"Oh, I'm so sorry." He sounded embarrassed. "I hate that I called so late." He rattled off a phone number. "Is that your number?"
"No, dear, the last number you dialed is nine, not eight."
"My fool fingers. Please accept my apology."
He hung up before I could. I sat for several minutes and stared at the handset. A freak wrong number had prevented Michael from killing Lucian again.
This wasn't an accident. That curse was actively keeping Lucian safe more than we knew. Even with Michael and I working together to let it happen. Without my interference or Jellybean’s, Lucian was still alive. And I still couldn't go to my baby even for a visit.
Even after the events of the night, it was only a little after two. I tried to snuggle in beside Lucian and sleep again, but it took a while.
I must've drifted off eventually, though, because I woke and sat straight upright when I heard Michael scream. He held his hand out in front of him, and though I couldn't see a weapon, his hand and arm were covered in blood.
He was panting and staring at his fingers. Moving his gaze to me, he shook his head. "Don't ask." Then, he disappeared, along with the blood.
I snorted and settled back down to try to fall asleep. Again.
A good hour later, I had rolled onto my back and was pretending to count sheep on the ceiling. And it wasn't working. Michael's voice floated through the air. "I've had enough for tonight. I'll try again later."
I smiled and knew he could see me. "Hey, give me a little help sleeping, how about it?"
He didn't respond, but I sensed him leave. Then, my eyes grew heavy, and I yawned.
"Thanks," I whispered.
Those two were handy to have around.
The next day, I had no choice but to carry on as normal Constance. After seeing Lucian off to work, I even worked on a beauty video, editing it. Surprisingly, I enjoyed myself and found it to be a good distraction, even though my eyes filled with tears several times without warning.
Halfway through the day, as I stood in front of the fridge, Michael appeared just inside the back door. "Hey, sis. I figured you might be. We've been discussing Lucifer and what to do. The sooner we get this done the sooner you can work on moving forward.”
"I'll leave her there. It's the right place for her as a human." The words still hurt to say even though they were true.
"I know, but there are lots of options to put us in her life in some way."
He was right, but it didn’t make it any easier.
"I'm going to show up for dinner." He said, giving me a sad smile. "As Adam. I'll glamour myself."
I nodded. "Okay, then what?"
"I'm going to poison his food. See if we can go at this from a different direction. Direct attacks don't seem to be working, we'll go for a sneak attack."
I nodded. "Okay, sure. I'll make sure to make enough for you."
He grinned. "I doubt any of us will be eating much, but you need to keep up pretenses, I guess. Just doesn’t feel right to eat while you’re poisoning someone at the table.”
"I need to stay busy." I collapsed into a kitchen chair. "If I don't, I'll be tempted to go see Ariel and that can't happen." If Anna thought I wasn't leaving, that I might try to take Ariel away from her, she might try to call the whole thing off or notify the authorities. Gabriel and Michael's magic would keep her from doing that, but it would only go so far. We hadn't had time to craft a spell or curse that would be more foolproof, so we had to keep from triggering Anna's emotions enough that she could break through the magic.
Michael squeezed my shoulder. "Try to stay busy, and we'll get through this as soon as we can. This pain is temporary." With that, he disappeared.
He was wrong, though, the pain wouldn't leave. I had a daughter, after thousands of years of yearning, an actual daughter.
I'd carry this pain forever.
What I'd told him about staying busy had been true. I couldn't stand being idle.
I fully edited the video and got it posted and filtered through dozens of emails and hundreds of comments on my channel. By the time the garage door opened announcing Lucian’s return from work, my steaks were ready to be cooked. I set them to sizzling in butter in the cast iron skillet, very carefully following an online video.
