A Gift of Wings (26 page)

Before the angel had a chance to respond, Aidan cast a sharp glance at Lucky. “How’s your patient?”

Lucky shook her head. “Not so good.”

“Which,” Zeke picked up the sentence, “is why I’m here. His condition has worsened, but we are not sure of the cause. I have placed him in a healing stasis while Sambethe investigates.”

“I see,” Aidan replied. His face took on a guarded expression as, tilting his head toward the book in Zeke’s lap, he added, “And in the meantime, you’ve been regaling Lucky with tales of my father?”

“Just an old one, Aidan,” Zeke responded gently. Lucky was reminded of him saying the story of how Aidan had obtained the amulet from Lucifer was not his to tell.

“How was the show?” she asked, to change the subject.

“Good. We had a good crowd,” Aidan answered, shifting his position so Harley could climb into his lap. “I wasn’t able to keep my focus a hundred percent on the show, what with worrying about Josh—and you.” Shooting Lucky a teasing glance, he added, “It’s probably a good thing you weren’t there. I would never have been able to keep you from drawing out my Gift with that untrained power of yours.”

Now, he had Lucky’s full attention. “What do you mean by that?” she asked. “You never have explained to me what happened that night.”

“I’m going to check on our patient and see if Sambethe is making any progress,” Zeke said, rising to his feet. “As if either of you will even notice I’m gone.”

Aidan acknowledged the angel’s departure by shifting from the piano bench to the spot Zeke had vacated on the couch, cuddling the ferret against him as he did so. Once he was reseated, Harley settled into an upside down circle on Aidan’s lap, exposing his tummy for a rub.

“Well?” Lucky prompted, moving so she faced Aidan.

“You know what happened,” he replied.

“No, I don’t,” Lucky said. “I know the wings I saw were real and not a lighting effect. But I don’t know why your voice did what it did to me.”

Aidan took a deep breath before he answered. “Every angel and every Naphil, like me, has a Gift. It sort of comes with the wings. Zeke, for example, has the Gift of Knowledge, which is what makes him an excellent teacher and mentor. It enables him to know all he needs to know to lead and coordinate the efforts of the Fallen—and to pass that knowledge on in ways other than the conventional. You remember how you felt as if you were unable
not
to attend his lecture? Part of his Gift is that he can compel people to do things when he deems it necessary for their knowledge or protection. Mine is the Gift of Song. When I sing, I can do things with my voice—make people feel things, believe things.”

“No wonder Icarus is so popular!” Lucky exclaimed. “That’s cheating!”

Aidan shook his head. “I don’t use my Gift when I sing with the band; I just sing. But it was different with you. Something about you drew the Gift out of me, and I couldn’t hold it back. I was able to lessen the effect, but I couldn’t stop it. Just as you were able to block it, but only in part.”

“I thought I could sense you trying to hold back once you saw the effect your voice was having on me. But it all seemed so crazy, I wasn’t sure what was real and what I might have imagined.” The relief Lucky felt at learning it had all been real was audible in her voice.

“I have to say,” Aidan responded, “I’ve never experienced quite the same thing before. No one else has ever drawn my power like that. At first, I thought you might be one of the Dark, someone who knew who—what—I was and was trying to expose me. Then when I saw how shocked you looked”—he cast a teasing grin in her direction—“I realized you were probably a budding Sensitive, and a clueless one at that.”

Lucky grimaced. “Yeah, well, I’m a little less clueless now. And I’m not altogether sure that’s a good thing.”

“Trust me,” Aidan said, losing the grin. “If you have any place in this world, cluelessness is a definite disadvantage.”

After a brief silence, he asked quietly, “Zeke told you who my father is?”

Lucky nodded.

“And are you okay? With me? Did he tell you enough to reassure you that Lucifer’s not what you might think he is?”

Lucky hesitated only a moment before she nodded again. “It’s strange—finding out the traditional story is wrong. But I don’t know that I ever believed it all anyway. And in the last few days, pretty much everything I thought I knew has been turned upside down. But I trust Zeke—and you.” As she spoke, she held her hand out toward him.

