by Rae Foxx
As we sat and snuggled, I breathed in her scent and sent loving emotions straight to her aura. If nothing else, she would always feel loved.
16
The hours passed like minutes just like I knew they would. All too soon, as I was stroking Ariel's cheek and humming, Michael's voice intruded on our temporary bliss. "It's two-thirty, Lil."
We were due to meet Ariel's new parents in a half hour. I sobbed, my emotions overwhelming me, and clutched her tight.
"You've got to get it all out now," Michael said. "Once we get there, we need to put all our focus into making sure they do this the way we want them to."
I nodded. I knew that. It didn't make it any easier to squash down my emotions. It took me every minute of that half hour to calm down and get dressed. As I pulled on some black leggings, I stared at my sweet daughter, swaddled in a pink blanket on the bed.
The leggings slid across my stomach with ease, and I paused, looking down at myself. "What the hell?"
My body was back to how it had been before the pregnancy, just like Sandalphon said. I was temporarily distracted from my melancholy by looking in the mirror. If we could bottle this and sell it, we'd make billions.
Ariel cooed from the bed, jerking me out of my temporary respite. I threw a sweatshirt on to hide my flat stomach and scooped her up off the bed. "Glamour me," I said. No way I would be able to get rid of the puffy eyes or fix my hair in time to get over there.
Gabriel waved his hand in front of my face. "There." I tried to smile at him, but it was beyond me.
"Ready?" Michael put his hand on my neck. "All of the nursery is packed to go."
"No. I'll never be ready," I said, my voice heavy with grief. "But we have no choice. She can't go to Abaddon."
I tried one last time. "Try again. Make sure you don't sense any magic in her."
Michael took her out of my arms with care and nuzzled her soft cheek. "I've never felt anything so soft."
He kissed her and gave our sweet girl back. "All I sense is the magic I felt you give her. It will give her health, emotional resilience, and deep-seated memories in her subconscious, but no magic of her own. She's a product of your human bodies."
I sighed and clutched her as tightly as I dared. "Let's go."
Michael and Gabriel took each of my arms, and the next thing I knew, we stood in Anna's living room. "Hello?" Gabriel called out.
"Oh, my." Anna's voice from the next room sounded scared. "Who is in the house?"
She ran in, followed by her boyfriend, Rupert. "How did you get in here?" he boomed.
"Oh." Anna stopped short when she saw the baby. "When did this happen?"
I exchanged a glance with Gabe. "It's a long story. What I need is for both of you to sit down and try to be receptive to what I want to tell you."
They gave each other a long look, then Rupert scrutinized us. "Okay," he said. They sat on the couch, leaving us their loveseat and armchair. We all three scrunched in on the loveseat, Ariel in my arms.
"We have some things to tell you that are pretty unbelievable." I sucked in a deep breath with my eyes on Ariel. "First of all, am I correct that you both wish you could have children, but Rupert, you cannot?"
Shock crossed both of their faces. "How could you possibly know that?" Rupert asked. "She and my doctor are the only people in the world that know."
I smiled at him. "I know a lot of things I probably shouldn't."
"Connie, what is this about?" Anna leaned forward. "How did you get in here? Where did you have the baby?"
"Lucian and I are going to have to leave the country." I leveled her with a stare. "And we have to leave Ariel."
Anna's jaw dropped. "Leave her where?"
I felt Michael and Gabriel sending magic their way. "Here," I said. "If you're willing."
"With us?" Anna's voice lowered. "How would that work?"
"She would be your daughter. But there would be things you would be required to do."
Rupert's face took on a more suspicious tone. "Like what?"
"Claim her as your child. Money will be no object. You can move if you'd like, somewhere that nobody would know any different. You'll also need to claim a home birth and take her for a proper birth certificate. We want her to have the best, most normal upbringing possible."
Anna shook her head. "What about Ariel? What would we tell her?"
