A Gift of Wings (52 page)

“A job?” Lucky asked. “Are you offering me one?”

“Would you be interested in being my assistant?” He waved his hand around the room. “Obviously, I could use some organizational help. And, as you learn, you could maybe assist with research.”

“I can’t believe
you
would need a research assistant,” Lucky scoffed. “Besides, I’m not even in college.”

“If nothing else, you can cart books back and forth from the library for me.” Zeke leaned further back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “And, enrolled in a program or not, you will be my student.”

Lucky’s mouth twisted. “Yeah, I’m majoring in Fallen Studies, with an emphasis on Survival. Not exactly your standard college curriculum, is it?”

“No,” Zeke agreed. “So, what do you say? Interested? I would pay you, of course.” He named what sounded to Lucky like a fair wage, perhaps more generous than she would have expected for such work.

“Sure, I’m interested,” she said. Then, frowning, she added, “You’re not just doing this because you feel sorry for me or anything, are you? I mean, did Aidan or Kev do assistant duty?”

“They did not; their circumstances were somewhat different from yours,” Zeke admitted. “But I am not doing this because I feel sorry for you. I am offering you the job because I could use the help. I remembered you saying you were interested in ancient religions and archeology, so it seemed a good fit. You might pick up a few things by osmosis.”

“Okay, thanks,” Lucky said, satisfied with his answer. “Then I’d like to be your assistant.”

“Excellent. Can you start on Monday?” Zeke asked, rising to his not inconsiderable height.

Lucky stood up as well. “Absolutely. Was that everything you wanted to see me about?”

“Yes, you are free to go. Perhaps I shall see you later tonight?”

“Tonight?”

“At I-House,” he clarified. “I’ve never heard Aidan’s band play, so I thought I might go tonight.”

Lucky tried to ignore the ache that had started in her chest. Apparently, Aidan had invited everyone but her.

“Yeah, maybe I’ll see you there,” she said, and hurried down the hall, away from the Cherub’s perceptive gaze.

Once she was outside the OI, Lucky took her cell phone out of her pocket and double-checked to see if Aidan had tried to call or text, and she had somehow missed it. Nothing. She hesitated, her fingers hovering over the keypad. Then, with a sigh, she tucked the phone back in her pocket and headed toward home. Although she tried to think of other things—like the fact that she now had an actual paying job—she spent most of the walk worrying and wondering if she should go to see Icarus at I-House or not. She had come to no solid decision by the time she made it home.

Only the cats responded to her greeting when she entered the apartment, leaving Lucky with mixed feelings. She didn’t really want to talk to anyone—except maybe Aidan, she admitted, giving herself a mental dope slap—but she didn’t like the thought of her own company at the moment either. Tossing her jacket over the back of her chair, she flung herself onto her bed and wrapped her arms around a pillow. She wanted to cry. And she had no one to blame but herself.

When Shu jumped up on the bed and head-butted her, she supplied the requested petting and snuggling, grateful for the comfort of his soft fur against her hands. After several minutes, he wound himself into a purring ball and settled against her. She curled her body around the cat’s warmth and closed her eyes, allowing the tears that had filled them to slide down her cheek to her pillow.

CHAPTER 34

“Wake up, sleepyhead.” Josh’s voice penetrated her sleep-fogged brain. “Get a move on, or we’re going to be late.”

“Mmmm?” Lucky mumbled. Then she came fully awake as her cousin poked her in the ribs. “Good grief, Josh, what are you, six? What are we going to be late for?”

“Icarus. At I-House. If you don’t get up soon, you won’t have enough time to make yourself presentable.”

“Oh, right. I don’t know if I’m going,” she said, her voice subdued.

“Why wouldn’t you go? Everyone’s going to be there. C’mon, get dressed. You know you’ll regret it if you don’t.”

“Alright, fine,” she muttered, sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. “What time is it anyway?”

“We need to leave in half an hour.”

In the bathroom, Lucky splashed water on her face in an effort to wash away the dregs of grogginess her extended nap had left behind. She was glad Josh had forced her hand; she really did want to go. But now she had to decide what she was going to wear.

Back in her room, she searched through her closet for something appropriate and responded to Josh’s fourth reminder to hurry by yelling “You’re not helping!”

Finally, she settled on a short gray-green slip dress, topped with a little black bead-embellished cardigan she and Mo had found at a vintage resale shop. Black flats completed the outfit. With some minimal make-up and a pair of sparkly earrings, she was ready to go. She slipped the strap of her small purse over her shoulder and, grabbing her jacket from the chair she’d flung it on earlier, headed down the hall to the living room.

“Five minutes to spare,” she said.

“And me without a single gold star,” Josh responded, checking his watch. When he looked back up, his eyes settled on her necklace. “Is that your locket? You got it back?”

Lucky glanced down at the pendants. She had told Josh and Ben about the theft of the locket, but she hadn’t mentioned its return. She hadn’t been ready to do so until she had talked to Lilith. “Yeah. I’ll tell you about it on the way,” she said.

“You up for walking?”

She nodded, shrugging into her jacket as she followed Josh out the door and down the stairs.

The temperature had dropped a few degrees since she was last out, but the chill in the air was exhilarating rather than unpleasant. As they made their way south toward campus, Lucky filled Josh in on Lilith’s return of the locket and her subsequent conversation with the red-haired woman. Recounting Lilith’s denial of playing any part in the attack on him made Lucky realize just how much she had feared that her newfound grandmother had been responsible for hurting one of the people she loved most in the world. Even though she didn’t fully trust the scarlet-haired woman, she wanted to get to know her, to spend more time with her. Lilith was her grandmother after all; she would be able to help Lucky solve the mystery of her new self. But if Lilith had been involved in Josh’s attack, accepting any kind of advice or help from her would have been out of the question; Lucky would never have been able to forgive her.

