The smirk curling his lips was rather smug. “Don’t look so shocked. We’ve been living under the same roof for the last two years.”
True. “Okay, you’re right. I just can’t wrap my mind around it.”
“That’s normal, Lillian. No one will see…less in you for that. Killing demons, sending them back to hell, that’s our normal and we can shrug it off. But fighting angels? That tops even our kind of day-to-day.”
Yeah, her guard was great. Softly smiling, she nodded. “Thanks.”
“Now tell me, how your sword arm is doing? And no bullshit.”
“The right arm is fine, it’s my left side that troubles me.”
Without another word Joshua moved to stand to the left of her, covering her weaker side. They continued like that through the bayou, in comfortable silence.
The air was rather humid and warmer than anything Lillian was used to for this time of year. But she really could get used to the mix of sweetness in the air, with a hint of salt and something mossy.
Suddenly Lillian noticed that telltale touch of red creeping up on their surroundings. Joshua apparently did as well, since without any words needed they both picked up the pace. A few minutes later and they found the holes. Two swirling masses of blood red, vomiting demons of all sizes and shapes into the world.
Not for the first time since they had met Becca and Quinn, Lillian found herself wondering how many of them were trying to get away from the life they knew in hopes of a better one.
A glance and she knew that Joshua was thinking something along those very same lines. His face was grim. No sign of adrenaline-induced exhilaration, but grim realization dimmed his eyes instead. And she had no idea what to tell him, what to say or to do to make sure they weren’t killing innocents.
Looking down and then back up at the dozens of demons only a few yards away, she finally said, “Kill only when attacked.”
A sharp nod, nothing more, but from the corner of her eye she noticed the tension in his shoulders ease a bit.
Slight movement to her right.
Ah. The rest of them had arrived, the two guards were here and surrounding the merging hellholes.
Without any kind of sign, acting on pure, Ivory instinct the seven of them shot forward, breaking out of their hiding spots with weapons held low but ready.
Fighting always felt like coming home, or finding yourself. Lillian knew the scents and sounds, knew her body and its place in the fight. Honed reflexes; familiar, even automatic movements. Her body was lithe and capable and a weapon so smooth. For this brief moment in time there was nothing but clarity, sharpness…and freedom. Even when her opponents got lucky, it was like parents scolding, a rap on the knuckles. In the end it made her better, sharper still. It was divine.
A sudden awareness, a prickling making the fine hairs of her nape stand up. Lillian whirled around, her heart thundering in her chest. Not from the fight but from something else.
The sight before her slammed into her, making it impossible to breathe. It couldn’t be. Had she been hit?
Raz.
There he was. Fighting with them. Flaming sword in hand. Grim, eager concentration on his face. Tall, muscled power unleashed.
He was breath-taking, literally mind-blowing since she couldn’t take her eyes of him, as they wanted to soak up everything, every detail about him, every move and strike. Her heart sang and cheered and tore, all at the same time.
Joshua was at her side, nearly screaming to be heard over the noise of battle, “Lillian! You alright?”
Desperately blinking away the image that the angel had unknowingly burned into her, Lillian nodded. She wasn’t sure she was capable of words.
The fighting wasn’t over yet. A couple of times Joshua had to step in, helping her, since her mind wasn’t at the task at hand. How could it be? Inside of her, her mind was screaming with rage and her heart was aching with pain and longing.
When the remaining demons scattered, the holes vanished and silence reigned. Meeting in the middle of their battlefield the Ivorys looked at each other. But Lillian’s eyes were locked on Raz.
Incredibly beautiful bastard. Although he was breathing hard, he didn’t look as if he’d just come out of a fight at all, dressed in jeans, shirt and light jacket that hugged his muscled frame way too perfectly.
She tried to sound matter-of-fact but knew she failed, “What the hell are you doing here?”
His unyielding, gray eyes never left hers. “What? Thought killing an angel would go unnoticed?”
V
LET THE SPARKS FLY
“Love is a slippery slope and it's so easy to fall.”
- Sara Taney Humphreys
NINETEEN
To say that it went downhill from there was an understatement.
“Thought killing an angel would go unnoticed?”
That deep voice was still as smooth and low as she remembered, making her body long for him even when all she wanted was to scream at him.
It also made the ensuing silence all the more piercing.
Then her guard and even Sam’s clamored in her defense. And still Raz’s gaze never left hers. It was like standing in the eye of the hurricane while the storm wreaked havoc around them.
A shrill whistle and Abby’s voice shouted above all the others, “Enough!” People actually shut up. “How about we all calm down for a sec? And how about we head home where we can talk, you know, like civilized people. Besides, once this demon blood dries it’s a bitch to get it out.”
“Meet you there.” Raz vanished.
Lillian closed her eyes and took what felt like the first breath ever since he had showed up.
“What was he talking about?” Sam walked over to her, dressed in black, as were they all so that the blood wouldn’t be that visible. Although in jeans and a hoodie, he looked threatening with his kind of build. But his face was kind, most of all because his eyes really were the windows to his soul, his beautiful scarred soul.
