Rebirth - The Beautiful Fallen (30 page)

             
“Indeed.  It seems you’ve figured me out, as usual.” Saffron said, smiling at him.  I didn’t really think it was that friendly though.  More mocking then anything.  He then looked back over at me, the smile actually turning slightly to the friendly side.  “And there you are my darling.  Come along now.  It’s been too long since I’ve seen you in this world.”

             
In spite of myself, I smiled back and made my way over to hug him.  “It’s about time you came back.” I whispered.  The embrace felt so familiar now, and despite it all, I felt comforted.  That was right.  He was the one true thing in my life before.  He protected me no matter what.  I was the most important thing in his world, even if he only viewed me as his possession.

             
“Trust me darling, I would have been much sooner about this if I had been able.  But it seems that you’ve had plenty of help in the recent months.  My plans worked out perfectly.” he said.  I saw him look back over at Chris.  “Well, it’s been a long time, hasn’t it Christoff?”

             
Chris himself was quietly watching us, and still looked pretty unhappy over all of this.  A part of me felt a little bit worried for that.  After all, I hadn’t really shown any real interest in his coming back yet.  However, I also couldn’t quite get myself to move away from Saffron either.  At Saffron’s words though, he glared slightly.  “Not long enough.  Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the last time we met face to face.” he growled.

             
“Well, that was rather unpleasant, now wasn’t it?  But things have changed in the last hundred years as well.  And it seems you’ve taken quite a liking to my own, just as I predicted you would.” Saffron replied.

             
“You planned that one out.  You were hoping for that connection when Ariana was born, weren’t you?  That’s why you made sure that she was a girl.” Will noted, still holding his arm tightly.  I could see blood seeping through his fingers now, and he looked like he was in a lot of pain, although he was definitely trying hard to hide it.  Instead, he was glaring slightly at Saffron too.  I didn’t miss that little bit of viciousness in his words either.  And again, I considered that maybe there was something more to Will with me then he wanted to say out loud.

             
“I was, although having you around now doesn’t hurt either.  But enough of that for now.  It seems we need to have you patched up.  Even as a Fallen Child like you are, you could very well bleed to death.  And I don’t think we need you winding up dead right now.  You’ve always proven very useful.” Saffron told him.

             
“Useful huh?” Will muttered.  I saw the red specks flash slightly in his eyes again.

             
“Come on.  Let’s get inside then.” Chris said, helping him to walk now.  It was obvious by then that Will was starting to get weaker.  He needed to stop that bleeding.

             
I quietly followed them in with Saffron, remaining close to him and hoping that Will was going to be okay. That must have been a pretty bad wound, considering how badly he’d been bleeding.  But at the same time, I remembered seeing something similar with Chris too.  With some help, he more than likely would have been able to heal.  Still, looking back up at my father, I found myself a bit nervous as well.  Saffron and Jade were known for not getting along, and apparently, Chris had some memories of him as well in that respect.  I just hoped that they’d tried to set all of that aside for now.  We had much bigger problems to deal with.

             
Thankfully, things actually did remain quiet for the next two hours.  Sitting down in the large den room, I watched as Saffron glanced out of the nearby window.  I couldn’t help but stare at him as I sat there.  Once again, he looked completely human.  Just like all of the other times I’d seen him before that I could remember.  Now that I thought about it, I didn’t think that he ever really looked inhuman around me, say for that one time where I saw that black tattoo on the side of his face and neck, and his black, claw like hands.  I halfway wondered if perhaps he kept himself looking like a normal person for my benefit.  Maybe he didn’t want to scare me away.  At least, not yet.

“Looks as though they’ve retreated for now.  It’s just like Judiel to test the waters first before really forming an attack plan.  No doubt he‘ll reevaluate things now that he knows I‘m free.” he commented quietly as he stepped back and fixed the curtain into its rightful place.

              “So how did you form all of that darkness and kill them anyways?  Was that just dark power or something?” I asked him.  While I imagined that Fallen Angels were much more powerful than Shadow Wings, I was still curious.

             
“Well, you could call it that.  I like to call it bringing out my shadows.  It’s an ability that I am a master of.  I can make shadows, or manipulate any around me.  They make for decisive weapons, and their power is obviously the opposite of those Pure Wings.  However, they were weaklings too.  They never would’ve stood a chance against a high level Fallen like myself or Jade.  That’s why I say that this was only testing the waters and seeing what’s been going on with the Fallen Children at this moment.” Saffron explained.  He sounded quite proud as he did. 

             
“No kidding.  I’ve heard a lot about how powerful you and Jade are supposed to be now.” I said quietly.

             
“Trust me, reputations are well earned with our kind.  I have to say, I am impressed though.” Saffron continued, walking over to stand himself in front me again.  I stared up at him as he smiled.  “You’ve done very well on your own.  And here I thought that I may have a harder time than I did making that woman let you go.”

             
“Did something happen to Mama?” I had to ask.  His words kind of scared me, beings I’d had no contact with my mother since I’d left with Chris.  And I really wouldn’t have put it past Saffron to harm her just because he felt he no longer needed her.

             
Saffron just smiled at me though.  “No.  Nothing’s happened to her, aside from me telling her to let all of this be.   And I also let her know that her debt to me was up now, considering you have become a complete Shadow Wing.  It’s enough for her anyways.  I’m sure she’s quite content to not to have to be dealing with me anymore.” he said.

             
“That’s because she was always so afraid of you.  She thought that if she did one thing wrong, you’d take her head off or something.” I said.  I could recall the memories very vividly now.  And my mother’s fear of him was obvious.  She always watched everything little thing she did when he was around, and even made herself more scarce.  I never understood it as a child, but now it was very easy for me to see why.  After all, I really didn’t doubt what everyone said about Saffron.  It even made me feel a little bit nervous around him here and there.

