Ivory Guard (10 page)

“Oh, come on.
”

“
You have to tell us. It can’t be that bad.”

When they kept insisting she
threw up her hands. “Okay, okay. Calm down, Jeez.” A laugh escaped her and she took another sip of beer, in part to calm her sudden nerves at the memories flooding her and in another to win more time. She would change her story, keep it short and harmless. “Okay. I came home one afternoon to find my mother in our living room with Raz. Wings, gloriole and all. My mother was chatting with an angel as if she did it every day.” She frowned. “Well…maybe she did. Who the hell knows, right?”

She hadn’t meant to tell them. Had meant for them to have at least this one, first night of laughter and company
, but the memories were stronger. Slowly the sadness crept into her voice and with it the truth.

“
Actually, there was another angel with him. Amber. She was beautiful and funny. I called her later that evening to get more answers.” Lillian’s eyes drifted to the windows, to the night and darkness beyond. A soft smile touched her lips. “She wore flip-flops. We talked, about the whole Ivory thing, about what was expected of us, what our life would look like. We planned for them, for Raz and her, to come and get me that same night since I had decided against a teary goodbye. But that didn’t pan out. Demons attacked our house, my parents. And in order to save us, Amber sacrificed herself.” Her fingers picked at the damp label of her beer. “She got killed right there before my eyes. Then Raz came in and…” Her gaze locked with his, the smoky gray of them her anchor, “…here we are.”

The room was silent around her.

Later that night Lillian lay in her sleeping bag, staring up at the flaky ceiling through the tarry darkness of the room that was barely touched by the sliver of a moon high in the sky. She shouldn’t have told her story. It had ruined the mood, to say the least. But she especially hated the fact that afterwards she had taken comfort, had gotten lost in a pair of silver eyes.

She didn’t want to think about what had happened
back at the golf club but the images flooded her mind no matter what, all her senses begging for another taste of him even though he had cut her so swift and so deep. Anger rose just as fast. He was the one who had started the kiss and s
he
should keep her head in the game? Irritated she flopped onto her side and punched the sweater that served as her pillow, as if the fitful motion could shake her thoughts out of her head. Oh, she would show him how she could keep her head in the game alright.

She lifted her gaze to Abby’s, eager to distract her from sadness and about to tell her all about the angel that was keeping her mind prisoner, only to find her friend already asleep.

When they had silently crawled into their bags facing each other, Lillian didn’t know what to say at first to relieve the pressure rising in the room. But a look at Abby and she knew it wasn’t tension rising but a bond starting to form between them. Abby hadn’t said a word; no empty I’m-sorry or other platitude, and that meant more to Lillian than she could ever say. Abby didn’t need words, since it was all in those big eyes of hers filled with compassion and the flicker of pain that said she
knew
. Exchanging sad, soft smiles they both knew that someday they might talk about it, but this night it was too soon. This night the silent glimpse of bared souls was enough to encourage the budding friendship between them.

Taking comfort i
n that promise Lillian finally pushed all thoughts away and closed her eyes as well.

ELEVEN

Raz watched as the four Ivorys fought in simulated battle against each other.

They all
had become stronger, faster and sharper during the last two weeks. Without being bossy or arrogant about it Lillian had shaped her position as their leader and protector; slowly and subtle, for instance during training sessions such as this one when she pointed out a weak point to Matt. Even though she still needed to learn as well, she often stood beside him in front of her team to instruct. He had to admit he liked that; he respected and admired her for her strength – in body and mind. She was capable and responsible and most of all she just wouldn’t break down. Whatever problem his superiors and he threw her way, she braved them all, growing with each test.

However,
even though they trained together… he missed her. She seemed so far away, out of reach now. She behaved differently with him, and Raz figured he was victim to what human men called the silent treatment. The snarky remarks and wit he had come to enjoy – she had refused him any of that since their kiss. God, he shouldn’t remember that kiss, especially when her lovely body was right there in front of him. Hidden only in sweatpants shorts and sports bra, due to the sun burning down on them as if it was some kind of competition, it didn’t leave a lot to imagination. Her dark, silky mane was up in a bun, leaving her neck bare and tempting his eyes to roam where his mouth had been. He remembered the feeling of her soft curves beneath him, her warm vanilla scent that teased him mercilessly. Her tongue. He nearly growled.

Joshua
was talking to him, he suddenly realized. Shit. He had to get a grip. An angel wasn’t supposed to wallow in sweet memories and an angel most definitely wasn’t supposed to fantasize about his trainee’s luscious body, no matter how enticing. It was expected of him to be immune to such earthly desires.

