The next skill to work on, I decided, would be the one most useful to me. If Leith could use translocution to move between one place and another, then so could I.
Touching my grace came easy enough now; it was a lack of focus and hauling around the extra weight that kept tossing a monkey wrench into the works. One measly inch was the best I could do before I fell face first onto the bed and was asleep before my nose touched cool cotton. It was a start.
Chapter Eighteen
An insistent knock on the door disrupted my muttering and pacing: two very important pursuits that were keeping me from leaving right now to go singlehandedly pull Julius’ fat out of the fire. Well, that and my promise to Estelle, plus Leith’ threat.
“Adriel, open up.” That was Julie’s voice.
“Come on, we’re loaded up out here.” And Gustavia’s.
I opened the door to the pair of them, plus Kat and Amethyst. Each of the four women carried an overnight bag in one hand and a food-related item in the other. Two boxes of pizza, wings, soft drinks, wine, and ice cream. The minute the door opened, I was gently shoved out of the way as they swarmed in to drop their burdens and distribute hugs. It had all the earmarks of an invasion.
“Finn took Sam to visit her grandparents for the weekend; Zack is out of town for a seminar on something boring to do with a new fingerprint reading app; and their husbands,” Gustavia waved a finger toward Julie and Amethyst, “are absorbed in some online gaming thing that involves loud shouting of the word “booya” a lot. Hence…” she waved a hand again, “here we are.”
“Hence?” What a load of hooey. Did they think I couldn’t see the looks passing between them? Gustavia was right up there with the top ten worst liars I had ever encountered. They were here to a) take my mind off tomorrow’s mission and b) horn in on same. I didn’t have to ask how they knew. It had to be Kat.
“Hence. We needed a girl’s night anyway, and we figured you could use the company. There are rules.” Arguing with Gustavia, I knew from past experience, was like trying to unscramble an egg—a useless waste of time, and probably why they had made her their spokesman. One by one, they each contributed a rule.
“No brooding,” Kat intoned.
“Well, there go my plans for the evening.” It was a joke. Honest.
“No dwelling on things that are in the past.” That one was Gustavia’s contribution and delivered with finality.
“You have to tell us all about Leith.” Amethyst waggled her eyebrows. How did she know there was anything there to tell?
“And no telling Estelle any juicy secrets I might reveal.” Julie grinned. “We promise, it will be fun, what do you say?”
Last time we had shared food and a bottle of wine, I’d gotten drunk off half a glass and accessed my body-morphing ability—something I hadn’t been able to do since—and believe me, I had tried. As for tonight, there seemed to be little choice in the matter. They were here, and the distraction would do me good.
“Okay.” I swear it was a statement and not a question, no matter how it sounded. Ten minutes later, I was glad they were there. Warm laughter and the heavenly scent of reheating pizza filled the room. Julie and Amethyst did impressions of their husbands scratching sensitive areas and playing video games that had us all roaring with laughter.
The wine bottle made a single round and I abstained in favor of iced tea. The headache last time taught me a lesson about angel metabolism and alcohol that I planned never to repeat. Their bright chatter soothed edges made rough by worry about things to come, and they glossed over the fact that I had little to offer to the conversation. Too many topics were off limits to me in my capacity as not quite human.
Childhood stories require a childhood, which was something I had never experienced. Very little of my past was open to discussion, and I feared my interpretations might be met with a lack of understanding. Not scorn, that was not the way these women viewed the world—even the stories they told about bad relationship experiences were tinged with gentle humor and self-deprecation.
My life simply had not resembled anything they would understand, and only now was I beginning to find deeper meaning in the mortal world view. But, I had questions. Particularly about Leith and the feelings he stirred within me.
“…so he puts on the sweater that’s already covered in socks and that’s when it turns into a game. How many static-filled items can he stick on it at the same time.” Amethyst screamed with laughter at the memory. “He’s so caught up in it that he doesn’t hear me come home and when I walk around the corner, I catch him with eight socks and two pairs of purple panties stuck to his chest while doing a dance to see if any would fall off. I’m laughing so hard I’m crying before he turns around, and when he does he freezes like a deer in headlights.”
“Tell me you had your phone. That was a Kodak moment.” Kat wiped a tear of laughter from the corner of her eye. Not a year ago, she would have had to rely only on her imagination for the mental image, but tonight Amethyst pulled out a slim phone encased, naturally, in purple chrome and handed it around. Reid, a handsome man, wore a black sweater dotted with several purple items and a startled expression.
“Oh yeah, it’s my wallpaper. You’d think he would be embarrassed, but after he got a look at the photo, he decided to go for the record and added two more socks and a thong.” Love for the man turned what could have been a mocking tone into one filled with affection.
“Leith kissed me.” The words rushed out of me in a blurt and elicited a chorus of woo noises and low whistles. “And I liked it.” More whoops and whistling. My face burned red. The irony of it all was that in my infinite lifetime I had less experience in this one area than the typical teenager, and right now that was exactly how I felt. Like a callow youth in the throes of her first crush on a bad boy.
Once the initial excitement of my revelation died down, Gustavia did what she did best and empathized with me. “You’ve never been in a relationship, have you?” My blushing face answered for me.
