"So, it went to Raphael's sister," Luc said.
Charity and Raphael had been created together and were considered brother and sister throughout Heaven.
"She's agreed to lend her power, but only because I told her how important it was," Michael said. "She wants it back soon."
I dropped my head onto Mary's clean kitchen table and sighed. "If we can't get into Raphael's new world, can we destroy it?"
The room was silent as everyone thought about it. I looked up to find Joel shaking his head. "No, it will kill any living creature inside rather than expelling them."
Another option shot down. "There has to be something we can do," I said. My voice betrayed the hopelessness I felt.
"We have to lure him out," Gabe said.
"Okay," I said. "An idea is forming." I focused on the whisper of an idea floating in my mind. "Luc, I think we're going to have to tell our secret."
He looked at me in confusion. "What secret?" We had so many. But running Hell wasn't without its share of responsibilities and along with that came knowledge that we weren't going to share.
"How we're always, well, usually, stronger than everyone else."
Gabe's eyes lit up. "I knew it. You two are always so strong, yet after this Earth cycle, you haven't been all that strong, comparatively. What gives?"
Luc's confusion cleared up. "We'll use them all. At once."
I arched an eyebrow and nodded. "When a soul is reborn, the power that soul accumulated throughout its life is expelled in a short burst. Lucifer and I figured out a way to harness that power, so as long as Hell is working as it should, we get boosts of power from every reborn soul."
"So, taking their power doesn't destroy their soul?" Joel asked.
"No." Lucifer smiled. "That's the catalyst for rebirth. The soul immediately goes to seek a new host. Either a pregnancy or someone in a coma who has already moved on. That's how they get miracles as well, when people are nearly dead, the new soul sort of merges with the old. We don't completely understand how it works, to be perfectly honest."
"If we do this, it's likely everyone in a coma on Earth will wake up." I grimaced at Luc. "You know that makes me crazy. The way the humans let a body live on without a soul inside it."
"That's a debate for another time. They don't know the soul is gone."
"Wait, hang on." Michael held up his hands. "I'm not clear exactly what we're doing yet."
"We're going to use the souls in the River and the souls in Purgatory and send them to rebirth all at once. It will give us a massive boost of power." I held out my hands. "And we'll use it to defeat Raphael."
"How?" Mary said. "You could combine the power of every angel and every Fallen with every soul and still not have the key to his realm and have no way of getting it or even figuring out what it is." She put her hands on her hips. "You've got to draw him out."
She had an idea, but she wanted us to get there. "And you need to deal with these demons."
My jaw dropped. I got it as Joel said it. "We could send the demons back."
"Back..." Gabe murmured. "Could we literally? Would it be enough power to go back?"
Joel caught on to what he meant, but I didn't have a clue. "Back where?"
"In time," Joel breathed. "We go back in time."
"That's not possible," Lucifer said. "It can't be."
Joel nodded vigorously. "It's been done, a few times. But not for such a long period of time. We'd have to go back several days. It's only been done for a few hours."
"How?" I asked. My mind barely wanted to comprehend the possibility.
"The humans' minds sort of reset. They have a sense of Deja Vu or lose some time and can't figure it out. Every brain deals with it differently," Joel explained.
"When was the last time it was done?" Lucifer asked. He looked a bit outraged. Probably because something so huge was possible without him knowing anything about it.
