Gates of Death - Rae Foxx Page 0,12

used and will be no more."

"I have to use it," I whispered. "I have to find my daughter."

He inclined his head. "The magic whispers to me. It knows more than it can say, and it agrees with you."

"I thought it was neutral?" I asked with a suspicious smile.

Abel chuckled and shrugged. "It is. But it knows so much, who are we to say what is proper for magic to do? It wants you to use it to find your..." He cocked his head as if listening. "Is it saying Aria?"

"Ariel," I murmured. "Her name is Ariel."

Abel nodded. "Yes, of course. It wants you to use it to find her, but as I said, it will do your bidding. If you want to tell it to blow up a building, it will. Or plant the entire Earth realm with seeds of growth and food, it will. It will do whatever you say."

"I wish I could do something like that to help the Earth realm," I said. "But I will be selfish. I must find my daughter."

"It is not selfish. If you planted the world in seeds, it would feed many, of course, but it would cause chaos and panic. And people are easily panicked."

That was true. "Thank you for your guidance," I said.

"One last thing." He picked a blade of grass and handed it to me. "If you use the Scythe to find your Ariel, this will grow heated as you get closer to her. When she is close to you, it will burst into flame and you will know the magic is no more."

"How do you know?"

He shrugged. "It speaks to me. Sometimes it's very specific."

I couldn't explain the surge of joy at having spent this time with Abel. He was nothing more than a man in Heaven, one I'd not spent much time thinking about... ever. Yet the thought of leaving him saddened me.

"Don't be morose," he whispered. "All is not lost."

With a wave, the image in my head disappeared and my full conscience returned to the church. Lucifer, Gabriel, and Michael stared at me all three of their faces were terrified.

Blinking, I looked from one to the other and chuckled. "Abel says hi."

Their scared trance broke, and all three tried to hug me at once. The hand not still holding the Scythe out was squished against my body. "Okay, okay." I laughed and pressed kisses wherever I could reach. "I'm fine."

When they pulled away, the hand that had been trapped between us clutched a long piece of emerald green grass. It was the wrong color green; unlike anything I'd ever seen growing naturally.

"The Scythe will only work once. In all its existence, it has never been used," I explained. "I can will it to do what I want, and this blade of grass will grow hotter and hotter until we find Ariel. Then it will burst into flame and the power of the Scythe will be no more."

Shock covered their faces. "Finite?" Michael asked. "How, in all this time, has nobody used it?"

Gabe stared at the ugly, unimpressive tool. "Raph must've gotten to it before any other angels or witches."

I cleared my throat. "Ready to do this?"

They squared their shoulders and stared at the tool. "Do it," Lucifer said.

"Okay. Let go of the rope." He looked at me in surprise but did as I asked.

Grabbing my small thread of power, I focused it into the Scythe. "Please show me where my daughter is," I whispered. "Show me the blood of my blood and heart of my heart."

Lowering the Scythe, I moved the rope so the tool would swing over the map. Then I tried my best to keep my hand still and let it move where it wanted rather than where I influenced it.

It only took a fraction of a second. The Scythe stopped swinging, lifted as if an invisible person put their hand on it, and rested the very tip of the tool on the map.

Michael lunged forward. "It's in the northeastern United States."

He turned to the closest pew and ruffled through the maps. "Here," he shouted and set a map of the eastern half of the US beside the Scythe. We waited to see if it would move. "Please," I whispered. "Show me where to find the blood of my blood."

Again, as if picked up by an invisible hand, it lifted, then moved immediately down on the new map.

"New York City," Michael said. "I don't have a map that detailed with me."

Abel had said the magic