“What I’m about to say is important. I need you to pay attention, to understand.” His voice was quiet, pleading, but not apologetic, as I had hoped.
“OK.” I became fidgety as more anger seeped into my being. I think Gavin knew it. After all, he had to have been reading my mind. All of this “I would never harm you or anyone close to you” crap was just not flying.
A smirk eased his tight lips. He’d been reading my mind, all right.
“When we were cursed to live on the blood of humans, we lost all hope. Some of us reveled in the savagery of what we had to do to survive—kind of like, if you must, you might try to enjoy it. Others sought to indulge our love of humans by becoming more like them, giving up our powers. Tyler realized we could make our humans more like us rather than the other way around. You probably call them vampires. Tyler and his followers considered themselves as gods, His equal or better, breathing life into these beings that were technically dead,” he added as if he had not already made his point.
My chest grew tight; my breathing was labored. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear any more.
In an instant, he turned onto his side, leaned on his elbow, and looked at me intently. I wasn’t sure I trusted Gavin, despite his attempts to come clean. Unable to stop my mind from lingering on his looks, my proximity to him, and the overwhelming desire to kiss him, I closed my eyes and tried hard to block him. Brick wall, brick wall, brick wall.
A gentle laugh escaped his lips. “Grace, please. Pay attention now.”
Haven’t I been paying attention?
He smiled, then moved closer, wrecking my concentration. I was mad and wanted to stay that way.
“I mean, pay attention to what I am saying,” he teased. He placed his hand just above my knee, obliterating the last of my reserve. Too bad the move seemed to unnerve him as much as it did me. He wasn’t the only one who could read minds.
“Some of us believed in the inherent goodness of God, or as we call him, The Divine One, and our eventual redemption. We sought to remain good, to not let the curse get the best of us, but find a way to prove to God that we could be, and wanted to be, redeemed. Some of us choose to feed on only animal blood, for example, while others choose to raid blood banks, for blood that has been donated, rather than taking a human life.”
My eyebrows were raised at attention. “Synthetics. They have that now, don’t they?” I was sort of talking to myself and answering my mind’s question. I couldn’t believe people really lived that way.
“Not people, angels. Others of us find synthetic blood adequate and some take a more organic approach, dining only on parts of the blood—plasma, red or white cells, or platelets.” A smile formed across his face as he spoke.
“What else?” I prodded, leaning into him now.
“Easier access makes the killing of humans less of a requirement for survival. I guess you could say we’ve evolved. We’ve found we can retain our powers, even strengthen them, by practicing certain habits and keeping our bodies clean and free of the toxins humans readily ingest.”
“It all sounds so … scientific.”
“I guess. If you call pure, whole human blood, fresh and taken by force, scientific. It’s the only way to reap the full benefits of the blood itself. At the height of human fear, a unique enzyme in our venom mixes with the blood to enrich our talents further, giving us untold strength and abilities. It’s an ironic consequence of the curse. It’s different for each of us, but on a basic level, it can include improved vision, telepathy, telekinesis, shapeshifting, superior strength, invisibility, and for some, the ability to manipulate time and space. I believe you already experienced some of these—even without an ounce of the enzyme? Unless, of course, you’ve been snacking and not telling me?” Gavin winked.
“Wait, you mean all angels don’t have these abilities?” I wasn’t following.
Gavin looked at me as if I’d asked him whether he wanted chicken or steak for dinner.
“Well, we do, for the most part. But when you Fall, you don’t retain your abilities, though your senses remain heightened. Angels have what humans might consider extrasensory abilities. In many cases, a sixth, seventh, or