A Gift of Wings (51 page)

Lucky made no reply as Lilith came closer, graceful in her high-heeled pumps, and took a seat beside her, crossing one elegant leg over the other and clasping her hands around her knee.

“Just look at you. My, what big eyes you have, granddaughter! And so beautiful too—they’re quite an unusual shade of green, aren’t they?—but so filled with suspicion. I suppose it’s too much to ask that you might trust your grandmother just a little?”

Lucky’s gaze did not waver. “I don’t know you. I have no reason to trust you.”

“I suppose not,” Lilith sighed. “If it’s any consolation, I only recently learned of your existence. Not that my knowing about you sooner would have made much difference. It’s not as if I could have shown up on your doorstep and introduced myself. Before you came into your powers, you would never have believed me—or even believed
in
me for that matter.”

Lilith looked at Lucky as if she expected an answer, even though she hadn’t asked a question. Lucky responded with a question of her own. “And how did you find out about me?”

“My son—your father—told me of you. He said he’d unexpectedly encountered a girl who could almost penetrate his glamour, despite his ability to scramble Sensitive powers. At first, he was just shocked and angered by your talent. Then he realized you reminded him of a woman he’d once known—almost even loved—and he started to wonder. So, he sought you out—and found you had already been drawn into Ezekiel’s little circle. Being, shall we say, somewhat reluctant to show his hand to them, he availed himself of the opportunity to take a personal item of yours.”

Lilith tapped the locket in Lucky’s hand with one manicured fingertip. Lucky resisted the urge to snatch the pendant out of the woman’s reach. “Finding this locket in your backpack was an extraordinary piece of luck. Not only was it so personal that it could be used to track you, which was all Luil had originally been hoping for, but it also held the answer to his question. He recognized the woman in the picture, and he became convinced that she had borne him a daughter.”

“And in an effort to show his love for his long-lost child, he tried to kidnap me?” Lucky’s question was equal parts angry and incredulous.

“I’m not saying I condone his methods. I had no part in that. He’d told me none of this yet. If he’d asked, trust me, I would have assured him that abduction was not the appropriate course of action. But he believed he had to get you away from Ezekiel and his Fallen by any means necessary. As a consequence, he acted somewhat rashly—Luil has never been very good at impulse control—and succeeded only in taking a bit of a beating and terrifying you. It was after that little fiasco that he came to me.”

“And you showed up at Wild Hare.” Lucky’s suspicion hadn’t abated in the slightest.

Lilith’s lips, tinted a deeper scarlet than her hair, curved in a smile. “Yes, I wanted to see you for myself. I hadn’t been aware of how easily you would penetrate our cloaking glamour. As soon as I looked in your eyes, I knew my son was correct. I could feel the pull of my blood in you. Curiosity satisfied, I departed, but before I could determine how best to approach you, I learned that a Striking had been called. The rest you know.”

When she finished speaking, Lilith sat back and looked at Lucky expectantly.

“Oh, there’s still a lot I don’t know,” Lucky said, studying the flame-haired woman with narrowed eyes. “For one thing, why did you attack Josh? What could you possibly gain by hurting someone I love?”

Lilith’s eyes widened. “My dear, I didn’t attack anyone; nor did my son, outside of his misguided attempt to abduct you. I assume Josh is the person—your cousin, was it?—for whom you underwent the Making?”

Lucky nodded as a frown settled between her brows. “If you didn’t attack him, who did? And why?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that,” Lilith replied. “But if you like, I can make some inquiries. I’m quite good at finding out secrets.”

Although she still didn’t trust Lilith, Lucky was tempted by the offer. The woman had seemed surprised when Lucky had accused her of attacking Josh. And while Lucky did not doubt Lilith’s acting abilities, something told her that the emotion was genuine. If Lilith was willing to help her figure out who had targeted her cousin, she was willing to accept—provided the price wasn’t too high. “And what would I have to do for you in return?” she asked.

Again, Lilith looked surprised, although this time her expression struck Lucky as somewhat disingenuous. “Why, nothing, of course. My son did you more than one disservice. Putting a few feelers out for information is the least I can do for you. Shall I then?”

Lucky hesitated before nodding. “Please.”

