Genesis: Falling Angel (20 page)

Chapter 24 – Adrian

She was gone.

After everything I’d done to keep her safe. I had blinded a troll, defeated Judas, and fought Noah. All were feats that I didn’t think were possible for me. I had shown her two very personal locations in my city. She was still gone.

Long after the paralysis wore off, I was frozen. It wasn’t my body, which moved sluggishly through the streets. It was just my mind. I felt nothing. There was just emptiness in my head. My thoughts were dull words and images of her. It was as though she was fading already. Lilith’s venom did have strange properties. I might have been losing all trace of Gabrielle.

It became clearer to me as I walked on. The images became fuzzier and fuzzier. I could hear her voice as though I was underwater. I could see her face through a thick fog. I could feel her touch, light as a feather. I grit my teeth. Focus became almost impossible. There had to be some way to keep the memories from slipping away. Panic was starting to race through me. At any moment I would—

As I walked along the street, I froze. “What the hell am I doing out here?” I mumbled. My heart was racing, and I placed my hand over it in confusion.

I walked home, ignoring the looks my citizens were giving me. What were they staring at? The moment I walked through the door, a man was waiting for me. He had very tan skin, long dark hair, and golden eyes that held a shine I knew too well. He looked familiar, too.

He was grinning at me, but that grin faded as I closed the door behind me. “Adrian, where’s Gabrielle?” he demanded.

“Who?” I asked.

“Don’t play games with me. Where is she? Did you hurt her? I’ve been waiting her
e for
hours
. I almost went looking for you myself in dragon form. Seriously, I was going to hover above the city and look at you. Burn some buildings if necessary. That would’ve been very embarrassing for you. Now why the hell is she not with you?”

I was beginning to get annoyed with the pesky liza
rd. “You’re demented,” I snarled, pushing him aside. “If you try to burn down my home, I will have you killed.”

My hunger was eating away at me. In my state, I could hardly think. How had I let it get so bad? Perhaps Cassandra would come to me if I called. Well, of course she would. Enough women wanted me on a daily basis. If I called on one, they earned bragging rights for a week. Or so I’ve heard. I slumped against a wall. I needed another color besides red on the walls. It was too angry. Maybe purple would be better.

“Did you just shove me?” the dragon growled. “What is your problem?”

“My problem is that I have a pest in my home. Go back to Avaritia where you belong. Go on,” I said through clenched teeth. Hunger really was too much to bear.

“What has gotten into you? We’re friends, Adrian!”

I smirked at this. “I don’t have friends, lizard.”

“My name is Noah,” he said slowly.

“I don’t really care. Help yourself to anything. Just stay out of my way or I will kill you. I have entire room devoted to weapons that can slice through dragon scales like butter.”

He grimaced. “You don’t remember?”

“What’s there to remember? I see a lot of faces all the time. Are you some past lover trying to win my affections?” I asked, smirking at the scowl on his face.

“You wish, Adrian. You wish. I said we’re friends. Gabrielle was even your friend, or something else. I really couldn’t tell what was going on there. You haven’t acted like this since Gula.”

Gula? “I never step outside of Luxuria. I don’t want to go near those psychos.” I made a shooing gesture. “Go on. Get.”

“I’m not some dog you can order around.”

I had walked a little closer to a mirror at the end of the hall. I opened it to reach into the cupboard it covered. I felt around for a moment, finally selecting a syringe and filling it with a pale green liquid in a vial. The dragon was still babbling about friendship and crazy adventures. I hated him already.

The moment he was close enough, I jabbed the needle into his thigh. I pulled him close as his eyes began to close. “Sedative especially made for dragons, courtesy of Superbia. There a dragon-proof cell in the dungeon, too. Sleep well.”

His eyes closed before he could respond. I passed him off to a guard after carrying him briefly. Well, that took care of one problem. I’d send for Diamond to transport him back to Avaritia. I’m sure she’d be pleased to have someone to torture.

I entrusted another guard with the task of calling Cassandra before I finally went to my room. She showed up as expected, but had a sour look on her face. “Are you going to just scream at me again? If so, hurry up. I have clients, you know.”

I shook my head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Cassie,” I said. I remembered to use her preferred name. If she was pissed at me for some reason, I had to get back on her good side.

“You don’t remember this morning?” she asked slowly. “Then why did you call for me?”

“The same reason I always call for you, unless you have any objections?”

Several emotions flashed across her face: confusion, realization, excitement. Her scowl turned into a sly smirk. “None whatsoever.”

I reached for her, pulling her to me. “Show me how much you’ve missed me.”

I was on my back in an instant. From the rough start, I doubted we’d make it to the bed. She straddled my hips, grinning. I pulled her into a rough kiss while her hands quickly worked to unbutton my jeans.

Then something fell out of her pocket. My eyes opened, dart
ing to it. It was a pack of cigarettes. Frowning, I pushed her off of me. I picked up the pack.

“Did you want to smoke now?” she asked irritably.

Smoking causes cancer.

“No, it causes cancer,” I said mechanically.

“We don’t get cancer, Adrian,” she said slowly, as though I was a child.

“Still, they do,” I said softly.

She looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Are you all right?”

“Never better.” I turned back to her, this time pouring power into my words. “Now, where were we?”

Though the confusion swept from her face, she still had enough brainpower to say, “You’re too cruel, Adrian.”

You are very kind, you know. Not at all like I thought you were.

I frowned. Maybe I was going crazy. Hearing voices in my head and all. As I leaned in to kiss her, an image came to the forefront of my mind. It was of a girl with golden hair and sad gray eyes. She was reaching for me.

The memories poured back in. Every event from Lilith appearing in my bedroom that one fateful morning up until Lilith’s bite
appeared in my mind. I was not overwhelmed. They were welcomed memories. I needed them. I looked into Cassandra’s eyes.