             
“You know darling, you’ve always been good at reading between the lines on many things.  But then again, I’d expect no less out of you.  After all, you are mine.  However, it seems like you’ve lost your touch a bit in the recent weeks.  I can’t help but notice that it seems that there are at least a few who are leaving you conflicted here.” Saffron noted, taking a seat beside me on the couch.

             
“It’s not that.” I said, leaning back against him.  “It’s more that they never want to act normal around me.”

             
“Well my dear, what you’ve been considering normal and what they consider normal may be two entirely different things.  You seem to be forgetting that.” Saffron said.  He reached up and quietly stroked my hair.  I couldn’t help but note that he looked very content now.  No doubt he was more than happy to have me back.

             
“Besides, who said that I actually want to end up with Chris anyways?” I asked, changing the subject some.  “When was that supposed to be decided?  Because I don’t think it’s the right thing, especially now.  And to add to that, you and Jade just happen to hate each other most of the time.”

             
I’ll admit that a part of me was trying to resist this pull of love towards Chris by then.  After what had happened between us a few days earlier, I felt like maybe that was the best thing to do.  But as usual, it was always easier said than done too.  Even then, I was finding myself wanting to see him again.  He couldn’t have meant what he’d said about me just going back to Saffron and leaving him alone.  He must have just been angry and not thinking clearly.  That happened a lot when people argued, right?  Still, I wished we could just kiss and make up now.  Great, I thought.  I’m really doing a great job at getting over him.

             
Saffron wasn’t buying it either, although he didn’t exactly say it.  Instead, he stuck to the subject of him and Jade first.  “It’s not hate.  We just like to fight.  And fighting is simply another expression of love to us darling.  Trust me on that one.  Besides, you can’t quite deny that both you and Christoff have a certain pull to one another.  That boy would never act the way he does if he didn’t feel that way about you.  I’m sure he’s very unhappy at how things have been going between the two of you in the last few days, especially when he considers Zane Hedel and how good he's always been with women.” Saffron told me.

             
Okay, so the expression of love thing didn’t surprise me that much.  After all, this was the same creature who once told me that killing the object of your affection, or at least hurting them, was a good expression of love too.  I felt kind of lucky that he’d claimed once that he could never lay a hand on me.  I was the most precious thing in existence to him.  A treasure to be protected and never harmed in any way, shape, or form.  But his words about Chris were interesting too.  Was I really reading things wrong before?  Was Chris really just sulking because he was upset that he wasn’t the one to protect me from Astaroth?  And what exactly was he talking about with Zane and how good he was with women?

             
Before I could say any more to it though, the two of us heard the door open again.  “Long time no see old friend.” Saffron said, not bothering to turn and look at the person walking in behind us.

             
“Don’t act so casual about this.  You’re the last one I wanted to see here aside from Judiel himself.” Jade replied.  As I watched, he walked over and took a seat in the chair across from us.  To my surprise, Chris was with him as well.  He pulled up a nearby wooden desk chair and turned it backwards to sit down.

             
For a long moment, the room was quiet.  I carefully looked at my father, then back at Jade.  Neither seemed to be acting that hostile, but the tension was definitely thick in the air.  Almost as though you could cut it with a knife.  I couldn’t make myself look at Chris though.  Honestly, I felt a little bit guilty now.  With what Saffron had said, I was beginning to think that maybe I’d been misreading a lot of things with him.  Especially when I considered everything he’d done for me, and the fact that he’d told me before how he loved me.  Was saving my life really just a matter of duty to him?  It didn’t seem like that was the case after all.  It was making me feel like a fool now.

             
These thoughts were quickly interrupted by Saffron finally speaking again.  “So you really were that surprised that I hid her as well as I did?  You know I’m just as cunning as you when it comes to protecting what’s important to me.  But I must say, you’ve done very well with Christoff.  They didn’t even know for certain that he was still alive until recently.” He said.

             
“As it should’ve remained.  Although I will admit that keeping such a low profile throughout the years with him has never been easily done, especially considering the mess that you created back then.  If you weren’t such a jealous fool over the women I chose then I could’ve done more to ensure his protection.” Jade told him.

             
“It’s not like I wasn’t able to handle myself back then.  Besides, just drifting was always fine with me.  It gave me enough to see the world in those hundred or so years.” Chris told him quietly.

             
“It seems that you have become quite educated in the different worlds now as well.  I’ll admit that I’ve been impressed from what I’ve been able to see of you.  Not to mention how well you fight back when something threatens you or another you care for.” Saffron noted.

             
“There aren’t many of us around, so friends are an important commodity when you actually find them.” Chris replied.

             
“Indeed.  Although they can be a hindrance too.  Choose them more wisely in the future, because at least one here is working on betraying you.  I’ve already warned you once about that, but you’re still choosing to ignore me.” Jade said quietly.

             
“Ah, so there is a spy here among us after all.  It did seem rather convenient that three lower angels would just show up like that.  They were far too weak for formal fighters, so it’s rather obvious that they were more expandable scouts.  Any clues as to who might have called their attention to this area?” Saffron asked him.

             
Jade shook his head.  “Whichever one it is, they’ve found a way to be very crafty this time.  They’re finding a way to relay information that we are unable to trace.  But Judiel knows far too much now for just a normal spy either.  It has to be someone intimately involved.  So that leaves only three suspects here for me.  And I have no intention of letting up on any of them.” He said, glancing over at me.