. Halfway through cleaning, I decided we'd need something to eat for dinner, so I put a roast in my crockpot. I sprinkled a dry ranch dressing packet on top, added a small jar of pepperoncini peppers, and a stick of butter. It would cook slowly throughout the day and turn into a divine roast by dinner time.
When the kitchen was spotless, I hung up the dish towel and gave them my attention. "Okay. Lay it on me."
"We're back to trying to kill him," Gabe said. "It's the simplest solution."
"When we're not working on Lucian, we're going to try to find Raphael," Michael said. "He's disappeared for a reason. Either he's got something to do with this or maybe he's been attacked as well."
Gabe shook his head. "I can't imagine what good can come of this or why Raph would do it. We are all on the same side after all.”
Michael shrugged and sat in the kitchen chair. "We've got to find him."
"So, what first?" I asked.
"Try to enjoy your day. I know you're going to miss Lucian. Enjoy your day with him. Have dinner. I'll be back in the night to try it while he's asleep. I'm going to use my sword." Michael shrugged. "Gabe tried several times and none of the attempts worked. I'm going to try."
"It might work with your sword. It's imbibed with the wrath of God," Gabe chimed in.
I sighed, "Okay. Leave me to have the day to myself. I want to think about my baby girl."
If we got this crap sorted out, I'd be able to visit Ariel in my ethereal body. Even go in and hold her while she slept. She'd never know.
I hadn’t thought about doing that before, but once I held her in my arms, I craved her. I wanted to nuzzle her soft cheeks again and smell her intoxicating aroma.
They crowded close, hugging me and each giving me a quick kiss. "We'll get this figured out," Gabriel whispered into my ear. "It'll calm down, and you’ll see your little girl. You’ll see her soon."
Tears sprang to my eyes—again—as I said goodbye to them. Part of me wanted them to stay, but mostly I wanted time to grieve.
When they disappeared, I walked upstairs and pulled Ariel's blanket out from under my pillow where I had hidden it. It was the one she had first been swaddled in.
Curling under the thick comforter, I spread the blanket out on a pillow and pulled it close. It smelled like my baby, and her aura was still all over it.
I cried until no more tears would fall, then I finally fell asleep.
When I woke, the sun had passed by and moved toward the back of the house. It had to be at least early afternoon. After carefully folding the blanket, I tucked it back under my pillow again and shuffled downstairs to find lunch.
The rest of the day was a fog of sadness. Around four I started trying to cheer myself up, or at least figure out how to fake it.
I wanted one last night with Lucian, so after dinner, I planned to seduce him. I changed clothes, pulling out the red bra and panty set that I knew he loved. Over the set, I put on a sexy black dress that I could now fit into again.
As I was dressing, my maternity clothes caught my attention. I grabbed them and threw them into the bottom of my hamper. We'd always each done our laundry, except when I was pregnant. He'd done it then. But of course, he’d have no memory of that. Tomorrow, I would bag them up and dispose of them. Maybe have Michael or Gabe poof them away.
Slipping into strappy black heels, I moved to the bathroom and used my limited magic to glamour my face into a perfectly made-up mask, looking as if I'd spent my time and effort on my eyes and lips. A low bun was good enough for my hair, and I was ready.
As if perfectly timed, I heard the garage door opening as I walked down the stairs.
An idea popped into my head. "Michael," I whispered and scurried back up the stairs. "Michael!" This time I tried a whisper-shout.
"What?" He appeared above me in my bedroom door with a suspicious look on his face. "Lucian is getting out of his car, why are you calling me?" He looked me up and down. "You look great."
I pushed him into the bedroom. "Make me horny," I whispered. Closing the door behind me, I turned to see Michael frown in confusion.
"Come again?"
