Genesis: Falling Angel (9 page)

We brought the supplies to Noah, only to find that he was showing off. A brilliant gold dragon was leisurely tracing lines in the sand with one claw. His eyes were the same brilliant gold with slits for pupils. Horns that were about the size of a fully grown human male jutted from his head. Smoke billowed from his nostrils. Long, leathery wings stretched out on either side of him. They shimmered as though they were dusted with gold.

Yeah, he was showing off.

Dragons could only speak in their human forms, so he waited patiently while we loaded our bags onto his back, securing them with rope. He was probably deeply hurt by now. Allowing passengers really was painful for dragons.

“Okay, Noah,” I said. He turned to regard me with one giant eye. He easily could’ve fit four passengers on his enormous back. “We’re going to pass through Gula first. Land before you reach the capital. You don’t need to be spotted.”

He nodded slightly to indicate understanding. I used scales along his side to pull myself onto his back, and Gabrielle followed. She wrapped her arms around me without a word, though she was surely blushing at the close contact.

“Hang on tightly,” I murmured to her. She nodded against my back.

Noah rose, flapping his great wings several times before launching into the air.

Next stop:
Gula.

Chapter 12
– Gabrielle

“How was I supposed to know?” Noah whined.

I was still shaking from a crash landing. Everything had been fine until Noah had fallen out of the sky. I had been holding on to Adrian tightly, looking down at the tiny trees that had replaced the barren desert. I had been in such awe that I didn’t notice the tiny black specks dotting the forest below. I hadn’t noticed that something had pierced Noah’s strong neck.

Adrian held the object now. He said it was a dart, though it looked more like an oversized needle attached to a vial. There were still traces of red in the vial. He had a scowl on his face as he trudged on. Noah followed him closely. I was locked in uncomfortable silence. I didn’t want to say anything to hurt Noah, and I definitely didn’t want Adrian to be mad. If his nature was truly cruel, his anger must be like a raging inferno.

“You should’ve been watching out! I don’t know this area well!” Noah accused.

Adrian stopped abruptly, turning to face the dragon. His face was twisted in what could only be pure hate. Even Noah shrank back from him. Adrian waved the vial roughly. “You should’ve been looking at where you were flying. Do you even know what this is?” he snapped.

Noah eyed it, one eyebrow arched. “Blood,” he said.

Adrian groaned. “Yes, b
ut it’s the type of blood. This is blood from a Fallen. You have any idea what that does?”

“Well, I guess so. Considering we fell out of the sky and all,” Noah said with a grin.

“Shut up,” Adrian snapped. “I’m teaching you something that could save your pathetic life. Fallen can see through anything. It’s a trait they kept from their angelic days. When you drink Fallen blood or inject it, it switches your form. If you were in human form, you’d be locked as a dragon for twenty-four hours, but you were in dragon form, so guess what?”

“I’m stuck in this gorgeous body for twenty-four hours?”

Adrian threw the vial down. “You nearly killed us. You were our best offense, too. Now, you’re useless to us.”

I watched the exchange in silence. How did he know so much about the Fallen? I’d heard of it revealing what was hidden, but I never thought of their blood as a weapon. I didn’t want to admit it, but Adrian was right. Noah couldn’t help much without being in his true form.

“Who would do this?” I asked, and Noah nodded as though he’d been wondering the same thing.

“Werebeasts,” Adrian spat.

“Nasty creatures,” Noah explained to me. “The original ones were animals that gained the ability to walk in human skin to draw in human prey. They can transform at will like the shapeshifters, but shapeshifters can’t be half man, half beast. They’re also much less friendly and a lot more powerful.” He paused, and then added, “They’ve got a very contagious bite. When humans are bitten, they become like them. They aren’t as strong as the original werebeasts, but they gain the same shifting abilities. After a year or so of infection, they die. Mortals can’t handle it.”

“We’ve landed in an area infested with them,” Adrian hissed. He eyed me. “We need to find some sort of shelter to wait this out. Gabrielle can’t defend herself.”

My face fell. It was true. I lacked the amazing strength and speed of my angelic body. I lacked any weapon. I didn’t have wings, so I couldn’t fly us to safety. Worst of all was the realization that in my mortal form, I was vulnerable to the infection or curse or whatever it was. If I was infected, I’d become a monster and die in a short time. All of the progress I’d made on my mission to earth would be erased. Gabriel would never let me forget such a failure. I stared down at the grass.