“Very well, then,” Lilith said, rising to her feet. “I shall see what I can find out. Now, I must be going.” She glanced down at the slim, expensive-looking watch that circled her left wrist. “I have an appointment.”

“Wait,” Lucky said. “I wanted to ask you—”

“Your questions will have to wait for another time, I’m afraid,” Lilith interrupted. “But I’ll be in touch to let you know what I discover. We’ll have a nice, long chat then. I promise.”

Lilith’s form was already fading away as the last words left her lips. Lucky sighed. She had no idea what Lilith’s promise was worth, but it looked like she’d have to accept it at face value for now.

She wondered once again who had attacked Josh. Once she had discovered that Lilith or her son—Lucky couldn’t bring herself to think of him as
her
father—had taken her locket, she had assumed that one or both of them had perpetrated, or at least orchestrated, the attack. Of course, Lilith had just denied performing the act. Could she or Luil have hired someone to attack Josh? Lucky was certain Lilith would be capable of the hair-splitting logic that would make her denial truthful even if she had. But the question of what she—or they—could have hoped to gain remained unanswered. Unless, for some reason, they wanted to force Lucky to go through the Making in order to save her cousin. If so, then they would want something from her at some point. Maybe Lilith was just waiting until Lucky’s wings and Gift revealed themselves. Still, while all that was possible, Lucky was somehow inclined to believe Lilith—which left the identity of Josh’s attacker undetermined.

Sighing once more, Lucky unwrapped the chain from her left hand and slipped it over her head, hiding the medallion and locket beneath her shirt. And, though the unanswered questions continued to beat against her thoughts like the wings of birds against the bars of a cage, she felt a subtle settling as the pendants nestled against her skin.

She had taken only a few steps back toward the Midway when she felt something else, a not-so-subtle need to stop by the OI and visit her old friend the
lamassu
. Before she could formulate a question regarding the source of the sudden compulsion, her lips twisted into a wry smile. Zeke. Of course. She stepped up her pace even as she wondered why he wanted to see her so urgently. At least that question was one for which she’d soon have an answer.

Lucky entered the OI with cheeks flushed from her brisk walk in the fall air. Slipping through the glass door into the museum area, she slowed her steps as she walked straight through the gallery toward its presiding spirit. As usual, she was both awed and comforted by the great beast. It might have been minutes, but it seemed like only seconds had passed before she heard a familiar resonating voice.

“Your quick response is commendable.”

She turned toward the sound, her smile softening her words. “You have heard of cell phones, haven’t you?”

Zeke chuckled. “Ah, but my way is much more interesting, don’t you think? Besides, unlike a call or a text, my messages cannot be ignored.”

“As if I would have ignored you,” Lucky responded.

Zeke shrugged, a mischievous glint in his gray eyes. “Old habits.”

Lucky studied her mentor for a moment, noticing the faint shadows of multiple blue wings behind him. “Just how old are you anyway?” she asked.

Zeke sighed. “Let’s just say ‘ancient’ and leave it at that. Now, come up to my office where we can talk freely.”

With that, he ushered her out of the museum and up the stairs. As she entered the cluttered room with its piles of books and papers, Lucky’s thoughts turned to the last time she’d been here. And when Zeke pushed aside some papers to clear a space for her on the leather couch, she remembered awakening to find herself lying there with Aidan’s jacket draped over her and Aidan himself sitting nearby. Why hadn’t he called? Should she call him? It was the sound of his name that drew her attention back to Zeke.

“Aidan tells me Lilith wants you to contact her.”

Lucky nodded. “I already did. I just saw her.”

“I figured as much. I did not think you would waste too much time before getting in touch with her. And was your meeting—satisfactory?”

“In some ways, I guess. In others, not so much.”

Zeke’s only reply was a lift of the eyebrows that encouraged her to continue.

“Well, she explained that it was her son—my…,” Lucky’s voice trailed off as she shook her head. “It was Luil who stole my locket from my backpack in the auditorium”—she gestured in the general direction of the room—“and who tried to kidnap me at the country club. She said he didn’t want to hurt me; he just thought he needed to get me away from you and the Fallen.”