Raz
cleared his throat and hoped to look his usual dark and daunting self, with arms crossed over his chest, and not like the drooling idiot he felt, since he was supposed to observe their skills – and not the one girl he couldn’t get out of his mind and who was frowning at him now.

“
Sorry, what did you say?”

“
Lillian keeps correcting my uppercut. Is it really that bad?”

Raz suspected the boy had grown up with a lot of fatherly and dumb talk about male pride and prowess, which was probably the reason why he didn’t care for taking orders from a woman.
Joshua would have to get used to it, especially when it ended with him improving his otherwise damn good technique.

“No, not on its
elf, but you keep forgetting your other arm and that’s bad.”

“Oh.
Right. Thanks, man.”

He nodded,
then took in the whole group. “Now, let’s see what you can do as a team against me.”

The words had barely registered with them when h
e willed his wings to life and summoned his sword – sans flames for now – and faced the four of them. A wink and quick smile was all the warning they got and then he was on them.

It was as he expected.

Joshua nudged the others aside, and not to get the others out of harm’s way, but in a macho wanna-be alpha male move that solely served to put him first. Pecking order - it was clear it was quickly becoming an issue they would have to work on not only outside of a fight but during one. And fast, or otherwise they all would be dead very soon. That one dumb move disturbed the whole group’s motivation and energy in a way that the others were frowning at Joshua and not the fake enemy with the big-ass sword in hand. Fatal mistake!

Raz dropped his weapon, moving out of his fighting stance, and scowled at the boy.
He really started to get on his nerves. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? This is a team. And you aren’t the leader, Lillian is. If one decides to step forward in a fight, it’s her, not you. If one wants to engage first, it’s her, not you. Think you can squeeze that in your thick skull before you get the lot of you killed?”

Embarrassment at being this openly reprimanded made Joshua’s face darken. Inside
, his kicked male pride was fuming. Arms crossed over his chest, feet apart, he stood before the rest of his team not once glancing at them. “What makes her so special anyway? Why is she the leader? Who got to make that decision?”

Lillian stepped forward, opening her mouth to say something
, but Raz cut in, “What do you say, we show them why you’re their leader?”

The words were out of his mouth before he could think too hard about them, but he had no problem living up to them. Quite the contrary, Raz suddenly realized. He was sick of her silent treatment and maybe this was exactly what both of them needed.
And what her team needed.

Yeah, he really liked this idea more and more. His eyes glinted with the thrill of anticipation and his voice was a bit darker than he wanted it to be. “Or are you too chicken, stargazer?”

He looked expectantly at Lillian.

Lillian watched Raz,
noticing the challenging gleam in his storm gray eyes. She understood his reason, at least part of it. The way Joshua was sticking to his cave-men views was becoming more and more of a problem, she knew that and was trying to find a solution for it. Though whether fighting Raz would be it, she wasn’t so sure. She probably would have to kick his ass to get a spark of respect out of Joshua – and Raz better not hold back or otherwise it was all for nothing.

The thing was
…she had no idea why she was the leader either but somehow had quickly come to terms with it. It wasn’t something she considered to be a choice. Others needed her, depended on her, and so she would be there for them. They needed her to lead, then that’s what she would do. To her it was as simple as that.

Now h
er instincts were telling her that this wasn’t a good idea, to let it drop and to just continue to spar with her team. But the woman in her wanted to punch the arrogant angel’s all-too-beautiful face and welcomed this opportunity. For the last three weeks they had tried to avoid each other, though truth be told, circling each other was more like it. She was still furious at him about the kiss. About his rejection. It hurt her heart - and yes, her pride hadn’t been too happy about it either. And yet, he drew her, like a moth to a flame.

The woman in her won.

“Me, too chicken? Never.” She moved forward to face him in the yard. Knowing this fight was not only about skill but also a lot of show, she summoned her wings and her sword as well.

A saccharine smile on her lips, she baited,
“Bring it on cherub.”

His eyes flashed.
You did
not
just call me that.

She winked back at him.
Oh yes, I did.

He attacked.

She held her ground, met him blow for blow, parried or retreated when necessary, until pride sparked in Raz’s eyes. They pushed themselves and the other, and enjoyed every second of it as the world and audience around them ceased to exist. Their swords sang of what neither had wanted to confess or face, sang of wounded pride and feelings, desire that shouldn’t burn.

Then b
lood flowed, and reality returned. She had cut him along his thigh but it didn’t seem to faze him.

Raz
straightened and motioned for Joshua to join them. “The two of you against me.”

Raz upped the stakes. His movements a fast and hot whirl as he covered his sword in flames. Naturally Joshua, two daggers in hand, tried to dominate the fight, focusing hard on Raz and not on the one person who stood by his side. Lillian grit
ted her teeth and simply let her sword speak.

