Blood Dawn (Queen of Abaddon #3) - Rae Foxx Page 0,1

all of those things. "Luc, grab my arm," I told him. I'd have to figure this shit out myself. Find his magic, find our daughter, and fix Abaddon.

He put his hand on my shoulder and seemed to notice the demons for the first time. "What is happening?"

I sighed and tried not to be exasperated. He'd just lost his powers, after all. "Raphael opened the gates. He had Ariel. As soon as the gates were opened, the demons poured out."

"I can't close the gates," he said simply. "I tried."

"I know, Luc, I know. I'm holding them back, but I have to let go. Hang on to me."

He nodded.

I turned back to Asmodeus, who had been watching our exchange with a shocked expression. He wiped it from his face when he saw my gaze return to him. "Find the hidden Fallen and do what you can. Check in with me often."

"Ready," I whispered. I counted up to three, then let the magic go.

Asmodeus had been correct. The demons streamed around Lucifer, Asmodeus, and me as if we were trees standing in their path. Nothing they could do but go around.

I watched them go for a few moments, then grabbed Luc's arm and disappeared.

We couldn't normally stay on Earth in our Ethereal bodies for long. Short visits and quick trips were all we could handle; our ethereal bodies being tied to Elysium or Abaddon. Either place could sustain us.

Which was why it had taken such an extraordinary amount of power to create Abaddon all those years before. Luc had it, from the Fall, and he'd nearly killed himself creating a realm that could hold Fallen Angels. Especially Archangels like Lucifer and me.

We'd do the best we could on Earth, then if we weakened, we could return to Abaddon. It would probably be empty of demons by then, at this rate.

A particularly large Incubus ran toward us as I disappeared. He seemed as if he was going to run smack into me, and it startled me. I lost focus as we disappeared from our home.

Shit. Where would we land?

Miami. Lucifer and I appeared in the middle of downtown Miami. I recognized it because Constance and Lucian had once vacationed there, not long after college.

"Why are we in Miami?" Lucifer asked, his voice stronger. He sounded a bit more like himself which was a small relief.

"I have no idea." I sighed and looked around. "When we left Abaddon, I was distracted, and we went out at random."

The smell of the salt air directly contrasted with the high-rise buildings, as if big cities couldn't be near the sea. Miami proved them wrong.

Luc held out his hand. "If we go to the house, maybe Michael and Gabe are still there." I took it, realizing without his powers, he was like lugging a human around. He was vulnerable, and far too many wanted to hurt him.

If the demons had realized who and what he was at the gates, they would've attacked. It was his magic that had held them in the realm for the entirety of their afterlives. I wasn't sure why they hadn't attacked. Maybe they hadn't recognized him without his magic. Or possibly they'd been in such a frenzy to leave that they hadn't noticed any of us there.

Just before I moved us to the house, I noticed something strange.

A car drove down the street, but nothing human was in the driver's seat.

The Incubus. The one that had charged me, seconds before, in Abaddon, was behind the wheel. His skin was a hue of pink that might've been red, might've been pink. He had somewhat humanoid features. All Incubi did. I wasn't sure if they'd glamoured themselves that way so much over the years that evolution took care of it for them, but it helped them make humans comfortable, so they'd give them their deepest desire. A desire to an Incubus, or Succubus, or Siren, or the many other variations, was a mighty snack. They made the object of the human's desire come true, whether it was sexual or something else, but it was twisted. Then they fed on the negative emotions the desire evoked. Fear, horror, misery. Incubi were loathsome creatures, nothing like the human romance novels made them out to be.

This one saluted me and drove down the road while Lucifer and I gaped at him. I considered using magic to stop him, but then what would I have done with him? Stuffed him in a vault?

Humans wouldn't have been able to see that,