Shaking her head Lillian managed the hint of a smile, “You had no idea what’s going on and defended me anyway?”
Big shoulders moved in a shrug. “Sure.”
“On our way here I got attacked by an angel. He carried a shade, in some kind of glove so it couldn’t hurt him.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.” She didn’t know what Raz had been talking about or why they would suspect her. Her heart didn’t even care, all it wanted to know was why Raz had come back and whether he would stay.
“Did he hurt you?”
Lillian was pretty sure he wasn’t asking about Raz, even if he was all she could think about at the moment. “He nicked me. But we took care of it.”
Frowning, curious he asked. “How?”
Lillian had no problems divulging that information, quite the contrary in case other Ivorys were only wounded and not outright killed by a shadow blade. “Our Fire. Seal the wound with branding. Hurts like hell but definitely works.”
“I got more questions.”
Lillian inclined her head. “I know. You’ll get the answers in time, I promise.”
With a nod Sam stepped back and motioned for the rest of his guard to follow him, the three of them soon disappearing into the bayou.
It was time for them to head home as well. The trip back was mental torture for Lillian. Her mind couldn’t decide whether it took them hours or merely seconds, but either way it took them too long and yet not long enough. She was in knots. She wanted to see Raz and yet she didn’t want to face him. She was a goddamn mess.
And coming home to find Raz, prowling their front step like a lion, his murderous gaze piercing her even through the windshield of the Dodge, really didn’t help.
“Ah, shit.” The angel-safe bone dust. She’d totally forgotten about that.
Fearing the worst she slowly crept up the driveway, parked the Dodge beside the house and told the others to head inside. “We’ll be there in a minute.”
Maybe. Hopefully.
>
Without objection but with a few worried glances ping-ponging between the two of them, her guard disappeared into the house, leaving them alone outside. Crossing her arms over her chest, although she damn well knew it wouldn’t stop the pain from stabbing her, she waited for him to start. She could do this.
“Bone dust, really?”
“Two years, Raz, really? A little exaggerated even for you, don’t you think?”
“It was necessary since you confounded the nature of our relationship.”
“I didn’t. I’m just not like you. I’m not afraid. You’re so busy trying not to feel, that you don’t even see love when it bites you in the ass. Which still looks rather yummy by the way.”
His jaw clenched, a muscle ticking there.
One point for team Lillian.
She continued, “As for the bone dust. That was indeed necessary.”
“What are you talking about?” Raz frowned, even that not able to mar that incredible face of his. God, how she had missed looking at him. The nose, the mouth, but most of all those eyes that could go in a blink of an eye from granite to silvery mist you wanted to get lost in.
“On our way here I was attacked by an angel. He had a shade and didn’t react when I showed him I was an Ivory. We fought, but I did not kill him.”
“In a parking lot in front of Jill’s roadside grill.”
Now it was her turn to frown. “How do you know?”
“Because it’s where we found his body. Parts of it.”
Ugh. “Okay. But I did not leave him there. How was he killed anyway?” When he hesitated, she snapped, “Oh, come on. If I really did kill him, you wouldn’t exactly be telling me big news, now would you?”
“It’s highly probable that a flaming sword was used, given the size of the wounds and the burns.”
“But if he was cut up, he technically still lives. Maion told me about that nifty angel trick.”
A sharp nod. Did she imagine the flash of worry, the steel of his eyes softening. “I know he told you. And at this time, that knowledge isn’t working in your favor since very few Ivorys know about that.”
“Oh.” It just slipped. But how could she keep her cool when everything that came out of his mouth brought her one step closer to…what? Punishment? Death? No, no. She would get out of this nonsense. She didn’t kill the angel.
“Besides the head is missing, and judging by the body’s deteriorating condition it is assumed the head is still…well, alive but it probably has been wounded with a shadow blade.”
“So what, you think I tote it around. Or maybe I put in the trunk of the Dodge? Though where the hell would I have gotten hold of a shade anyway?”
He eyes flicked towards the house. “That’s why I’m more curious about what’s inside the house since it’s less…accessible at the moment.”
Lillian had no idea what it was, maybe his tone, maybe the words but somehow realization hit her like a sledgehammer. “You really think I did it, don’t you?” Her arms dropped, at the same as her heart did inside of her. She had to get away. She would not break down in front of him. But there was one last question she needed him to answer. “Then why are you even here? Why are we talking about this, if you’re so sure?”
The muscle in his jaw ticked. “Because your neck is one the line and so is mine, if you indeed have gone rogue. I don’t want to be right.”
Fuck. That hurt.
He was here to save his own ass, not because he believed her to be innocent. No, to save his own goddamn ass. How could she have been so wrong about him? She felt like being torn apart. On one hand she just wanted to throw her arms around him to make sure she hadn’t gone off the deep end and was imagining things, was imagining him. And on the other she wanted to throttle him, or punch some sense into him. Two years ago he would have believed her without a second thought. Although, who knew, she could be wrong - like she was now.
As tears threatened it was better to let the anger boil inside of her so she wouldn’t feel the pain as much. Turning on her heel, she marched away from him and into the house, the door slamming shut behind her with a satisfying boom.