"The same. That you're her parents. If we ever show up again, we'll be out of town relatives or your old friends. In all likelihood, you'll never see us again." I held my sweet girl close, knowing my words were true.
"What if you change your mind?" Anna asked. "And we get attached and then you rip her from us?" Her face was a mixture of hope and wariness, and I knew I'd made the right decision.
"I promise, I would not do that to you. Even if things go better than I could dream, and I find myself able to be a part of Ariel's life again, I would not remove her from your home or life." I sent a bit of my magic with those words so that she would know them to be true.
Anna nodded. "Okay."
"Okay?"
Anna held out her hands. "May I hold her?"
I couldn't bring myself to open my arms yet. I wasn't ready. "Soon, yes. Unless you hear otherwise from me again, don't tell her the truth. She might begin to look for us, and that would be potentially dangerous."
"Dangerous?" Rupert fought the calming effect Michael and Gabriel's magic had on him. "Are we in any danger?"
"No, not at all," Gabe said. "We are removing ourselves from the situation, from the area."
"As a matter of fact," I whispered. My eyes were on my girl again, but I knew they were listening. "That's a part of the deal. You must never, ever, under any circumstances, reveal how you got this baby to anyone. You don't know me. You barely remember me from your work. I was just another patient that came and went."
Anna nodded. "Okay. We'll do it." She stood and circled her coffee table, sitting on its edge in front of me. "Constance, I will do everything in my power to raise your sweet girl to the best of my ability. I promise you that."
I knew without the magic, she never would've done this without many, many more questions and more hesitancy, but I was simply glad Michael and Gabriel were there to help.
"I know, Anna. I wouldn't leave this angel here otherwise." Handing Ariel over was proving harder than I expected.
Michael and Gabe stood on either side of me, but all my attention was on Ariel. After walking over, they spoke with Rupert, but the words barely filtered through. Something about bringing all the stuff from the nursery. They walked out of the room.
"All of Ariel's things are likely outside," I whispered to Anna. "We brought everything."
"Thank you," she said back. "Thank you so much." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked at my miracle. Her emotions helped me, somehow.
I was able to hold Ariel out, cradling her head so Anna could take her into her arms. She crooned as she pulled her close. "Hello, darling girl."
Ariel was in the best possible place for her. She was a human, a normal, ordinary human. And Anna and Rupert were going to be normal, ordinary parents.
Standing, I gave her one last look and walked from the room, into the kitchen where Michael shook Rupert's hand. The back door stood open with boxes of baby things outside. When I spotted her crib, I closed my eyes against the pain, trying valiantly to hold back the tears.
Gabriel put his arm around me and turned me around. We walked down the hall and out the front door. As soon as we were out of sight behind a tree, he zapped us back to my bedroom, where I broke down in his arms.
Demons roamed the Earth before the creation of Abaddon, stemming legends of paranormal creatures such as vampires, shifters, and witches.
17
"What the hell is going on here?" Lucian's voice cut through my torrent of tears as I sat on the living room floor in Michael's arms with Gabriel beside me. He'd been rubbing his hands on my legs, offering me what comfort he could.
I j
umped up, shocked to see him home already. It wasn't quite four yet. He should've been another hour at least. Usually more. "Luc." Jellybean bounded between us, excited to have us both home.
He looked from my face to my stomach, then to Michael and Gabe. "Adam, why do you look different?" he asked Michael, but before Michael could answer, Lucian's eyes returned to me. "Why aren't you pregnant? Where is the baby?"
Panic and worry flashed across his face. "Why are you crying? Where is the baby?"
Rushing forward, I wrapped my arms around his waist. He didn't hug me back, but I buried my face in his chest and sobbed. "Do it!" I yelled. It was muffled, but Gabriel and Michael would hear me for sure.
"Do what?" Lucian stiffened under me.
I turned my head to see Gabriel and Michael moving closer. Luc wrapped his arms around me protectively. "Stay away from us," he warned. "Someone tell me what the hell is going on and where my child is!"
