Page 32 of Claimed by the Fallen
No one looks mydirection.
Mr. Cohen has to grab Gabe’s arm and yank him back when he tries to go after Adrian. The blond man watches Gabe with a tauntingsmirk.
Their behavior and comments continue to do nothing but confuse me. I place my head in my hands and squeeze my eyes closed. I hear the men arguing, but I try to tune themout.
Focus.I tell myself.How can you get out of thismess?
Because no matter what the men say I am, and no matter whattheyare, I do not want to be involved with any ofit.
The angel council doesn’t like Nephilim? That’s fine by me. I don’t need to meetthem.
They say I have angelic powers developing? Cool. That just means I’ll have to controlthem.
This is only a big deal if I make it a big deal, and I’m determined not to dothat.
After taking a deep breath, I lift my head and interrupt the ongoing argument. “Adrian.” The blond immediately turns to look at me, abandoning his taunting of Gabe. I have his undividedattention.
The same goes for Mr. Cohen and hisbrother.
All three angels stare at me like I’m the only person in the room. Their attention does funny things to me. I take a second to clear mythroat.
“Adrian,” I repeat. “Will you help me control that… angel fire stuff.” It sounds funny when I say it outloud.
“Of course.” Adrian tips his head forward. “You don’t even need toask.”
I offer a wobbly smile. “Cool.Thanks.”
Then, I address Mr. Cohen and his brother. “Thanks for all of your help, but I think one angel mentor isenough.”
Both of them jerk back. It’s almost like I slappedthem.
Their reaction makes me second guess myself. “What? What isit?”
At first, the brothers just stare at me. Their expressions are neutral, but I swear I see flashes of hurt in their matching blue eyes. Mr. Cohen finally says, “I’m afraid we will not be leaving you alone,Messenger.”
“Why not?” Again, I take turns looking at all three of them. Adrian is smiling, content with his lot in life. But the brothers are clearlyunhappy.
Mr. Cohen continues, “Those monsters you just saw are not the only ones out there. They are yancor demons, and they live in packs. One must have sensed your developing powers and followed your scent to your home.” I try to hide my panic. If angels are real, I suppose I should have anticipated demons weretoo.
I lick my lips. “But you guys killed them…Right?”
“Not all of them,” Mr. Cohen reveals. “there can be anywhere from ten to fifty in a pack. Once one yancor scents its prey, the mark is sent to all pack members. Yancor demons are nasty, and they enjoy draining the blood of Nephilim because of the angelic power in your veins. Until we find the pack’s nest and destroy all of them, my brother and I will not be goinganywhere.”
I’ll be honest, that wasn’t what I expected him tosay.
Hearing the monsters can sense me, and that they might be coming back to kill me, fills me with terror. I think I’m about tohyperventilate.
“My question is when would Veronica have encountered a yancor demon?” Gabe speaks to his brother. He glances at me, then back to Mr. Cohen. “You’ve been living in this region for a long time for her protection, yet you’ve never once encountered a yancor demon anywhere nearher.”
I barely register the fact Gabe said Mr. Cohen lived in Valley Lake to protectme.I’m too focused on the fact demons are afterme.
“That’s because the demon didn’t detect her in Valley Lake,” Adrian chimesin.
All eyes turn tohim.
Gabe’s gaze narrows. “What do youknow?”
Adrian flicks an invisible piece of lint off his shoulder. “Only that the yancor demon sensed her at a concert in the city. It tracked her all the way to the town’s city limits before itattacked.”
