“Morning, sunshine,” he said. “Ready for an eventful day?” He smirked and I could only image how many girls he was hoping to come across.
“Yeah,” I grumbled. I’m so not particularly a morning person.
“Well hurry up and eat something so we can head out,” he said and leaned toward me to whisper. “I want to get there early when all the tanners are out.” He winked and Angela glared at him. Nikolai needed to be careful before he made an enemy of Angela as well as Jones. She’s definitely not someone you want to cross—except I was, and she wasn’t laying it on as thick, at least not yet.
I scarfed down a bowl of Fruity Pebbles and nodded at Nikolai, letting him know I was ready. Jones was already upstairs, watching a still unconscious Jeremiel. When it was just me and Angela in the kitchen, I knew what I had to do.
“Hey,” I said, “When I get back, can we talk?” she watched me carefully, probably worried I was tricking her.
“Sure,” she said after a beat. We stared at each other for a moment and I don’t know what was running through her mind, but I was contemplating on what to do next. I made up my mind. I crossed the kitchen in four easy strides and gently tilted her head back and stared down at the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen. I wanted to be mad at her, I wanted to hate her—but I couldn’t. Anytime we were in the same room together, I wanted to punch her in the throat and jump her bones all at the same time. It was confusing and I was tired of it. I was tired of the games we were playing—mostly me—and I was ready to make my move. Without actually saying it, I know Jones gave me the go ahead last night and it was time I realized that I had never gotten over Angela. I replaced her with Melanie and it wasn’t right. In the process I hurt a sweet girl like Melanie and prompted her to be someone she wasn’t. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling guilty for that, but there was no point in dwelling on it now. I can’t be responsible for her decisions either.
Angela sucked in a breath as I leaned down and placed the most soft and passion filled kiss on her lips. It was like magic I had never felt before. A breath of fresh air and a new beginning. She didn’t fight me and opened her mouth to me, but instead of the desperate kisses we’ve shared recently, this one was slow and sensual—complete.
Before, I had given up because I didn’t think I was man enough for her—and lets be real, I’m not, I’m only seventeen—but I’m willing to try, if she’s willing to let me.
I pulled away but still held her in my hands, my eyes still closed, I planted a firm kiss on the top of her head and whispered, “We’ll talk,” and walked out of the kitchen without looking back.
Nikolai and I walked to the public beach from Jeremiels and I went to the familiar booth that rented the water gear and ATV’s. In the meantime, Niko was setting up shop with his lawn chair and towel, ready to go on the prowl.
With my four wheeler rented, I told him I was heading out, but he wasn’t paying me much attention. I climbed on and accelerated off the beach, toward the woods. I didn’t necessarily remember where I was supposed to stop, but I was following my gut. I had a feeling I’d know when I came upon it, like if someone was guiding me in some way. Maybe Jeremiel was.
The wind whipped my hair back and I was starting to get nervous that I might have passed my turning point. I don’t remember it being so far, but then I saw it. It wasn’t anything extremely noticeable, but there was something like a trail off to the side that looked like it had been covered up. I shut the ATV and hopped off. I closed my eyes and tried to remember that day.
I pulled to a stop and turned off the four wheeler. She climbed off and stretched. The trees were blocking out the sunlight and I was able to get a good look at her. She wore only her red bikini and she looked out of place in the middle of the woods, but I can't say she doesn't look good—she's a bombshell.
She grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her as she walked between the shrubs.
She's sort of grabby, I thought as we came to a stop. Then she twirled around and kissed me square in the mouth.
Pushing her back, I held onto her shoulders at arm's length.
"Uh Sienna, are you drunk or something?" Her hands held my wrists as her lips formed a pout. Oh sweet Jesus, please don't let her be another succubus.
"No Max I'm not. I like you and I think we can have some fun together. Now kiss me." Tightening my grip on her I shook my head.
"How old are you? Because I just told you I'm still in high school and I'm almost positive you're not." She let go of me and let out a huff.
