Rebirth - The Beautiful Fallen (23 page)

             
“It hurts pretty bad now.” I admitted, letting him help me to sit up.  I was trying my hardest not to move my arm that much.

             
“It’ll probably be like that for another day or so.  But the medicine should help a lot.  Come on.  Let’s get downstairs and I’ll redo the bandage.” Chris offered.

             
I nodded, letting him help me off of the bed.  May as well patch me up again.  But at least getting that medicine on this would help the pain.  I had to wonder what in the world they were using.  I didn’t think even morphine would be as strong as this stuff was that they’d rubbed into that wound last night.

             
Looking back on getting up then, I can honestly say that there was the start of a distinct change in the relationship between Chris and myself.  He wasn’t looking at me with the distance that he’d had before, and we definitely didn't feel any kind of discomfort in being so close.  But even then, I found myself wondering just when this change really began to start for us.  Even now, I wonder about it.  It seemed like ever since the first day we’d met, the two of us had been drifting towards one another.  And I couldn't help but wonder if Saffron had been right all along.  This was destiny for us to be together.

             
The house was actually pretty quiet as we came downstairs.  I halfway wondered if Zane had already gone out.  He had said that he had a meeting early that morning.  I wanted to ask him when he came back exactly what it was about.  Zane had a lot of involvement in Baton Rouge when it came down to it.  I was slowly beginning to learn that.  For what he was, he certainly wasn’t keeping that low of a profile.  I wondered if that would change with the start of another hunt.

             
Sitting in the large bathroom as Chris carefully changed my bandage, I found myself looking around again.  The bathroom there was huge, and decorated in the same beige tint that the kitchen had been in.  Sitting on the side of the large, deep bathtub, I watched as Chris quietly unwrapped my bandages.  “So how is Zane able to afford all of this anyways?  Is it because he paints and all like he does?” I asked him.

             
“It’s partly that.  Actually, what he does with all of that are hobbies for him, although now he makes a good living off of it.  He also owns a few Michelin star restaurants in a couple different countries.  But his main wealth originally came from his dad.  Most of what we have comes from them.” Chris admitted as he looked down at my arm again.  The wounds were scabbing over now, but it still hurt like hell.

             
“So the Fallen Angels help us with money too?” I asked, feeling a bit surprised.

             
“Well, I’m not that sure that I’d call it that.” Chris replied.  “It’s more of just giving us a starting point to make ourselves established in the world.  All of us are born with the ability to integrate and hide, but we do need some financial backing to start that too.  So usually, they have accounts set up for us in national or international banks, usually both, through manipulation of the mortals involved in various criminal activities around the world.  They use them, and eventually steal all of the wealth they accumulate. So typically, we end up with a couple million scattered throughout these accounts, and then it’s left to us to decide what to do with it once we change.  Personally, I've always just liked investing in things and staying in the shadows.  It's a lot easier that way once you have to disappear again.  If you've got a good knack for business, it's easy to figure out what's good to invest in and what's not.  Although a little bit of insight from the other side never hurts either.”

             
I just stared at him in disbelief for a moment as he began wrapping my arm back up.  The medicine was kicking in quick, and I was feeling normal again.  “You have to be kidding.  That’s more money than anyone could ever possibly imagine having.  So you mean to tell me that all of the Shadow Wings are millionaires?” I said.

             
“Pretty much, unless they blew it early in their lives and didn’t make it grow.  Then they're out of luck.  But most don’t do that either.  We all tend to be good with making it grow and last.  A good deal of us even go into the business world like Zane and Will have.  It's really just a matter of spreading yourself about enough to make yourself disappear when you need to, not to mention manipulating memories along the way with it at times.  But like I said, I prefer just going behind the scenes and investing myself.  It's too much trouble running businesses like a lot of them do.  And it's actually done pretty good for me through the years.  I've made a lot more than even Jade left me.” Chris replied.

             
"No kidding.  No wonder you weren't that worried about that college book.  You could probably go any college you'd ever want." I commented.

             
“Actually, I did attend Harvard about ten years ago.” Chris said, smiling slightly to himself.

             
“No you didn't." I said.

             
"Yeah, I did.  It was only one semester though.  It wasn't all that impressive for a so called prestigious school to me.  Not to mention I didn't want to throw away a boat load of books once I was done." Chris replied.

             
Smart ass, I couldn’t help but think.  But I kept it to myself.  Instead, he’d just made me a little more curious.  “So what did you go to Harvard for anyway?” I asked him.

             
“Actually, I only did it on a bet with Zane.  I’d never really been able to sit through a course without falling asleep and horribly flunking it in my life.  They just tend to be too boring.  But I told him one time that I could pass one if I wanted to.  So he bet me on taking a few classes one semester there and passing with the highest scores.  So I did, and I of course won the bet.” Chris explained, wrapping my arm back up.

             
I had to laugh then.  That actually sounded like something that him and Zane would've done.  They tended to be competitive with each other.  And it had seemed like it was the same with Will as well.  It was something I'd noticed a lot when we'd have our training sessions.  “So, what did you bet?” I had to ask.

             
“It was just a small bet.  If I lost, I had to give him my motorcycle.  And if he lost, he had to give me his Corvette." Chris replied.

             
"You really do love that motorcycle." I noted.  But then it dawned on me what he'd said that Zane had betted.  "Did you just say that he betted you a Corvette?"

             
"Yep.  I still have it here too.  I just don't like to drive it that often." Chris said.

             
"You mean to tell me that you have a Corvette, and you picked me up on a motorcycle?" I said flatly.  Unbelievable.  Just unbelievable.  I could've ridden down there in real style, and he'd left that car in a garage. 

