“Thanks.”
He grinned as he saw the crackers and a bag of marshmallows she carried under her other arm. “Dessert, huh?”
“A campfire isn’t a campfire without s’mores.”
They had dinner earlier. With the regular fighting and training to keep their bodies in shape and their senses honed, the bread and s’mores wouldn’t have been enough for them as a meal, but as a late dessert they were perfect.
They walked over to join the others who were all dressed in comfortable, warm clothes and standing in a loose circle around the fire.
“Which shall it be?” Abby held up a Corona in one hand and a glass of white wine in the other.
After Lillian pointed at the beer, Abby gave it to her and kept the wine for herself. “Here you go.”
They clanked bottle to glass and drank.
Ah, the cool beer felt like heaven and immediately eased some of the muscles that were still tense from their earlier fight.
The evening turned quickly into dark night, their chatter a spark of life in the silence surrounding them, just like the flickering fire. At one point the boys organized some logs of wood as seating arrangements.
A thought occurred to Lillian. They had spent the last two days grilling and testing Becca and Quinn for more information, for slip-ups, basically any kind of evidence that would suggest foul play, but there was one thing they hadn’t asked yet.
Cocking her head to the side she looked at Becca. “Is it warm in hell? You know, like humans, and I myself, always imagine. With the cozy, fiery fires and all.”
Becca grinned. “Actually, it is a little warmer there. It is brighter and warmer, like purgatory is a little colder and grayer then the real world.”
Lillian said drily, “Well, it doesn’t feel colder when it’s the middle of summer and over a hundred degrees.”
“Didn’t say it’s cold here, just colder then the real world. The difference fluctuates. So hell has seasons as well, but nevertheless it’s a bit warmer.”
Abby sighed and wondered, “How do you know all this stuff? Is there a manual we didn’t get, or what?”
“No. I researched a lot about hell and the holes, and therefore about heaven and purgatory as well since one doesn’t go without the other, when I decided to get us out of there.” Becca stared at the flickering flames, silver tongues shooting into the night, “First black-and-white fire I’ve ever seen. So weird.”
“You get used to it.” Joshua seemed to hesitate, but then asked anyway, “How is it in hell? Same as the holes, with all the red?”
“Almost. The holes, that’s more like dark red, whereas hell is really red. Like blindingly so.”
At that Quinn’s hands started dancing through the air. So elegant and peaceful. Words without words. It saddened Lillian that she couldn’t understand it.
“What is he saying?” Matt asked.
He motioned towards his sister with a nod of his head and flashed a teasing grin. Becca scowled. “No.”
“Come on.”
After a sigh, she relented, “He says my hair glows pink, and I mean really neon pink, over there.”
They laughed and although Becca rolled her eyes she soon joined in. But something tugged at Lillian’s memory. Pink. Then she remembered the blonde pixie, hair dyed a bright pink by the hellhole’s red veil, making her way out of the portal and into the woods – and barreling into her Ebony Stalker as he held a shade to Matt’s neck.
Her eyes wide, Lillian gasped, “It was you. You saved Matt.”
Matt’s whispered, “What the hell?” was drowned by Becca’s shrug and casual, “Uh, yeah. So?”
“So?” Matt almost choked as he grappled for words. “So why the hell didn’t you say something? While we kinda were deciding whether to off you in the woods? Or maybe before our interrogation started?”
“Calm down. What’s the saying, all’s well that ends well?”
Matt turned, his eyes seeking Lillian’s and drilling into her. Lillian nodded subtly in understanding, while taking a moment to just watch as her guard laughed and enjoyed a glass of wine – or more. With the life they led it should have been difficult to fall into such easy normalcy…but quite the opposite was true. Moments like this kept them going, kept them sane.
