Instinct told me that he knew I was following him. I could smell his knowing. It filled my nostrils like the sharp, biting dust that I was breathing in. But Roman did not fear me. His fear, I could not smell.
What an imbecile.
This would change, though, and soon. Soon enough, Roman would be crying like a babe, begging me to stop the pain.
The topless jeep barreled down the road, puking up a plume of dust in its path. I stayed close to the tree tops and off to the left, until he was far enough out of town to where I would not be spotted by anyone but Roman. Then I tailed him steadily, directly above him. My shadow darkened him.
My Lady Moon was drawn to this man. For this alone he would die a slow and torturous death. I would peel his flesh from his bones and I would eat his meat.
"My son, hear the voice of your father," Lucifer's voice boomed in my head. I ground my teeth together, hoping it would grind the words into something more like the particles of dust in my nostrils.
"Why do you disgrace me?"
I wagged my head, growling, but I could not shake him out of my mind.
"I wish not to disgrace you, Father," I spoke to the wind at my face.
"Sever this pathetic tie you have with the Lanchester. It has gone on for far too long. Obey my commandment, Son, unless it is that you wish I sever it for yo, this tie you have with the Lanchester."
Rage ripped through me like gales of fierce wind.
Before now, my father had never asked for anything I could not deliver. But this, severing my tie with My Lady Moon, I could not deliver.
"Very well, my beloved son. If you choose to disobey me, the Lanchester will pay for your dishonor."
"No!" I roared.
I swooped down, splicing the air with stiff wings, cutting through the cloud of dust as I descended straight for Roman. Just as I closed the distance between us, the jeep accelerated, pulling Roman slightly out of my reach.
Roman chuckled deep and throatily.
But he would not escape me. No amount of acceleration would be fast enough. One powerful stroke of my wings brought me back over the top of Roman and his barreling jeep. The tips of my feathers batted the ditches on either side of him, creating their own little plumes of dust and debris, as I aligned myself directly above him once more.
Roman threw his head back and looked straight up at me. He was smiling victoriously.
With wind lashing at my face, incisors bore, I dove in for the kill.
****
Chapter Forty-Nine
Luna