"Fine! You know you good guys are really a bore sometimes. You might want to learn to loosen up a bit." I raised a questioning eyebrow and she rolled her eyes. "I'm old enough Max; you don't need to know my age. It's actually rude to ask a lady that." She crossed her arms over her chest and popped a hip out. Well she wasn't acting much like a lady at the moment, but I won't tell her that.
"Okay, fair enough, you don't have to tell me." I chuckled and she relaxed. Taking off her sunglasses, I was met with such beautiful emerald eyes that I stopped and stared.
Getting my bearings together, we resumed our trek through the woods as she held on to my elbow.
"Max, have you ever been with a woman before?" Her question caught me off guard that I stumbled on some branches.
"Uh, a woman? No." I felt the heat creep up my neck and face like I was on fire.
"Ah but you have fallen into the temptations of lust I see." She eyed me curiously and her scrutiny made me embarrassed that I just nodded in response.
"Don't be shy; it's completely normal and a part of life."
"Where are we going Sienna?" I said trying to change the subject because this conversation made me uncomfortable.
"It's a surprise; now try and catch me!" She ran off and I watched her retreating bikini-clad figure. Not bothering to play her games, I trotted in her direction till what looked like a cave caught my attention. It was obscured by bushes and if you were passing by, it would appear to be just a huge rock.
And there I was…in front of the cave I’d found before. I hesitated for a moment and whispered to Nikolai, hopping he could maybe hear me. “I’m here, see you in a little while.” I don’t know the range of our hearing, but it was worth a shot.
I ducked into the entrance where only a little bit of light from the outside, seeped in. The writings on the wall were still there and I traced my fingers over them. There was a drawing of two stick figures, one was laying on the ground and the other stood over him as if it was a victory. There were some symbols around it, but I didn’t recognize them and didn’t know what they meant. But the two stick figures stood out to me and I couldn’t help but think about the prophecy and the possibility that it could be me and the Wanderer.
“Come further, child. Have no fear,” the voice of the old women startled me. I jumped back from the wall and looked for her but couldn’t see her anywhere. She was somewhere deeper in the cave. At first I was confused, but I remembered she was blind and the last time she sniffed me out. I walked further in and after a few feet, I found her exactly how I did last time; she sat in Indian style, with her salt and pepper dreadlocks and beads in her hands. Her all white eyes were open and she pleasantly, smiled at me as if she could see me.
“You’ve returned, child,” she said as she rocked back and forth. “I see he who cannot be killed, has not found you, dear boy. The lucky stars must be on your side, thank the gods.” I reluctantly got closer and sat down, mirroring her posture.
“How do you know who I am?” I asked, curiosity outweighing the questions I should really be asking.
“I know all of the Watchers, child, I see you in my dreams.” Watchers? “But you no come to know about you. You come for the old man with wings,” she said and cocked her head to the side.
I had to assume she was talking about Jeremiel. “Y-yes.”
“Ah, good. I will tell you what you need to know, child, but do not ask question, I will not know the answers,” she said and I nodded unti
l I realized she couldn’t see.
“Okay,” I said and waited for her to begin.
“Very well,” she dropped her beads and her body relaxed as she began to speak. “The old man with wings has paid a high price for the safety of the Fledgling. He holds many secrets that could help you on your path to he who cannot be killed—but the white wings stand in his way. If his tongue shares it’s spit, they fear you may not fulfill your destiny.” Her face twisted in agony and she reached out to caress my cheek. “Oh child, you have so much pain and sorrow ahead of you—it is only the beginning. No matter what you decide, Fledgling, your path will always lead you to he who cannot be killed. On the way, you will need his help and he will need yours, you will learn from each other and a bond will form. There will be common friends and foes and you will need to remember that what is wrong, can sometimes be right. Together you will accomplish great things but destroy much as well. Do not fear this future, child, there is only a peaceful darkness in the end.” She dropped her hand from my face and placed both of them on top of her knees. I didn’t know what to make of her revelation—if I can even call it that—but it was scary. And that fear was like a black hole in the pit of my stomach, eating away at me.