He hadn't had time to process that a pregnant woman shouldn't look like she'd never even been pregnant mere hours after giving birth.
Tightening his arms, he tried to turn us away from Gabe and Michael.
"Luc, calm down, man. We've got a lot to go over, but we need you to try to remain calm," Michael said. Of course, Lucian thought he was Adam.
"Why were you holding my wife as she cried?" he asked. "Is the baby gone?"
"Just hang tight." Gabe grabbed Lucian's arm and Michael put one hand on me and the other on Lucian's shoulder. I looked from side to side. They both had their eyes closed, focusing as Lucian watched them warily. Jellybean whined. He didn't understand any of this, but Hellhounds were intelligent. He knew something was off.
"What in the name of fuck are you two doing?" He was really about to lose it.
"Lucian," I said in a serious voice. "Look at me."
He looked down and met my eyes. I used what magic I could, sending him calm. "It's okay. It will be okay. I promise."
His brow furrowed as he fought against my magic. He sensed it and didn't like it. "Connie, why are Adam and a stranger touching me?"
"Just let them do what they're doing. Try not to fight against it. Please trust me, Luc. I love you."
He looked away from me, studying Michael. "What's wrong with him?" he asked. Michael looked like Adam, but there were small changes. As if he was his brother.
"It's a long story, but I promise very soon you'll understand."
He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. "Fine. I trust you, so I'll allow this insanity."
Even though he'd agreed to go along with it, he definitely wasn't relaxing for it. He was as stiff as a board under my arms.
In another couple of minutes, Gabe let go with a grunt. "It's not working."
Lucian's eyes flew open. "Who are you?"
Gabe ignored him and looked at me and Michael. "Even with both of us, it's a no-go. How is that possible?"
Michael shook his head. "I can't figure it out. We didn't even come close to being able to unlock his memories."
"Memories?" Lucian let go of me and backed up several steps. "What do you mean by memories?"
I held out my hands and tried to placate him. "It's almost impossible to explain." He'd never believe any of it without his memories. Plus, he'd been raised in the church. If he found out he was Lucifer Morningstar without his memories, it'd break his heart.
But how would we explain the lack of the baby and my flat belly?
"You'd better try to explain or I'm going to lose it." Lucian's perfect hair was rumpled, something he rarely let happen. He loosened his tie, clawing at it like it was choking him.
"Okay, Lucian, I’m Gabriel." Gabe held out a hand for Luc to shake, which he did automatically, but he had a crazed look in his eyes.
"Lucian, the baby is safe." I moved close to him as Gabe backed away. "It was a fast, emergency delivery."
"How?" he yelled. "I haven't even been gone eight hours. This is impossible."
He was right, from a human's point of view. It should've been impossible.
"I know it's crazy." I wrapped my arms around him again. "But she's with someone that can take care of her."
He jerked out of my arms violently. "What the fuck? Why can't we take care of her? Was something wrong with her?"
Lucian paused, eyes widening as he stared at my body. "How are you not still huge? Shouldn't you still look pregnant?"
I opened my mouth to try to say something, anything to explain to him why I didn't look pregnant, but he interrupted me before I could. "No!" he shouted. "You told me! You said you'd look six months pregnant."
"I know. I did. And normally I would. Things went a little crazy today, and it didn't go as normal."
Michael and Gabriel stood beside me with dumbfounded expressions. They didn't know what to say any more than I did.
Lucian stormed around us and went into the living room. "Where is my child?"
He narrowed his eyes on us and strode out of the living room. We all scrambled to get out of the way. Lucian went straight for the stairs and took them up two at a time.
"What do I say?" I whispered. "There's nothing I can tell him now."
Gabe shook his head. "We're going to have to knock him out and figure this out."
