Genesis: Falling Angel (19 page)

“I’ve only ever read the Bible,” she said, smiling. “I’ve read it so many times, I have it memorized. I suppose I’ve read poem and stories by the other angels, but they are all about my Father. I love to read, but Gabriel never let me see any human literature.”

“It’s fascinating, really. It lets you understand them a little better. A predator has more success if it knows its prey, I guess.” That was probably the wrong thing to say, but I hadn’t brought her there to show off my many books. There was one in particular.

I pulled a large, dusty tome off a shelf. Immediately, my fingers felt like they were gripping onto fire. It had been a pain to read that book. I carefully placed it on the table before looking at my reddened skin.

“You have a copy of the Bible?” she asked slowly, frowning in confusion.

“I’ve read it
enough to memorize it as well. I analyzed it, too. I’m not a complete idiot.”

“Why?” she asked, turning pages in it. A lot of things were highlighted. That must’ve been a little surprising.

“I was looking for something. After a few centuries of analyzing, I determined my answer. I realized it within the first couple of years, but I kept reading it, thinking I’d missed it somewhere. It’s the main reason why I despise God.”

She looked at me. “Which is?”

“There’s no salvation for demons,” I whispered.

She was silent, closing the book. “I don’t want to be here right now. You’ve made your point.”

I hadn’t expected her to like what I had to say. I was showing her my humanity. It wouldn’t all be pretty. She’d seen that I was obsessed with human books and that I’d read the Bible despite being burned each time I touched it. She’d found out that I had sought salvation as so many mortals did, yet I found that I was incapable of finding it. Heaven’s gates were closed to me.

“I only need to show you one more place. It’s a little embarrassing, but maybe it’ll show you that demons don’t only destroy.”

It wasn’t too far from the warehouses. The moment she saw it, she gasped in delight. It was the only garden in Luxuria. The grass was a vibrant green, the trees varied in species but all held green leaves. All kinds of flowers grew there, now wilder since I hadn’t planted anything in years. The landscaping was a little embarrassing. There was a large pond in the center with a white bridge over it. Lanterns hung from the trees, though they weren’t lit yet. I decided not to think about its appearance and resolved to bring her back at night. I just wanted her reaction.

“You did this?” she whispered.

“Yeah.”

“Why? I mean, it’s so strange.”

“I don’t just destroy. I actually got bored a few centuries back and decided to see if could keep anything alive for more than a few minutes. I have many hobbies. I’ve done just about everything you can imagine.”

She nodded. “Heaven is very limited. There are many things to do, but I’ve always wished to be human to look into their interests. I envy you. I’m finally human and all I’ve felt is pain.”

Before I could respond, she bent down and plucked a flower. She held it up to my face, lips pursed. “This is the color,” she said.

It was purple, so I assumed she meant my eyes. I gently took it from her. “Glad to see you back to your old self.”

“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. Well, nothing except my meadow.” She didn’t elaborate.

“How about I show you what it looks like at night? It’s a lot better. It’s pretty boring during the day.”

She smiled, and this time her eyes lit up. Perhaps she was seeing what I wanted her to see. Before we left, she said in a small voice, “You didn’t have to try and show me your hobbies to prove you’re more human than most. I already know. Everything Gabriel said—”

“Gabriel’s not here right now, is he? Perhaps he hasn’t told you the whole truth.”

She frowned, but said nothing more.

I left early that night. I wanted to be the first in the garden, to make sure everything was in order. Upon arriving, it was just as breathtaking as always. The lanterns made the pond seem to glow. The flowers seemed to dance, though they probably actually were. Magic lanterns were the best. I would have to thank Morrigan again.

Gabrielle was already waiting for me on the bridge, a grin on her face. I walked over to her, feeling sorry for the poor dancing flowers I was crushing underfoot. “Much better, isn’t it?”

She nodded.

“We’ll need to leave for Superbia tomorrow. Noah claims it’s the longest trip for him, so we need to start early in the morning.”

“Can you stop talking about it for just a second?” she asked.

