Genesis: Falling Angel (12 page)

I looked on either side of me once more and asked, “What are they dreaming about?”

“I have a few certain gifts. Being the lord of dreams is slightly amusing. I was gifted with prophecy. Past, present, and future is open to me at random. Noah’s getting a bit of his past. Adrian’s seeing a bit of the future. I’m helping, really. Yours wasn’t even just a meal. Not fully.”

“What was my dream supposed to be, then?”

At this, he leaned forward in his throne like he was telling some dark secret. “Innermost desires.”

Chapter 16 – Adrian

I woke to an empty room.

The cavern’s cozy little room that had been so neatly decorated was now devoid of anything. Noah and Gabrielle were missing as well. I called for them over and over, but nothing happened. I heard something hit the floor, and I turned around to look for it.

Gabrielle stood by a table that had not been there a moment before. I was sure of it. A fire was lit once more, and the light of the flames danced upon Gabrielle’s form. She was holding something that glinted in the firelight. I recognized it with a feeling of horror. “Put that down,” I ordered.

She didn’t look at me. “What is it?” she asked, voice broken.

“It’s an old world weapon. They called them guns. There are few of them around now. They’re very dangerous.” I took a step toward her. “Please, hand it to me.”

“Why?” This time, she looked up. She was holding it properly, finger resting on the trigger. She hadn’t known what it was only seconds ago! If I’d thought she was crazy before, she was now officially insane.

“Because they’re deadly, Gabrielle. You could hurt me or yourself.” I took another step toward her and she aimed it directly at me.

“If I shoot you,” she said in her most innocent voice, “you’ll be fine. You’ll heal, right?”

How did she know? What gave me away? I was frozen, eyeing the gun carefully even though I knew I could evade the bullets well enough. Even if one hit me in the head, I’d still heal in a few hours, but she was fragile. While stuck in mortal form, she had the weak skin and organs of a human being. One bullet could kill her. One bullet and everything I’d done was for nothing.

“But I’m not going to hurt you,” she said, lowering the gun.

I let out a sigh of relief. “Great, now put it down. I can explain everything to you.”

She was before me in an instant, arms wrapped around my neck like she was some sort of lover and not a crazy angel. My heart picked up speed, and she smiled softly. The cold metal of the gun was pressed to my neck.

“You’re going to kill me. Right?”

The question caught me off guard. It was my intention, yes. I would not kill her myself, but handing her over to Lilith was sending her to her death. It was the plan. It had been the plan since Lilith first sent me to find her. Even now, I could take the gun from her hands and knock her out. She’d be delivered to my mother without any sort of fight. It was too easy.

Having her before me with her eyes full of confusion and hurt made me second guess myself. There were tears in her eyes, and I had been weak to her tears before. She was suffering from the pain of being mortal just as I suffered from drinking in their emotions. She was feeling pain and anger and betrayal with no idea why. She probably didn’t even know the names to some of the things she was definitely feeling.

I could feel it washing over me. The emotions came like a tidal wave, flooding my body with her pain. I grit my teeth as I tried to pull away, but she was suddenly too strong. Here was the one person that knew how I felt. Here was an immortal, cold creature forced to taste the emotions of humanity. Like me, there was someone else that just couldn’t handle it.

“It hurts, I know,” I whispered, trying my best to put distance between us. I poured power into my voice, but she didn’t flinch.

Instead, she grasped my hand, forcing the gun into my hand. She pulled it to her head. “If you’re going to kill me, do it now,” she demanded, tears streaming down her face. “I have a home to return to.  My brethren will flood the earth the moment my blood coats these walls. Where will you go, Adrian? Where will you go once your brethren forsake you?”

Ouch. That was a little harsh. I tried to break free from her grasp, but her grip was too tight. “Gabrielle, this is insane. Just let go and we can talk this over.”

She let out a nervous laugh. “Talk? What is there to talk about? You want to kill me. Here’s your chance. You’ll burn in Hell for the rest of eternity for your sin. For all of the sins you’ve committed thus far. You are sin incarnate, and therefore will receive a punishment equal to that of the Fallen.” She was spitting the words with such hate that I was momentarily stunned.

