Page 69 of Raising Hell

"In here," Gabriel whispered.

I followed him into the kitchen where Anna sat with a police officer. She jumped up when she saw me. "Connie!"

"Anna, what happened? Where is Ariel?" I looked from her face to the officer's, searching them for the truth. "Where is Rupert?"

Anna rushed forward and held out her hands. "When we got up this morning, Ariel was gone. She's disappeared. We filed a police report, and they've put out an APB. They're searching for her now."

I turned to Michael. "Find the boyfriend, and see if he's behind this."

Before he left the room, he narrowed his eyes on Anna. After just a few seconds, he shook his head. "She's clean," he whispered, then left the room.

"Rupert is in the boys' room, trying to get them to take a nap." Anna sat back down at the table and sobbed. "She was just gone."

Gabe and Lucifer disappeared into the hallway, and I didn't have a clue what to do with myself.

I couldn't look at Anna, so I walked into the hall to find any of my mates, but Lucifer came down the stairs. "It was Raphael. Michael and Gabriel sense him upstairs. If I could get out of this damn human flesh, I could as well." He clenched his fists and sucked in a deep breath. "And I could rip him limb from limb."

Raphael had my baby. "How is this possible?" I whispered as I sank to the floor. "This can't be happening." My mates rushed to my side as I dissolved into hysterics, my mind breaking at the news that my innocent baby was with someone that may or may not intend her harm.

We sat in the living room a week later, no closer to finding Ariel or killing Lucifer. He'd tried a couple of times to kill himself again with no luck, no matter how big of a no-no it was. The gates of Hell were holding on by a thread.

Michael and Gabriel were due to check in with us. They'd been scouring the heavens and Earth for our baby.

"How is this happening?" I whispered. "We tried so hard to do right. God asked us to take charge of the sinners, so we did. What did we do wrong to deserve this?"

I stared across the living room without seeing anything in it.

"We didn't do anything wrong. Raphael has lost his mind."

Lucifer was ready to break. He couldn't go look for his daughter; hadn't even met her. We'd rallied and cried. Raged a couple of times.

But now we had to sit and wait.

"Well?" I strode forward and grabbed one of each of their hands. "What did you find?"

Gabriel's eyebrows furrowed in sorrow. Michael's eyes were full of tears as he told me what I didn't want to hear. "Nothing, Lil. We haven't found anything."

"I'm so sorry," Gabriel whispered.

I let go of their hands and returned to the couch. Sitting beside Lucifer, I stared off into space. He took my hand and glared at them. "Well? Why are you still here?"

They looked sorrowful as they disappeared, leaving us in our silent, empty home.

All alone.