I slammed my fist into Cassandra’s stomach as hard as I could. She coughed harshly. “Venom wears off after an hour or two. You should know better, Cassandra.”

She collapsed, moaning in pain.

“You know, Lilith could only find out where I was going from either Noah or you. I trust Noah with my life, so that just leaves you. Why the hell would you do that?”

“You weren’t even you anymore,” she whispered. “Lilith is my mother as well as yours. She came to me to ask for your location, knowing that we were close. I told her for
you
, Adrian. You were losing yourself to someone who was going to kill you right after she got through with Lilith.”

She launched herself at me, slashing my chest with a knife I had not noticed. I gripped her by her throat, lifting her up. I really wasn’t fond of hurting girls since they made up about ninety-five percent of my meals.
Succubae were another story. “I think I’ll take you up on your offer. I think blood is exactly what I need right now.”

Blood had never tasted so
sweet
.

I ran to the dungeon in my torn shirt. As I passed a guard, I yelled, “There’s an unconscious demon in my room. Throw her outside.”

Dungeons were old-fashioned, but there were certain things I’d never let go of. Torture chambers, dungeons, and guillotines were among my favorites. No one would be able to erase my love of them.

I took the steps two at a time, nearly slipping. That would’ve been embarrassing. I ran to Noah’s cell after grabbing the keys off the wall. I unlocked it to find Noah crumpled up on the floor. Apparently, the sedative hadn’t worn off. From what I remembered, it took at least twelve hours. I didn’t have twelve hours.

I lifted Noah up, carrying him upstairs. I unceremoniously tossed him onto my bed. “Damn it, Noah. Wake up!” I snapped, slapping him across the face.

“That’s not how you do it.”

I whirled around, heart racing. Flint stood in my doorway. Morrigan followed closely behind. They both stepped in, and Flint closed the door.

“You actually left Acedia?” I wondered aloud.

“This is an important event. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. If things go one way, there won’t be a city to return to. They’ll all crumble to dust. Exciting, no?”

“Are you here to stop me?” I asked. “Or are you here to help?”

“That’s a stupid question,” Flint
snorted. “We’re here to help us. When would I ever want to help
you
?” He yawned, and I felt the urge to hurt him.

“Flint says that what happens in the next three days could change everything,” Morrigan rasped. I winced at the sound of her voice. It always freaked me out.

“Shall I give you a poetic prophecy?” Flint asked dramatically, never losing his bored expression. “I’ve been working on one all day.”

“Save it. What did you see?”

“A great battle between—”

“Flint,” I warned.

“Okay, okay. No need to threaten me. One way, Lilith is defeated and the whole ‘Hell on earth’ deal ends. That means we’re curse-free, obligation-free, and just overall free. What happens after that, I don’t know. It’s all white from there. Presumably, their God takes over once more.”

He seemed too lost in thought to continue. I had to say his name six times before he snapped back to the present, blinking slowly. “Oh, right. I was speaking. Sorry, I daydream fairly often. It’s quite nice. I was actually dreaming—”

“Flint,” Morrigan whispered. “Tell us the other result.”

He shrugged. “Or we all race in there, swords in hand, and get destroyed.
Or maybe we’ll be obliterated. Pick whichever you like more. It’s a pretty big risk. Lilith won’t let us live if we rebel. Well, except for you. You’d get demoted to slave.” He smiled at this, apparently amused at my fate more than he was worried about his own. “Does that all sound good to you?”

Before I could ask the obvious question of why they’d want to risk so much, Morrigan said, “We’re tired, Adrian. Flint and I do not enjoy our powers. Earth is no longer better than hell. We believe that it’s time that we stop running from damnation because we’re going to die anyways once God unleashes his armies. He will do this, I am certain. Gabriel will speak with him on this matter very soon.”

“So of all of my brothers and sisters, I got the banshee and the incubus. That’s just great. Just stay out of my way,” I snapped, shaking Noah roughly.

“Stand aside,” Flint said, nudging me away from Noah. He pinched at the dragon’s face, and murmured something to himself. He leaned
close to Noah’s ear and whispered, “Awaken.”

Noah woke with a start, breathing heavily. He looked around wildly, finally settling his gaze on me. “What the hell
was that for? My entire body hurts now!” he complained.

“Noah, we need to leave soon,” I urged.

“Well I’ll need a pretty strong painkiller to make that flight.” He paused, looking at me suspiciously. “Do you even know who I am?”

“You’re t
he most annoying dragon alive. Come on, Gabrielle’s in trouble.”

“You need all the help you can get, Adrian,” Morrigan said.

I was past the point of caring. “Fine, you can come too. Just stay out of my way.”

“Oh, you’ll need us,” Flint said with a small smile. “You see, the whole family will be there. Diamond, Leon, Judas, and Lilith all can’t wait to tear y
ou apart for what you’ve done. You’ve been a very naughty boy.”

I scowled before shoving past Morrigan to reach the door. I went back to the secret storage behind the mirror, selecting another vial and syringe. This liquid was black, which would probably raise some questions.

“What is that?” Noah asked when I returned.

“It’s y
our cure, Noah. Hold still,” I replied.

He jumped ba
ck, wagging a finger at me. “No. No more needles. I think I’ve developed a phobia. Please don’t make me.”

“You can always drink it,” I said, approaching him.

This seemed to brighten his mood, and he nodded sharply. “Yeah, let’s go with that option.”

I jabbed the needle into his thigh. He screamed in pain, falling back onto the bed. He began to convulse, black foam rising from his mouth. I tried my best to hold him down, but he was thrashing with all of his strength. His eyes rolled back, and I began to wonder if I had gotten the right vial. Then, he stopped.