“Keep me posted?” Aric requested.
“Of course,” I told him. “Let us know if you need anything.”
Gabe and I reversed course back through all the holiday cheer, to the elevator, and down to the surgical unit. Meredith was no longer in the waiting room, but Matt, Ty, and Casey had joined Joss and Dylan.
“The doctor is in there with Meredith,” my brother said, pointing to the closed door of one of the counseling rooms just off the main area.
I told myself it could be good news. They came in and spoke with the patient’s contact person after every surgery, so the conversation happening behind that door wasn’t necessarily bad.
We waiting for what felt like half a century but what was closer to half an hour. The surgeon’s expression was inscrutable when she walked out, a mask of professionalism which left nothing to be gleaned, either good or ill.
Meredith’s face was a different story. Her eyes and nose were red, her cheeks pale, and her visage tight, as though she were struggling to compose herself. She looked both grateful to have us there for support and like she wanted nothing more than to fade into her surroundings.
None of us spoke for a few moments, giving her space to share in her own time.
Joss went to her sister and they embraced. Soft words were spoken, mostly by Jocelyn, murmured phrases of comfort that seemed to help Meredith steel herself for what was to come. She stepped back and blotted her face with a tissue.
“Hugo is going to pull through,” she said. The sigh of relief in our little group was audible. “He’ll be… okay, except… He may never walk again.”
There were soft gasps and whispered doubts such as “They can’t know that for certain,” and, “Surely not.”
For my part, I was stricken silent. My feelings were a jumbled mess. Death, I had almost grown accustomed to. I knew how to deal with it. And a death of sorts had happened, but it was the end of an era rather than a life.
Hugo still had life, and in that, there was something to rejoice.
Meredith continued, “His spinal cord and vertebrae were severely damaged. They repaired everything as well as they could, but the injury is typical of those where ambulation is never fully restored.”
“We’re here,” Dylan said. “Whatever you need, we’re here.”
“That goes for all of us,” Matt added.
“He’ll be in ICU for a while, so they’re limiting his visitors, but I know he’ll want to see you all once he’s awake. I’m going in to see him now.”
“Dylan and I will wait,” Joss said. “That way you can go home for a little while and he won’t be alone.”
“Yes, please. I’ll need to explain things to Sophie and Danny. And when he’s allowed to have more visitors, I’ll let everyone know.”
We all agreed and left her with the promise that we’d be there in a heartbeat if there was anything we could do for her. The group of us were somber as we left. Casey, Matt, Ty, Gabe, and I rode the elevator down to the ground floor in near silence.
“What do we do now?” Casey asked as the doors opened and admitted us to the ground floor lobby.
“We take a few nights off to regroup,” Gabriel said. “We’re another person less in the field, and no Garret. No headquarters, though I have some ideas for that. Remi and I will monitor the scanners and call for help if we need it.”
“Suppose they try to hit us hard, knowing we’re having to recover?” Ty suggested.
“They’re recovering, too,” I told him. “Their chief concern now will be feeding and healing their host bodies or finding new hosts. But people move around in different ways during the holidays—it’s harder to catch one alone, and that will be to our advantage.”
Matt scrubbed a hand over his face. “I sure hope you’re right. Let us know what we can do.”
We disbursed into the evening, Matt and Ty together, Casey in the direction of his Bronco, and Gabe and me back to his car. The wind had picked up even more, bitter as it whistled between the buildings. We all but ran in our separate ways.
“What did you have in mind for HQ?” I asked once we were inside Gabe’s car, heater cranked as hot as it would go.
“It’s a temporary solution, but I’ve noticed there’s a warehouse over on the road that runs to Summer Valley with a ‘for lease’ sign on it. There are a few other places like that around, but it’s the biggest and newest.”
“That’s a great idea. Let’s go check it out as soon as they’ll let us.”
“It’ll be dark soon. Where are you staying tonight?” Gabe asked.
I sat up straighter, the small amount of relaxation I had found in the heat and comfortable seat going out the window with another issue to solve. “With everything going on, I hadn’t thought…”
“Come crash at my place.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to impose.”
My partner shot me a skeptical side-eye. “Nonsense. You’re more than welcome. And I’ll go with you first thing in the morning to get whatever you need. God forbid Creed were to ambush us tonight, we don’t have much backup.”
That was a very real possibility. Creed would know his chances of getting shot in the process of sneaking up on me were high, but would that be a deterrent? He had thrown that whole stop-at-nothing vibe back at headquarters, so I wondered if the promise of a bullet was enough.