Damn it. I didn't want to do that, but he was right. We had assumed that the two of them would be able to restore his memories while we figured out what to do about getting him back to Abaddon. But they hadn't come close.
"Where is all the baby's stuff?" Lucian roared from upstairs.
I winced. He'd seen the empty nursery. With a sigh, I nodded. "Go make him sleep. We'll decide what to do."
They ran up the stairs. I heard a few grunts, then a thump.
"You could've caught him," I called upstairs. Sucking in a deep breath, I walked into the kitchen. "Put him in bed!" They had super powered hearing. I hadn't needed to yell.
The coffee in the coffee maker was cold, so I busied myself making a new pot needing something to do. I needed to keep my mind off of the gaping hole in my heart. My baby girl was at another woman's house, her first moments of life going by without me. If I thought about it, I'd break down and be utterly useless.
Once he woke up, explaining all of this to Lucian was going to be devastating at best.
Michael and Gabriel walked into the room, distracting me. "How is he?"
Gabe chuckled. "He's going to have a headache."
"No," Michael gave Gabriel a wry look. "I healed it."
"You two didn't have to let him hit the floor," I chided them.
Michael grinned. "I hope he remembers that when he gets his memory back."
The coffee maker beeped, so I grabbed a mug and filled it. "So, what's the plan?" I poured a generous helping of creamer into the cup and stirred it. I had missed coffee while I was pregnant. At least I could have a cup of my favorite non-alcoholic drink.
It was getting late in the day. I could've poured a glass of wine. But I needed a clear head. There was plenty of time to drown my grief with a bottle later.
Michael stared at me as I joined them at the kitchen table. "We need more power."
That wasn't such an easy thing. "If I could get into Abaddon, I could get the contracts." We had millions of contracts. Humans loved to barter their souls in exchange for stupid stuff like money or power. After a few decades chilling down in the pits of torture, they changed their tunes. We generally let them do a rebirth.
The act of signing over their souls created a substantial amount of power, though. That power could be harnessed under the right circumstances.
There were very few objects of power in the world that could help in a situation like this. I didn't have access to any of them.
An idea popped into my head, but I hated to say the words. "For now, until we can unlock his true self and get him back to Abaddon, I think we should make him forget the pregnancy," I whispered. "He'll remember it again when he's himself. In the meantime, my sweet Lucian won't be in pain. He won't remember."
>
"What about others he might come into contact with that could remind him?" Michael asked.
Well, shit. I wasn't sure. "We can plug the idea in Linda's mind that she needs to take a week off to go see her grandchildren along with the people at church and his co-workers. Otherwise, I don't know."
Gabriel shrugged as I sipped my hazelnut flavored coffee. "I think we can alter his human memories. The problem is accessing his ethereal mind."
I nodded. "That's what I hoped. It's why you're able to knock him out, too."
Raising my eyes toward the upstairs, I wondered how much time we had. "When will he wake up?"
"Morning," Gabe said. "We hit him pretty hard with the sleepy-juice."
"You two are mean." I stood, then poured the rest of my coffee down the drain. "I want you to knock me out, too." I was still in a human body. Maybe if I slept with Lucian, my mind would heal a little of the grief I felt at handing my sweet baby girl over.
"We can do that." Gabe took my hand. I led all three of us to my bedroom, where Lucian slept on top of the covers, still wearing his suit and even his shiny black shoes.
"You two, I swear." I busied myself by taking off his shoes and socks. "Get me some pajamas."
With their help, I changed my loving human husband into his striped jammies and tucked him into bed.
Then I changed into one of his big tee shirts and snuggled in beside him. "When you fix his memories, replace them with memories of raising Jellybean," I suggested.
Gabe hopped up on the bed at our feet. "This is going to take most of the night."
Michael nodded as he climbed up beside him. "Yeah, we have to filter through all the memories of the pregnancy and replace each one."
"Well, knock my ass out. Just promise me you'll be gentle with him. Lucian is innocent in all of this."
