Ivory Guard (16 page)

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 h
er eyes on the road Lillian shrugged. “Don’t know.”

“Hm
m.”

“Hm
m? 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.

Suddenly a hand clamped down on her shoulder whirling her around so hard and fast
it knocked her to the ground. Her shoulder hit the concrete, rattling her teeth.

What the hell?

Looking up all she saw was a dark blur and then the flash of silky…feathers? No time to think, instinct made her roll away to the side. A shade kissed the ground where only moments before she had been. Another glance and she finally saw her attacker.

Her eyes followed the writhing shadow
blade and moved up to a hand wearing some kind of glove that looked like an oven mitten threaded with metal wire. Up the arm. She gasped.

An angel.
A freaking angel with giant black wings was attacking her.

Lillian scrambled to her
feet, moving backwards and away from him. She couldn’t see his face which was hidden under his hoodie and the sparse lightning of the parking lot was, unfortunately for her, only offering him even more darkness to hide behind.

He turned
and stalked towards her. Maybe he didn’t realize what she was.

In the blink of an eye her ivory wings spread from her back.

He kept coming.

Okay. Not good.

Her heart thundered in her chest.
Keeping an eye on the shade, Lillian grasped for control. Think. Think. Questions flooded her mind. “Why are you attacking me?”

He didn’t answer.

“I’m an Ivory. I’m on your side.”

Or maybe not.
Was he a Fallen? But they stayed mostly out of the eternal battle, enjoying the life or whatever they gave up heaven for.

No reaction. More stalking, coming closer.

She was running out of parking lot at her back. Shit. Come on, talk to me, she willed him. “Why do you want to kill me?”

There was
really no doubt about his intentions, not when he was walking around with a freaking shade in his hand.

As if
he had come to the same conclusion or was getting bored, he moved in a flash.

What happened next was one of those slow motion moments that either ended up burned forever into memory or becoming such a blur one would always know what happened but not
be able to really grasp it. However, Lillian wondered whether she would even live to find out which one it was going to be for her.

One second the angel was a couple of feet away and the next he was moving, flashing really. In a desperate, last-ditch effort to get some space between them Lillian flapped her wings. Usually they would give her jump a boost, a sudden edge, but this time? She flew.
Only briefly, only a couple of feet above the ground. And yet she immediately felt the difference. Whether it was fear or shock or just her brain telling her it should be impossible…she suddenly dropped back to the ground.

Instantly summoning
her sword, flame and all, Lillian parried just in time. Shade and flame licked at each other, before Lillian broke away. Damn, he was strong. She cleared her mind, focusing on her opponent and willing herself to see only him, and to find his weaknesses. She believed that her state of mind often made the difference between failure and victory, and so Lillian stored the whys and the hows away for later, forgot that she had never fought an angel to the death before, but concentrated solely on the fight. The here and now. Everything else faded away.

Their swords clashed. Strike, strike, block and parry. Lillian felt her muscles relax into the old, familiar warmth and rhythm. A figure eight move cut him, but not deep enough as he moved away in time.

Like a beast awakened he came at her, moving so fast, Lillian had to grit her teeth as she tried to keep up with him. She was so focused on his blurring moves, that she didn’t pay attention
to the curbstone, which she knew was only a few feet away, until it was too late.

Her foot hit it
, and under the angel’s onslaught she once again lost her balance. Fighting instinct she kept her right hand - and therefore her sword - right where it belonged, protecting her front while she blindly moved her left arm behind in an attempt to control her fall.

It was useless. The damn angel sneaked past her guard anyway and nicked her side as she fell. H
er tailbone flared hot with pain the moment she hit the ground, but it was nothing compared to her other wound.