The ground shook under Gabriel’s feet. Not now. Not yet. It was all too soon. With his brain on fire, he picked up the plate of muffins. “Okay, I’ll create a distraction in the garage, but you need to eat something first. I’m not taking no for an answer.”
Abaddon’s shoulders dropped, and a smile tugged at his mouth for the first time this evening. “I was gonna say this place smells like banana bread,” he said and reached for the pan.
“Just wait, I’ll put honey on top,” Gabriel said, and rushed into the kitchen’s pantry with his heart thudding like mad. Without a need for distraction, would Abaddon have disappeared without telling him? Gabriel couldn’t believe this was happening. And if Abaddon was willing to alter his plans now, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t prematurely go after the rest of the Keys either. Was he really so eager to leave Earth? To leave Gabriel?
His head was boiling with heat, but as he faced the shelves of various dry goods, his gaze passed over a small medicine bottle at one end of the counter, and vile thoughts infected his mind like poison. Those were the pills Robin took when she worked until late and had to start early. She had insomnia, so it was pretty strong stuff, but Abaddon was much bigger than Robin, and a man at that, so the meds shouldn’t affect him too much. He’d just get drowsy and have to give up on taking out Martinez tonight.
Gabriel’s heart galloped. Could he excuse using drugs if his intentions were motivated by love? It would be deceptive of him, but what other options did he have?
They still had a few days until the six children would be in danger, but he needed that time to come up with a solution, especially that their whereabouts were likely only known to a select few people.
Everything would work out fine.
He grabbed the bottle and pulled out two capsules before emptying them into a shallow glass. The powder was then followed by a few drops of water, but unease kept crawling up Gabriel’s back as he stirred the mixture. Each step Abaddon made in the other room sent him to heights of anxiety, and he dropped the spoon when his angel spoke.
“Thank you, I actually am a bit hungry.”
By the time Gabriel injected the muffins with the solution, he’d almost forgotten that he’d lied about coming to drizzle them with honey, so he made sure to add that on top.
“Here we go,” he said, walking back into the kitchen with a wide smile and palms so sweaty he worried the plate might slip from his fingers.
But Abaddon wasn’t there, and Gabriel’s knees went weak when Sister Beatrice appeared in front of him in her tar-black uniform.
“There they are,” she exclaimed, taking the remaining muffins from Gabriel as if it were her God given right.
"N-no," he uttered in shock, holding on to the plate and unwilling to let go of it.
“Excuse me?” She straightened up, smiting him with her gaze alone. “I understand you might want to get some flesh on those skinny bones, but this isn’t the way. And would you have eaten all of them by yourself? Shame on you, Gabriel. There should be four from that pan, so I imagine you’ve already had one. Since all the produce is the property of St. John’s, I feel it’s fair that others enjoy those as well. Father John works so hard every day, and you won’t even share these?”
Gabriel’s heart sank and he let go of the plate.
“Just make another batch,” Sister Beatrice grumbled before storming off with the laced muffins.
Fear made him rush back into the pantry to double-check if he’d put the pills back, but once he got back into the baking area, one of the doors moved, presenting him with a dark silhouette. Was she back?
He relaxed, realizing it was Abaddon, who had been hiding here all along and witnessed Gabriel’s uselessness against the nun. But worse yet, there were no muffins left to lace.
“She… she took them,” Gabriel said with a sigh, but then a brand new idea fired up in his mind, and he grabbed Abaddon’s hand. “But at least there’s another hunger I can satisfy.”
His lover didn’t budge. “What?”
Gabriel kicked the door to the kitchen shut and pulled on Abaddon’s arm, pointing to the pantry. It felt like trying to drag along that stone statue of Lucifer upstairs. “Didn’t you miss me all day?”
Abaddon frowned. “Um, I did but… anyone can just walk in here. As we just witnessed.”
Gabriel groaned. “I can lock the pantry, it will be fine,” he said, slipping his hands under Abaddon’s T-shirt, but he could already see he was being ridiculous. Was there really no other way to keep his lover from going away?