Blood Lilly

Chapter 26

The sun was high in the sky. The wind offered little to no relief from the heat. It was a warm day for this time of year spring had sprung and the world was still revolving. It had been three months since Lilly had walked out on him, stealing his motorbike and cash. At first, he thought he knew why, but with the report from Cayn that Lilly was with Levi now, Gabriel was left in serious doubt.

In all his centuries, never had he felt such love for a woman. Sure, he fucked them and sometimes he even enjoyed a few weeks or months with the same girl but never had he felt like this. When he was with Lilly, it felt as though nothing else in the world mattered. All he could think about was how it would feel to hold her, kiss her, have her naked and spread out underneath him. He was anxious to protect her almost to the point of losing his wings. If she hadn't left when she did, there was little doubt in Gabriel's mind, that he would have become one of the Fallen. A Cursed one who had been given back his wings could still fall, however, he could never go back to being Cursed. If he was kicked out of the Order then the only place left for him, was the Fallen. Living among the Fallen, was not a good idea. He was, after all, one of their biggest targets.

Nonetheless, it didn't matter anymore, Lilly was gone. She had played him. Running away to join her past lover, a guy Gabriel had discounted as a threat. She had seemed so hurt by that monster that Gabriel had been certain there was not anything left between them. He had been a fool. There was no happy ending for Gabriel and Lilly... not now. Even though that made his chest hurt, that wouldn't prevent him from killing her. She was the key to destruction. No matter how badly he wanted to turn a blind eye, he couldn't anymore. It had taken Michael ten weeks to destroy the wall Gabriel had built around his heart. Michael had shown him the truth behind Lilly's lies. Lust was her power, not love. After all, she was the daughter of the first succubus and the principal warrior of the Order. That meant she was deadly and seductive. It made him sick to the stomach, thinking of how he had helped her and trained her.

Michael knew of course. Knew the seductive power of this temptress and how it would affect men of the Order, which is why he had chosen Gabriel to obtain her. Michael had thought that Gabriel would not succumb to her charms. At first, he had resisted and then, like a lightning bolt, he found himself lost in her charms and unable to control himself. Not anymore. He was on the hunt now, a predator stalking his prey. For the past week, he had searched the Las Vegas area, but it wasn't until two days ago, that he caught a break. Out at a local bar, he had heard of a few guys talking about a fight between their trainer and a guy called Levi. Gabriel hadn't thought much about it until he had heard Lilly mentioned. She had landed herself a job at one of the neighborhoods mixed martial art gyms apparently by dating the boss. The guys there were easy to extract information from; everyone enjoyed gossiping while in the locker room.

He had established that she was indeed back with Levi, but that had only been a recent reunion for the lovebirds. A few guys thought it was supposed to hide her relationship with the owner of the gym. Others thought she had been doing both the owner and the head trainer before moving onto her next victim.

Gabriel had a hard time believing this was his Lilly, the girl who yearned to be loved, and yet, afraid of it. Listening to the way the guys talked about her made him bitter. Her poison, so thick, had affected the entire gym. A few who had either found true love or those who weren't inclined that way seem to escape the power. As luck would have it, Gabriel had arrived just before Lilly and Levi had skipped town. Today the guys at the gym were having a farewell party. That meant that today was the perfect time to shoot them both.

Oh, how he had thought about it...The look on their faces as they realized there was no coming back. He would kill Levi quickly, just to get him out of the way and because a part of him wanted Lilly to see her lover die. Then he would turn to her, reminded her of all he had offered, of all that he had given her. Gabriel would kiss those soft little lips before strangling the life out of her. Watching as she struggled to take in air. Staring into those emerald eyes as Lilly realized she wasn't going to make it out alive. Then again, maybe he would make her suffer. Maybe he would toy with her, see if she would reawaken, so he could do it over and over again...He wasn't sure yet. Gabriel's mind began to swirl with eagerness. He wanted it to be perfect, to make her pay for the lies she had told him.