“He didn’t mean it, Gabrielle,” Noah said lightly. “He’s just grumpy. I’m sure he’s just worried about losing you.”

Adrian glared at him and said, “Watch it, Noah.”

“We should probably start looking,” I interjected. I couldn’t handle any more arguing.

I thought about the situation a bit more and found that I was just glad to be alive. Well, in my mortal body. I was glad that the others were alive. Noah was of special concern, as the sight of his body contorting and shaking as it became more human had frightened me. He seemed fine, though. He was leading us right now.

“Are you all right?”

I jumped slightly. Adrian was standing next to me, staring at me intently. His eyes roamed to look me over, and I covered myself at his intense stare. I realized that it was apparently strange to cover yourself when you were fully clothed, but I couldn’t help it. No one had ever looked anywhere but my face, which was quickly heating up.

“I’m fine. Just a bit nervous,” I assured him. He nodded, but stayed close to me as we trudged on. His arm was almost touching mine, and I felt the need to inch away. He didn’t seem to notice when I took a step off to the side.

Suddenly, Noah stopped. Adrian put his arm in front of me to bring me to a halt. Noah sniffed at the air, golden eyes looking about in a shifty manner. He turned to us. “Well, I guess it was just my imagination, but I swore I smelled-”

A figure jumped from the tree, tackling Noah. It snarled and snapped at him. I’d never seen anything like it. Its legs were bent slightly like a canine’s, though massive. It was covered in dark fur. Its snarling, wolfish face held silvery human eyes. It snapped at Noah with jaws full of yellowed, sharp teeth. Its fur was wet around its muzzle, and I didn’t need anyone to tell me that it was blood.

I was frozen to the spot. Adrian made no move to help Noah, only shielding me further. His face was a mask of calm. Noah struggled with his attacker, finally managing to flip positions and pin the creature down. “Werewolves,” he murmured, so softly that I could barely hear it.

The next figure to leap down from the trees was human, or so I thought. Her eyes were of human shape, but silvery like the beast Noah was struggling to pin down. Her hair was brown and short. She looked calm, almost friendly. Her posture was relaxed. I realized soon enough that this meant one thing: she didn’t see us as a threat.

She looked to Adrian after only briefly glancing at Noah. “You look familiar.”

Adrian shook his head slightly. “You’re mistaken.”

She shrugged. “I’m Luna. And that,” she said, pointing at Noah, “is a wanted criminal. The bounty for him is high in Ira, and even higher in Avaritia. I could probably live off the earnings for years. I’m prepared to fight for him, and I hope you will see that resistance is futile.” Her eyes narrowed. “Well?”

Adrian looked to Noah, who was looking at Luna in shock. Adrian shrugged. “He’s all yours. I was getting kind of sick of him anyways. Very nice weaponry you have, too. Fallen blood, right?”

“You can’t just give me up!” Noah snapped. He actually looked angry, glaring at Adrian as though trying his best to threaten him.

“Sure I can. I’m doing it right now,” Adrian responded slowly. He held Noah’s gaze for only a moment before turning back to me. “Well, Luna, we’ll be on our way. No use in holding up the bounty hunter here.” I grasped Adrian’s hand tightly. I was too stunned to speak or defend Noah. I half expected Adrian to give me the same look Gabriel had given me when I’d tried to hold his hand. Adrian just squeezed my hand gently. He glanced at me only for a moment before he was looking back to Luna. I let go of his hand, slightly alarmed at how calmly he had accepted it. One question still bothered me.

Why weren’t we leaving?

“What else do you want?” Adrian asked. Apparently he was better at reading people than I was.

Luna grinned. Some of her teeth were unnaturally sharp. “Oh, she’s not going anywhere. You’ll have to leave her with me as well.”

His features darkened at this, and he briefly touched his fingers to mine. It was a gesture of comfort, I was sure. The touch still made me flinch. Grabbin
g his hand of my own free will was one thing. A man touching me was another. “Who wants her?” Adrian demanded.

“Judas
wants her, of course. And what Judas wishes, I grant,” Luna replied. Her voice made me think of honey. Well, honey laced with venom. “I’ll make you a deal. Keep the dragon, and I’ll take the angel.”

“You have no idea what you’re doing,” Noah warned.

“How do you expect to fight both of us, Luna?” Adrian added.

