nodded. "Yes, it all felt very normal," Michael said. "As if it were going to work, no problem."
"Then something is blocking portal travel within the area. Again, powerful magic. Relic-needed sort of power," Lucifer said. "What is Raphael doing?"
"And why does he need Ariel?" I knew my voice sounded pitiful, but I didn’t care.
"Should we wait on the train?" Luc asked. "Have either of you lived here recently?"
They both shook their heads. "Let's try a cab," Gabe suggested. "Anybody have cash?"
I hadn't brought money. Hadn't imagined I'd need it.
"Yeah, it was Lucian's habit to always make sure he had a few hundred bucks on him just in case," Lucifer said. "I grabbed his wallet before we left."
"Let's go," I said urgently.
We walked up the stairs, and I threw my arm up like I'd seen others doing. Within seconds, a yellow vehicle parked at the curb in front of us. We piled in. Me, Luc, and Michael got in the back seat and Gabe ran around to sit beside the driver.
"Where to," the driver said. His silver hair glinted in the streetlights coming in the windows.
"Here." I leaned forward and unfolded the map. "We need to be dropped in this vicinity."
After putting bifocals on and peering at the spot I pointed at, he nodded. "Sure, that's a fast ride. Hang on."
When the old man put the cab into drive, it made a horrible clunking sound and the engine died. I chuckled as I choked back a squeal of hysteria. Of course, the cab had engine trouble. "Sorry, kids," the cabbie said. "Looks like you'll have to call another cab while I deal with this."
We thanked him for his trouble. "Give him some money," I told Lucifer. His cab never would've died if it hadn't been us he picked up.
Luc rolled his eyes but pulled a bill out of his wallet. The cabbie looked at us with amazed eyes as I glimpsed a hundred-dollar bill as it disappeared into his jacket pocket. "You a bunch of angels?" he asked.
"Hardly," I said darkly as I slid out of the back of the vehicle. "Come on." I looked at my mates, each as frustrated as I was. "Let's just walk."
Without waiting to see if they agreed, I set out to walk five blocks in the direction the first map-reader had indicated. In seconds, they'd caught up to me. Luc took my hand and walked beside me while Michael led the way and Gabe brought up the rear. "Are you protecting me?" I asked. "This is how you'd form us up if we were headed to battle.
Gabriel chuckled behind me. "With all the effort Raph is exerting to delay us, we better keep you safe."
"I don't think he'd hurt her," Luc said. "He knows that would be his death sentence."
"Taking my daughter was his death sentence," I replied. And as I said the words, I knew they were true. I'd kill him for this.
We worked our way up the busy city streets, the grass warming in my hand the whole way until a snarl caught our attention. We'd broken out of the crowd and had walked an entire block without seeing another living soul. "Something is weird," I whispered.
My guys had gathered close. Lucifer sucked in a deep breath. "Do you sense that?" he asked.
As soon as the words left his mouth, I did. "Why is there a Djinn in New York?" I whispered.
Lucifer shrugged and stepped forward. "Reveal yourself," he boomed. Hopefully, the Djinn wouldn't be able to sense how little power Luc and I had.
The small, multi-colored demon popped into view, prostrate on the ground in front of Lucifer. Djinn were not automatically demons, but over the years most had proved their loyalties and been shifted from a neutral being to either a demonic or angelic one. This one was, of course, demonic. Angelic Djinn were typically regarded by humans as guardian angels. They liked to interfere in human lives to keep them safe from harm, and on occasion helped them acquire wealth or worldly power.
"Why are you here?" Lucifer asked. We kept a close reign on our demonic Djinn, only allowing them short stints on Earth, and never when Luc and I were in our Earth cycles. My brother, Asmodeus, who kept things running smoothly in our absence, never would've sanctioned any demon's visit to the Earth realm while we were there.
"My lord, I went for a walk near the gates as I want to do in the evenings, and what surprise