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  It just kept getting better and better. Every story I was told threw me deeper into a world of…unknown. I’d wanted to think make-believe, but that wasn’t right. It was…well unbelievable. Yet I believed. From the very start, I’d believed it all. What did that say about me?

  After the long drawn out silence at Lucius announcement that I should be able to travel anywhere in the known universe with the locket hanging around my neck, Sariel suggested that they give Lucius and I some time alone. I didn’t’ think my mom would go for it but after her rude outburst and Sariel’s answer she’d left with the rest of them. She gave me a nervous look over her shoulder before Emily took her by the elbow and showed them all to the kitchen where they were cooking….Lunch? …Dinner?

  I looked around the room, and noticed that lights were on. I turned around to look out the window behind me and saw it was getting dark out. I turned back around and ran my hands down the front of my legs feeling underdressed in my jeans, yellow tank top and flip flops.

  Through it all, Lucius and I hadn’t taken his eyes off me. Ever since I’d met Lucius and Sariel at the store I’d been plagued with a toned-down version of the feeling I’d had in the store. What I’d thought were nervous jitters about everything that’d happened in regards to my family was actually Lucius, and to a lesser extent, Sariel and Maalik. Amara could see angels; I could sense them.

  The beautiful angel sitting across from me was my very own guardian angel that had been searching for me for a thousand years. He’d never given up, had sworn his life for me. WOW.

  “So you’re not named after the angel of love you are the angel of love?” I finally asked after the quiet of the room threatened to make me insane.

  “Yes.”

  There was little emotion in the short answer. Already I was thinking of Lucius as my angel and the hurt hidden in the word made me want to pull him into my arms and offer some kind of comfort.

  “I was cast from Heaven,” he said, still staring at me.

  Being on the receiving end of such an intense stare was unnerving. I worked on keeping my breathing normal. My heart raced in my chest.

  So many people had sacrificed something. I was starting to feel like a bit like some kind of life sucking leach. No one had said or done anything to make me feel that way and but there it was. I didn’t know what I could possibly do for all the people who had put their lives on the line or on hold for my family but I was going to come up with something. I’d start with making the exiled angel next to me feel better.

  “You are my guardian—” I started.

  “I was your guardian,” he corrected me.

  It was my turn to stare. There was so much strength in the man that sat across from me. Correction—the angel that sat across from me. I wasn’t an angry person. For a matter of fact, I couldn’t remember a time where I’d ever experienced the emotion but sitting across from Lucius, with his stare that made me want to fidget, I was suddenly mad. For a brief time it overrode the strange pull I felt for him. It covered my body in heat and pulled my skin tight. Lucius felt it too. He drew his body up in the chair he was sitting in and took in a deep breath.

  “So you don’t want to be my guardian anymore?” The words came rougher than I’d meant them. The plan had been to make him feel better not to argue with him.

  “My Queen.”

  The title stole my breath. I looked down at my hands, blushing. The look on his face was somewhere between apprehensive and torn.

  “You look like you need some fresh air.” I stood and pulled him up and walked around the table that separated us and pulled him from his chair instead of answering him.

  The back yard was more beautiful than the front. The house sat at the edge of some woods that gave the house the feeling of sitting on the edge of a magical forest. We walked shoulder to shoulder as we cross the threshold of Emily’s back yard. It was darker in the wooded area but the moon was full and we could make out our way as we walked. Being alone with him outside was more intimate than inside and I was second guessing my decision when we came to a large tree with a stone bench at its base. This was where we finally stopped. Lucius sat down first and looked at the ground.

  “A thousand years ago I made a crown of flowers for Ife,” he said, “From these very flowers.”

  I followed his gaze to the white flowers that were growing around our feet. I’d lived a lifetime in wooded areas, but country living hadn’t taught me a thing about plants and I had no idea the name of flower. The tiny white flowers were pretty. My mind’s eye struggled to picture Lucius’s large hands weaving the delicate blooms.

  “Beautiful,” he whispered.

  I was surprised to see him looking at me. I sat down. The bench was meant for two which put our bodies close together, I could feel the heat of him.

  “There were not many who took the vow on the day the Almighty asked. Angels are not created with the emotions of humans, our existence is preordained; our purpose does not require the complexity of feelings. I felt compelled to take the vow and I’ve had a long time to think about why I decided to take it and why it was presented as a choice. The choice question I was never able to figure out and gave up on, who am I to question the Almighty? The second, I thought, was simply my new purpose. I was the second gatekeeper and then I was the Guardian of the Mothers, the most important people in our known universe. I promise to do all that is in my power to keep you safe. It’s the vow I gave three thousand years ago and the promise I made to a little girl two thousand years later.”He looked off in the direction of the house. “We should go back.”

  He held out his hand. I sat an extra moment and looked at his offered hand; afraid and excited to take it. My hand, my whole body was on board with it, but whatever was happening was more than just him being my guardian. Wasn’t it?

