Ivory Guard (26 page)

“Nothing to worry about.
Going to be fine.”

She was afraid to ask, her heart already dreading the answer. “Why didn’t you go to heaven to heal?”

His eyes told her all she needed to know. “I can’t.”

There it was. What they had feared all along. He was banned from heaven, because of their love.

Lillian swallowed and had to bite her lip to  keep her tears from falling. Raz, knowing her all too well, brought her face to his. His kiss was gentle, a reminder of promises made. “Heaven is with you. Don’t forget that.”

Nodding Lillian tried to be strong, for him, for them.

Looking around she found her friends in various positions sitting or lying on the grass much like Raz did. “And you guys?”

“Same here.
Just scratches,” Matt assured her with a smile.

Joshua shook his head.
“Can’t believe we survived it.”

“Neither can
I, to be honest.”

All their heads snapped towards the unfamiliar voice.

“What’s the kid doing here?” Abby asked and even more frowns and worried glances got thrown around.

Matt looked at her as if she had gone crazy. “What kid? I only see an old man.”

Okay. “Apparently we all see something different.”

U
ntangling herself from Raz who had tensed up beneath her, Lillian got up, never taking her eyes off the young man leaning against a tree, arms crossed over his chest while he watched them.

There was something
eerily familiar about him and curiosity flared, nagging her mind to come up with an answer. Narrowing her eyes at the stranger, Lillian asked, “Who are you?”

He shrugged
. “Most people call me God.”

Yeah, well. The silence that echoed was long.

Lillian had to try twice to get her voice going again. “God?”

The guy pushed away from the tree and walked over, his hands in his pockets, as if it was just another stroll in the park
. His tousled brown hair got caught in the breeze and green eyes twinkled with something close to mischief. “The very one.”

“You don’t seem particularly angry about…,you know,” Lillian motioned towards
the spot on the soft grass where Micah’s body was now nothing but drops of dew sparkling in the sun. “How come?”

“
Because he was lost and needed to be taken care of.”

A good dose of irritation joined her confusion, as she frowned. “Then why didn’t
you
take care of him?”

“I wanted to see whether you could do it.”

Raz didn’t look much happier than she felt as his eyes darkened. “She could have died. They all could have.”

“
Oh, I know.” The man who was God shrugged. “But amazingly enough they didn’t.”

Was it just her or was this guy incredibly callous?

She had never believed in God, even as an Ivory, which should seem ridiculous but was the simple truth. What she did believe in was…goodness, the kindness of the heart. Seeing that heaven and God, the one place that should have those qualities in abandon, had little of it, was another kick to the gut.

“What will happen to us
now? You here to punish us for what we did?” Already imagining the worst, Lillian continued, “If so, then I want one thing to be very clear, my guard had nothing to do with this and were only used by...”

God held up a hand to stop her flood of words. “Jeez, calm down.
I won’t kill any of you. You destroyed the rule book. My map.” And then he flashed them an eager smile, like a kid right before unwrapping his gifts. “Now, we improvise.”

“Improvise?” Lillian knew she sounded like a parrot but her brain had quite some trouble catching up, not to mention grasping the fact that she was face to face with God.

“Worlds change, games change, rules change. Change is everything. It’s evolution. The humans unconsciously know that perfectly well. Look at today’s society, what was once unacceptable is now ordinary.”

Abby took a step forward, frowning and fists clenched at her sides and Lillian knew in that heart a world was tumbling apart.
“So that’s what this is to you, a game?”

“Don’t
get your panties in a bunch, Ivory.” God chuckled to himself, eyes laughing. “Always wanted to say that one. Modern human language is so…visually fascinating, don’t you think?”

Those green eyes.
Where the hell had she seen him before? It took Lillian a moment to place his face, but when it finally clicked, she was even more confused than before.

He was the one from the bar, the
cute guy who had asked about her car and then came out when the angel was about to kill her in the parking lot.

“You’re him.
The guy from the bar, who saved my life.” A crease forming between her brows, Lillian cocked her head, curious and at a loss at the same time. “Was that you? Did you save me? Are you him? Or do you just appear to be him?”

“Good q
uestion.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her and a grin that could easily be called mischievous tugged at his lips. “Quite a maddening one as well, isn’t it? Like the chicken or egg thing.”

Yeah right, totally comparable.
Not.

The guy she had glimpsed at the bar had seemed cute and likeable, everything God was not. She really didn’t care for
this guy and wondered what his counterpart would be like. Come to think of it.
“Does Satan know about the coming change of rules?”

“He will notice soon enough.”

It dawned on her then. “He was a change as well, wasn’t he? You made or allowed Lucifer to fall.”

“Without competition there’s no innovation.”

“So basically you’re saying you were bored.”