I felt a little stunned that she had changed the subject so abruptly. Usually she was interested in what plans we had. “Okay,” I said, arching an eyebrow. Her eyes seemed strange, as though hiding something.

Without warning, she pulled me into a kiss.

She was much less clumsy, and I drew her closer. Her hand trailed down my stomach, lower.

I grabbed her hand. “What are you doing?”

She smiled, nodding to something behind me. I turned to see a retreating flash of gold. It was definitely the color of Gabrielle’s hair. When I turned back to her, her eyes had become violet.

“Cunning little witch,” I snarled, shoving her away and turning to go after the real Gabrielle. Lilith may have had her face, but she could never keep her eyes cloaked for long. She grabbed me, turning me to face her. I had forgotten just how strong she was.

“My son, I thought you’d know better than to cross me.”

“You shouldn’t wear her face. Stop it,” I growled.

Wait. Her form hadn’t flickered. It had stayed locked on Gabrielle the whole time. I wasn’t getting a headache or anything. What the Hell?

“If she’s all you lust after, she’s all you’ll see,” Lilith said coldly. It was Gabrielle’s voice, and the tone stung slightly. “Besides, she’ll be on her way to Superbia in a few minutes. I’ll make sure she gets there safely.”

She opened her mouth to reveal horrible fangs right before they sank into my arm. I cried out, staggering backwards. The venom took effect within moments, and I crumpled to the ground.

“That should keep you still for a few hours. I don’t want to kill you, Adrian. I love all of my children.”

I couldn’t speak.

“After all of this, things can go back to how they were. We’ll forget this ever happened.”

With that, she left my paralyzed body on the bridge.

Chapter 23 - Gabrielle

Adrian was a fool if he thought that a couple of wonderful sights would break me from my trance. For a moment, it had worked. I’d seen the books and watched as he lifted the book that burned his very flesh. His remark on salvation nearly grasped me. I almost, at that moment, wished to kiss him. Then I remembered who he was and I became frozen inside once more.

Yes, he was more human than I had thought. Gabriel had taught me that all demons delighted on destruction. They delighted in leading God’s children astray. They were hideous creatures that could take the form of a mortal just to blend in. They were devoted followers of the devil himself. They were incapable of love or remorse.

Yet Adrian had managed to collect a vast library of books solely to preserve them from other demons. He had somehow managed to make a garden flourish. He had obeyed my every wish without trying to lead me into the dark. He was beautiful, as far as I knew. He seemed to have no care for his superiors.

Maybe he actually loved me.

I had met several so-called demons that seemed to be close to humans in nature.
There was Flint, the bored incubus who only wished for company. Then there was Morrigan, the maddened mother turn banshee that had aided me when I was lost. Noah, the dragon whose only wish was to make the world better for his daughter.

So who was right? Adrian or Gabriel?

I stared at myself in the full-length mirror in my room. I was human and I needed to allow myself to feel as a human felt. It was what I had wanted all along. I had wanted a vast array of emotions. I had wanted my own beating heart. I had wanted to have a life cycle, where I was young and then old in the blink of an eye. I was no longer sure if I wanted those things.

Still, I was prepared to humor Adrian. “The garden at night,” I said slowly. “What does the garden look like?”

No one escorted me to the garden. I was slightly paranoid after being attacked. What was worse was the fact that it had been by a human. In my clearer state, I could feel the anger that it was a human, not a demon, who had attempted to harm me. The thought died as I caught sight of the lights.

Fear, rage, and disgust gripped me all at once.

Adrian was kissing a woman.

No,
she was certainly not a woman. She was a monster.

She had long, black hair and dark eyes. Black scales covered her nude form from the waist up. From the waist down, she had the body of a serpent. I suddenly felt ill. I had a feeling that I knew who she was even before she looked at me. I didn’t wait for Adrian to look. I ran. I had to get away from her. I couldn’t do anything on my own. I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t have time to feel jealous or angry over their kiss.