“Is, he who cannot be killed, the Wanderer?”
Her face scrunched up like she ate something sour. “I said no questions, child, but yes, he goes by many names. Be careful when you speak of him, he will always be listening.” She picked up her beads and rolled them around her hand again. “Go, I have no more for you, Fledgling,” she said and I slowly stood up.
It took me a while to leave because I still had a million questions I wanted to ask her, but I knew better than to mention them. Either way, this trip wasn’t a complete loss. Nikolai had been right, she doesn’t make much sense, but I think I was able to piece things together and get a better understanding of what was going on. But there was still a question that she didn’t provide an answer to—why are the Wanderer and I intertwined the way we are? There’s a prophecy and all that, but it doesn’t mention the why. Is it something he needed from me? Or did he just want to kill me because I would be a possible threat? I didn’t know, but I didn’t think I’d be getting those answers anytime soon.
28
When we returned to the house, I ran up the stairs to Jeremiels room, with Angela and Nikolai right on my tail. I was in a rush to see if he’d waken, but no such luck. He was still asleep and Jones, who had stayed by his side while I was gone, assured me it was normal.
“You have to understand, he’s malnourished and it seems like he was tortured in some way. From the markings on his back, I’m guessing he was whipped to unconsciousness,” he said and it only angered me further. Lady Mandisa, all but confirmed that the archangels were the ones who’d done this to him, and if I ever saw them again, I’d make them pay.
I sat on the arm chair that was pulled up to the side of the bed, and recanted my visit with Lady Mandisa. I hadn’t told Greed, trying to avoid repeating the same story and they all listened intently as I tried to repeat what she said, word for word.
“Okay, let me get this straight…Samuel did all this to Jeremiel because he didn’t want him to tell you about the prophecy, in case you decided to avoid it?” Jones asked.
“It makes sense, but why does he want the prophecy to come true? That’s what has me confused,” Angela said as she sat on the foot of the bed.
“She didn’t say,” I said. “But she made it pretty clear that no matter what I choose, in the end, my fate will always be with the Wanderer. No point in trying to avoid it now.”
“So you’re actually the Fledgling? She confirmed it?” Nikolai asked, stunned.
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“What about Abbadon? Did she mention my father?”
I shook my head. “No, she didn’t bring him up. Are we sure he isn’t the Wanderer?”
“Maybe…I don’t think we have enough information yet,” Jones said. “I’m going to call Xavier and update him, I’ll be back.” He walked out of the room.
“We should train, Max,” Niko said.
“I’ll watch him, go ahead,” Angela volunteered and I nodded.
A three mile run was Nikolai’s idea of a warm up and I wanted to shoot him. My muscles were already sore and ached from yesterday’s run and then carrying Jeremiel—I was hurting. This morning I had to soak in scorching hot water and rub my arms and legs down, I was a tight rod waking up. With the tension partially gone, why then would he make me run again? I was looking forward to another hot shower that night unless I wanted to wake up paralyzed the next morning.
When we came back to Jeremiels private beach, we did some cool down stretches and Niko drew a privacy rune in the sand.
“When will I get to learn to draw runes?”
He snorted. “After a century, maybe.”
“No way! I should at least learn a basic one,” I said, crossing my arms in front of me like a defiant child—which doesn’t seem too far off.
“Max, rune drawing takes a long time to master. You haven’t even mastered your fire, let’s take baby steps, one thing at a time,” he said and I sucked my teeth. I hated when he got serious and wanted to act like a grown up. Okay, maybe now I was having a tantrum.
“Alright, let’s work on those senses,” he said and I got up from the sand to start training.
