Gates of Death - Rae Foxx Page 0,25

considered the possibility. "We'd have to move constantly."

He agreed with a grunt. If we stayed in one place in our ethereal bodies, we'd have demon hunters all over us constantly. Something about our magic had shifted and changed when we Fell. It was detectable now by the human hunters. They couldn't find angels, but they sure as shit found us easily enough. It was one reason Fallen and higher-level demons no longer spent any significant amount of time in the Earth realm. Humans didn't need us to tempt them into sin. They handled it on their own just fine.

"God doesn't get involved. But he wouldn't have allowed this baby to happen just to punish us by taking her away," Luc mused. "He sees some reason for all this, something to make it worthwhile to allow Raphael to continue this course."

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. "I didn't think she was anything but human."

The weight of his gaze burned into my profile, but I didn't look at him. I couldn't stand to see the look of disapproval. "I know you meant well," he said. "And I'm trying so hard to understand your pain and the pain you were in. But if we don't find her, I'll never gaze upon my only offspring's face."

With those words, he stood and walked inside, leaving me on the porch steps chewing on my cheek in frustration.

Gabe and Michael came back soon after. I had just enough time to compose myself and cool off my face in the bathroom sink so they wouldn't know. "Joel is working on recruiting more help to find Raphael and Ariel," Michael said when he walked in. Luc heard him and came from wherever he'd been hiding in the house. "But asked us to continue the demon hunt. Most of the angels are out of Heaven right now, hunting demons."

"What are they doing when they find them?" I asked.

"They either kill them, which returns them directly to Abaddon," Michael said. "Or taking them to purgatory to re-enter that way."

"Either way, they could just get back in and leave again," I said. "It would be better if one of us stayed here. Have the angels bring the demons directly to us. The other can continue city-hopping to send them back en mass," I suggested.

Gabe's eyebrows flew up. "That's genius. That way the ones the angels get can't re-enter the Earth realm."

"And we can stop as many as possible from leaving even if the gates are opened," Lucifer said. "There is no higher word than mine and Lilith's in Abaddon. Not even Asmodeus can override it."

"Not that he'd want to," I added. My brother hated being in charge while we were in our Earth cycles. He did the least amount possible, including, when anyone bothered to ask, telling demons and Fallen to do whatever Lucifer and I would tell them to do. He was irritating, but he was the next most powerful Fallen in Abaddon when we were absent.

We'd instilled rules and regulations with harsh punishments over the years, anyway. Rule breakers were generally dealt with whether we were there to do it or not. Punishments of larger-scale problems would wait until Lucifer's return, but otherwise, Abaddon carried on business as usual.

I doubted it was so business-like now. "Why hasn't Asmodeus come for us?" I asked absently as they continued discussing the logistics of dealing with demons out of our home. "Seems like when this got bad, he would've come right away to check on us."

Lucifer brushed it off. "Eh, he's probably just overwhelmed trying to shore up the gate and walls," he said.

"Gabe, you wanna go city hopping with me again?" I asked before Lucifer could tell me to stay here. He could sit his ass here with Michael. "Luc and Michael, you two can stay here and try throwing power out farther and farther to try to lure demons here."

Luc's jaw worked like he was chewing back a retort, but he nodded curtly and disappeared into the house again. "Talk to him," I whispered to Michael.

Michael pressed a soft kiss to my lips and cupped my cheeks. "Be careful," he said. We disappeared with his hands still on my face.

We hopped from city to city all over the world for days on end. When we were exhausted, we'd return to the little house and catch a few hours sleep. Lucifer worked day and night, sending the demons brought by angels back to Abaddon. He slept in the living room, which they'd rearranged.