Constance-Lilith
My sigh feltlike it came from my toes. I was in the office, setting up a photoshoot. I'd already cleaned the house (which hadn't needed cleaning), made lunch, picked at it, and folded a load of laundry. I still had hours before Lucian came home. I couldn't leave, because if I set one foot out of this house I'd go straight to Anna's.
"Gabe? Michael?" I'd called for them several times already, but they were ignoring me.
To my surprise, they popped in this time. Jellybean gave a lazy woof from his spot on the sofa in the corner of the office.
"I hear you're a very bad boy," Michael said. He ruffled Jelly's ears. The big oaf just chuffed and closed his eyes.
"Very bad." I put my hands on my hips and stared at him. "But now what?"
"Now, I tell you I've been to see Ariel."
My heart slammed in my chest when I processed his words. "You did? When? How is she? Are they taking good care of her?"
Gabriel walked toward me as I walked out of my videoing area. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and kissed my hair as I stared at Michael.
"She's perfect. I watched as Anna rocked her and put her down for a nap. She was wearing clothes I know we didn't take over there, so they've shopped for her already. And then I checked her over while she slept. She's in perfect health. She does have a slight allergy to the formula they're using, but I put that idea in Anna's head with a sliver of magic, so she'll correct it before it becomes irritating to her little tummy."
I sighed in relief. The weight of the world lifted from my shoulders momentarily with the knowledge that my baby girl was safe and healthy. "Anything else?"
"She grinned in her sleep, but then she farted, so it was just gas." He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. "I did get you these."
He pulled open an app, then handed me the phone. Gabe helped me walk to the couch and slapped Jellybean's big rump, so he'd get off. I sank into the cushions and swiped through several pictures of Ariel sleeping in the crib I'd painstakingly picked out for her. Gabe and Michael sat down with me and put their hands comfortingly on me wherever they could reach.
At the end of the photos was a video. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I listened to her sigh in her sleep with one fist raised and resting beside her face.
"I heard Anna coming after this, so I hightailed it out of there." He took the phone and pressed a few buttons. Seconds later, my phone dinged from my desk. "There. They're in your inbox now. To hold you over until you can see her again."
I swiped the tears away. "Well? Do you have any more good news for me?"
They shook their heads in unison.
Moaning, I flopped back on the couch. "There has got to besomethingwe can do."
Gabe looked at Michael. "We haven't tried one thing. It's especially dangerous, and the way things have been rebounding on us, we're kind of afraid to."
"What?" I narrowed my eyes and waited on the explanation.
"If he's the only one at his office, we could call down lightning on the whole building. It would likely kill him." Gabe shrugged. "But if we do it, we have to make sure we're very far apart from one another. If it rebounds on one of us, either Michael or I, we'll need the other to heal us."
"Lightning can kill an angel," I said. "If it hit you, there would be a good chance you'd die."
He nodded. "We can't think of anything else outside of calling in more angels to combine power. But that's dangerous, too, because we don't know for sure who is behind this or if multiple angels are scheming together.”
"Can't you think of anything else?" I asked.
Gabe shook his head. "There's one other thing, but it's very difficult to do, so we'd like to avoid it."
Ugh. I didn't know if I wanted to ask what would be more difficult than possibly being struck by lightning. "Okay. Let's do it."
I grabbed my phone and car keys and headed toward the garage. "You coming?" I asked.
"Well, actually, we didn't want you to come," Gabe said. "Because of the danger."
"If you succeed in killing Lucian, I'll die anyway. What's the difference?" I spread my hands. If they managed to kill me, at least I'd be able to go see Ariel.
"Okay. But we'll just pop over," Michael said.
