Broken Wings: Genesis Read Online Free PDF Page B

hangin’?”
    I don’t know if that was the
doorman’s name or not, but it had stuck from my first, nervous flippancy of day
one and he never spoke to correct me. So Lurch it was. Before entering, I took
a deep breath of alley stench and kept my breathing at a shallow minimum. I
hated having my senses dulled. But that was Morpheus’ little quirk. I passed
through the narrow hallways as quick as possible, the curtains fluttering
behind me as I went, but never exposing the interiors of the private rooms of
the lair. Or if they did, I wasn’t paying attention.
    I had a misstep at the last
corner, stumbling at the foot of the stairs. Damn. The haze was working its
numbing toxicity on me already. A partially opened curtain of an alcove-sized
room revealed an older man, round in body with white hair surrounding a bald
top. He gave me a dreamy smile and saluted me with the twisted hose of the
hookah stem before placing it to his lips. As I went to turn away, a flash of
clarity drew my attention back to his pale, crystal blue eyes. I was startled
by that gaze and looked away. It was far too clear for the amount of opiates he
was drawing in. When I looked back, his eyes were glazed and dreamy again. It
had to have been the drugged smoke playing tricks on my mind.
    I tried to step quietly up the
stairs, but that wasn’t possible at this point. My feet felt leaden and my
movements slow. The sound of each thump echoed through the narrow stairwell
twisting in front of me, ringing hollow in my ears. I will say this much about
Morpheus. Of all the immortals I have met, I trusted him––or at least I trusted
his sense of honor the most. If I didn’t, I would not allow this kind of
drugged invasion of my body. I wouldn’t come to any harm in Morpheus’
establishment. It was a good thing the church didn’t require piss tests for my
particular “employment” arrangement with them.
    As I reached the top of the
stairs, the large wooden door blocking my way opened of its own accord. Without
hesitation, I entered the dimly lit room and moved forward to let the door
close behind me.

 

Chapter 5

 
    I took a deep breath, trying to
clear my head a bit with the fresher air in Morpheus’ antechamber. He didn’t
need the opiates to induce dreamtime. Morpheus stepped in and out of that world
with ease––and with no drugs. He had told me once that opium had been his
original “way in”, and what he offered to the people below was the chance to
take hold of immortality as he had. I didn’t buy it, but I also didn’t argue.
    Phobetor and Phantasos were
lounging on an array of jewel-colored pillows, seemingly as oblivious to the
world around them as the people downstairs. I sometimes wondered about those
two. Every time I saw them, they were in the same spot, with the same dreamy
look. They rarely spoke, and if the air weren’t so clear up here, I would have
sworn they were dosed.
    While they might not actually be
twins, many people mistakenly thought they were. It was easy to see why. They
were almost identical in looks––blond hair, blue eyes, classic “Greek” profile
with wide lips, and hints of fully sculpted bodies that peeked out in places beneath
the robes they wore. If they were in as good of physical shape as they appeared
to be, they had to be getting up from their cushions from time to time. I’d
never seen them anywhere else.
    Phobetor, the older of the two by
a year, patted the empty spot next to him in invitation. I declined with a
polite smile and a shake of my head. He responded with a pout and a shrug. It
was a ritual we repeated every time I came.
    “Ah, the lovely Yeshua Star. What
brings you to our palace of delights?”
    Morpheus’ voice was smooth,
sliding across me like a caress. I don’t know how he did it, but he always made
me shiver with its touch. And it was as though I could feel it touching me,
leaving me longing for the real thing. He knew the effect it had on me. That’s
why he did it.
    I