Of course he had been working for her. He’d wanted to lure me away in the dead of night so that Noah couldn’t follow. He’d planned on handing me over to
her
. I would recognize her cursed form anywhere. Lilith was nothing but a reptilian monstrosity.

I ran straight for Noah’s room, but a scaly hand clapped over my mouth and pulled me back. How had she found me so quickly? How did she know where I’d go?

“Adrian was right. You are beautiful. It’s a shame we’ll have to cut that pretty little neck of yours.” Her voice was raspy. She sounded delighted to have her hands on me.

Something jabbed my arm, and my eyes widened. I recognized that burning. As the world faded away, I heard Lilith say, “You remind me of someone.”

When I woke, I was no longer in Luxuria. I could tell because everything was in neutral colors and made of stone or metal. I tried to sit up, but my wrists were tied down. My head was aching, and I groaned as though it would help relieve the agony. My arm was sore from the injection. The burning had faded to a strange, tingly warmth.

The room had gray, metal walls. I tilted my head to see the white, stone floor. There were no windows. There was only one door. As far as I could tell, the only two things in the room were the table I was lying on and another table covered in metallic objects. I’d never seen such things.

The door opened, and a man entered. He was dressed in black pants and what appeared to be a white lab cloak. He skirted around me to get to the other table. When he picked up one of the objects—a sharp thing with a thin blade—I began to panic. I struggled wildly against my restraints. He watched, obviously amused.

“Gabrielle, is it?” I stilled to look at him defiantly. He smiled. His eyes were gray. His skin was ashen. His features were perfect in every way. His long hair was black. Immediately, I knew what he was. It was the one creature that couldn’t hide from me even if it tried.

“You’re a Fallen,” I said, like it was an accusation.

“It’s so kind of you to notice. Would you like to see my wings? Or will they remind you too much of your own?”

The comment stung slightly, but I shook my head.
There was no reasoning with a Fallen angel. They were true monsters. I’d heard stories of angels coming across them in their travels on earth. They were violent, angry, and sadistic. They delighted in landing a single scratch on an angel. Fallen were one of the few beings capable of harming an angel.

He looked like he wanted to harm me. It was the gleam in his eyes. I had never come across one, as I had never been to earth, but I had already begun to shake. He shook his head as though to say “poor girl.”

He walked over to me, running the back of the blade over my neck. “Do you know who I am, Gabrielle?”

“No,” I answered.

He threw the scalpel across the room. “No one knows my name! I don’t even know it. I took up ‘Leon’ just to have
something
. I gladly joined Lilith’s ranks because I thought that the angels would pour onto earth, but they didn’t. You know why? Because God realizes his creations can’t rise against us. The Fallen are stronger than anyone could’ve ever imagined, all thanks to your silence.”

“Leon” walked back to the table. Another trait of the Fallen is that centuries of being the outcasts had rendered most of them insane. Leon appeared to be one of those. He turned on me once more, this time holding something akin to pliers.

“This one rips out teeth. Yours are so pretty, though. I’d hate to mar that lovely mouth of yours.” He gripped my jaw, grinning. “It could be put to better use.”

I didn’t understand what he meant, but the grin told me all I needed to know. He would only hurt me. All I could do was endure.

“Speaking of which,” he said, leaning onto the surface I was tied to. “How is Adrian?”

I didn’t answer.

“Defiance will get you nowhere. So tell me, how is he?”

“I don’t know. I don’t care,” I replied.

He laughed at this, revealing fangs I had not noticed. “Oh, I’m sure he’d love to hear that! I hear he’s quite taken with you. So what did you let him do to you?”

“What do you mean?”

He rolled his eyes. “Shall I put it into terms that you can understand?
Did you partake in sexual intercourse with Adrian?
”

The bluntness of his words hit me too hard. His mocking tone didn’t help. My face was burning. I wanted off this forsaken earth. I wanted to be away from the women who kidnapped me and injected me with strange things. I wanted away from the men who tried to touch me in places no one has touched, or the men that said crude things to me and then laughed when I did
n’t understand. The question was more of an accusation, and he couldn’t have made it any more offensive if he’d tried.