“Thank you,” he whispered, catching her hand in his and rubbing his thumb across her knuckles.

“Malachi and Sambethe are on their way,” Zeke announced as he reentered the room. “Sambethe believes she has isolated the source of your cousin’s malady, Lucky, in a toxin of Dark origin. She’s bringing an antidote. Aidan, you must give her permission to breach the wards.”

Aidan released Lucky’s hand and stood. Walking to the center of the room, he raised his arms above his head as if invoking the heavens. He spoke a few words in a lilting language Lucky did not recognize, and as he spoke, his great wings shimmered into being and spread wide in the emptiness of the room, white feathers dusted with gold glistening in the light. Lowering his hands to shoulder height but keeping his arms outspread, he opened his mouth and—sang, but what he sang was unlike any song Lucky had ever heard before. The voice that issued from between his lips was haunting and utterly inhuman, sounding of wind and leaves, feathers and stones, fire and water, and the rattling of bones and the flow of blood through the veins.

As he sang, a network of golden threads appeared all around the walls and ceilings and floors, an intricate and beautiful pattern, the nodes where one thread connected with one or more others shining more brightly, like tiny beacons. The notes Aidan sang altered somehow, but Lucky couldn’t say just how, and the network of golden threads shifted ever so slightly, the change in pattern almost imperceptible, something she could only glimpse through the corners of her eyes.

Then the song disappeared into silence, and the golden pattern melted into the walls and ceilings and floors. Lucky turned wide eyes back to Aidan to see his wings fading as he lowered his arms.

“Good,” Zeke said, turning on his heel and heading back down the hallway. “They’ll be here at any moment.”

“Do all wards work like that?” Lucky’s soft-voiced query dropped into the moment of silence following the angel’s departure.

Aidan shook his head. “All wards are different, shaped by the ward-maker’s powers and Gift. Mine are coded to my voice and are activated and altered by song.”

“Not just any song,” Lucky muttered.

“No, not just any song,” Aidan chuckled. “Only by a very special song, that only I can sing.”

The sound of voices heralded the arrival of the expected guests, and they followed the sound down the hallway to the bedroom where Josh lay encased in Zeke’s healing spell. When they entered the room, they found Zeke and Sambethe on either side of the bed, looking down at the patient. Malachi had taken a position off to the side, where he was out of the way but could still keep an eye on the proceedings. He gestured to Lucky and Aidan to stay back as well, and they took up positions similar to his own on the opposite side of the room.

At a softly spoken word from Zeke, the ball of light over Josh’s heart faded away as the shafts of light that met to form it retracted back into the corners of the glowing blue triangle that surrounded his upper body. Placing a hand on each of Josh’s hands, Zeke spoke again, and then he moved one hand to Josh’s forehead. With his final utterance, he removed his hand from Josh’s forehead, and the shafts of blue light retracted into the hand which was still placed over one of Josh’s. When Zeke lifted that hand, Lucky could see the light flickering around his palm like tiny blue flames, before it was snuffed when he closed his fingers into a loose fist.

As soon as the spell was removed, Josh opened his eyes and began to move about restlessly, muttering under his breath.

“Bring me a glass of water, please, Aidan,” Sambethe requested.

When Aidan returned with the water, she placed the glass he handed her on the bedside table, and removing a small brown bottle from the folds of her pale gray robes, she added several drops of its contents to the water. The liquid in the glass turned a deep crimson.

Zeke repositioned himself so he could hold Josh still while Sambethe held the glass to his lips. At the first taste, Josh turned his head away as if to refuse more, and some of the liquid dribbled from the corner of his mouth down his chin. It looked thick, and its crimson color made Lucky think uncomfortably of blood. Sambethe and Zeke overcame Josh’s protests with a combination of coaxing and threats of dire consequences should he refuse the treatment, and within a few moments, he managed to drain the glass, despite his evident aversion to the medicine. Settling him back down in the bed, Zeke once again placed a hand on his forehead. Speaking a few words in a soothing tone, he passed the hand slowly over Josh’s face and allowed it to hover over his heart. When Zeke stepped away, Josh appeared to be in a deep slumber.

