Genesis: Falling Angel by Keily Arnold Page A

are heartless,” I replied. She hadn’t seemed interested in me at all, beyond the whole “beautiful eyes” thing. Maybe I had lost my edge after the troll crushed my chest. I probably seemed weak to her.
    We brought the supplies to Noah, only to find that he was showing off. A brilliant gold dragon was leisurely tracing lines in the sand with one claw. His eyes were the same brilliant gold with slits for pupils. Horns that were about the size of a fully grown human male jutted from his head. Smoke billowed from his nostrils. Long, leathery wings stretched out on either side of him. They shimmered as though they were dusted with gold.
    Yeah, he was showing off.
    Dragons could only speak in their human forms, so he waited patiently while we loaded our bags onto his back, securing them with rope. He was probably deeply hurt by now. Allowing passengers really was painful for dragons.
    “Okay, Noah,” I said. He turned to regard me with one giant eye. He easily could’ve fit four passengers on his enormous back. “We’re going to pass through Gula first. Land before you reach the capital. You don’t need to be spotted.”
    He nodded slightly to indicate understanding. I used scales along his side to pull myself onto his back, and Gabrielle followed. She wrapped her arms around me without a word, though she was surely blushing at the close contact.
    “Hang on tightly,” I murmured to her. She nodded against my back.
    Noah rose, flapping his great wings several times before launching into the air.
    Next stop: Gula.

Chapter 12 – Gabrielle
     
     
    “How was I supposed to know?” Noah whined.
    I was still shaking from a crash landing. Everything had been fine until Noah had fallen out of the sky. I had been holding on to Adrian tightly, looking down at the tiny trees that had replaced the barren desert. I had been in such awe that I didn’t notice the tiny black specks dotting the forest below. I hadn’t noticed that something had pierced Noah’s strong neck.
    Adrian held the object now. He said it was a dart, though it looked more like an oversized needle attached to a vial. There were still traces of red in the vial. He had a scowl on his face as he trudged on. Noah followed him closely. I was locked in uncomfortable silence. I didn’t want to say anything to hurt Noah, and I definitely didn’t want Adrian to be mad. If his nature was truly cruel, his anger must be like a raging inferno.
    “You should’ve been watching out! I don’t know this area well!” Noah accused.
    Adrian stopped abruptly, turning to face the dragon. His face was twisted in what could only be pure hate. Even Noah shrank back from him. Adrian waved the vial roughly. “You should’ve been looking at where you were flying. Do you even know what this is?” he snapped.
    Noah eyed it, one eyebrow arched. “Blood,” he said.
    Adrian groaned. “Yes, b ut it’s the type of blood. This is blood from a Fallen. You have any idea what that does?”
    “Well, I guess so. Considering we fell out of the sky and all,” Noah said with a grin.
    “Shut up,” Adrian snapped. “I’m teaching you something that could save your pathetic life. Fallen can see through anything. It’s a trait they kept from their angelic days. When you drink Fallen blood or inject it, it switches your form. If you were in human form, you’d be locked as a dragon for twenty-four hours, but you were in dragon form, so guess what?”
    “I’m stuck in this gorgeous body for twenty-four hours?”
    Adrian threw the vial down. “You nearly killed us. You were our best offense, too. Now, you’re useless to us.”
    I watched the exchange in silence. How did he know so much about the Fallen? I’d heard of it revealing what was hidden, but I never thought of their blood as a weapon. I didn’t want to admit it, but Adrian was right. Noah couldn’t help much without being in his true form.
    “Who would do this?” I asked, and Noah nodded as though he’d been wondering