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, the incubus driving. What would they think when they saw the car? It wasn't new enough or fancy-looking enough to be a driverless car, and I wasn't sure those were even legal yet, anyway.
A woman walked past us on a cell phone. "I'm telling you, Frank, there was nobody driving the car."
Oh, no.
"Lucifer, walk with me for just a few minutes. Something strange is going on."
He nodded. "I saw it, too."
"Did you see the Incubus?" I asked under my breath.
"Yeah."
At least he had that much, the ability to See. "Keep your eyes peeled."
Seconds later, I saw another. A small Spectra rode on the shoulder of a woman walking toward us with tears streaming down her face.
"Excuse me," I said. "Are you all right?"
She ignored me. If I could get her to stop, I could at least knock the Spectra off of her shoulder. It resembled a small monkey, all cute and fuzzy.
It was anything but cute inside. They liked to live in old homes or places that had seen a lot of death and torture. Spectras were responsible for most of the world's haunted places, not actual ghosts. Those were exceedingly rare, as Lucifer and I did our jobs very well and souls didn't escape our charge often.
Until now. Who knew what was happening in Purgatory and Limbo?
Spectras, being small, quick, and wily, escaped Abaddon all the time, unfortunately.
"Ma'am," I said at nearly a shout.
She kept walking, and the damn little monkey chittered at me as they passed.
"I don't think they can see us," Lucifer said. "I think we're on the demonic plane."
It remained to be seen if that would help us or hurt us in the long run. We would be able to come and go as we pleased, but if we needed human help, it would be very difficult to get it. I could make myself appear to humans from this plane with my magic, but Lucifer couldn't.
A squirrel ran past, then stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. It raised on its hind legs and looked around, then set its beady eye on me.
With a snarl, it ran straight for me. I watched, bemused, as the creature neared, but then it bared its sharp teeth.
And I, Queen of the Underworld, the dead, and all the demons in existence, had to stop myself from screaming in fright.
Lucifer stepped forward and kicked it, square in the face. I gasped in relief as it flew across the road, but then jumped when a public bus, passing by at the worst possible moment, slammed into the gray animal. It bounced off of the bus's front window and fell into the road only to be run over by the