On some level, I hoped he’d use the spare key and go clean out the rest of his things while I wasn’t around. A confrontation could go nowhere good, but the question was, how bad would it get?
I was less concerned about myself than I was about anyone who might be with me—like Gabriel. Creed viewed the Amasai as a barrier to us being together, which left me with no doubt he was a threat to the others.
Chapter 16
“Rem?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, rubbed them, then looked across at Gabe. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I was just saying, if you’d rather go somewhere else—”
“No, this is good. I was just thinking about… Well, it doesn’t matter.”
Gabe put on his turn signal as we approached the four-way intersection just before the town itself. Going right would’ve taken us to the swanky Iron Terrace subdivision and the left he took went toward the part of Whitewing Lake that narrowed and branched northwest from the main water.
Along that swatch of shoreline was another higher end neighborhood, but instead of sprawling houses, sleek condoes and townhomes looked out over the lake. The cluster of recent development was thoughtfully laid out. None of the steel, glass, and concrete interfered with the naturally beautiful views any more than it had to.
Dominic had been the architect that designed the modern homes, and it was somehow comforting to see a part of him live on in his work.
Gabriel’s townhome was at the end of a row of the identical two-story dwellings. The garage door rolled up and away smoothly, allowing him to pull straight in. Neither of us opened our doors until it was back down, waiting until we were completely shielded from the elements to get out.
Everything about my partner’s place was just how I remembered it: neat as a pin, spotless, swanky. I felt dirty by comparison just standing in the entryway.
As if he could sense my unease, Gabe offered up his shower.
“Do you want to go upstairs and get cleaned up? There’s just the one full bathroom, so you can go first.”
“You’re not worried about me using up all the hot water? I might, given the state I’m in.”
Dirt, smoke, and sore muscles all added up to a lengthy scrubbing session.
“Not at all,” he said. “Instant water heater.”
“Niiiice. I should’ve known,” I smiled.
“When you go up, bathroom’s on the right. The closet is connected and you can borrow some clean clothes if you want.”
I glanced down at myself. “Thanks. I’ll take you up on that.”
While I had been there before, I had never been in the upper level. The
master suite at the top of the stairs took up the entire second floor. The lights were on a motion detector and came on when I hit the top step. Gentle illumination came from recessed lights in the ceiling and was just bright enough to see, not blind. I glanced to the left and found a wall of glass. The pivoting doors in the center led to a balcony that ran the width of the room.
Walking over to take a better look, I decided the view alone would be worth the mortgage. Despite the cold, a breath of fresh air beckoned. I pushed the glass door open and stepped out onto the composite planks. My boots barely made a sound as I went across to the rail.
I watched dense clouds moving in across the lake, their low ceiling reflecting the lights from below as the sky darkened. The icy bite of the north wind stung my face and hands, but the discomfort hardly registered. An exhaustion so permeating it felt heavy and oppressive settled deep in my gut.
How could I have been so stupid?
Alone, in the quiet after the urgency of the day, I let my mind sink its teeth into what had happened. Flashes of our headquarters burning, the beautiful farmhouse going up in flames, Hugo’s lifeless body, Garret barely breathing… All blurred my vision of the vast sky as though I were seeing it all over again.
Valan gloating about his victory, Creed standing alongside my mortal enemy, turning on us… on me.
Tears streaked down my face, going cold the instant they met the air. I brushed them away with a jerky movement as the door opened and shut behind me.
“You’ll freeze out here.” He draped a blanket around my shoulders and I curled myself into its warmth. “I didn’t hear the shower come on, so I came to check on you.”
“Looks like snow,” I commented.
He glanced toward the low-hanging clouds and nodded. We so rarely saw snow where we lived, it would be something to be excited about under normal circumstances.
Nothing felt normal.
“You wanna talk about the weather,” he said, sounding as exhausted as I felt.
“No, it’s just…” I took a rattling breath. “I’m so sorry.”
The tears came down again, uncontrollable. Gabriel opened his arms to me and I fell into them.
“God, Rem. What could you have to be sorry for?”
I sobbed into his shoulder, unable to form a coherent answer. Gabe stood there patiently, comforting, letting me cry and get it out.
“It’s my fault,” I sniffled. He shook his head and started to contradict me, but I continued before he could. “No, really. It was me who pushed Creed to figure out what he is. He didn’t turn on us until after that.”
Gabe handed me a handkerchief and pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders. He cleared his throat like he was delaying what he had to say.