Her guard was not just her guard or her friends, they had become far more than that. They were each other’s family and Lillian would do anything to keep them safe. A wry smile curling at the corner of her mouth Lillian had to acknowledge that she and Becca weren’t that different from each other after all. As her heart came to a decision her eyes sought out her guard one by one. Their reactions varied only slightly; a relieved sigh from Matt, a shrug here, a lopsided grin at the question in her eyes there.
Exhaling a long breath, Lillian braced her elbows onto her knees as she leaned forward to stare directly at Becca. “Regarding the whole living among humans thing. Is there anything we can help you with? Guess packing boxes is something you can go without, but maybe you need a ride or some money?”
Becca force and swallowed visibly as her eyes searched Lillian’s. When they found the sincerity they had obviously been searching for, Becca burst up from the log of wood she was sitting on to throw herself at Lillian, her arms going around her neck.
Shocked and a little taken by surprise Lillian chuckled and held the witch, as sobs shook her. “Hey, humans aren’t that bad you know?”
Becca laughed, although it sounded more like a hick-up with the tears mixing in, and straightened up. Her teary eyes shimmered like jewels. “Thank you.”
Her brother had stood up as well and was looking at his sister questioningly. Hands flew as Becca apparently told him that she was fine and repeated the news. As if to make sure he understood correctly Quinn’s eyes flew to Lillian. God, his eyes were so much like Becca’s, all warm chocolate and caramel outside of purgatory. Lillian smiled at him, and that was all it took for his own smile to spread across his face. Throwing his arms around his sister he lifted her off the ground and showed them that cheers didn’t need to be audible.
Her guard smiled and Lillian knew they had made the right decision. When Quinn put his sister back on her feet, Becca stared at Lillian, the battle of wonder and confusion all over her face. “Why? I mean…”
Lillian understood. “Because we really appreciate your openness and honesty about all of this. You could have kept your cards close to the chest, but you didn’t. It really means a lot to me. To us. And thanks for saving Matt.”
Biting her lip to keep more tears from falling, Becca nodded and then asked on a teary chuckle, “Any idea which city would be best for a witch to hide and maybe even find others of her kind?”
A smile tugged at the corners of Lillian’s lips. “That’s easy. New Orleans, of course.”
After her early morning run, Lillian came home to find the kitchen empty except for Becca who sat at the table, eyeing the bowl of cereals in front of her suspiciously as if it might jump at her any moment. The witch lifted a hand up to her eyes to protect her eyes against the offending sunlight sneaking in through the open door.
“Morning.” When Lillian realized the kitchen looked rather untouched she lifted her eyebrows in surprise. “The others still sleeping?”
Her voice, gruff from sleep and a very alcohol-induced night, Becca growled, “Yeah, like any other being should after last night. How the hell can you be so chip and…you know, alive, this morning?”
Grabbing a glass from a shelf, she went to the sink to fill it. “Practice. And maybe the Italian and Irish in my blood.” Leaning back against the kitchen counter, she downed half of her glass of water and then looked at Becca over the rim. “I have to ask a favor.”
“Shoot.”
Lillian lifted one brow and snorted with amused surprise. “Just like that?”
Becca carefully tasted a bite of her choco pops, and then casually shrugged when her stomach seemed to stay put. “Sure. You guys didn’t kill us and even want to help us. So yes,
shoot.”
“There’s an Ebony following me. He came to my house after I’d been told I was an Ivory. He didn’t manage to kill me but has tried to ever since. Although sometimes he seems more into…toying or messing with me. He doesn’t care about how many demons or other Ebonys get killed along the way.”
“Incubus?”
“How did you know?”
Becca grimaced. “They tend to like that. Any idea how he finds you?”
“That’s just it. No freaking clue.” Anger surged as Lillian once again had this feeling that she was missing something vital here. “I don’t know how he does it, but he pops up out of nowhere, even around our safe houses. Sometimes it only takes him a couple of days to figure out where I am, which shouldn’t be possible with our moving around all the time. And of course, I don’t know one bit about him. Other than that he’s an incubus.”
