Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 142050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 710(@200wpm)___ 568(@250wpm)___ 474(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 710(@200wpm)___ 568(@250wpm)___ 474(@300wpm)
“Come on, girl.” He popped his lids and looked at her. “There’s nothing permanent in the universe, and even immortals have lives that pass. It’s called eras. But you came here to talk about you, not my existential employment.”
“I’m afraid I’m wasting my life,” she blurted. “I was thinking maybe if I had a higher calling, something sacred to do, it might make me feel…”
“Like you matter?” The angel cracked a that’s-cute half smile. “Come on. You have four parents who love you, a brother who would die to keep you safe, and more protective uncles than this place has tulips.”
Okay, the part about Rhamp stung, it really did.
“But I need to do something that matters or all this is a waste.” She motioned over herself. “I know I need to make a change, but I just can’t see how to get out of this neutral. I’ve been running in circles having my picture taken, talking to strangers. Meanwhile, everybody else around me is doing something… that matters.”
“So you’ve come up here, thinking I might put you to work in the library shuffling books around? Or maybe taking notes on other people? And you think that will make you feel better?”
“Is there something else I could help with? My mahmen contributed up here. I could follow in her footsteps.”
Lassiter put aside his under-the-chin tanner and sat up. Now, when he looked at her, he was all business, the jokey-jokey gone, his eyes grave.
“To devote your life in service to this place is a great fantasy, but the reality is you’re here to avoid confronting the things you need to deal with down below. A sacred duty is a calling, not something manufactured to hide behind when shit’s not going your way.”
Images of Dev played across her mind’s eye—especially what he’d looked like as he’d walked out of the apartment. And then she pictured Marcia, barking out orders with phones up to her ears. The chaser? Rhamp down on the street, fighting off lessers while she watched from that roof.
Lyric lowered her head. “You’re right. You’re right, I know… you’re right.”
“Oh, my God, I love that movie!”
“I’m sorry?”
“When Harry Met Sally.” Lassiter slapped his bare knees as he grinned. “Carrie Fisher as Marie. It’s a classic.”
“Oh. I’ll have to watch it sometime.”
“It’s a love story.”
“Just what I’m looking to avoid at the moment,” she muttered as she refocused on the scribing temple with its closed, ornate doors.
The angel reached out and took one of her hands. “If you want to live a different kind of life, then make it happen. Purpose is like clay, Lyric. Mold it with your choices and your efforts. Sculpt the hours and the nights and the months and the years you have… to create what you want. You have the strength and the determination. And listen, I gotta tell you—you are not someone who needs to record the lives of others. That’s not who you are, and you know it.”
“I’m so tired.” Her voice cracked. “I’m so… lost. How am I this young, but feel so ancient.”
“Well, you know how they say that every friend was once a stranger?” When she nodded, he continued, “The same is true for the new ‘you’ you’re becoming. It takes work to develop any relationship and that’s tiring. Once you get to know who you really are, though, you’ll feel like all this confusion was just part of learning your landscape. You’ll be glad you persevered.”
“You sound so sure.” She exhaled with defeat. Then realized, of all the people she could have said that to, he was the one person who was in a position to be clear about life advice.
“That’s ’cuz I am.” Lassiter leaned in and lowered his voice, like he was sharing a secret. “I’m like Farmers.”
She blinked in confusion. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I know a thing or two…’cuz I’ve seen a thing or two. “ He squeezed her hand. “Trust me, Lyric. You are going to do extraordinary things.”
“How can you be sure,” she murmured to herself.
“Do I have to prove it to you?” the angel said in an odd tone. “Well, then, I guess I gotta. Because your true purpose is coming for you, sooner than you think, and you’re going to have to be ready.”
Frowning, she sat forward on her lounger. “What do you mean—”
Lassiter rose to his full height, and the sheer presence of him was like the ringing of a gong, something that went through her with a vibration: No ceremonial robes, no great hall, no gaggle of sycophantic attendants. And yet the profound nature of the audience suddenly resonated through her and left waves of awe in its place.
His voice abruptly warped in her ear. “You’re going to resolve to evolve. It’s your destiny.”
With that, the landscape began to rotate around her.
Or rather… she was the one set into a violent spin. And as she was sucked away, her last vision of the angel was one where his gossamer wings extended out over his shoulders and his hair was down and flowing, and his body was hung with gold.