“Good,” said Sambethe. “We will need to administer the antidote twice more throughout the night. When he wakes in the morning, he should be fully recovered.”

Acknowledging her words with a silent tilt of his head, Zeke turned to Malachi. “Thank you for your help, Malachi. You may leave now if you wish, as I am sure you have plenty of other matters to address. Sambethe and I will tend to the patient.”

The tall, dark man responded to the angel’s words with a slight bow. Then he gave a silent nod to Lucky, and directing a “See you tomorrow, Commander,” at Aidan, he faded from sight.

Zeke turned to Aidan and Lucky. “You should both get some sleep. Don’t worry,” he added, catching and holding Lucky’s gaze with his own. “We will take good care of Josh.”

“Thank you,” she said, directing the words to both Zeke and Sambethe.

The long-haired woman responded only with an almost imperceptible tilt of her head, but Zeke put a big hand on Lucky’s shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

Then Aidan took her arm and led her toward the door. He didn’t speak until they’d reached the door to his room. Drawing her to a stop, he said, “You can have my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch. Just let me grab a few things. There’s an extra toothbrush on the bathroom counter. Make yourself at home.”

“I can take the couch,” Lucky protested, as he moved to the closet to retrieve sheets and a blanket.

“Really, I don’t mind,” Aidan responded, snagging a pillow from the bed and adding it to the stack of bedding in his arms. “I probably won’t sleep that much tonight anyway, and there are things I need to discuss with Zeke. You’ve had a long and difficult day. You’ll be more comfortable in here.”

When she started to protest again, he silenced her by placing a finger on her lips. “Shh, I insist.” Moving his hand to cup her cheek, he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss beside her mouth. “Sleep well. You know where to find me if you need me.”

Before Lucky could think of anything to say, he had left the room.

She stepped through the door behind him—and then collided with him when he unexpectedly turned back toward her. The pillow and blankets fell to the floor as his hands came up to catch her shoulders. She made a breathless sound, half laugh and half gasp.

“Sorry,” he said softly, on a chuckle. She felt his breath against her face. “I meant to tell you that you might want to lock the door, unless you don’t mind a sleeping companion.”

“What?” she said, as she felt the tell-tale color staining her cheeks.

“Harley likes to snuggle under the covers. He may sleep on the couch with me, but since he’s used to the bed, he’s likely to want to be in here. If you don’t want him to climb in bed with you, you’d better lock the door. He can open it easily if it’s not locked.”

“Oh,” she said, still a little breathless, since he hadn’t stepped away from her. “I don’t mind if he comes in.”

“Alright. I just thought I’d warn you,” he said, trailing a fingertip down the side of her face from her temple to her jaw line.

“Consider me warned,” she breathed.

The amused light in his eyes heating to something warmer, he slid his finger across her cheek to trace the outline of her lips. “Maybe you should lock the door anyway,” he whispered. Then, leaning closer, he pressed a quick, hard kiss on her mouth, which was already tingling from the touch of his finger. She barely heard his quiet “Good night” over the pounding of her heart.

CHAPTER 17

Lucky’s sleep was troubled and dream-filled, one disturbing image fading into the next.

She saw Josh on a bed encased in a blue triangle of light, but instead of resting peacefully, he tossed and turned, his skin pale, with dark circles around his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Josh,” she said, and the eyes he turned on her glowed crimson. She was in a shadowy cavern surrounded by dark-winged creatures with golden, owl-like eyes, the only light radiating from the dragon pendant around her neck. She was in Aidan’s arms, kissing him, his great wings arching up and around them as he held her, but she was dragged from his embrace, screaming his name, as he was pulled away from her. She was flying, her own massive wings beating the air, Aidan and Malachi on either side of her and countless others behind them, a growing sense of urgency rising within her as they sped forward.