“You want me to find out about him?”
“Name and address would be the most welcome, but simply the reason for his tenacity will do just as fine.”
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do about the name and address but regarding the reason...” The witch shrugged, “He’s an Incubus, they don’t really do rational. You got away from him once and that is enough of a reason as far as he’s concerned. Now, given your looks and all that, he probably just enjoys the chase. Though I have to say, two years that’s some restraint for one of his race. You should be careful, they like to toy with their prey until it’s all broken.”
Lillian sighed, “Ah, such a proper gentleman.”
SEVENTEEN
Two weeks later…
“Change of plans”, Lillian announced to her guard who was busy loading the Dodge.
The three of them looked up as she walked down the stairs of their last residence and threw her bag in the trunk as well. They had been staying here - which was somewhere in Arkansas - for two weeks and were supposed to head off towards the East Coast.
“Where to?” Joshua asked, leaning against the opened driver’s door.
“Louisiana.”
They all took the news without a blink, just a simple shrug from Matt, and then without further explanation they all got into the car and they drove off. They were used to it.
Joshua flipped on some low, bluesy music that rolled in soft waves through the car. His eyes, which had turned that incredible dark blue-gray again after they left purgatory behind them, met Lillian’s through the rear view mirror. “So what did Maion say?”
“Two hellholes are merging near New Orleans and they need some extra hands.”
The angel had dropped by – rather literally since he’d been more than drunk once again, although fortunately he had managed to avoid any furniture this time – and told her in broken sentences that they were needed elsewhere.
Joshua frowned. “What the hell for? It’s not even Mardi Gras.”
“Don’t ask me. I’ve got no idea what hell’s up to.”
“Who else is on it?” Abby asked beside her in the back, her eyes serious.
“Sam’s team.”
They had crossed paths before and had worked together quite well, since Sam and Lillian had silently agreed to leave out the pissing contest that seemed to be mandatory for other guards. On a first glance Sam was an easy-going guy, but when you looked closer you could see the shadows of regret and guilt lurking in his eyes from losing one of his own during a fight early on in their first year. Lillian knew he blamed himself for what happened although he couldn’t have changed any of it. Thinking about her friends, she guessed she would do the same.
Her whole team almost sighed with relief at the news.
Matt said, “Thank God. If we had to work with that Megan one more time this year, I’d gladly throw myself into a hellhole.”
Megan saw their duty as some kind of race or competition and therefore was one of the Ivorys who took the pissing contest very seriously.
Abby whole-heartedly agreed. “And hey, we’ve never been to New Orleans before. Hopefully we can squeeze in a little free time, I always wanted to walk down Bourbon Street.”
Lillian smiled at that, closing her eyes as if to savor the imagery, even if she knew all too well that New Orleans wasn’t the only thing her friend was looking forward to, but now wasn’t the time to mention that. “Me too.”
It was also the perfect opportunity for her to meet a certain pixie witch again, who had been trying her best to identify her Stalker for the last weeks. It amazed her how quickly they all had become…friends. Ivorys and demons getting along, not so long ago she would have thought it to be absolutely impossible. A smile curved her lips as she thought of Becca and Quinn. The two of them seemed to burst with life, laughter and a goodness of heart that made her own Guard look a little lost. Maybe they were. The thought was barely a whisper and gone before she could ponder it too much when Abby wanted to know, “So where will we live?”
“One of the abandoned houses that Katrina left behind.”
After that Abby and Lillian tried to catch some sleep as they snuggled into the backseats. The trip wasn’t that long; it would only take them about eight hours to get to New Orleans. Joshua and Matt took care of the first leg of their road trip and drove as long as the sun was out, but the moment it set, it was the girl’s turn.
Taking the wheel and feeling the Dodge’s rumbling engine was like coming home and had Lillian almost sighing. Abby rode shotgun, settling in beside Lillian with an equally happy grin on her face. They kept the music low and on that bluesy station, and soon Matt and Joshua were drifting off in their backseats, much like the girls had done earlier.