  We went back to the house in the same quiet that we’d walked away from it. Lucius hand rested on the small of my back, it was not an intimate touch but that didn’t stop me from breathing faster than usual. It was the first time a guy had ever touched me. Strange, but true. His touch comforted me.

  We walked into the kitchen and everyone stopped. I reddened from all the instant attention, painfully aware that Lucius hand was still me. Amara, Sariel and Emily smiled. My mom’s lips were a thin straight line. I knew them to be her worry lips. There was definitely going to be words but not now. Maalik had been sent back to the hotel to check us all out. When he returned with all our stuff he lugged it upstairs. Mom was shown to a guest room and my things were put in Amara’s. We sat in the kitchen and ate dinner. It was the last day Amara and Emily would be together. The next morning we were going to a small town that Sariel thought would be safe. We didn’t know for how long but we all hoped it would be short. Amara was trying to be strong and so was Emily. Amara announced that we are going to call it a night. We both kissed our mothers good-night and left them in the kitchen.

  The inside of Amara’s room was like a dream; pink,fluffy and very girly. The canopy bed dominated the room. There were pictures of her and Sveva everywhere, from the day they were taken to the summer court, all the way up to their separation. They had been happy children. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been on Amara, beneath her strong and silly exterior. Amara took me to her closet. It was as big as the bedroom in the house that I’d just left. I had a moment where I was a little jealous of the life Amara had. The closet was full of beautiful gowns like the one she wore. One side held a section for nightgowns, sheer and soft. Amara grabbed one from its satin covered hanger. After changing, she sat me at her vanity and brushed my hair. It was always unruly, thick, curly and wild, which was why I usually kept it in a fat ponytail. Amara braided it in two French braids before we climb into the soft folds of her bed.

  I woke up thirsty. Gently I removed myself from the tangle of Amara’s arms. Careful not to wake her, I walked as softly as I could to the door. To my surprise Lucius was standing right there.

  “Have
you been standing there all night?” I whispered. It had not occurred to me before that Lucius really meant to guard me. I thought of what Sariel said earlier about him being strong but not strong enough to fight an angel. The determination in his eyes silence any protest.

  “Why don’t you go to bed? You must be tired.”

  “No…too wired to sleep.” We stood in uncomfortable silence for a moment, each giving the other an opportunity to say any number of unspoken words until it became awkward.

  “I’m going to get some water.” I said.

  We entered the kitchen and stopped in our tracks. Emily was sitting at the bar crying. I was saddened by the separation of my sister and Emily, but that’s not what stopped me, it was her wings.

  The low light made it impossible to determine their color but her transparent and delicate wings looked paper thin but strong and I knew they were iridescent. They were larger version of a dragonfly wings and they were open laying flat against her back. The backless night gown she wore lung to her body like a second skin and looked like silk. Her hair was longer than mine and hung just past her waist.

  I looked at Lucius. How could he not be affected by something so beautiful? He only looked sad for her. He went to her first and stroked her hair. Just as I’d struggled to see his hands make a delicate crown of flowers I don’t know if I could have pictured the tender touch he offered Emily.

  “You’ll be back with Amara before you know it. Sariel has gone for scouts to start looking for Fredrick and Sveva.”

  “I know. I’m sorry for being such a baby about all this.” Emily said and wiped her face with the lace handkerchief she had balled up in her hand. “I’ve worried about them but I’ve had Amara to focus on. Now that she’s leaving I won’t have anything to keep my mind from wondering.” She composed herself and looked at Lucius. “There are some human emotions that I could live without.”

  “I understand,” he said.

  I was an outsider watching the two magical creatures in what felt like a very private moment. I stood there trying to figure out a way to make a graceful exit when Emily looked at me.

  “Are you sure you won’t come with us?” I asked, going to her.

  “Someone else may come trying to connect the dots, maybe even Fredrick and Sveva.” Emily pushed away from the bar.

  The dimmed lights added to her mystique and I was intimidated by her beauty. Self-conscious of my own appearance I crossed my arms in front of me in an attempt to make myself smaller, less noticeable in the presence of such exquisiteness.

  “You two make a lovely couple. I wish you a long and happy pairing.”

  I couldn’t speak as she gave me a hug and left Lucius and I alone. I could feel his gaze but didn’t look up. My heart was doing crazy things inside my chest and I my breathing sounded shaky in my own ears. I hoped that he didn’t notice. I looked up as he touched my hair. Lucius picked up one of the braids that lay over my shoulder and then drew his hand away. I watched and wondered about the frown on his face. What was behind the mask that was so close to coming off? He went to the sink for my glass of water. I took the glass he offered me, drank my water in silence and we walked back to Amara’s bedroom.

  “I’ll see you in the morning. Try to get some sleep.” He said as we stood outside her bedroom door. I only nodded. I didn’t trust myself to speak. When I fell back to sleep I dreamt of my angel.

  Chapter 6: Going Home