And as he says it, I know Gabriel is right. This is what I felt in her soul. It's why Beherit sent me out looking for her and why King Lucifer wants her so badly that he's willing to chance breaking a rule or two.
She looks stunned-eyes wide like a deer in the headlights. "You guys got the wrong sister. You must be mixing me up with Grace."
Gabriel nestles his face into her hair. "You're already swinging the balance. You, Frannie. Not Mary or Kate or Grace or Maggie. You. If you have the power to transform Shit-for-Brains over there," he glowers at me, "just imagine the difference you can make in the mortal realm. The difference you've probably already made without even knowing it."
My back hits the wall as if someone pushed me, and my legs won't hold me anymore. I slide down the wall and sit on the floor.
Sway.
Frannie's got Sway. And if what Gabriel just implied is true, her power has never been rivaled in a mortal. He's saying her power is what changed me-a creature of Hell. And not just my mind, but my physical being. How is that possible? Even Moses had no influence over the celestial or infernal. And if that's true, it's not just the masses she can sway. She has power beyond that of even King Lucifer. She could change the shape of Heaven and Hell.
My king's words echo in my head. It's my turn. This is my chance. I will be out from under Him-finally. King Lucifer thinks He can manipulate Heaven-maybe even the Almighty-through Frannie.
"Be careful what you wish for," she whispers, as lost in her own thoughts as I am in mine.
There's torment in Gabriel's eyes as he looks into Frannie's. "Your power is getting stronger every day. You need to see that you have pull on people's thoughts and emotions and therefore their actions." He glances toward me and his eyes drop to her hand, where he twines his fingers with hers. "And it's not just people you have that effect on. You'll always get what you want if it's in your control."
Frannie pulls away from him and suddenly there's rage. Black pepper floods the room. "I want my brother back. I don't have that," she spits.
He looks at her with sad eyes. "The only one with control over that is God."
All I can do is watch as her expression shifts from rage through shock into panic. "This is wrong. I'm not a saint or an angel. I'm not even a good person. I'm going to Hell. I already know that."
Why would she think that? I look at Gabriel. His expression is pained and sickeningly sympathetic. He pulls her to his shoulder and she melts into him. When the scent of Frannie's warm chocolate seeps through his celestial stench, I feel something cold and black wrap around my heart and squeeze. I'd kill him if I didn't think Frannie needed him.
"What happened-the reason you think you're going to Hell-it wasn't your fault," he says into her hair.
"You're so full of shit," she spits, pulling away. "I killed my brother."
The bottom drops out of my stomach. The boy in the picture-that explains the haunted look in her eye when I asked about him. So much pain-the same pain that was buried so deep that first day we met, when I asked what she'd like to undo.
Gabriel is still looking at her, shaking his head. "You didn't kill him, Frannie. It was his time. That's all."
It's like watching a volcano erupt. The words spill out of her mouth like burning lava. "Yeah. Just keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better about stealing children from their families."
Gabriel slides a little closer to her on the couch, but she moves away. "He is with his family. God called him home."
"Well, then, your God sucks."
I move across the room and sit next to her. I take her hand, wanting-no, needing-to do something to ease her pain.
"I think what Gabriel said is true, Frannie. If you killed him you'd already be tagged for Hell, and you're not."
"Well, I should be," she says, pulling herself away from my touch.
I lift her chin with my finger, staring down into her deep sapphire eyes. "No, you shouldn't," I say and lean in to kiss her. For only the third time, I push my power on Frannie, to draw out all her pain and her misdirected anger. It's not nearly enough, but it's all I know how to do.