I looked down at my hands. I was holding my purse and car keys, having been ready to drive to Lucian's office. "Oh, yeah. Okay." I was too used to being human.
Michael held out his hand. I took it and closed my eyes. When I opened them, we were standing in the alley behind the office.
"Spread out," Gabe said. "Lil, get far away from the building."
"I know where to go." There was a strip mall across the road. "I'll go wait at the cafe tables across the street.” I turned away but paused. "Be careful," I said over my shoulder. "I don't want to lose either of you."
Gabe nodded, so I walked around the building, careful to keep to the side where Luc wouldn't be able to look out the windows and spot me. And also making sure he was the only one in the office. We didn’t want a mass murder scene. Just one murder.
Settling in at the cafe, I think I upset the server by only asking for water but I wasn’t there to fill up. I just wanted to keep my eyes on the office and make sure nobody got hurt.
Except for Lucian, of course. I'd had enough of this crap. I wanted him to die and to give me Lucifer back. If nothing else, he might know who had cursed him. Even if he wasn't the perfect husband, I was beginning to miss my abrasive mate.
He wasn't perfect, for sure. But he was mine.
The sunny day darkened as clouds moved rapidly into the area. "Strange," the server said. "I didn't think it said we'd get rain today."
"Yeah," I murmured, trying to see if I could spot Michael or Gabriel. "Weird."
A movement to the right of the office drew my eye. I could just see Gabriel's light blond hair through the bushes near the road. I presumed Michael was somewhere on the other side of the building, probably standing well back from the danger zone.
Thunder rumbled overhead, and the server scurried inside. Lightning flashed across the clouds. I leaned forward, watching and ready to see where it would land.
One, two, three strikes of lightning crashed out of the dark clouds as the wind whipped my hair all around me. Two of them hit the lawn in front of the office, but one hit the bushes. They erupted in sparks.
The bushes that hid Gabriel. A few flames flickered around the spot I’d seen him just moments before.
The chair I sat in flew backward as I launched out of it, running across the street without even looking to see if any cars were coming.
I made it to the bushes at the same time as Michael. Crouching down, I found Gabriel clutching his arm. "I was hit," he gasped.
Michael crowded in, so I shuffled out of the way so he could get closer. "Heal him," I hissed.
"This is beyond me," Michael said. "I'll need help."
I peered around the hedge of bushes, but nobody had seen us go in there. "Lucian is looking out the window," I whispered. "Go now, but don't stand up."
Clearly, I’d forgotten about the poofing away.
When I looked back to them, they were gone. I sighed and rocked back onto my butt. How was I going to explain to Luc that I was stuck downtown with no vehicle? I tried to think of a way I would've gotten to his office without driving myself. I wasn't dressed in workout clothes, and even if I was, it was way too far to jog, even for me.
Before I could get up, Sandalphon appeared by my side. "My lady, I'm here to take you home."
I grunted and grabbed his arm. I didn't like accepting help from him. And at the same time grateful to him. If he hadn't broken his rules, I wouldn't have Ariel. But at the same time, the pain I constantly felt was because of him. Either way, he was on my hit list.
He popped us into my living room. "May I assist in another way?" he asked. Then he gave a groveling little bow that grated on my nerves.
"No," I said. "You may go." I was curt with him, but it was the best I could do at the moment.
"Very well." He disappeared.
I paced the house, then grabbed a sponge and cleaned an already clean kitchen.
"AHH," I yelled. If I was Lilith, in my eternal body, I could find out what was going on. I could've helped Michael heal Gabriel. I could go see Ariel; I could help find Raphael. I could help shore up the gates. Lucian wasn't the only one that had built those damn gates.
Granted, most of the power used was his, but I could help a little.
Except I was stuck in a human body. So, I paced and cleaned.
