Page 8 of Hunted by the Fallen
The corner of his mouth twitches. “Alright. You have five minutes.” He sits on the patio step and pulls a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Adrian lights one then lounges against thestairs.
My scowl deepens. “Haven’t you heard smoking is bad for you?” I remember thinking Adrian had looked so cool the first night I saw him at the Young and Heart concert. I blame his good looks for my poor judgement. In the moment, it was easy to overlook the disgusting habit to admire his bad-boy attire and bodylanguage.
But now, after interacting with the antagonistic and moody angel on multiple occasions, I am no longer as enthralled by his beauty. Not much anyway. And definitely not after he’s been accusing me of being aquitter.
Adrian lifts an eyebrow. “Haven’t you heard? I’m anangel.”
I should have guessed angels would not experience the poor health effects caused by smoking. Still, I cross my arms and don my most disapproving expression—mimicking Adrian’s own look. “It’s stillgross.”
“Lucky for me, I don’t care what anyone thinks of my choices.” Adrian exhales a cloud of smoke as he delivers the line. Smoking, coupled with the set of his dark eyebrows and deep blue eyes, enhance the bad boy persona he currently portrays. It’s really not fair that someone so frustrating can be so enthralling. I have to look away or risk being drawn in by his smoldering and challenginggaze.
“Well, some people don’t like to breathe smoke,” I mutter under mybreath.
Adrian, of course, hears. He pretends not to. “What was that, Angel?” My annoyance delightshim.
“Nothing.” I kick the strands of grass below my feet. The straight, green blades bow beneath the movement, but they resume their upright position once I pull my sneakerback.
“Why is Veronica attacking the grass?” Zeke descends and lands softly as he retracts his wings. I still marvel at the fact none of my neighbors have mentioned seeing the Fallen come and go from my house. I know angels have the ability conceal their presence from humans, a skill they call Concealment, but it’s still hard to wrap my headaround.
“It seems our angel isn’t fond of smoking,” Adrian answers his twin brother with shiningeyes.
I ignore Adrian and look at Zeke. He wears his typical black jeans and form-fitting t-shirt. “Your brother is determined to annoyme.”
Zeke doesn’t try to hide his smile. “I can’t say I’msurprised.”
“I’m right here, brother,” Adrian feigns offense. “At least wait until I am gone to talk aboutme.”
“You like nothing more than to hear others talk about you,” Zeke returns, shaking his head as he continues to grin. “Some might say you revel in theattention.”
Adrian laughs, and the sound causes a pleasant warmth to gather in my chest. “I suppose I’ve never been one to shy away fromattention.”
I clear my throat, shoving down the way Zeke’s smile and Adrian’s laugh is making me feel. Nothing but drama will result if I indulge the emotions, and drama is the last thing I need right now. “Are you my babysitter this evening?” I askZeke.
“No, I just thought you might need a buffer between you and your dedicated trainer.” His eyes shift over to the cardboard box, noting the still-deceasedinsect.
“I can’t do it,” I tell him the same thing I told his brother. “I think it was a one-timething.”
“Bringing someone back from the dead isn’t a one-time thing,” Zeke repeats what his brother has said on multiple occasions, “And only a few angels can claim thegift.”
Gift? Iscoff.
I’m glad I was able to bring my mom back to life, but I can’t call the ability a gift. If I learned one thing about the ability since that night in the warehouse, it’s that my demonstration of power makes me that much more of an enigma. Not only am I not supposed to be able to exist, but my healing ability makes the identity of my angelic parents that much more of a mystery. Many Fallen can heal old injuries and mend fresh wounds, but none of my bodyguards has heard of any Fallen angel with the ability to bring someone back to life. So, either my parents were very good at hiding their ability, or I’m even more of an oddity than anyone everthought.
I decide to change the subject. I have no interest in engaging in the same old discussion about my powers, my lack of dedication in mastering them, or anything along thoselines.
I inhale, bracing myself for the storm I anticipate is about to break over me and the Dark Fallen. “I’ve been meaning to ask; do you guys think I can have the afternoon tomyself?”
Both angels halt their movement. Their steady gazes are trained on me. “What for?” Zekeasks.
I take courage that my request wasn’t immediately dismissed. Now, it’s time for the awkward part. “I have lunch plans with afriend.”
“Oh?” Adrian smirks. “And who is thisfriend?”
I swallow. “A guy from high school.Preston.”
“The guy you and Gabe ran into when running?” Zeke asks. I’m surprised he knows about my spontaneous conversation with Preston. I wouldn’t have expected Gabe to confide in the DarkFallen.
“Yeah, that’shim.”