“Lilith and her sons have never had the highest opinion of the Fallen,” Zeke said, answering her unasked question. “I am in part to blame—ancient history between Lilith and me. Aside from that, they think we are too loyal to the Light.”

Although Lucky wanted to know what had happened between Zeke and Lilith, she could tell he had no intention of elaborating. Stifling her curiosity, she continued with her story. “She said that neither she nor Luil attacked Josh, though. And she offered to see if she could find out who did.”

“Did she?” Zeke asked. “And did you accept her offer?”

“Yes, but not until I’d asked what she wanted from me in exchange.”

Zeke’s surprised laughter kept Lucky from continuing. “Smart girl. How did Lilith respond to that?”

“She acted shocked and said she didn’t want anything, that she felt like she owed me because of what Luil had done. And then she left. She said she had an appointment.”

The hint of bitterness that flavored her last statement took Lucky by surprise. She had meant to speak objectively, just stating the fact, but the disappointment she had felt at Lilith’s hasty departure—and which had been unacknowledged until now—refused to remain hidden.

“Lilith may be your grandmother, Lucky, but do not make the mistake of expecting her to act like one. Like me, she is ancient. And her powers are elemental. Her thoughts, values, and emotions are not human.”

“Neither are yours.” Lucky again surprised herself. Why did she feel a need to defend the red-haired woman?

“No,” Zeke acknowledged, “I am not human. But I have spent much of my extremely long life living among them and protecting them. I have not been unchanged by that contact. Lilith has not—lived the same sort of life. Human well-being has never been her prime motivator. I believe she is genuinely intrigued at the thought of having a part-human granddaughter, but the fact is unlikely to change who she is.”

Lucky winced when Zeke called her “part-human,” but she knew the description was accurate, maybe even as accurate as it was possible to get. What was she anyway? Part human and part angel since the Making, which made her Naphil. But never really human, which made her—what? She made no attempt to disguise the uncertainty in her reply. “It’s not as if I’m very human myself.”

“You were fully human, Lucky, before the Making, just with a little something more is all,” Zeke said. “Your father is a Shedim demon. His true state is less physical than, well, elemental, like the wind. He can take on almost any form, and when he does so, he completely becomes that form, simply adding himself to the mix like extra pieces of genetic code. He fathered you in human form, so your genetic makeup is—or was—human, except that you have some of those extra bits as well.”

“And the Making? Did that give me additional ‘extras’?”

“Yes and no. Some extra genetic coding is added during the Making, but the existing DNA is also rewritten.” Zeke paused before continuing, “You were human, but you are not any longer. Now you are Naphil.”

“With some mysterious little extras,” Lucky added.

“Yes.”

Lucky sighed. “This isn’t what I thought it would be like—being part angel,” she confessed. “I don’t know exactly what I thought it would be, but not this. I thought I’d feel—confident, maybe even powerful, that all of this would make sense—once I was on the other side of the Making. But I just feel—kind of lost, like I don’t know who I am or what I want.”

“You know something of who you are. For example, you still love your grandmother and your cousin, do you not?”

“G-Ma? And Josh? Of course, I love them. But they’re not—we’re not—
I’m
not the same anymore.”

“Do you think anyone ever is?” said Zeke. “We all change, and we all feel rudderless at times. There is nothing wrong in allowing yourself to drift. Perhaps you could try letting yourself be whoever or whatever you turn out to be in any given moment. In that way, maybe you will learn what you want.”

Lucky looked at him through narrowed eyes. “You and Malachi, you’re like Yoda and Obi-Wan. Do you two decide ahead of time just which bits of cryptic wisdom each of you is going to spring on me?”

Zeke chuckled. “Drift you will, and strong in the ways of the Force you will become,” he said, his voice a match for that of the small, green Jedi master.

Lucky burst out laughing. She wasn’t sure what surprised her most: Zeke’s pitch-perfect impersonation, his ready grasp of the pop-culture reference, or the blatant display of humor.

“See,” Zeke said with a grin, “you are not so lost.”

Lucky smiled back at him. “Not hopelessly, I guess. Just rudderless and adrift.”

“Would you feel less rudderless, do you think, if you had a job?” Zeke asked, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers.