Page 29 of A Touch of Crimson
“What do you have to say that you don’t want them to hear?”
His wings dissipated. “It isn’t what I have to say, but the manner in which I say it. And how I look at you when I say it.”
Her brows rose questioningly.
His brilliant blue gaze swept over her, lingering on the hardened points of her nipples. She pulled her shoulders back and let him look.
Adrian’s expression softened. “I don’t bring women to the house. The lycans don’t know what to make of your presence, and they’re paying close attention to me, looking for cues.”
Lindsay tamped down the warmth wanting to spread through her. After a lifetime of feeling out of sync with the world, she was now somewhere she felt comfortable, a place she alone fit into. Was it possible her square peg had finally found a square hole? “Of course, you don’t bring women here. How could you explain a legion living under your roof and a pack of wolves prowling the perimeter? Unless there are others out there like me…?”
“No,” he said softly. “I can safely say that you are unique in the entire world.”
“But you’d invited me over for dinner before I killed the dragon.”
His arms crossed, which tightened his biceps and made her hot for him all over again. “Some things you just know. I knew when I saw you that bringing you into my life was inevitable.”
“Even as a human with nothing special about her.”
“There was always something special about you, even then.”
She turned her back to him. Her affection for him was building irrationally fast, and she couldn’t seem to stop it. “I can’t see how I’ll be more than a pain in the ass for you.”
“As you said, they don’t see you coming. You can be a lure for vampires, and I can use you to my advantage. Is that answer acceptable?”
Mercenary and ruthless: she didn’t begrudge him that. She understood the need to be that way. If using her to draw in vampires was the way she could be helpful, she’d go along with it. Innocent people were dying. Victims with families, including little children, as she’d once been. She wished someone had been mercenary and ruthless in saving her mother.
Lindsay looked over her shoulder at him. “An artery to use for bait? Yes, that would be acceptable to me. But I want to know more about the whole angel-turned-vampire thing. And the angel-turned-lycan thing. Knowledge is power and all that.”
“Agreed.” He waited until she faced him. “Shortly after Man was created, two hundred seraphim were sent to earth to observe and report on their progress. These angels were known as the Watchers. They were a scholarly caste, and they were given strict orders not to interfere with the natural progression of Man’s evolution.”
“They were only supposed to ‘watch.’ I get it.”
“They didn’t obey.”
She smiled wryly. “I figured.”
“The Watchers began to fraternize with mortals, teaching them things they shouldn’t know.”
“Such as…?”
“The creation of weapons, warfare, science…” He waved one hand in a markedly casual gesture. “Among many other skills.”
“I’m following.”
“A warrior caste known as the Sentinels was created to enforce the laws the Watchers were breaking.”
“And you lead these Sentinels?”
“Yes.”
“So you’re the one responsible for turning the fallen angels into vampires,” she accused, her heartbeat quickening with anger and horror.
“They are responsible for what they are. They made the choices that led to their fall.” He studied her with those fathomless eyes. “Yes, I administered the punishment. I stripped the Watchers of their wings. Wings and souls are connected, and the loss of their souls led to their blood drinking. But I’m not accountable for their mistakes, any more than a police officer is responsible for the crimes committed by offenders.”
“A better analogy would be a penal system that releases criminals who are more dangerous after incarceration than they were before it.” Lindsay ruffled her curls in frustration. “Why do they have to drink blood? You don’t, and they were once angels like you.”
“They’re still physiologically seraphim. Severing their wings didn’t make them mortal. They can’t ingest the food you eat. We look similar to mortals on the outside, but we are not the same. We aren’t built the same. Your bodies create energy through physical chemical processes; we aren’t designed that way.”