I spent the next hour or so, turning on and off my hearing, which had definitely improved as it didn’t hurt as much. I was at least able to easily switch it off when it became overbearing. He moved on to my eyesight, after I mentioned how I was somewhat able to see in the dark when we went into the bunker to get Jeremiel. He said that it was probably going to start bothering me at some point. That didn’t go as smooth as my hearing. Trying to focus and clear my vision to an object a mile away gave me a headache and we had to stop. With that out of the way, we were able to move on to the good stuff—my fire. The only problem I had with it was all this meditation junk. I don’t have ADD but I can’t sit still for too long either. But I had to try my best anyway if I was going to be able to improve my abilities. The whip was getting easier to form but I was not able to hold it together as easily as Nikolai said I should, and he didn’t want to move on to another form until I had at least mastered the first one.
As a final part of our training for that day, he had me do some relaxation techniques when we heard a loud commotion from inside the house. We’d both been staring off at the water, concentrating on the sounds of the waves when we heard glass break. We were on our feet and sprinting toward the house within seconds, and when we made it to the living room, that’s where we found Samuel and Abbadon, facing off against each other. Jones and Angela were off to the side by the stairs, watching the interaction between the angels.
“Don’t you dare get involved in business that does not concern you, Abbadon,” Samuel said and spoke Abbadon’s name with an accent I couldn’t place.
Abbadon brushed him off. “This isn’t business that concerns you either, Samuel. And if they were to ever find out of your involvement, they’d strip you of your wings and send you to rot here on Earth. Shall I tell the almighty angels that they have a bad apple?” he said with a smirk. For a moment I had thought they were teaming up—I guess not.
“What is going on?” I said into the tension-filled room. We looked like a bunch of idiots just standing around watching each other. If we were going to fight, I rather get it started.
“I came for you, Maximillion. We need to keep you protected,” Samuel said and I rolled my eyes. Was he serious? “Go pack your bags.”
I looked around to everyone for confirmation that this was actually happening. And from the scowls on Jones and Angela’s faces, it was. I walked up to the archangel until I was an arm’s length away. “You son of a bitch. I’m going to kill you,” I gritted.
Abbadon whistled, “Well, isn’t this a turn of events.”
“Mind your tongue, Maximillion. Don’t forget who you are spe
aking to,” Samuel said, slightly flustered.
“I know exactly who you are. You’re the piece of shit archangel who kidnapped and tortured one of his own. Don’t think we’re hanging around Jeremiels home, just for kicks. We found him, and now I’m going to make you pay,” I said as I lit my hands on fire. I was already exhausted from training and I probably shouldn’t have gotten ahead of myself like that, but the anger that roared in me was overwhelming.
Samuels face had gone ghost white and his nostrils flared. I reached for his throat, but he swerved and maneuvered out of my grasp. “You don’t know anything! And the fact that you think you can fight me, just shows your naivety,” he said as he ducked from one of my fireballs.
“I know enough! What I don’t know is why you want to fulfill this prophecy so bad, that you’d risk everything. But your biggest mistake was going after Jeremiel.” We danced around the living room, swing for swing, each of us ducking and avoiding the other. My anger bubbled in my gut like lava and it only made the flames grow and spread. The heat rippled the air and everyone else in the room had to take a couple steps back to avoid getting touched. All I was, were swirls of blue, white and orange fire.
“Maximillion! Enough!” A frail voice said from the staircase. Angela ran to Jeremiel so he wouldn’t fall. She put his arm around her shoulder and held him up. Everyone in the room froze. “This is not the way, son. Look at your fire, it is no longer just blue and white. Evil has a grip on your heart and you need to let it go,” Jeremiel said and I had mistaken his voice for being frail when he was actually a lot stronger than he was yesterday. He was just tired.
“You weak, old man,” Samuel started, but Jeremiel put up a hand, stopping him like an invisible shield. Samuel looked like he’d just slammed into a wall and stumbled backwards.
Greed (Sins of the Fallen Book 2) Page 18