With that, Luna tilted her head back. She sucked in a deep breath.

“Adrian, stop her!” Noah cried.

She let out a long, chilling howl that made me clap my hands over my ears. It seemed to last forever. Adrian jumped at her, fist colliding with her face to cut off the howl. She in turn punched him hard enough to send him
flying into a tree that was a fair distance away. I winced.

She grabbed my arm roughly. With Noah busy holding down a very angry werewolf and Adrian slumped against a tree, I made no move to resist. Her grip felt like it could break my bones in an instant. She dragged me deeper into the woods.

I heard howls eventually. I counted five different howls. They were coming from the direction of Noah and Adrian.

“Don’t worry about them,” Luna said sharply. “They’ll manage.”

I felt she was just saying that so that I would cooperate. I was shaking and on the verge of tears. Luna noticed it eventually and sighed. Apparently tears were the key to sympathy on earth. Even monsters seemed to break under their weight.

“Judas doesn’t want to hurt you. That’s all I’m saying.”

It was indeed the last thing she said to me.

I smelled the city before I saw it. There were all sorts of wonderful smells that made my stomach growl. My mouth was watering by the time it came into view. There was nothing beautiful about it. It was a city with a bunch of rundown buildings. Most
of them appeared to be bars or taverns of some sort. Everything was in shades of gray, as though someone had been too lazy to design a more cheerful city. Loud music played from most of the buildings. Everyone seemed to be eating or drinking what I assumed to be alcoholic beverages. Fights broke out among the citizens around every corner. It was as though they needed the violence. Actually, it was like they were starved for it.

Most of the inhabitants seemed to be werebeasts of some kind. They were easy to spot with their shaved heads, muscular bodies, and silvery eyes. The mortals were few and often very fat. They gorged themselves on so much in so little time. I lost my appetite rather quickly.

I decided to focus on the large coliseum-style building in the center of the city. It was the only thing that was beautiful. It was a lovely white, and different images of animals had carefully been carved into the outer walls. They looked so real that I had trouble figuring out that they were carvings.

Luna was taking me there, I realized. When we arrived, she spoke with some man guarding the gate to the coliseum. He handed her a slip of paper that she accepted with a wolfish grin. I watched her walk away.

Everything had happened so fast. One moment, Adrian and Noah had been arguing. The next, they were fighting a pack of werewolves. Here I was, off course from my mission and alone. The guard opened the gates and gestured for me to walk inside. I obeyed without trying to run. I didn’t want to know what the tall, bulky guard would turn into to chase me.

Another guard led me up a flight of stairs to a row of seats in the coliseum. The only person there was a man who appeared to be waiting on me. His head had been shaved. His muscles bulged from beneath the tight clothing he wore. His dark skin was marred with jagged scars. One stretched right across the front of his throat.

“Sit with me,” he ordered.

I was still shaking, and I only barely managed to sit next to the man.  He looked as though he could tear my limbs off like he was ripping paper. He must’ve sensed my discomfort because he laughed a deep, rich laugh. “I’m not going to hurt you. You’re going to help me just by being here.”

My brow furrowed. He continued on, “All I really need is a good fight. It’s the only thing that distracts my kind from the hunger. It just gnaws away at us. Werebeasts are all violent in general, but it’s worse now than it ever was.”

He looked at me with red eyes.

I flinched and jumped out of my seat. In response, the man sighed. “Don’t try to run. I’ll get you.” The threat was so calmly stated that it froze me.

“My name is Judas. Welcome to Gula.”

“What are you?” I blurted.

He smirked. “Let’s keep that a surprise for now. I don’t like giving away weaknesses on a first meeting. Adrian will end up coming after you, I’m sure. You’re a damn good prize. An angel in a human body
is something else. Ha! I would’ve never thought of it.”

What did Adrian gain by coming after me? I was nothing but trouble. Wait. He knew Adrian? “How do you know him?”

“We’re like family. Brothers, even. He went behind my back, though. He found you and kept you a secret. He’s pissed a lot of people off.” He grinned, showing his sharp teeth.

I stumbled back from him. His words were confusing. I was still shaking. I felt like something was piercing my skull. The pain made me grip my head, shaking it as if to shake off the pain.

“It’s a headache. Relax.” He made as if to help me to my chair, but the tiny prick of pain in my arm led me to believe otherwise. Suddenly, fire was racing through me. I dropped to the ground, shaking uncontrollably.