“Oh, Adriel. This has to be such a culture shock for you. Don’t rush into anything unless you feel ready.” A warm hand reached for my own. The simple affection conveyed by nothing more than a gentle touch undid me and I gave her a watery smile.
“My first kiss was the scariest thing I had ever done.” Kat confided. “I felt like I was going to either throw up or burst into song. I didn’t dare to open my mouth for at least a minute afterward because I couldn’t predict what was going to come out. And then you know what I did? When I finally got my wits halfway back together, I burst out laughing. It was a nervous reflex.” Her smile was part rueful, part nostalgic. Clearly the memory had not scarred her for life. My next breath came a little easier.
“Johnny Silverman. At a school dance. He smelled kind of salty and smoky at the same time. Our noses bumped and my mouth went dry. The music just disappeared and my ears started ringing, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. To this day, I judge every kiss by that one. Your first kiss is special like that. No matter how many come after it, you’ll remember that one the most.” Gustavia went all misty.
“Tell us.” The gentle order in Amethyst’s husky voice was both beguiling and conspiratorial. “I promise you’ll feel better.”
“Well, we were fighting.” A look passed between that I didn’t understand. “What? What’s that look about.”
“Some of the best kisses happen during fights. It’s all about the passion and the fire.” A collective shiver ran through them. “And then the makeup sex.” Just when my face was starting to return to normal, it flared hot and red again. Ignoring that topic seemed prudent.
“We were toe to toe and yelling at each other and then we were kissing. I don’t know how it happened exactly, but his breath was warm and his lips were soft, and my body went all tingly. It was…” I broke off to choose the right word out of the handful that leapt to mind, “…exciting and scary.”
“If it wasn’t, you weren’t doing it right.” Gustavia hit
on the one tiny point of fear that I had been keeping locked down deep. Becoming a person, a mortal, a human—and I was realizing these words were woefully inadequate in their ability to convey the most accurate description—meant so much more than just becoming a being of flesh and bone. Adding in a few angel bits made my existence an order of magnitude more complicated. Learning to pick my way through the minefield of what my inner angel was compelled to do and those things that meant living up to the demands of my new flesh was going to be an ongoing experience.
Woman. That is what I am. A woman who has some fancy extras, but then again, what woman doesn’t? Moreover, I was one who had missed all the rites of passage along the way. No wonder I was so confused.
Looking around the tiny table where the five of us were crammed together, I sent up a prayer of thanks for these women who cheerfully accepted the role of guardian…hmm…humans? Persons? What term would sound less condescending? Gustavia would say Guardian Goddesses—in reverent capitals—but I thought maybe that would be skirting the line a shade too closely. Mentors might work, but the word lacked a certain panache.
When it came to me, I felt a little teary. A single word, both simple and eloquent. Friend. They were my friends. Lamiel had hit that nail squarely enough. Friends, and that was no small thing. It was everything.
The barrier I hadn’t realized I’d been holding between us fell with a crash and a smile and a sense of connection that eased some of the raw places that came from feeling like something other than compared to everyone else.
The grin swept across my face like the tide rushing over the sand.
“Oh, I think I did it right. When it was over, he looked like he’d been hit with a stupid stick. There might even have been some drool, just there.” I lifted a finger to indicate the corner of my mouth. My flippant comment raised some eyebrows before the peals of laughter came. It soothed something savage inside me to feel like one of the group. For once I didn’t have to moderate my tone to one more befitting my station and keep my inner smart (word I am not allowed say but means the part of your body you sit on) on the leash. The freedom almost took my breath away.
After the laughter and high fives, things turned a little more serious when Kat said, “You’ve never…um…you know.” It was her turn to go red-faced until I caught on to the meaning behind the question and became her blushing twin.
“What? No.”
“So Angels don’t…you know?” Julie said.
I opened my mouth to say that was privileged information and nothing came out. Angel filter strikes again.
“But you could now, if you wanted to.” It was half a question and half a statement.
“Presumably. My body works just like yours.” The need to change the subject was becoming a physical ache, so I turned the spotlight on Julie and felt no shame for doing it.
“Are you and Tyler planning on starting a family soon?”
“Not just yet. We’re still newlyweds. Let’s put in a movie.” Julie deflected adroitly, pushed back her chair, and tossed the empty pizza boxes in the recycling bin. My ploy had worked.
Kat pulled a stack of DVDs out of her bag and the four of them clustered around her to choose a title.
“Practical Magic.” Gustavia plucked it from the pile and popped it in the player before anyone else could argue.
“Hah, told you so,” Kat chortled as Amethyst pulled a crisp ten dollar bill out of her pants pocket and handed it over amid more laughter from the group.
“Did I miss the joke?”
“That’s right,” Julie mused, “you were never there when these two made one of their infamous bets. See, Kat always knows and Amethyst can’t say no to a wager, so at least once a week she loses ten bucks to Kat.”
“One of these days, I’m going to put one past her.” Amethyst fumed, but in a cute and friendly manner. “Hey, is there any popcorn?”
