Page 116 of Daman
I landed in the snow and stood still, listening. The smallest vibrations in the air reached out to me when I focused hard enough. It was one reason why I was a great tracker. A hunter.
“Looking for me?” came a voice from the right.
A man with sandy-brown hair and a bow in his hand stepped out from the trees. He stood the same height as me, give or take an inch, and black wings fanned out behind him.
“You’re a Nephilim,” I said.
He dipped forward in an exaggerated bow, twirling his first two fingers with the action. “Aren’t you a smart one?”
Envy growled inside of me. Being mocked ruffled my feathers.
“I never thought I’d get the chance to shoot down a dragon,” he said, smirk growing. “Guess I can cross that off my bucket list.”
“You talk too much.” I lunged at him, sword raised.
He blocked the attack with a blade he’d pulled from his belt and shoved against me. I ducked when he swung his bow at my head, and I slashed at his chest before he jumped out of reach. A line of blood appeared on his tanned skin. With a sharp glare aimed at me, he placed his hand over the cut, and his palm glowed as he tried to heal it.
“Problem?” I asked, grinning.
“Your sword was forged with celestial steel,” he growled.
“It is?” I feigned ignorance. “Too bad I didn’t cut you deeper, then.”
“I’ll never understand why Baxter agreed to ally with you.” He walked in a half circle, keeping a distance between us. Smart. “Asa is the son of Lucifer. What chance do you honestly have against him?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask his daddy? Oh, that’s right. We locked his ass in a cage and threw away the key.”
“Said like the prick you are.” He snarled and dove in for the attack.
I dodged him and flipped around to drive my sword into his skull. His blade clashed against mine, blocking me from making contact. He’d mentioned Baxter, the head of the largest group of Nephilim Alastair had tracked down in Athens and convinced to fight on our side. I hadn’t gone with them to Greece, but I remembered them mentioning a man from that group who’d later betrayed them.
“Is your name Eli?” I asked, landing on the balls of my feet as I spun away from him. “No, that’s not right. Ethan?”
“Elon!” Spittle flew from his lips as he charged toward me, a body-shaking rage taking over him. He sliced at one of my wings, and I leapt backward. “The king still thinks he can persuade you and your cursed brothers to join him. But why would weeverneed someone as weak as you?”
“The king?” I scoffed. “Asa is nothing but a spoiled brat who’s using his daddy’s reputation to instill fear in his followers.”
“I’d watch my tongue if I were you.” Phoenix appeared near the tree line, his pale skin a contrast to his dark auburn hair and even darker eyes. “Keep speaking such filth and one might be encouraged to cut it out of your head.”
“I’d like to see you try, demon.” I glanced between the two of them, making sure neither was at my back. “Shouldn’t you be hiding somewhere waiting for the battle to end like the coward you are?”
“Funny.” Phoenix blinked out of sight and rematerialized a few feet in front of me. “Castor said something similar right before I plunged a dagger into his lover’s back.”
“See? Coward. You can’t even face a foe head-on. You have to play dirty.” I swung at his head, and he disappeared right before my blade reached him. I fucking hated that teleportation power of his. Only powerful upper-level demons had the ability.
“Out of all your brothers, I expected you to be the more reasonable one,” Phoenix said from the opposite direction he’d just been in. I turned to find him propped against a nearby tree, that infuriating smirk in place as he slowly turned a dagger in his hand—one forged with celestial steel.
“Yeah? And why is that?”
“Because you’re the villain of the group.” Phoenix pushed from the tree and drifted closer at a leisurely pace. “Sure, Galen is like a mindless beast when he sets Wrath free, so one can argue he’s villainous in nature too. But when his rage is contained, he’s sickeningly honorable. You, on the other hand, have the power to bring out the worst parts of people, those twisted, bitter parts that have incited violence, even war, since the beginning of time.”
“Fuck, Cas was right. You really are like a villain from a cheesy movie. All you do is run your mouth. Are you going to tell me your big, evil plan now too?”
“Does smart-ass run in your family?” Phoenix sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You Nephilim give me a headache.”
The truth? The demon had struck a nerve. Because he was right. My brothers and I each had special abilities pertaining to our sin. Bad ones. Bellamy could release pheromones into the air that made it damn near impossible for anyone to resist. Galen could tap into people’s anger and set it ablaze. And I could bring out the envious nature of anyone near me.
I could drive someone so mad with jealousy that they went into a blind rage. I could make them obsess so hard over what they didn’t have that it triggered a mental breakdown. I could make them suffer and dwell in their bitterness, suffocate from it.