But apparently that wasn’t aggressive enough a
tactic for Raz – or Joshua had really gotten on his nerves. His eyes glowed with barely checked fury as he engaged Joshua in a swirl of metal that the Ivory wasn’t able to follow.

Time stopped as Lillian watched Joshua stumble, losing his balance, and suddenly a blow that could have been easily parried turned into something lethal. Eager to cut him in two t
he flaming blade was heading for Joshua who seemed to have stopped moving. Without thinking Lillian threw herself into the path blocking the sword only after it got a bite out of her. It could have done much worse damage, but Raz stopped the lethal downward blow just in time with a control that was as incredible as it was frightening.

Swords disappeared, t
he fight stopped and except for their heavy breathing, silence reigned. Then Matt and Abby were at their sides, eyes wide.

Lillian
examined her upper arm, where blood welled quickly. Damn, a simple band-aid wouldn’t do it this time.

She turned to give Joshua a hand
since he had fallen on his ass and noticed that his eyes held the glassy hint of shock. When she opened her mouth to speak she was once again cut off by Raz. In a blink her blood boiled, her eyes shooting daggers at him.

But
Raz was too busy leaning closer and locking gazes with Joshua to notice, his eyes almost glinting silver with intensity. “To answer your questions. She’s the leader because she learns fast, isn’t afraid to face her fears and surpasses herself. She’s even willing to sacrifice herself for a jerk like you. But most of all because she keeps a clear head, no matter the situation, and I can guarantee you that will save your ass more than once.”

Lillian motioned for Matt and Abby to bring Joshua inside, which left her alone with Raz to clean up their training equipment. When she bent to retrieve the weapons the others had used,
Raz ‘s big hand wound around her arm, sending an unwanted shiver up her skin.

“Leave it. We need to have a look at the cut.”

The bleeding had slowed but not stopped, so Lillian didn’t protest when Raz led her to the porch and made her sit down on the steps.

After a quick dash inside
, he returned with a first-aid kit and settled down beside her, his eyes focused and concentrated. His mouth was a hard line, which didn’t even make him any less attractive and gave him a more dangerous edge instead – as if he needed it.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

She was still fuming inside, so she clipped. “I know.” After she expelled a big lungful of breath that did nothing to ease her pent-up anger, she demanded, “What the hell was that?”

“
It was a simple attack, easy to block, if the guy hadn’t stumbled.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Gray eyes flicked to hers as he frowned.

She gritted her teeth as h
is gentle, capable hands cleansed her wound and concentrated on the acrid scent of chemicals that hit her nose. “Like you said, I’m the leader so why didn’t you let me handle this situation instead of overriding me at every turn?”

Storm clouds churned in the gray.
“Because that boy needed more than words today. Because those obviously didn’t get through to him. He needed a lesson and he got one.”

His fingers were butterflies. Warm, feathery touches dancing across her skin, and she clenched her fist, her nails biting into the flesh of her palm, to
ignore the effect his touch had on her and to keep a grip on her anger and herself. “Oh really? I’m surprised since usually your words are as sharp as your sword.”

His
low, deep timbre of a voice whispered over her. “We still talking about the training, stargazer?”

They both very well knew she wasn’t and so she saw no
point in answering. The air sparked as they stared at each other, heating the few inches separating them. His gaze dropped to her mouth. She shivered. And it made her furious.

Her eyes narrowed and in a deadpan tone she remarked, “
Mixed signals, much?”

Like that the heat
of desire and anticipation snapped, transforming into sizzling anger laced with awareness which was a lot less confusing to handle.

Raz focused on bandaging her wound. “Ever wondered about my wings?”

“Your wings?”

“Amber’s and even
Maion’s are blindingly white, mine not. Ever asked yourself why?”

“Of course.
” Hesitating slightly she continued, “Most stories say darkened wings indicate…the Fallen. But…obviously you aren’t one of them or they wouldn’t let you train us, right?” Lillian searched his eyes.

His hands dropped away
from her arm after one last brush, and he stood tucking his hands into his pockets. A line of worry formed between his eyes and a muscle ticked in his strong jaw. “Mysteries, knowledge and secrets…aren’t always pretty, happy things, so most of the gray is a simple side effect of my, let’s call it angelic specialty, but it also means that I’m standing much closer to the edge than others.”

“And what makes an angel fall of that edge?”

He looked directly at her, his gaze intense and piercing. “Emotions. They can pull you down or give you wings, they can make you win against the odds. Emotions can be your strongest motivation and change everything, whereas for angels most of them mean their downfall. We aren’t supposed to feel more than a fleeting compassion for humans…and Ivorys.”