"No wings?"
"No wings," I confirmed.
Liz stared at me again. I could tell that she wouldn't believe me. She had no reason to. For all she knew, angels were just heavenly beings with halos and wings. I didn't have either.
"Look at this," I said. I held up my hand and showed her my palm. "This is the only way to tell if someone is an angel before they get their wings."
"What is it?" Liz inquired.
"It's an angel mark."
"Oh, I see it now. It looks just like an angel with spread wings!"
"And it's blue because I'm a Guardian," I added. "But anyway, I should probably explain about your memory. You see, when you got stabbed, I had to heal you."
"But that doesn't explain why I lost my memory," Liz interrupted.
"Patience, Liz," I told her. "I've still got more to explain. You see, the engineer angels in Angel HQ discovered a way to check how good of a job the Guardians are doing. When an angel heals their assignment, a mark is left behind. There's a mark on your back because of this. As long as you have that mark, you can't remember anything within 15 minutes of being healed."
"Why?"
"Um," I stalled. "You're actually not supposed to know about your guardian angel. If people knew they had a guardian angel, they could go out and do anything they wanted, and their Guardian would have no choice but to protect them. So it's . . ."
"Just a waste of time," Liz finished for me.
"Exactly."
"Can you take me home now?" Liz asked. "I'm so tired."
I stalled again, and answered, "No. It's not safe for you there. I'll take you somewhere to stay the night."
I stood up and motioned for her to follow me. She hesitated, but still followed. I lead her through the forest (which I had memorized from when Liz went in during her childhood). The trees over our heads seemed eerie and crooked in the dark. I looked back to check on Liz. She was shivering up a storm behind me.
"Scared?" I asked.
"No," Liz answered, "just cold."
It wasn't until Liz mentioned it that I realized that it was a little chilly, especially for summer. Liz must've been freezing considering that she was wearing a tank top. I really can't imagine how cold one might be in something like that, since I'm always wearing my angel robe or my street clothes. Both are nice and warm.
At any rate, we arrived at our destination quickly, since the forest was somewhat small. I glowing rock stood in an otherwise empty area. It seemed like the moon cast a spotlight on it, causing a couple extra sparkles here and there.
"What is that?" Liz asked in awe.
"You'll see."
We took a couple steps forward and were enveloped in silver light. I pressed my hand with the angel mark against the rock. It shook a bit, and then moved aside. A staircase leading into the ground was revealed, and Liz and I stepped down it together.
We arrived in a room I knew well.
"Welcome to the Angelic Attic," I said.
"It's nice," Liz commented politely, although I knew the pub-like scenery didn't impress her. There was even a counter with a bartender serving a couple angels drinks.
"Do you want to grab a seat?" I asked her. "I'll get you something to drink if you like."
"No thanks. I'd rather just go to bed."
"Fair enough. Wait here," I told her.
I walked up to the counter.
"Hey there, Adrian," greeted the bartender.
"That's my brother. I'm Jacob," I corrected her.
"Oh, that's right! I think he came through the area earlier."
"Vesta, do you have any extra beds? I need a place to crash with my, uh, assignment."
The angels sitting at the counter looked at me. They were giving me creepy gazes with crooked smiles, AKA the angel glare.
"Always do!" Vesta answered. She didn't seem to care about what the other angels thought. I actually came to the Attic often, so Vesta and I were good friends.
She stepped from behind the counter and led me down a hallway. Liz automatically knew to follow me. Vesta opened one of the doors.
"Will this do?" Vesta asked.
"It's perfect," Liz said with a gawk.
"Good. You let me know if you need anything."
We thanked Vesta and she left. Then, we turned to our room. It was like a five-star hotel! I had come to the Attic many times, but I had no idea that the bedrooms were such high quality!
Liz immediately started getting her bed ready. You could tell just by looking at her that she was exhausted. She got into her fancy bed and closed her eyes. When I thought she had fallen asleep, I started getting my bed ready. Angels don't typically need sleep, but I had drained a lot of my energy when I healed Liz.
Out of nowhere, Liz raised, "Who's Adrian?"