Lucky shivered as she remembered her fear for her cousin. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said, sliding her arm around his waist.

He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her to his side in a quick hug. “Me too. And I have you to thank for it. I know you blame yourself,” he added when she would have protested, “but what you went through…. I’m glad you’re okay too.”

They joined the crowd streaming into I-House and made their way to the ballroom where the band was playing. Lucky saw Aidan as soon as they walked into the room. He was impossible to miss, with his golden blond hair glinting in the light where he stood adjusting a microphone. As if aware of her regard, he looked up and stilled, his eyes locking on hers. For several seconds, Lucky was conscious of nothing but the intense blue of his eyes. Then another band member called for his assistance, and he looked away. At the same time, Josh tugged on her arm, urging her toward the raised platform that served as a stage.

Tables were arranged on each side of the front of the room with the rest of the room left open to serve as a dance floor. As they neared the stage, Lucky recognized Mo’s messy blonde waves at a table nearby. She was standing, her back to Lucky, talking to someone seated next to her. Mo turned as Lucky and Josh approached, and Lucky smiled at both Mo and her companion, a tall, wheat-haired Cherub, who looked a little out of his element.

“Oh, good, you’re here!” Mo said, giving Lucky and Josh quick hugs. She looked radiant in a slim-fitting fuchsia pink dress and black boots, a skinny silver scarf serving as necklace.

Zeke was wearing his usual khakis, but he had exchanged the button-down shirt and corduroy jacket he’d had on earlier for a heather gray sweater. It fit more snugly than anything Lucky had ever seen him wear before, and she was somewhat surprised at how muscular he seemed. She supposed she shouldn’t be. The fact that he was a teacher did not discount his status as one of the Fallen. As such, and a Protector at that, he’d have to be ready and able to fight if necessary. It was just that she thought of him as a scholar and a caretaker.

When the shadows of his blue wings crossed her vision, she silently laughed at herself. As if she knew everything there was to know about him. He was an ancient angel, had once been viewed as a kind of deity; he had lived through more than she could even begin to imagine. She would probably always be surprised by him. With that thought came a rush of anticipation. How amazing was it that she would be working and studying with him? There must be no end to the things she could learn.

“I’m glad you came,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “I got the impression earlier that you might not. Is something amiss between you and Aidan?”

Lucky shrugged. Before she could formulate an answer, Mo had grabbed her arm. “Come and help me get some drinks.”

Lucky cast an apologetic smile at Zeke and let her best friend drag her away.

She and Mo separated to work their way through the crowd gathered around the refreshments. Lucky had picked up four cans of soda and was heading back to their table, when a hand settled on her arm.

“Here’s someone I recognize.”

She turned toward the deep voice and looked up into Kev’s smiling face. A thrill shot through her—accompanied by a pang of guilt.

“Kev! Hi,” she said, hoping she wasn’t blushing. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“I think everyone’s coming—even Malachi, though he’s not usually into this sort of thing. We—Zeke and Malachi and I—have never seen the band perform. Aidan started Icarus after he renounced his wings, and things weren’t exactly—comfortable—between us.”

Something in Lucky’s expression must have given her away, because his voice trailed off as his dark green eyes scanned her face. “He hasn’t told you about that, has he?”

She shook her head, noting the tiny bits of gold that flecked his irises.

“Well, you should hear about it from him. Let’s just say I’m glad to have my brother back and happy to be able to come to a live performance.” Kev scanned her face again. “I’m also glad to see you looking none the worse for wear after the ordeal of the Making.”

His gaze dropped lower, and he touched the dragon medallion with his forefinger. “I recognize that. Aidan gave it to you?”

Lucky just nodded, remembering how the dragon had come to her in her vision of her Makers, how it had disappeared into her medallion, and how the dragon had turned out to be Kev.

“That’s how you called me,” he said.

“Did you—did you have the vision too?”

“Probably not the same as yours.” Kev’s voice was quiet, as if conveying a secret meant for her alone. “I dreamed of the medallion and a girl I knew with jade green eyes, and when I woke up Uriel’s voice was like a brand in my brain. I’ve never been a Maker before. Did you know that?”

Lucky shook her head. She was powerless to speak, mesmerized by his gold-flecked eyes and the voice that touched her like a caress.

“I didn’t want to hurt you. I’m sorry about that.”

“What you did, it meant a lot to me,” Lucky whispered. “When you touched me… with just your hand….” She couldn’t say anything more. The sense of intimacy was almost more than she could bear.

Fortunately, Malachi chose that moment to make his appearance. “I am not late, am I?” he said, coming to stand beside them.

Kev blinked and shook his head. “I—don’t think so,” he said.

“We should get to our seats though,” Lucky added, dragging herself free from the waking dream. “I think they’re almost ready to start. Zeke and Mo snagged us a table near the stage.”

The first chords were beginning to fill the room by the time they reached the table. As they settled into the three remaining chairs, Lucky found herself sitting between Mo and Kev. She tried to focus all her attention on the stage, but she was uncomfortably aware of Kev’s big body beside her, the chairs so close that his denim-clad knee brushed hers every time he moved. She did her best to ignore the shiver that passed through her at the contact.

She was relieved when Aidan stepped up to the microphone and began to sing. Listening to his beautiful voice, she opened her senses the tiniest bit, just enough to allow his husky baritone to wrap itself around her mind, eclipsing her awareness of his brother’s closeness.

After the number had ended and the applause had died down, Aidan introduced the band and promised that the remainder of the set had been chosen with dancing in mind. When the music started, Mo jumped to her feet, grabbed Lucky with one hand and Kev with the other, and pulled them toward the dance floor.