As darkness crept up on them Lillian loved nothing more than staring into the night, into the blackness that would close in on them more and more until there was nothing left except for that stretch of street illuminated by their twin beams of light. What did it say about her, that sometimes she wished the sun would never come up again?
Abby was humming to a song, from time to time singing softly, her voice low and full. She had one arm propped on the door and was running a finger along her mouth. Lillian smiled softly into the night wondering how much longer her friend would be able to keep her curiosity leashed.
Abby’s head turned to her. “Hey, did Maion say anything about getting that new crossbow I wanted?”
Ah, working up to it, huh?
Lillian inhaled deeply and let out a weary breath. “You know how he is. He wasn’t in a state that allowed for much talking. I was barely able to understand the words Louisiana and New Orleans as it was.”
“And we’ll stay in a Katrina-leftover safe house?”
“Yeah. Probably no electricity, but I’m really hoping the angels made sure there’s hot water.”
“And Sam’s team?”
Ah, here it comes, Lillian thought.
Sam and Abby had gotten really friendly with each other the last time their guards had worked together. The next morning during their ride to the next hellhole Lillian had asked Abby about it, but her friend had sworn high and low that it was just physical. Scratching an itch and nothing more. Yeah, right.
Leaving her eyes on the road Lillian shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“Hmm.”
“Hmm? That’s really all you gonna say? Come on Abby, I’m not dumb.”
Abby threw up her hands. “Okay. What do you want? That I admit I miss him, that I can’t stop thinking about him?”
“I don’t want you to admit it to me, but to yourself.”
From the corner of her eye Lillian saw Abby rubbing her brow. Shaking her head Abby stared out the window and said softly, “It’s just so weird. I have been in exactly one relationship, which started off as friendship. I knew the guy, knew his tells and moods and everything. He was like an open book. With Sam…it was like a fire right from the start. He’s a wall of fire and I can’t see anything else. I thought that, you know, hitting the sheets would calm things down…but…”
Equally softly Lillian finished the thought,
“It hasn’t.”
Abby looked at her, grimacing. “No, it hasn’t. Not at all. Has gotten worse, actually.”
Grinning with mischief Lillian wiggled her eyebrows, “Good thing, you’re gonna see him. He can take care of that.”
A punch in her upper arm was the answer she got. “No, seriously, I’ve no idea if Sam’s interested.” At the droll look from Lillian she rolled her eyes and added, “In more than that.” Her eyes went a little out of focus, something between dreamy and hot. “Though I really wouldn’t mind another round of that.”
Lillian chuckled. “Okay.” Then, when she saw a sign up ahead for some sort of road side grill, she suggested, “Let’s get some coffee and then you can spill the details. I don’t have any sex life so I’ve got to live from seconds.”
“Great idea.”
Lillian parked the Dodge and the both of them got out, quietly closing their doors so as not to wake up the guys.
The bar and grill was a beacon of light in the middle of the night. A little on the run-down side, but definitely loved. A few customers sat at the bar, a couple of older guys at a table nursing a beer.
Lillian ordered their coffee, while Abby motioned towards the restrooms. “I’ll be right back.”
Lillian nodded and waited for their order, leaning against the bar.
“Nice ride.”
Turning her head she looked at the guy to her left. He was sitting with two other guys, not much older than her, and was on the cute side with tousled brown hair and a pair of rather stunning green eyes that could have knocked a girl out – if they weren’t so out of focus due to over-indulging. They were obviously celebrating…or drowning in sorrow - after a certain amount of alcohol it was difficult to tell.
“Thanks.” She kept it at that and looked away.
When the coffees were ready she grabbed them and went outside, heading towards the Dodge. After putting the cups on the hood to free her hands she moved to open the door.
Ivory Guard Page 15
