Genesis: Falling Angel (8 page)

However, that was when I caught his eyes. They were golden, shining with unnatural light. Adrian’s words came back to me, and I drew away from him. Had Adrian noticed? I made to tell him, looking over at him with all of the hysteria I could muster.

“The guy’s a dragon,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, I know.”

I screamed.

Chapter 11 – Adrian

Watching Gabrielle’s sleeping face had almost become a pastime. Her brow would furrow. She’d whisper words I could barely make out. Once more, she snored. It was almost fascinating. I usually didn’t stick around long enough to watch my prey sleep. Perhaps I should.

This time, I allowed myself to sleep. It was not a need for incubi. We could eat human food and sleep like them. My hunger was starting to gnaw at me, though. This was probably the reason that I was tortured so heavily in my dreams.

When I awoke, only remnants of the nightmare remained. I was shuddering violently, slick with sweat. My breaths came out as ragged pants. My hand was over my racing heart. Immediately, I looked for Gabrielle. Had she run off in the night? Did I need to go find her?

I looked for her and there she was, sleeping. She was stirring slightly. She seemed to be struggling with some unknown force before a look of utter peace washed over her features. I watched her only briefly before I jumped to my feet. My eyes were burning, and I was sure that they held a deep red glow.

I was starving.

Even her blood would do in a pinch. Vampires were disgusting parasites to me, but I guess I had no room to talk. If an incubus was desperate, he could drink the blood of animals or humans that didn’t necessarily fit his “type.” I was desperate now. Just a mouthful would work. I just wanted a taste. There was no harm in a little blood. She’d wake up with the bite marks gone. She wouldn’t even feel it. It was almost like getting away with murder.

Unlike vampires, I hated drinking blood. I hated the way it congealed on your chin if you missed a drop or two. I hated how warm it was. Even more so, I hated the coppery taste. If the leeches wanted it so badly, they could have it. Many a vampire was drawn to incubi victims. Their racing hearts were like
beacons screaming, “Fresh blood over here!”

My fingers trailed down her arm. She shivered in her sleep. I kneeled down, ready to bite into her wrist. Before my lips could even touch her wrist, I knew it wouldn’t be enough. My hunger had been ignored for too long.

I roughly shoved her wrist away, rising to my feet once more. I was so cold. My hands rubbed my arms to fight off the growing chill. It was warmth I needed. It was energy I desired. Lying before me was an untouched young woman. Or even better: an angel. She was so innocent, uncorrupted. It was like putting a banquet before a man who had been dining off moldy bread for weeks.

I slumped against a wall of the cave to be as far away from her as possible. The cold was the type of cold that freezes you over deep inside. I was shivering even more intensely. Hunger could be denied a bit longer without the presence of food, but this was torture!

The spell broke the moment Gabrielle whispered, “Gabriel.”

The one word chased my hunger away. The cold became the heat of my hatred for the angel whose name she’d whispered so lightly. For a moment, my anger outweighed my desire for a decent meal. “Gabriel,” I muttered to myself. “Of course Gabriel would find a way to speak to her.” The place where my wings met my back ached with the memory of being torn.

I was kneeling at her side in an instant. Perhaps she needed to awaken. If Gabriel had found a way to communicate with her, he’d probably expose me immediately. She said a few more incomprehensible words, but I recognized my name once she said it. She said it with a breathy sigh that almost made my hunger return.

“Gabrielle,” I said sharply, shaking her slightly. She was locked in the dream. “Damn it. Wake u
p, idiot.”

“Beautiful eyes,” she finally said.

Well, she certainly had to be talking about mine. I was flattered. Personally, I hated the damn color. Anything that boosted my ego was welcome, though. My anger dissipated, only to be replaced by pride. My eyes were what drew in so many victims. Of course they were beautiful.

So I decided I’d leave her alone. She had to be defending me. If she woke up with the knowledge of who I was, I’d just knock her out and take her to Lilith. I tossed a blanket over her sleeping form and turned to survey the cave.

