Ivory Guard Read Free Page B

choice here?”
    “You do have a choice. But I can tell you that those who didn’t go with us didn’t live the life they’ve dreamed of before. Once you turn eighteen there’s like a switch going off in you. Angel blood flows through your veins and with it the need to do…good stuff.” She grimaced and shrugged, “It’s your calling, your purpose, whatever you want to call it. And an Ivory will feel incomplete with time if not fulfilling it.” 
    Lillian absorbed that for a few moments, surprised how the words rang true inside of her. It was a weird sensation of apprehension of some sort. Making her decision, she looked back at the angel.
    “Can you do me a favor?”
    “What?”
    “Pick me up in an hour.”
    Amber’s green eyes smiled sadly with understanding before she got up off the bed. “Sure.” The blonde angel seemed hesitant and turned to look at Lillian. “For what it’s worth, I always hate this part. Ripping you guys away, as you said.”
    Lillian nodded, one corner of her mouth lifting in a small smile. “It’s okay. Not your fault.”
    “ See you.”
    Soundlessly the angel disappeared and silence settled over the room.
    After a few more minutes of staring off into the darkness Lillian got up as well. Moving silently, she pulled a bag out of a corner of her closet and began filling it. Clothes, her journal. She hesitated when her hand went for her MP3 player and e-book reader. Would she be able to use them? Where did Ivorys go? Heaven? Damn it. Stuffing them inside she cursed herself for not having thought of asking where exactly they would take her.
    Going into her adjoining bathroom she combed and braided her hair and got ready, dropping one item after another into her bag before zipping it shut and throwing it onto her bed. Then she dressed in tight black jeans and a gray top before pulling on a light sweater against the cool night breeze.
    Now it was time for the really hard part. Expelling a deep breath she walked over to her desk and sat down on the chair in front of it. One she had sat so often in, leaning over her books. Lillian got out a pen and sheet of paper and stared down at it. The written word had always been her favored means for communicating her emotions. She kept a diary for God’s sake. But then there were other times when she wondered how as small a thing as a piece of paper could possibly hold, much less convey, the churning turmoil within her. This was one of those times.
    This wasn’t just a teary but natural ‘Goodbye and I’ll come back whenever I need my laundry done’. She guessed it was more likely that she would never see her parents again.
     

THREE
    Raz looked out the window over green fields that dropped into a black, storm-whipped sea. Nothing was more fascinating or beautiful to him than that small part of the earth the humans called Ireland. Especially during a storm. He loved seeing the wild energy - fueled by human fear, awe and feeling of foreboding - unleashed. But also cherished the peaceful quiet on less rainy days. That’s why he had chosen it as his home for whenever he wasn’t in the mood for heaven.
    He felt the sudden breeze in the air a moment before Amber materialized in his living room. Turning he faced her.
    The blonde angel looked around her, a smile spreading across her face. “Wow, nothing’s changed. Well, except for those,” she amended, motioning towards the stereo and flat screen. “How do you do that? I have to change apartments or at least the interior design every decade or so or else I go crazy.”
    T hey had worked on an assignment together a few centuries back and Raz remembered her having taken the same interest in his furniture like she did today. He didn’t know why. The house was simple. Some walls were bare, revealing gray stone, others were covered with wooden bookshelves. The furniture he had was old, but still good and comfortable, so why the hell would he replace it? His opinion on, and non-existent interest