“You’re like, two thousand years older than her. You’re taking ‘robbing the cradle’ to a whole new level, man.”
“Not exactly two thousand years,” I mumbled.
“I told you what you have to do.”
“Kill her?” I shook my head. “I could never hurt her. Never.”
“Well then, you better learn to accept your fate, buddy. Start following the rules unless you want to be schlepping drinks, dressed like a Wookiee until the sun explodes.”
We laughed then, full belly laughs until tears were pouring from my eyes. I imitated a Wookiee sound.
“Good, you’re practicing. Now show me that flip,” Zack said.
I looked at my watch; we only had about five minutes left. We were both pretty drunk, and I was not in any shape to be doing aerobatic stunts. I stood anyway, set my wings out wide, and flew straight up. I arched my back, flipped, and a second later, everything was black.
I WOKE UP trying to figure out if the whole night had been a drug-induced dream. “Lucian,” I whispered, and there was nothing. Someone had to have drugged me.
It was a Saturday. I had planned to go for a run then work on a few designs for Tracey’s stupid denim line. Before I left, I peeked into Brooklyn’s mess of a room and spotted her lying on her stomach on top of a pile of dirty clothes strewn across her bed. She was sound asleep and drooling, and her room smelled faintly of bad breath and old pizza. I smiled.
After shutting the door quietly, I jogged down the stairs, feeling unusually good for having been drugged the night before. I wondered if Beckett, that freak, had slipped me something or if it had all just been a vivid dream. I smiled and laughed out loud. It had to have been a dream. Having a sexy guardian angel that I wanted to get naked with was just too good to be true. Then on my way down the steps outside of my building, I stepped on him.
Yep, I stepped on my guardian angel, and he groaned. He was lying on the concrete, facedown. Someone had stuck a piece of cardboard over him as if he was a homeless person. When I pulled the cardboard away, he turned and looked up at me through squinted, swollen eyes. I gasped when I noticed his face was bruised and bloodied.
“Lucian!” I got on my knees.
“I’m okay, Evey,” he mumbled. “I drank too much and had a little collision with the side of your building.”
He sat up slowly, holding a hand to his head. When he tried to stand, he swayed to one side. I hitched an arm around his waist and led him back up the stoop.
“Come up to my apartment, and I’ll clean your face,” I said, and then something occurred to me. I looked at him pointedly. “Did you drug me last night?”
“Of course not. I made you tea… so ungrateful.” He huffed, shaking his head, and then grimaced and held his free hand to his neck.
“You’re a mess. I’m trying to understand how a celestial being with magical
powers, assigned to protect me, is a drunk who runs into the sides of buildings. This doesn’t bode well for my future.”
“Such a smartass, Evey, really. I technically flew into the side of your building, but that’s neither here nor there. Zack wanted me to show him a trick. You were sound asleep and safe. I threw caution to the wind.”
“Who is Zack? And I have a feeling you were throwing back a hell of a lot more than just caution.”
“You’re right, a bottle of whiskey—single malt Scotch to be exact—and Zack is my best friend. He’s an angel too.”
“So you guys got trashed and decided to fly into walls?”
Lucian sighed the way a person does when they’re just too tired to explain themselves. I helped him up the stairs then led him to my bedroom, hoping Brooklyn wouldn’t notice.
He sat on the edge of my bed and held his hands to his stomach. “I know I broke some ribs, but I heal fast, so don’t worry about me, okay?”
He must have seen the concern on my face. He looked messed up. His hair was going in every direction, there was dried blood on his face, and his lip was split and bleeding. I touched my thumb to his lip and wiped the blood away. He looked up at me, squinting. We were frozen for a moment, staring at each other. There was reverence in his eyes, the same as what I felt for him.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
I looked down at my thumb and watched the blood fade, like it was being absorbed into my skin.
“I’ll get a warm washcloth,” I said before scurrying off to the bathroom. In the bathroom, I stared into the mirror. Is this really happening? I shook my head, took a deep breath, and then busied myself getting a washcloth and a cup of water before returning to the room.
He took the water and smelled it. “Do you have anything stronger?”
“Really? Can’t you just zap that and turn it into wine like you did before?”
“Only wine. You-know-who stole that idea from me, by the way. But it’s complicated. I can only do it for other people.”
“Maybe you should just drink the water. It looks like you could use it.” I wiped the blood from his forehead and cheek with the cloth.
He closed his eyes. “Mmm, that feels good. Thank you.” He swallowed, looking hesitant. “I have another injury, but I don’t want to scare you.”
“What is it?”
He looked into his lap at his trembling hands, and then suddenly, swoosh… behind him, the most beautiful set of large black wings extended from the sides of his back. He squeezed his eyes closed.