             
"I told you, I like my motorcycle.  But going on, it took me another three years after that to get the keys to that damn car too.  Zane can really be a sore loser sometimes.” Chris replied.

             
Well, learned some new things this morning.  It seemed like that was happening a lot lately with Zane.  But he never really did talk a lot about himself.  “So Chris, who is Zane’s father anyways?  Is he like yours and mine?” I asked as he finished up my arm.

             
Chris shrugged, sitting back.  “He’s close enough.  He is another Fallen One.  Zane wasn’t his only kid either, but he is the only surviving one now.” He replied.

             
“I guess there could be more than one of us born to them, huh?  They live forever.” I noted.

             
“Well, most do.  I’ve heard that some have been destroyed before, but I have no clue as to what happened there.  But you and I are only children now to our parents.  Jade and Saffron never really were the types before to show a lot of interest in human women.  There were maybe two or three others before me, but they were long gone by the time I was born.  And the ability to create children was stripped from the earth bound Grigori a long time ago.  There aren’t a whole lot of other Fallen Children left in the world because of those things.” Chris explained.

             
I couldn’t help but think that it was a little bit sad to hear that.  We didn’t ask to be born this way, and we were hunted down just because of where we came from.  Our numbers would only keep falling.  None of it really seemed fair.  “You know, it almost seems like they’re protective of us sometimes too.” I noted as he helped me up and we went back out to the kitchen to get some breakfast.

             
“I guess as protective as they know how to be.  But that only does so much.  It’s not in them to be loving on a whole.  And most of them, especially the ones like our fathers, have psychotic personalities in general most of the time.  One moment they may comfort us, and the next they may consider attacking us.  It’s just something that makes us have to fend for ourselves that much more and be one step ahead.” Chris told me.

             
I could definitely see where that could be true.  After all, the ones who created us were basically demons.  Maybe their minds had corrupted a long time ago.  And no matter how much they might want to care about what they created, there was always the chance they’d turn on us.  We probably weren’t even children to them in the end.  Only objects to use to whatever benefit they could find.  “I guess Saffron and Jade are the same.” I said to myself as I sat down at the bar.

             
“Trust me, I know all about it.” Chris said, glancing back at me from the sink where he was washing out two glasses.  “But, to be perfectly honest with you about the whole thing, I personally fear Saffron more than my father.”

             
“Really?” I said.  That was kind of strange.  Although I could assume that he was just used to how Jade was now.

             
“Look, don’t get me wrong.  I’ve had to defend myself before when Jade’s lost his temper with me, although it took a lot for it to happen.  But he also has a good level of sanity still in him.  Somehow he’s always managed to keep it where a lot lose theirs when they’re sent to the Abyss.  Saffron’s kind of a different story though.  It’s not even really his sanity that could be called into question.  It’s just the way he’s always been.” Chris explained.

             
“Always been?” I repeated.

             
“From what I know, Saffron fell at the same time with my father.  Both of them were pretty much caught at the same time, although Jade’s never bothered to explain to me exactly what happened then or what they’d been caught doing.  But he’s told me many times since then that Saffron’s one of the most dangerous Fallen Angels in existence.  And it’s because of what he likes to call unassuming viciousness.” Chris said.

             
I looked down at my pendant for a moment.  “Unassuming viciousness, huh?  That’s a scary way of putting something.” I noted.

             
“Yeah, I thought so too.” Chris agreed.  “But then, he started telling me things about him here and there, and I began to get it.  I know he’s probably listening to me, but I doubt he’d be bothered by any of what I’m about to say.  Saffron’s the type that doesn’t really care one way or another about what most think of him.  I doubt that he’s even that worried about what Lucifer himself thinks at times.  But his favorite trick from then and even now is luring in others to believe that he’s absolutely harmless.  Even Jade was fooled for a while before they fell.  Saffron manipulated him into thinking it after they met, and had him thinking that perhaps he was controlling his actions then.  But before they fell, Jade figured out that that was anything but the case.  Apparently, Saffron was killing other angels behind his back just for the thrill of it all.  And the same kinds of scenarios repeated themselves after they were cast out too.

             
“Apparently, Jade had decided to team up with Saffron once again after their fall into the Abyss.  I couldn’t tell you the exact reasons why.  He’s never even told me, and it always seems like for whatever reason, those two are just drawn to each other.  But when my mother ended up pregnant with me, things turned really sour between them again.  Apparently, Saffron tends to have a real jealous streak to him, and he had been thinking of my father as completely his then.  The two ended up fighting a lot about it, and Jade had to defend my mother during her entire pregnancy.  If he hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t be here right now.”

             
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  And, to be honest about it, it really bothered me.  I couldn’t have imagined Chris not being around now.  But his words were also very revealing to me.  Saffron definitely must have had a disjointed personality.  Though he acted so loving towards me, he was obviously brutal towards others that he decided he didn’t like.  Still, I somehow managed to speak through all of these thoughts.  “But he managed to stop Saffron.  You wouldn’t be here now if he didn’t.” I said.

             
“Well, for the most part.  My mother ended up dying when I was born, which is nothing unusual for our kind.  Our mothers never do survive our births.  But right after I was born, Saffron tried on more time to get rid of me.  Jade ended up hiding me until he could drive him off.  But that wasn’t before Saffron managed to hurt him pretty badly.  If you look at his right eye, you’ll notice that it looks lighter than the left.  That’s because he can’t see out of it.  Saffron actually managed to blind him in it.”