“No. No he didn’t. No one’s touched me,” I hissed.

He arched an eyebrow. “Touchy subject? Well, that’s okay. Lilith says I can keep you if you survive. We only need so much.” He was no longer making sense. “We’re going to have such fun together, you and I. Adrian may not have jumped at the chance, but I certainly will. The moment the ritual is over, I’ll teach you a few things I learned in Luxuria. That’s what you fear most, isn’t it? Losing your chastity or whatever you perfect little angels call it?”

I was beginning to feel sick. He noticed this and
wagged a finger at me. “Careful. If you vomit, you’ll be stuck by it for the next hour or so. Besides, I won’t hurt you. How could I lay a finger on Gabriel’s little pet?”

I merely stared.

Leon shook his head. “I became a Fallen after the war, you know. It was top secret. I was the last and only angel to fall after the rebellion. I heard Gabriel’s little request. Saw you after you were made.” He grinned. “Perfect. You were unique. It’s not every day you find a Fallen that had yet to truly fall. Perhaps it was my devotion to Lucifer that made God cast me out. Perhaps it was because I was envious of Gabriel’s gift. The moment I saw you, I chose not to take a companion.”

He leaned down, inches from my face. “I was starting to think Gabriel would never let you out of his sight, yet here you are. The freedom that comes with the fall is exhilarating. There’s pain at first, but that leaves. You become all-powerful.” He pushed away. “So why would I hurt you when one of the many reasons I fell was lusting after you? Well?”

“Because that’s what your kind does,” I managed to say.

He nodded. “Our kind, Gabrielle. Gabriel may have tried to hide it, but you were meant to be cast out from the moment of your creation. God intended to throw you out of
Heaven eventually. Gabriel knew this, so he clung to you so desperately. The truth is that you were doomed at birth. Perhaps you should embrace your destiny without complaint. God has handed you over to us for the final stage in the extermination of mankind. Your fall will end humanity.” He held up an empty syringe, which he jabbed into his arm swiftly. His words had stunned me, but not enough so that I was oblivious to what he was going to do.

“I know it hurts, Gabrielle. I know. The initial pain is caused only by your angelic form trying to burst from a mortal body. It’s hard to handle. You have a ritual to attend soon, my dear.”

“What’s this ritual you speak of?” I demanded.

“Your blood will summon my master,” he said softly. “While you are in mortal form, you still have angelic blood. The plan is to bleed you. Lilith thinks you’ll survive the process if we inject you with my blood. It should jumpstart the process of the fall. That’s why it affects you so badly, you know.”

I had become cold all over. He was insane. Lilith was insane. Satan had yet to appear on the earth as he was bound to Hell. He was all they needed to destroy humanity. I had played into their plan all along. Every single step closer to Superbia had merely been to relieve Lilith and Leon of the trouble of coming to find me. I was completely at their mercy. Angelic blood did not mean I possessed any of my power.

“I don’t get why Adrian couldn’t just bring you straight to us. He forced
Lilith into taking you herself.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, though the meaning was actually quite clear.

“Adrian was supposed to bring you to Superbia the second he found you, but he was so busy playing human and all that he forgot the mission. Lilith told him to find you outside of Ira. Adrian is a demon just like any other. He’s selfish, arrogant, and cruel. With the blessing of Lust, he’s a complete monster. It makes me wonder why he just had to keep you to himself for so long.”

I could
feel my eyes watering up. So this was
his
fault. I looked at Leon, shaking slightly as he approached with the syringe. He held a finger to his lips, which had curved into a sickly sweet smile. “Are you going to cry, little angel? I’m sure he’d love that. He’s a true heartbreaker,” Leon said. He brought the needle close to my neck, and panic gripped me.

“It’s not so bad, Gabrielle. Just relax. I promise this will all be over soon.” He said the words gently
, but with a wicked grin. The needle slid into me, and the burning began.

I wondered just how hot the flames of hell would feel.