Genesis: Falling Angel (17 page)

Diamond howled in pain. Soon, Noah shrank back to his normal size. Diamond stood up weakly, staggering slightly and sending streams of blood all over her office. She collapsed, returning to her human form. Her white blouse was stained crimson.

Noah stepped forward to deliver the finishing blow. Gabrielle tore away from me, shouting, “Wait!”

He turned to her.

“She’s injured, right? And she’ll heal, correct?” she asked. Noah nodded, so she continued, “Well, perhaps we could leave her. She won’t be able to follow us for a while. Please? Can we just leave?” Her voice broke near the end. She was definitely on the verge of tears. I shot a pleading look at Noah, who merely sighed.

“Fine,” he spat.

He revealed the exit by pressing a button on the far wall. The wall lifted, exposing us to the night air. It was amazing how time flies when you’re stuck in a room with two homicidal dragons. “Let’s head toward Invidia. We might as well see what Morrigan is up to.”

Gabrielle shot me a suspicious glance, but I ignored it. Noah shifted without another word, and we climbed onto his back and took off. I could only hope Morrigan was more hospitable than the others.

It took several hours of flying to reach Invidia. By then, Noah was half-aslee
p and Gabrielle actually was. When we landed, I told them to wait outside of the city while I went to find Morrigan. When Gabrielle asked about her, I merely said she was a human friend that could aid us.

It wasn’t a complete lie. Morrigan was once human before she lost her mind and drowned her only two children in a nearby river. She’d asked people where they were for weeks before someone finally broke
down and told her that she had killed them. She had taken off into the forest, where she collapsed on a nearby stump and began to sob. Lilith appeared before her. Having her own role as a mother taken away from her had made her sympathetic to the plight of Morrigan. She offered the woman a way to clear her mind, provided that she gave her life up to Lucifer.

Morrigan had complied. Now, her voice was hoarse from screaming. Her screams were glass-shattering and made ear drums burst. She was a
banshee, through and through. She was the very first one, in fact. While she was still a little mad, she was the only other neutral party besides Flint. Unlike Flint, she would fight.

When I managed to get through the dirty streets without someone attempting to mug me, I came to her home. I asked a guard, a ghoul with pasty flesh and hollow eyes, if I could enter. He told me she had left
. When I asked where to, he revealed the location to be Luxuria.

My world shattered. Morrigan was in my home. My city, so peaceful with its heavy doses of pheromones, was going to be tainted with Envy. I clenched my jaw in anger. I had to get there first. I was still ruler, like it or not. I was still responsible for my subjects. The people of Invidia were all thieves and tricksters, constantly wanting what everyone else had. There were banshees, goblins, and ghouls. Worst of all, there were basilisks. I really didn’t want to run into any of them. The streets were completely ransacked. Every house had boarded up windows.  My Luxuria would not fall to such ruin.

When I returned to Noah and Gabrielle, they immediately seemed to sense that something was wrong. I probably didn’t hide it well. I was panicking. I was angry. “We need to leave now. We can sleep later, but there’s a problem I need to deal with.”

“Where’s Morrigan?” Noah asked.

“She’s gone. We need to leave now before it’s too late to stop her. She’s probably causing enough damage as is.” I was babbling at this point. My mind was racing and my lips were struggling to keep up with it.

“Where are we going
?” Noah asked.

“My home,” I replied.

Gabrielle suddenly looked nervous, but I didn’t have time to try to soothe her. I was a lord, and my subjects were about to be exposed to something unlike anything they’d felt before. Maybe I was overreacting, but still.

I could only hope that I wasn’t too late.

Chapter 21 – Gabrielle

The words Adrian was speaking were starting to frighten me.

On the strange “fog” in Luxuria:

“There’s going to be a weird fog as soon as we enter. You’ll find that only a handful of people aren’t affected. Like me. If you start feeling strange, just try your best to stay close to me and no one will touch you.”

On the people of Luxuria:

“It’s mostly vampires, incubi, and
succubae for the demon population. The other half of the population is humans. Despite the size of the population, everyone pretty much knows everyone else.”

I was becoming
more and more nervous by the second. By the time we landed, I was on the verge of vomiting. This would be my ultimate test. The other cities had tugged at weaker feelings of envy, gluttony, and greed. This one would be invading my senses, pulling me in. Lust was the only sin that was affecting me so far. I wondered what I’d do once the fog seeped into my system. Would it smell like him once I inhaled it? Would I lose control of myself? Was I really even thinking of failing my mission over a mortal?

Now I was thinking like Gabriel. I shot Adrian an apologetic glance, and he stared at me strangely. I realized then that I’d never said anything and turned away quickly. I didn’t seem capable of going one day without embarrassing myself. I wondered if it was pride taking hold of me.

Adrian was a little too close to me. He was just hovering over me as if he expected me to faint at any moment. That may have been a fairly good guess. We walked past the guards without a word. They hardly glanced at us. Both were young males that looked perfectly normally if not for their pale skin, brightly colored eyes, and leathery wings. After seeing Flint, I knew an incubus when I saw one.