Raz’s eyes stayed on Lillian as if his life depended on it, and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. After the door slammed shut behind her he felt it, like a warm breeze caressing his skin, when she destroyed the line of blood and bone dust that kept him from entering.
A chuckle sounded beside him and his head snapped round. He hadn’t even noticed his brother’s arrival. Maion’s eyes were on the door as well, but he was grinning from ear to ear like a fool.
Raz mood darkened even more. “What the hell are you smiling at?”
His brother wiggled his eyebrows. “Teasing is a sign of affection they say. Wonder whether slamming doors in your face counts as well.”
Raz sighed. He really didn’t have the right set of mind to deal with his brother. Not when Lillian was all he could think about.
She made him feel so much. He wasn’t able to grasp it all, to even name the emotions. It was a contradicting, churning and hurting mess inside of him. If that’s what humans felt like all the time, it was a goddamn miracle they were functioning at all. When he’d first seen her during the fight in the bayou, it had been like a punch to the gut.
He shook his head. So many human expressions that he finally understood. The sight of her had knocked the breath right out of him, replaced by an unbearable pressure inside his chest.
God, the way she had looked back in the bayou. Her body had changed and yet it was still the same, lithe and powerful and yet soft in all the right places. Tempting. Her movements were a well-practiced symphony of energy. And, oh, her proud stance as they came face to face for the first time. He closed his eyes but couldn’t erase the image of her fiery gaze that couldn’t hide the pain he once again had inflicted. All of him wanted to believe in her innocence more than anything, but so much evidence spoke against her.
Still, he wanted nothing more than to kiss that angry mouth, wanted to feel that heat she so easily threw at him, turn it from anger into something even hotter. Raz closed his eyes as the memory of warm lips flooded him. Only one kiss, yet it had turned out to be his greatest treasure.
Not even Maion’s voice could cool him down when it finally registered. “Please, tell me you don’t believe she did it.”
Of course he didn’t. “I have to look at the facts.” But most of all the motives, he thought. Then the ringing started. “I have to go. See you later.”
That damn white office was the last place he wanted to be right now, but the angel wouldn’t be too happy about being ignored.
Micah was just hanging up the phone before motioning towards a chair. “Thank you for coming, Raziel. How is it going with the Ivory?”
Raz sat down, only to placate Micah and his sense of superiority. “Not as expected. She readily admitted to having fought the angel, but not killing him, and only because he attacked her in the first place.”
Micah leaned back in his seat as if surprised, however the emotion came across as too practiced to be true. “Huh. Any evidence supporting her claim?”
“So far, no.”
“That’s a shame.” Micah stood, coming around his desk to place a hip slightly on it before leaning forward. “I know this is hard on you. You trained her and expected much better, but… there’s only so much we can do. There’s no need for you to feel bad about this, to feel as if this is your responsibility. You’re on the brink Raziel, have been for quite some time and beating yourself up over this…isn’t helping.” Micah reached out to pat his shoulder with his hand and Raz had to fight the urge to brush it away. “Don’t wait too long, for your sake. You know what you have to do.”
Another pat and the angel stood again.
Dismissed. Micah didn’t even have to say it, the word was as plain as day in his whole bearing and especially his eyes.
Raz, not needed to be asked twice, got up and flew away.
When Maion had to
ld him that the equivalent of a human death warrant had been put out for Lillian, Raz had come to Micah and asked for a few days to investigate the matter, claiming that he wanted to find out whether it was evil’s corrupting influence or a flaw in his training that had led to the unfortunate incident, before he would do the deed himself.
Though in truth, Raz simply wanted to find out what the hell was going on.
Considering that Micah had obviously already given up on Lillian, Raz guessed he had only a couple of days to prove she wasn’t a renegade Ivory in need to be put down.
TWENTY
Lillian needed to forget, and what better way to oblivion than through a bottle of tequila? After the day she had had she figured she had earned the right to just let go – at least for the rest of the night.
When Maion had showed up telling her that Raz had been summoned, it was like a déjà vu – the bad kind. Down the bottomless pit her heart fell, just like two years ago, since she was sure she would never see him again. She was sure he had once again disappeared from her life without so much as a good bye.
Sam’s guard had come over, much to Abby’s delight, and people filled every spot in their living room. The walls were raw and cracked, the wallpaper none existent, but at least the angels or whoever had installed a new, comfy couch. Those who didn’t win a spot on it sat on the floor around the coffee table, on which bottles of wine and beer mixed as if having their own party. Music, a mix of good old rock and new, pulsed through the house and their veins. In short, it was perfect.
Or it should have been.
But she needed that sweet oblivion now rather than later and the wine would take too damn long. She was well on her way to being tipsy but there was still too much in her head she really didn’t want to think about.
“Time for shots,” Lillian called out as she came back into the room and held up two bottles of tequila in one hand and a bowl of lime wedges in the other.
Sam almost groaned with pain, “Oh no, count me out. The last time I couldn’t get up the next day.”
The others laughed and yet Sam’s guys declined as well.
Ivory Guard Page 17
