Michael held out a coffee in a to-go cup and a breakfast sandwich. "Eat on the run?"
I eagerly gulped down the sweet, hot drink and took a big bite of the sandwich. "Fanks." I held out my elbow and Luc rolled his eyes before grabbing it.
Gabe and Michael disappeared before we did, and when we appeared on Mary's doorstep, they were already knocking. Nice.
I continued stuffing my face and gulping down coffee while we waited on the sweet old witchy lady to open her door.
She did several minutes later in a dressing gown and with a sour expression on her face. "How did I know?"
She shook her head and sighed, but still stepped back so we could walk in. "What now?"
I swallowed the swig of coffee in my mouth. "Didn't you say you know a spell to steal someone's powers?" I asked.
"I do," she said. "It's forbidden amongst those of us with power to use it unless three or more come together and agree. We generally only use it if someone abuses their power to the point of no return."
"You earthly witches are more organized than I thought," I muttered.
"We had an idea," Lucifer said. "We went to Purgatory. We found the angel."
Mary nodded and walked into her hallway. "Keep talking."
Michael continued for Luc but raised his voice. In a few moments, we heard the unmistakable sounds of Mary having a morning tinkle. I stifled a giggle. She probably wasn't thinking about the fact that our hearing was extra sensitive when she'd left the door open so she could hear us speaking.
Michael talked over the sounds of her bathroom time and managed to keep the amusement out of his voice. "He got some info from Raphael. Ariel is insanely powerful. More than any of us."
The sounds of running water started as she washed her hands. Well, at least she was clean. I smiled at Gabe, who looked like he was about to lose it. Lucifer shot us both a sharp look and we schooled our features as Mary shuffled back through the hall. "I'm going to let Jellybean out. Open that door, he's gotta pee."
I stepped back and opened the front door, and sure enough, in a few seconds, my big goofy Jellybelly came bounding through the house. He stopped and waggled his whole body to greet all of us, then after snuffling his wet nose all over my arms and hands he shot out the door.
"Hang on," Mary said. "He'll be right back."
"You act like you're used to him," I said. "You've only had him what, less than a day?"
She chuckled. "Honey, I have an affinity for animals, didn't you know? I keep a tight lock on it because otherwise, I'd feel the emotions and pains and joys of every bird in the sky or worm in the ground. But I let him in."
"And?" I asked. I was intensely curious why he hadn't gone nuts like the other demons.
"And that dog is loyal to you, Miss Queenie, like no animal I've ever seen. Once I explained he was just visiting me, he was happy as a clam. As long as he knew you were coming back for him."
"He'sthataware?" I asked, aghast. What had he overheard?
What had he seen? Ew.
"He is. But it's okay, most animals are. They just can't communicate it to humans."
Jellybean came running back into Mary's apartment and sat beside me, looking up at me with soulful eyes.
I leaned over and hugged him. It wasn't hard, given how enormous he was. "Thank you for being loyal to me, Jellybean. I love you."
He whined and wiggled against me. "He loves you, too," she said. Then she clapped her hands. "Now, why do we need to steal power? You going after Raphael's power?"
I stared at her in shock.
Why hadn't we thought of that? Take Raphael's and hold it hostage. It was the perfect plan.
"Yes," I said quickly. "That's what we'd like to do."
The guys looked at me, but all of them were smart enough not to show any surprise on their faces. I knew they'd get with the program quick enough. "We thought about trying to take Ariel's, since she's the strongest creature alive, supposedly, but first we want to try Raphael's. If it works out, we might put Ariel's power in Lucifer and give it back when this is fixed."