This was my worst mistake. Because the moment I stopped fighting her, her face went blank. Then, she forced my hand.

The gunshot was deafening. Her blood splattered against me. It was everywhere, and it seemed to only increase in amount. It collected, rising up. The second that the blood reached my knees, I made a mad dash for the door. There was nothing there. I was going to drown in blood.

Worse: Gabrielle’s blood.

How had I been so stupid? She was naïve, but intelligent. She was bound to figure it out sooner or later. Her pain never left me. It only intensified, causing an eventual paralysis. I stared up at the ceiling of the cave, frozen in place. Every worry, every fear that she’d ever held swam through me.

I was a demonic lord. I had seduced so many. My power over humans was greater than any of the other sins, besides maybe Pride. They succumbed to lust on a daily basis. They fed me until they collapsed from exhaustion. All of this ran through my mind as I thought one thing. I was going to drown in the blood of an angel. This was my end.

My pain at her death was greater than I expected. So much for the companion theory. The feeling was new, something I had only tasted in my prey. The blood was rising faster.

My eyes caught sight of something on the ceiling. There, written in ice, was one word: “Hi.”

The blood vanished immediately. I was suddenly angry, furious that I had allowed myself to be tricked. The single word on the ceiling made me even angrier. It was so friendly and simple that it nauseated me. “Where the hell are you?” I roared.

“Behind you.”

The voice belonged to Gabrielle. I whirled around to see her looking good as new. She was smiling softly, as if amused at my reaction to her “death.”

“You have no right to impersonate her, Flint.”

“I rummaged through your mind and found something interesting. I’m merely taking the form of something you like. I wouldn’t want you trying to fight me. Personally, I don’t think you’ll hit me while I’m in this form.”

I clenched my fists. No, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t hit him because it was her face. The only thing wrong was her eyes, which were now an icy blue. “Where is she? What have you done?”

He sighed, rolling his eyes. “I’m speaking with her right now. In the real world. She’s fine. Maybe a little jumpy about you being out. She keeps shaking you like it’ll work. Pretty amusing, but not enough. You were very amusing until you found my message. You like games, don’t you, brother?”

“You told her, didn’t you?”

“I lied. I told her you had human parents. What a laugh. Like we had parents at all.”

Flint had crawled from the pit soon after me. He had been my best friend, my favorite brother. Regardless, I was not in the mood for his pranks. “Why are you doing t
his? I came here seeking asylum!” I cried.

“You rudely walk into my city after I haven’t heard from or seen you in years, walk right into my home without even knocking, and brought an angel here with you. You deserved it,” he said, finally revealing his true form. He stretched
, and his white wings shifted slightly. His stark white hair fell into his eyes. He was deathly pale. Tall, slender, a mirror image of me if not for some minor details.

“I may have had a little fun with the girl,” he said as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

I flew at him, and he raised a hand as if to stop me. I froze midair, fist inches from his face. He looked more bored than ever. “Predictable. You have the temper, and I have the calm necessary to evade said temper.” He released me after stepping out of the way. I stumbled slightly.

“What. Did. You. Do?” I demanded through clenched teeth.

“I tried to feed. What else do we do? Unfortunately, she saw through my ruse. She didn’t seem too willing anyways. That must be horrible for you.”

“You impersonated me to sleep with her?” I asked. She’d rejected me. Wow.

“An angel in mortal form might as well be a mortal. She has desires she doesn’t even know of. Perhaps I’ll watch you two a while,” Flint said.

“Like hell you will.”

“Master of dreams, brother. I’ll see you when you sleep.”

“I don’t sleep
much.”

“Then perhaps I’ll visit her.”

He’d mastered the skill all incubi use the most: dreamwalking. The difference is, I got by fine by just being myself. He had to pretend to be whoever his victim wanted. I think it was the fact that he’s pale enough to see through his flesh, nearly. He was able to delve into the dreams of people miles away from him, and he’d managed to learn how to control all aspects of a dream and shape it to his liking.