The fog wrapped around us the second we stepped into the city
. Noah and Adrian seemed completely unaffected. They were both watching me, eyes unblinking. I gave them both a reassuring smile right before the fog truly sank in. It was no “fog,” that was true. I staggered back, pinching my nose as if that would stop the onslaught of whatever-it-was.

“Do you know what pheromones are?” Adrian asked, though his words were slow in my increasingly slowing thoughts.

That was a new one. “No,” I managed.

He rolled his eyes. “I thought you’d be able to handle this, being an angel and all,” he whispered, eyes glinting with mischief.

I’d never seen such a wickedly amused look. He seemed to contemplate something before finally deciding to reach for me. I staggered back even more, afraid of what his touch might do, and afraid of the strange heat that was spreading throughout my body. He grasped my hand, and I winced.

The feeling vanished.

“Touch is key,” he said, winking. Obviously that wasn’t the whole truth. To be honest, I was glad to have him back to his cruel, teasing self. It meant he wasn’t going to kiss me again. It meant his infatuation with me was probably ending.

My heart sank at this last thought.

“Come along, my dear,” he whispered. It was like he was back in his element. The way he moved so fluidly, and the way his skin gained some light color. He laughed more, he talked rapidly.

He eyed every person that walked past, male or female.

This was a disturbing change in character. As his flirtatious smiles and winks progressed into suggestive comments toward others, I began to feel ill. Did the city affect him that much? Or was he, now that he was home, showing his true colors? I would prefer the cruel, rude Adrian or the one that had kissed me over the monstrosity before me.

“You’re so tense,” he muttered in my ear. “You have to loosen up a little. They’ll suspect something if you’re acting all prudish.”

“What do you want me to do?” I asked in a small voice.

Everyone seemed to be touching someone else. It ranged from gently touching someone’s arm to attacking their lips. It was all so strange to me, so overwhelming. What could I possibly do to fit into a place like this? Gula had been violent. Acedia had been lazy. I had not seen much of Avaritia, but Luxuria was something else entirely. If angels represented purity, Luxuria was the force that tainted such innocence.

“I don’t like it here,” I said before he could answer.

Something flashed in his eyes. “Want to know something, Gabrielle?” He looked to me, and it was the Adrian that I was so afraid of. He was once more the one that had pulled me to him in the cave. “I don’t like it here, either, but it’s home. It’s all I have, so please
just try to understand for me.”

It seemed like an impossible task with him attempting to seduce everything that looked his way. I was suddenly thankful that I hadn’t fallen for his ridiculous little flirtations. I was so glad that I had rejected his kiss rather than being drawn into him. I was happy that I had not succumbed to human emotions. I was still strong.

Yet the place beneath my ribs where my heart resided felt hollow. A dull ache swept over me every few minutes, and I felt tears threaten me. It was torture, seeing him like this. Whether he was acting or not, I wasn’t sure. I looked up at him with watery eyes and he shook his head.

“You’re not going to survive here if you don’t get over it,” he snapped. Apparently he was done with the sweet talk.

Tears spilled over my cheeks. Noah, who had been silent the whole time, merely looked away. Why here? Why was it so important that they blended in? Was the lord of Luxuria so cruel as to destroy those who resisted his strange, consuming fog? Did he sit in his room all day, breathing in the smell of sweat and listening to the moans of his subjects? Was he laughing over the control he had over all of them? Noah feared him. Adrian became a monster in his presence. Suddenly, I felt a spark of something new in my heart.

I think I hated him.

I hated his beautiful city with its expensive silks and luxurious houses. I hated his control. While every other so-called lord had subjects following them out of respect, he was stretching his influence out to control them entirely. I hated that I would probably have to meet him.

“Adrian!” a girl called. This one had short, blue hair, pale skin, and blue lips. Her eyes were the color of rubies. She was slender, though not boyish. Her nails were painted black. Her dress was cut too low and ended a bit above mid-thigh. It was like the vampire girl all over again, except from the red wings that stretched out from her back, I was certain that she was a succubus.

She didn’t even look at me, focusing all of her attention on Adrian. “Where have you been? It’s been a nightmare without you!”

“Just thought I’d go exploring for a bit, maybe find a girl that isn’t always grabbing at my—”

She stuck her fingers in her ears, rolling her eyes.

He smirked at her, and she returned it with strange intensity. He gestured toward her, eyes locked on me. “Gabrielle, this is a dear friend of mine. Her name is Cassandra. She prefers Cassie for some weird reason, as though she doesn’t already look like a child.”

“If I’m a child, what does that make you? A creepy old man?” she teased, winking at him.

He seemed slightly disturbed by the comment, glancing at me, searching my face for something he apparently wasn’t going to find. “Watch your tongue,
Cassie
,” he hissed.

“I was j
ust saying.” She went on to babble about other people they both apparently knew.

I had thought that mortals did not make friends with d
emons. They were the overlords on earth. If there was one thing that amazed me about Luxuria, it was that everyone seemed as though they wouldn’t need the fog to coexist. I made a note to ask Adrian about it later, when there wasn’t a demon merely inches away from me.

“So did you bring back a toy to play with?”

