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's that aware?" 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 in the fuck 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. "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."
Mary pursed her lips and walked into the kitchen. "I'm perfectly willing to help you take Raphael's powers, and feel a bit silly we haven't tried before, but I'm unsure about the child."
"Why?" I watched her make coffee and felt like a heel for not bringing her some. I could've magicked some, but at this point, it would've just drawn attention to the fact that we hadn't thought of her caffeine needs.
"We don't know what she is. She's not an angel. She's not a Nephilim. She's not a cambion or vampire or even human. Who knows if the spell would work?" Mary shook ground beans into a small coffee maker and then pushed a button before facing us. "It's dangerous."
I nodded. "Okay. I had reservations, but you're right. Let's scrap that idea for now and think of it as only a last resort."
She nodded. "I agree."
Lucifer, Michael, and Gabriel all murmured their agreements as well.
"Good," Mary said. "Let's get started."
She shuffled to the trusty microwave cart, which was already pushed to the side. It was where she'd kept Jellybean, in the magic room, as I thought of it. It was far more than one room. It was the whole apartment. "The spell is easy enough, but it takes a while," she said. "And whoever is absorbing the power must be present for it." She ran her fingers over several volumes of books on a bookshelf on the opposite side of the apartment. "Who is absorbing?"
I raised my eyebrows. "It'll have to be Lucifer. Otherwise, we'd have to split it, I think. We've never tested holding that much power. We