would last until we found Ariel, but I didn't want to risk it. "Let's go, before the magic runs out."
Purgatory and Abaddon are in the same realm but are separated by a neutral expanse of grass that anyone can exist in
4
"Let me have your hands," Gabe said. "I'll heal them."
Lucifer and I held out our palms, still oozing blood. I was so excited and enthralled in the magic I hadn't even noticed. Now that I looked at them, the pain set in. Gabe grabbed Lucifer's and held his palm over the cut. Michael did the same for me. Their hands glowed, and the pain lessened over the course of the next minute or so until it disappeared entirely.
Michael grabbed my hand once it was healed and after tucking the piece of grass carefully between my lips, I grabbed Lucifer's. He took Gabriel's, and Gabriel took Michael's other hand. When we were all linked, Michael sucked in a deep breath. "Okay. Let's do this."
The next second, we were in a back alley in New York. The grass in my mouth warmed considerably, so I snatched it out from between my lips.
"Glamour our backpacks," I whispered. "Especially that duffel full of guns." Gabriel focused for a second and the bags on our backs disappeared.
"How are we going to do this?" I asked.
"Let's find a map." Michael walked to the end of the alley, and we followed. "There's a drug store over here." He hurried onto the busy sidewalk. We tried to follow, but it was too crowded, even this late. By the time we made it into the drug store, me first with Lucifer directly behind, one hand on my back and Gabe right behind him. Michael was already at the register, map in hand, holding out a ten-dollar bill. "Keep the change," he said as he rushed toward us.
We exited and made our way back to the alley we'd arrived in. It seemed the least crowded at the moment.
"Hurry," I whispered. "Before it stops working or someone comes."
Michael unfolded the map of the city and its surrounding boroughs. I pulled the Scythe out from under my arm, where I'd protected and hidden it as we made our way to the drug store.
"Please show me where to find my daughter," I whispered. My hand trembled with nerves and excitement as I held the Scythe over the map and let it dangle by the rope.
It fell with a purpose but felt less guided this time. "I think the magic is weakening." We peered down at the map in the faint light coming from the streetlights. I couldn't make out the details, but Michael and Gabriel's eyesight was superior to mine.
"What does it say?" I asked.
"Brooklyn," Michael said, but at the same moment, Gabriel also spoke.
"Queens."
Lucifer stepped forward and peered down at the map. Pulling out his phone, he turned on the flashlight so we could both see. "That clearly says The Bronx," he said, stabbing his finger over the word "Manhattan."
"What is wrong with you guys?" I asked. "It says Manhattan."
We stepped back. "Okay," Gabe whispered. "Why do we see four different maps?"
"Hang on." I put my hand on the Scythe, and it felt weaker. "The magic is fading, but Abel said it would last until we found her."
Grabbing my scant power, I funneled it into the Scythe. "No, wait. There's still a lot of power in this thing. Something is blocking it."
"Whoever has Ariel knows we're in New York," Michael said. "Do you think it would be possible to break the power of the Scythe away from whoever is blocking it?"
"With my full power, of course. But without it, not a chance."
Michael and Gabriel both tried, and Lucifer even gave it a go. None of them could sense the Scythe's power at all. "Why does it like you so much?" Luc asked with a grumpy side-eye.
"Because I only want Ariel. Nothing more. I don't want to use it for anything else."
"Neither do we." Michael indicated himself and Gabe.
"This is an object of sin," I said. "I suspect no angel could wield it." Abel had said those with good intentions, but that didn't explain their inability to sense its magic at all. "Let's try this."
I turned Lucifer around and tucked the Scythe into his backpack. "I'll get you back out in just a minute," I whispered to it. "You've been so wonderful helping us."
All three of them looked at me like I was nuts. "What? The magic is self-aware. Makes sense to tell