I hated the lazy bastard.

“What’re you thinking about?” he asked, suddenly showing interest. “Is it me? I knew you’d come around eventually.”

I glared at him. “I’m going to kill you.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that one before. If you want me, might want to enjoy this dream. I’m waking you up soon. The girl has started crying.”

Damn it. Of course she was. “Look, what do you want?”

“I want you to understand the dream. You should know exactly what it means. It was quite clear.”

“You wanted me to watch the object of my mission die, thus sending me to my own death by Lilith,” I said. I hated him so much.

He crossed his arms over his chest, shrugging. “I can’t see everything. I get it in pieces. I don’t know if Lilith will kill you. There were only three major parts to that dream, and I will tell you one now.” He looked at me then, as though he suddenly hated to speak any further. When his words finally came out, they were hesitant. “No matter what path you take, she will die.”

A wave of cold washed over me. For a moment, I forgot to even breathe. For a moment, my heart stopped beating. What did he mean, no matter what?

“Of course she will,” I said through clenched teeth. “That’s why I’m bringing her to Lilith.”

“There are more paths than that one,” he said, sounding annoyed. “There are other options. It all comes down to her death.”

I was silent. What could I say? My mind and body were numb. I might as well have been dead at that very moment. “You can’t see everything,” I accused.

“I see enough. Face it, Adrian. She has to go home at some point. She’s not a human. No matter what you feel for her, she can never return it. They aren’t built like us. Even in mortal form, she is still cold to affection.”

“Stay out of my head,” I growled. I didn’t want to hear it. I couldn’t take it. Not now.

“Adrian, you came to my city looking for refuge. Well, I am not cruel. I have no energy to be malicious. So all I can do is help. No matter what you may think of me, you know I’m right,” Flint said. “Now, let’s join her. This should be fun.”

With that, I was awake. Someone was shaking me, whispering frantically, “Wake up! Wake up!”

I opened my eyes, staring into the tear-filled eyes of Gabrielle. She gasped, immediately moving away from me. I moved into a sitting position, groaning. What a headache.

“Oh, good. You’re awake. Noah woke up a few minutes ago. He—Flint, that is—said that you wouldn’t wake up unless he wanted you to, but I had to try. You looked like you were in pain.” She kept on talking, nervously twisting a finger in her hair.

Flint was nowhere in sight. Noah was even gone. For a moment, I thought it was another dream. Then, she wiped away her tears and smiled. For a moment, the darkness in my heart seemed to lift in its light. For a moment, I had the sudden urge to lean forward, closing the distance between us. Then—

“Let’s go join Noah. Flint is showing him around,” she said quickly, obviously unnerved by my silence. She said “Flint” as though the word itself tasted bitter.

“You trust that idiot?” I asked.

She shrugged. She had definitely been around my brother too long. “He didn’t hurt us, not really. I don’t trust him, but he’s the only one that seems to want to help us so far. He said he was your brother. That should count as something, right?”

Oh, if only she knew. “You shouldn’t trust everyone, Gabrielle. You’re not the best judge of character.”

She frowned. “I’ve done a fairly decent job.”

I should’ve left the conversation at that, but I was angry. I was angry at myself for leading us into the trap. I was angry at Flint for toying with us. I was angry at Gabrielle for being so naïve.

Above all, I was scared of what was to come.

Fear was not something I was accustomed to. I had fought Judas with a nervous mindset, but not fear. I had no reason to fear my brothers and sisters. I had no reason to fear anything or anyone. As long as I could weasel my way out of situations, I was fine.

I was still afraid of what Flint had said. When Gabrielle made to stand up, I grabbed her wrist. “Don’t go yet,” I said softly.

She nodded hesitantly, brow furrowed. I observed her features carefully. How had I been so crude in my thoughts concerning her? She had an otherworldly beauty that no demon or mortal could hope to possess. She had an inner, innocent light that shone through her eyes. I did not lust after her, but something drove me to my next action.