Cassie’s words made my thoughts shatter. Toy? What kind of toy?

Adrian tightened his grip on my hand. “No toys, Cassie. Toys break too easily.”

“Well she’s very pretty. Perhaps the brothel would suit her?”

That word, I was familiar with. I shook my head frantically, and Cassie’s eyes widened. “She’s not affected. How the hell—” She glanced down at our clasped hands. A slow smile crept onto her face. “I see.” She leaned closer to Adrian. “You seem starving. When was the last time you ate? You’re paler.
You also seem a little shaky and irritable.”

Hungry? Adrian ate three small meals a day. He’d even cooked several of them. “He eats plenty,” I said. I don’t know why I chose to challenge her statement because then she whirled on me.

“Oh, I’m sure he does,” she said softly. “Aren’t you curious as to why the fog isn’t affecting you?”

“Because touch keeps it at bay,” I replied.

“Cassie,” Adrian warned.

“A certain kind of touch keeps it at bay, but holding hands won’t do you much good. You don’t realize how much pain Adrian’s putting himself through with that cute little gesture. I bet you don’t even know a single thing about him.” Cassie smiled a knowing smile at Adrian. “Demons aren’t very good at being loyal.”

With that, she tore us apart. Immediately, my senses were invaded with the all-consuming fog. Cassie’s touch did nothing to make it release its hold on me. Adrian shouted something, pulling Cassie away from him. I could see him through the fog, rushing toward me with his hand outstretched. The closer he got, the more I burned. I turned and ran.

I bumped into too many people on my way through the streets. I even tripped once or twice, leaving my legs bloody. Groups of vampires watched me with interest after that. I was nauseated, overwhelmed. There was nothing but Adrian and the horrible heat of the fog. I was suffocating. My body was surely rejecting it. Even in mortal form, my angelic soul was pushing against the invading sin with all its might. Just when I thought it might overcome me, it stopped. I collapsed to the ground.

The street I had found myself on was empty save for one cloaked figure. The lights were all off. There was complete silence. Then, the figure took a step forward. I crawled backwards, trying to scramble to my feet. It reached me in no time, however. Its arm was outstretched, a pale hand exposed. It stayed frozen like that until I clasped the hand, allowing it to pull me to my feet.

The figure lowered its hood. She looked like a human woman, though ghastly pale. There was a tattoo of a green serpent wrapped around her throat. Her eyes were emerald green, her hair a fiery red. She looked perfect in every possible detail. Then she spoke.

“Gabrielle, correct?” Her voice was hoarse, as though her throat was raw. I looked at her eyes once more and they were slightly bloodshot, though healing rapidly. “I’ve been waiting for you three to arrive. I was afraid you would skip Invidia after the inhospitable welcomes you received from my brothers and sister. So I came here to wait. Know that I don’t ever leave my home unless the matter is dire.”

“The fog,” I began.

“Can’t touch us because my power is holding it at bay,” she finished. She smiled softly. “You look so young. I was shocked when I learned that they had sent a female. I expected Michael or Gabriel for such a task.” She sighed. “I so would’ve liked to see Michael once more. In another life, he was dear to me.”

“You’re Morrigan,” I acknowledged.

“Yes,” she said simply. She coughed then, sending a spray of blood onto the pavement. I rushed to help her, but she waved me away. “The stories don’t say it right. The banshee screams, the victim dies. Or in others, the banshee just screams, people hear it, they’re terrified. They never talk about how painful it is to reach such a high pitch. Would you like me to show you?”

“No thank you.”

She shrugged. “So what were you running from, dear angel?”

I said nothing, and she answered it for me, “Adrian isn’t bad. This is his home. All citizens of Luxuria find it hard to leave the walls for more than a week without the touch of another. He has been deprived, and so he is acting arrogant. He won’t seduce anyone, I assure you.” She pursed her lips. “Though I don’t know how much longer he can go without feeding. He’s a complete mess right now, you know. He’s not acting that way because he likes to. In fact, I think you’ve rubbed off on him a bit. He doesn’t seem to be himself anymore.”

I buried my face in my hands. “What is everyone talking about? You all say he’s starving, but he’s eaten in front of me plenty of times. What does he need? Why isn’t he getting it? What’s this big secret that everyone’s keeping from me? Did they think I wouldn’t notice? I’m an angel, and I’m a little naïve, but the secret is so poorly hidden that I’m angry. I’m angry I can’t seem to fit the pieces together.” It poured out of me before I could stop it, and when I lifted my face to look at Morrigan, she seemed mildly surprised.

“You are older than me, and much wiser. You claim that you have the pieces, so why is it so difficult to solve? The answer is right in front of you. Adrian will be enraged that I’ve told you, but I think I know what you’ll do with the information.” She reached into the pocket of her cloak, pulling out a green heart pendant on a silvery chain. “Wear this. It’s a favorite of mine. My power will linger on it a bit longer. It will keep your mind clear of the fog.”

I allowed her to put it on me. She, unlike the others, had made no move to attack me. She seemed only curious about the journey. I felt no fear around her. Her power did not seep into my senses. I felt calm in her presence.