“It’s your house.” I teased her, “How would I know? I have hardly had time for more than a shower and sleep. Thank you, by the way, for being so generous with me. I’m not sure the Powers understand my sudden need for things like food and lodging and those pesky personal hygiene products. They bounce me around willy-nilly without regard for my altered physical status.” The bitterness I had been struggling against since the moment I realized what had happened to me could not stand against the common sense reason for actions I had viewed as callous disregard. How could those who had never experienced living in a physical body understand the intricacies of daily nuisances like smelly armpits, hairy legs, and greasy hair.
“Ask Estelle to explain it to them. And just know that anytime you need this place, it’s yours. I can have a key made for you if you like.”
That bit of overwhelming kindness made the decision I had been wrestling with for the past hour go much easier. I would not risk my friends with this rescue business, no matter their arguments to the contrary or how valid their reasons for wanting to help. In the morning, I would sneak out early in order to leave them behind. Considering I was the reason Julius had gotten himself into this mess in the first place, and I would be the one to see him safe.
“Thank you for the kindness.”
“It’s nothing. You’re one of us, now. Family.”
Family. Loved. Accepted. Included. Trusted.
Undeserved considering I intended to betray that trust within the next twelve hours.
Family. Forgiven. I hoped.
Chapter Nineteen
The first rays of sunlight glittered off a cloud of pre-dawn mist as I let myself out of the tiny house with my meager belongings in a pack on my back and an enchanted cane in my hand. If I died today, I would leave behind nothing more than these in the way of worldly possessions. That, and the friendship of the women asleep in my temporary home. Safe. Right where I wanted them.
Turning my back on the faint light of the eastern sky, I pointed my feet south and west. I would have to pass through the heart of the city to get to the deserted section where Leith reckoned I would find Julius. If there had been reason to doubt his speculation before, it was gone now. Firmly connected to my grace, the angel inside me sensed the gathering darkness like a compass sensed true north.
This early in the morning delivery trucks ruled the streets, their wheels rumbling over pavement used to a heavier load of traffic, their exhaust pluming out to replace the oily perfume scoured away by night winds.
Farther on, my feet carried me through the arts district where each window displayed color and shape that provided a little solace to the soul. The yeasty scent of bread floated out of a hole-in-the-wall bakery to twist at my empty stomach, and the siren call of pecan rolls drew me inside. Preparing breakfast in a roomful of sleeping women would not have been particularly stealthy.
Sugar, nuts, and cinnamon-laced bread filled the physical emptiness; a foam cup of steaming coffee warmed my stomach—but nothing could tame the wild ache of betraying my friends. Even if it was for their own safety.
The cell phone in my pocket made a sound somewhere between its normal ringing and that made by a deflating balloon. Garbled text filled the screen to prove my emotional state was still capable of wreaking havoc. Instead of a phone, I was now back to my own personal electronic mood-detecting apparatus. Thumbing the kill switch, I doubted that would be enough to stop the effects, but it was my only option.
Sending Billy the Earthwalker back to where he belonged had taken more energy than I commanded alone. It had taken the combined effort of myself, two ghosts, the four women I had just left sleeping, and their mates. Now I was headed into an unknown situation with only Leith and Estelle on my side.
I had no idea what brand of demon I might be facing, and if there was one thing I could count on it was that the Powers would not be sending backup. I was looking at something between an epic victory and a suicide mission with no idea which I would be walking into. Valid points of logic, my brain whispered, so why don’t you turn around? My feet carried me inexorably forward.
When Evian shimmered into step beside me, I should have been surprised. I wasn’t. Somewhere in the middle of the sleepless night, hindsight had kicked in with perfect clarity.
“The Powers sent me here to do a specific job—make sure Sylvie crossed over. You called me back to the city that second time and let me think my assignment was Vaeta.”
“So what if I did? I needed your help and you need mine. Ours.” Her sisters abruptly appeared beside her. “It’s all connected. Sylvie, Julius, Malachiel, Vaeta. Would you have helped us without thinking it was a prime directive?”
“Do you have any idea of the consequences of your actions? I’m off book now. Maybe forever if the Powers decide I’ve gone rogue.”
“Give them a little credit for knowing the hearts of their own.” Terra admonished.
“Are you so sure they have your back?” This from Soleil. “They seem quite willing to leave Julius to his fate. Why are you so anxious to appease a group who cares so little for those they are sworn to protect that they allow human pawns to be the fulcrum point for the balance between light and darkness? It’s like letting babies play with fire.” Scorn dripped from her tongue.
“Remember the first time we met when I warned you about underestimating me? The same goes for mortals. You think your ability to outlive countless generations of them gives you more wisdom than they possess; that a shorter life span makes them powerless and weak. Forgive me for saying so, but you are arrogant beyond measure.”
Soleil drew herself to full height and prepared to argue the point, but I cut her off before she could utter the first word. “Extended life dulls all sense of urgency; makes you slower to recognize threats and respond accordingly.”
“Did you just call me old?”
“Yes, and hidebound along with it.” I heard a snort from one of her sisters.
Earthbound Wings: An Earthbound Novel (The Psychic Seasons Series Book 6) Page 12