She had to eat something, I was sure. The job of setting up a fire and heating the contents of a can labeled “vegetable stew” was simple enough. After a few moments of awkward conversation that occurred once Gabrielle had awakened, we were eating the stew on the floor of the cave. The only part that made me laugh inside was her comment on me being “not nice.” That was the understatement of the century.

Then, the cave started shaking. I quickly moved to cover Gabrielle, fearful that something would happen to her. If she got so much as a scratch, Lilith would torture me. Once the shaking stopped, I rose to my feet. I’d heard a slight
thump
from outside. Gabrielle probably didn’t pick up on it with her human ears.

“Stay here,” I warned.

To myself, I muttered over and over, “Please don’t be the damn dragon.”

A man stood outside of the cave. He brightened at the sight of me as if he’d been waiting years to meet me. He had long hair the color of dark mud. His skin was very tan. His clothing didn’t look cheap. Tall and handsome,
he was most certainly a moron.

His eyes were shiny and yellow. He definitely was a dragon.

“Can I help you?” I asked in as bored of a tone as I could muster. I poured some of my power into it, hoping to win him over.

He looked me over. “Thanks, but you’re not really my type. That stuff won’t work on me, incubus.” He winced as if the word burned. “What’s your name? I hate the word ‘incubus.’ It’s a little dirty. No offense.”

“Plenty taken,” I replied.

“Well, my name’s Noah. Don’t ask. It’s an embarrassing name. My parents were horrible. My homeland is in Avaritia. I’m actually Diamond’s older brother. I figure you know her?”

Oh, this moron knew who I was. My blood ran cold. Diamond was the ruler of Avaritia. She was a dragon that I’d had the misfortune of meeting only twice. In hindsight, I probably should’ve noticed the diamond tattoo on his left shoulder.

“I know her quite well,” I replied, smirking slightly to boost the implication. I didn’t have to add that she’d nearly killed me when I tried to leave in the middle of the night.

He grinned broadly. “Whether or not you sleep with my sister isn’t an issue. Dragons often have very unstable family bonds. It often leads to rash decisions.” He winked at me. “Unstable is the best way to describe Diamond, isn’t it?”

Despite my wariness, I found myself agreeing with him.

“Now, Adrian. I think we’ve chatted long enough. Let’s get down to business,” Noah said. “We’ve both got something to hide, and I think we can find some mutual ground.”

So basically he wanted to threaten me. I returned to being rude. “Why would I want to conduct business with an annoying lizard? I hate dragons.”

He put his hands on his hips, pouting. I tried my best not to laugh. “Well, that was rude, Adrian,” he said. So he did know my name.

“Make this quick. You interrupted my meal,” I said, lowering my voice to a whisper. “She’s very impatient, you see.”

Dragons were typically dangerous. This one just seemed like an idiot. He sighed, gazing at me as though I were the completely hopeless one. “You mean the angel?” he asked.

Well, damn it. “What are you talking about?” I demanded.

“The children of Lilith know about it. Why can’t Greed’s favorite brother know?” he teased. “I seriously doubt you’ve seduced her. You know, with the whole secret identity thing going on.”

He was pretty good. “What makes you say that?” I asked.

Noah winked again, and I wondered briefly if I was his type after all. He continued. “An angel wouldn’t blindly follow someone if she knew they were a demon. Don’t you agree?”

Well, he had a point. The threat was clear, though. I was starting to get a headache. “What do you want in return for your silence?”

“I want asylum. You know, Luxuria’s protection.”

“Why?”

He rolled his eyes. “Are you really that dense? Who else but a powerful dragon could take down Thanatos?”

“That was you? Do you have any reason or were you just bloodthirsty?”

“Oh, I was going to get to you eventually. His death wasn’t as quiet as I’d hoped. Lilith noticed and placed a bounty on my head. You don’t need to know more than that. Anyways, killing him had some nasty side-effects.”

I knew what he meant. No one could just kill one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Once one died, someone had to take his or her place.

He continued with his hand over his heart, “I can feel it. It’s strong and angry and so very violent. I need to cut this power off at its source, and you’re going to help me. Besides, I can be useful. Were you really planning on walking everywhere?”

“Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?” I demanded.

His eyes flashed with a darkness I hadn’t noticed. “I don’t believe you have a choice.”

At the risk of being exposed, and with no real way to kill a dragon, I didn’t see any other choice. The offer of a ride over the desert was welcome. Maybe I’d kill him in his sleep sometime.

“Do we have a deal?” he said. His words were slow like he was speaking to a child.

“Yes,” I stated.  I put my head in my hands, shaking my head in despair.

“Relax. You’ll hardly even notice me. I bet I could even get you to every place you need to go!”

“That’s great and all,” I replied, “but you’ll bring nothing but trouble. Honestly, I already find you extremely annoying.”

“That hurts, Adrian. It really does.”

I groaned. “Damn it,” I swore. That’s when I noticed Gabrielle. Of course she got impatient. She was too curious. I motioned her to come over. Noah wouldn’t attack her, not with our agreement.
“Gabrielle, come here and meet our newest traveling companion.”

While Noah and Gabrielle were getting acquainted, I realized there were holes in his story. What did he believe I could do
for him? His sister was Greed, and he was becoming Wrath. He’d implied that he could beat me in a fight. Why not just kidnap Gabrielle and hold her hostage? Or kill me?

Gabrielle gave me a panicked look. “The guy’s a dragon,” I
said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Yeah, I know.”

Then she screamed.

Noah covered his ears, wincing in pain. “She’s almost as bad as a banshee!” he called to me. I was slightly amused, though my sensitive ears could barely take the noise. I snuck up behind Gabrielle and covered her mouth with my hand, successfully muffling the noise.

“This guy is going to be our way across this desert. I know your feet are still sore.” I glanced
down at them. They were healed. “Well maybe not, but they could get like that again if we don’t let this guy fly us.”

Gabrielle blushed profusely. I released her, and she bowed. “I apologize,” she said. “Thank you for doing us such a kind favor.”

Oh, he was kind all right. That was only if “kind” meant “snake.” Noah looked pleased anyway. “No problem. Try not to do that again though. We could fall right out of the sky.”

She nodded, avoiding eye contact. She hadn’t been that shy with me. Was he intimidating her? Or was it something else?

Suddenly I needed the conversation to end. “Hey, how much can you carry?”

“I’m a gold dragon,” he stated simply.

Golden dragons were a rarity indeed. They had hard, beautiful scales and the strength of ten lower-ranking dragons. I was kind of glad I hadn’t challenged him. It took more energy than I could muster to kill a dragon. I was beginning to have trouble even thinking. Hunger can do that to any creature.

“Then Gabrielle and I will bring the bags out here. Wait here. Don’t want your lizard stink to fill up th
e cave.” I could smell the sulfur from where I stood.

He pouted, but made no move to follow us as I led Gabrielle into the cave once more. “He knows you’re an angel,” I whispered the moment we were far away from Noah.

Her features twisted in shock, but I shook my head. “It’s okay. He doesn’t want to hurt us. He just needs a bit of help. He has Lilith’s people after him. It’s a rare thing for a dragon to accept passengers so just be grateful that he’s doing this at all. It’s a real blow to their pride.”

We gathered up supplies in silence. Well, almost silence. Every now and then Gabrielle would ask about what things we were taking with us. At one point, she brought me an entire bag full of the ointment I’d applied to her feet. Amused, I accepted the bag while prai
sing her for being so helpful. She beamed, and I knew I had her hooked. Eventually, she wouldn’t believe anything Noah could say about me.

She ruined the moment for me by mentioning, almost as if whispering a secret, “Noah’s really kind, isn’t he? Are dragons usually so kind?”

I’d told her before about how vicious they could be. My pride was a little wounded at her statement. “Grab those blankets so we don’t have to sit directly on the scales.”

She seemed puzzled. “What about
my question?”

“No, dragons are heartless,” I replied. She hadn’t seemed interested in me at all, beyond the whole “beautiful eyes” thing. Maybe I had lost my edge after the troll crushed my chest. I probably seemed weak to her.