God shrugged, moving his ha
nds in a what-can-I-say gesture, and for a moment Lillian was simply speechless – and utterly disappointed.

Raz cleared his throat
, drawing God’s attention. “The angel of the divine plan injured the angel of self-discipline when he went after this guard and broke into their safe house.”

For the first time God seemed
almost serious as he spoke, “I know. He’s already been taken to heaven to heal.”

“Good.” Raz nodded his thanks
but it didn’t mean he would forget the matter at hand. “So…if this is a new game, who will set the rules?”

“Ah!”
God beamed at them and moved like a zealous teacher before a class, eyes alight with possibilities. “Now we get to the heart of it. You want to have a say in the matter, or you wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.”

Lillian took a deep breath. This was it.
“How about reforming this whole heaven and hell thing?”

“
Ha. Now, I know why Micah wanted you out of the way. You’re going directly for the heart of a system that has been working for…well, ever.”

“But it isn’t working properly regarding souls.”

“Oh, let me guess. You want to save his.” God tipped his head towards Raz.

“Among others.”

“Elaborate.”

“Innocent souls.
Ebonys and demons who are defined by
what
they are and not
who
they are.”

“Hmmm.
I understand what you’re saying. You want people judged by their actions not their birth.”

“Exactly.”

God had dropped the smile and was moving in closer like a panther now. “Well, then why shouldn’t I judge him by his actions, and you for that matter? You corrupted and tempted him and he succumbed to lust.”

If he thought she would be intimidated, he had another thing coming.
“Yeah. That’s something else I wanted to talk about. You really need to get off that whole lust and sin thing and make a bit of room for something called love. Sex is not always corrupt and bad. With the right person it’s good, more than good. It’s not only two bodies coming together, it’s two souls finding each other and embracing one another in a way that’s …honestly, much better than anything heaven could ever offer.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes. You should try it some time.”

God
’s green eyes were hard as they searched hers in a way that made Lillian clench her fists. That stare was a painful pressure on her chest, a living thing roaming through her heart and soul and leaving no stone unturned, no secret hidden. As soon as it was gone Lillian sucked in a breath of air as if she had been drowning.

H
e shook his head, a grin tugging at his lips once more. “You really are quite something else.”  God took a step away, his demeanor back to being the professor. “I can live with those changes. Under one condition.”

Oh
oh. Resisting the urge to rub a hand over her chest, Lillian feared the worst as his smile spread and almost dreaded to ask, “Which is?”

“Satan has to agree.”

Well. Shit. She certainly hadn’t seen that one coming.

TWENTY-SEVEN

“I’ve really had enough of that today,” Lillian announced
tiredly as soon as their feet touched ground in the safe house her guard currently used.

Given what she had been through Raz had wanted to get her home as fast as possible while the others were taking the car and would soon be here as well.

He chuckled. “Soon you’ll be able to fly on your own and it’ll be less disorientating.”

Dropping
a soft kiss on her temple he tugged her towards the bathroom where he reached into the shower stall to turn on the hot water as soon as he closed the door behind them.

Tenderness flooded him as he looked at her and Raz had to swallow as his mind flashed back to that moment in the kitchen. It seemed like an eternity but only this morning had Micah come and taken her away from him.
His woman, his love.

“You were amazing today. But c
an you promise me something?” His voice was low and deep.

“What?”

“Never scare me like that again. And please, never,
ever
scream that you love me at the top of your lungs right before someone who wants you dead takes you away from me to kill you.”

Her head snapped up, her eyes and mouth wide as red crept up her cheeks. “I said that out loud?”

When she looked down and tried to hide behind the small curtain of her hair, he tugged a finger beneath her chin to make her look at him. He hoped his eyes did a better job at telling her the truth than his words ever would. “I love you.”

Her
radiant smile was echoed by incredible warmth exploding inside his chest. “I love you, too.”

Bending down, his lips
brushed her temple, and then the corner of a teary eye. “I love what you said earlier. I love how you stood up to God without batting a lash.”

“I nearly pissed my pants. I don’t like him very much.”

Although they stood so close they could feel each other’s heat his mouth was the only part touching her, teasing her ear, her jaw. “Me neither.”

“He could have swatted me like a fly.”

“And yet you didn’t back down, seeing him for what he is. A bored God.” He placed a hand between her breasts, feeling her heart pound against his palm as the beat echoed in his blood. “That’s something else I love and admire about you. Your heart and courage. You follow your heart without questions asked or excuses made. Wherever it leads, you go, maybe frightened but never ashamed. Do you have any idea how rare that is? You follow your heart. Becoming an Ivory, helping Becca, tempting me.” His eyes found hers. “Loving me.”

Finally
his lips captured hers fully and he let his tongue play with her mouth and then used his teeth until she moaned while his hands caressed the length of her arms, taking her hands in his to put them above her head. He gave her arms a gentle squeeze to make sure she would keep them there before he gripped the hem of her shirt and raised it. Her clothes were basically ruined, torn and caked with dirt and blood, and landed on the floor with a heavy thump.

Her eyes sh
owed the fatigue and exhaustion that had her swaying softly against him but awakened with love and lazy desire the moment her hands joined in the game and started to strip him in turn, revealing inch after inch of bare skin and igniting it everywhere their bodies touched.

When he moved her towards the shower Lillian caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror
and the look she made didn’t sit well with him.

“What’s wrong?”

Biting her lovely lips that were swollen from his kiss she sighed with a little shrug of her shoulders. “It’s just…at the rate I’m going I’ll have more scar tissue than skin in no time.”

Raz moved behind her,
his gaze searching hers in the mirror and capturing her eyes with his heat as he dropped his head so his lips grazed her ear, making her shudder in his arms. His voice was raw with emotion and husky with want. “You know what they say about scars.”

“What?”
             

“They are sexy.
” His glinting eyes and then his fingers lovingly, reverently, traced every scar on her body until her eyes darkened. “They are the fights you fought and survived. They are a testimony of a life not only lived but battled for.” Her clavicle, her shoulder, beneath her breast and then along the curve of her ribcage and down to her thigh. His hand moved higher and she sucked in a breath. “I love every inch of your body.”

“How long do you think until the others will be here?”

“Not nearly long enough for what I have in mind.” His roguish grin turned wistful. “As much as I really like the idea of taking you in a shower, I’m sorry to say that it’ll have to wait. Though not for long, fair warning.”

He loved hearing her giggle as he pulled her underneath the hot spray.

Lillian had just pulled out all she needed for the dinner she had in mind while Raz watched her from the table, when the others arrived and spilled into the kitchen.

Since her body felt as if years had passed since Micah had taken her from Ireland, she had been surprised to realize it was only nearing noon after they had showered. Although that s
hower wasn’t as thorough as the two of them would have liked it to be, it had been incredibly relaxing and invigorating at the same time.

The sun was high in the sky and spilled in through the window, bringing a mild breeze with it that her Montana bones found utterly ridiculous for that time of year. After the ordeal of being held hostage by a mad angel and a long drive home, Lillian thought it only fair to take care of
her friends.

A look
at them, their heads and hearts low, only confirmed her resolve. They definitely needed some cheering up and Lillian hoped that a hot meal and letting them in on her plan would go a long way.

Before she could say anything Abby dumped her coat on the back of a chair and
slipped out of her shoes before padding over to her. Without a word she started to chop an onion, apparently wanting to try out Lillian’s way of coping. Knowing that Abby had believed in a good and just God all her life, Lillian could only imagine what went on in her friends head. For a while the two of them simply found solace in each other’s company while the guys grabbed a beer to stare at and slumped into the chairs around the table.

“What the hell are we supposed to do now?”

When Joshua’s voice rang through the room, touched with a hint of something that came a little too close to resignation for her comfort, Lillian stopped what she was doing and turned so she could face them all.

“
Okay, guys this can’t go on like this. Enough of the doom and gloom. To answer your question Joshua. Our job, that’s what we’ll do.”

Her eyes met the gaze of each one of them.
“Sure, some things have changed, but not all. Souls still need to be saved. Now even more so than ever before. We’ll help those who need it, be it human, Ivory or demon. We will do what we are supposed to do, what we were born to do. Yes, we’ve been fooled and yes, we’ve stumbled through darkness for the last two years, but now that the light is turned on we’ll get used to it and move on. However, we’ll be more careful, and less rash in our decisions and actions. Most of all, we’ll be the boss of us. No one else.”

Matt frowned at her. “But you heard him. Without L
ucifer’s go ahead we probably can just go and kill ourselves now.”

Lillian rolled her eyes at them. “Oh
, stop being so melodramatic, Matt. He wants Satan’s consent, then we’ll get it.”

Matt threw
up his arms, confused. “And how do you suggest we do that? As far as I can remember, we can’t just walk into hell and ask him.”

“True.”

Abby narrowed her eyes at Lillian, cocking her head to the side and putting a hand on her hip, and Lillian was glad to see that curiosity had won out over the obvious feeling of being lost. “What are you up to?”

A slow, sly grin spread across her lips as she quickly glanced at Raz.
He winked back at her before she faced her guard. “Ivorys can’t walk into hell, but someone else we know just might.”

Realization dawned
and the spark of hope in their eyes was like magic to Lillian.

“
Becca,” Abby whispered.

“Exactly.
So how about you guys get cleaned up, then we’ll eat and get some rest. And tomorrow we’ll head back to New Orleans.”