“I think we have to consider the possibility that he was never on our side in the first place. That he didn’t defect to the demons, but was with them all along. You didn’t push him to the other side. When Yescha told you what he is, he knew it was only a matter of time before you put it all together.”
My stomach hit the floor. That possibility was so much worse. It meant I hadn’t just been wrong—I had been played.
Burned. Like our headquarters.
“But I didn’t put it all together, did I.”
I turned away from Gabe and faced the lake. The frigid wind in my face was the only thing keeping me from hurling.
“I should have seen it coming. He was pulling away from me… Yescha and Michael even warned me off him, but I ignored them. I thought… Well, what difference does it make what I thought. I was wrong.”
“We all were,” Gabe said from behind me. “It was Hugo who invited Creed and Eden to join us, and I persuaded you to give Eden a chance. We both know how wrong I was there.”
I turned my face to the side. “What are you saying?”
“That we all own this.” He moved into my line of sight and met my eyes. “This is not on you. The blame is on Creed. He took advantage of our need and your kindness and trust.”
“Oh, Gabe…” I wanted to tell him how grateful I was for him understanding, but words came up short.
He hugged me again and I held on tight. I was all cried out, but still so raw. There was nothing like the comfort of my best friend.
“Please don’t blame yourself,” he said against my hair. “We’ll bounce back, like we always do. We’ll make a new home for the Amasai. And you can stay here for as long as you need to.”
We stood that way for a long time, me gathering my composure and Gabriel patiently allowing me the time to do so. His every breath was calm and even, the rhythm helping to steady me. The exhaustion I felt was beginning to ease, and the guilt that burdened me wasn’t as cumbersome.
Still, I wasn’t sure how to get over being the object of Creed’s con job. Playing the fool left me feeling like an idiot.
“Hey, look.”
I looked up at Gabe’s quiet urging and followed his gaze to the sky beyond us.
Snow.
The tiny flurries sailed in on the breeze, harbingers of the fatter flakes to come. They were a beautiful sight against the dusky sky.
Even in the warm cocoon of the blanket and Gabriel’s embrace, I shivered. It was then that I realized he was outside with nothing warmer on than his leather jacket.
I let go of him and took a step back. “We should go inside. I’ve kept you out here too long.”
He shook his head. “It’s fine. We can stay out here as long as you need to.”
The pause lingered for a moment, as though there was something else he wanted to say.
“Unless you’re cold…”
“I am,” I smiled.
“In that case,” he said, turning to open the door, “after you.”
I stepped back inside, back into the warmth of the upstairs bedroom. Closing the door behind us, Gabe shut out the cold.
“I’ll go down and make us some hot cocoa so you can shower,” he told me.
I had almost forgotten why I was up there in the first place, but there was blood on my jeans and my hair still reeked of smoke.
“Use anything you need. No rush,” Gabe said before shutting the door.
The water didn’t take long to heat up. By the time I piled my dirty clothes into a neat stack, steam billowed from behind the glass enclosure. I eased into the hot spray and my muscles relaxed.
It didn’t surprise me to find high-end products on the tile shelf. The shampoo and conditioner were salon quality, and the body wash was from the nicest department store in Westview. Since Gabriel had such discerning taste, I came out smelling wonderfully clean rather than overtly masculine.
After toweling myself dry, I went into the closet to find something to put on. It was all dark wooden shelves and rods, sophisticated inset lighting, and organized to a tee. There were dress shirts arranged by color above slacks that coordinated, suits, silk ties, and expensive shoes down one side. Leather jackets, jeans, and heavy boots lined the other side. It was like two halves of the same man, visible in the contrast of his wardrobe.
There was a vertical line of drawers in the center of the side with the hunting attire, so I slid one open to peek inside.
Jackpot.
A neat row of t-shirts filled it, so I plucked a gray Aggies shirt from one end. It felt like a betrayal to my own alma mater, and the silly thought made me smile.
I found a cozy pair of plaid lounge pants in a bottom drawer and stepped into them. With the drawstring ties up, they fit nicely, if a little long.
Patting water droplets out of my hair, I went downstairs to find Gabe pouring hot chocolate into a pair of mugs. He looked up at me and smiled.
“Good timing.”
I hung the towel around my shoulders and took the mug he offered me. The rich smell of chocolate and cream wafted up as I sniffed it. It wasn’t the powdered instant stuff, that was for sure.
“Thank you,” I said.
“I thought we could both use some rest tonight, then tomorrow we can go get wh
atever you need from your apartment.”
“I can’t sleep on your couch forever, you know,” I took a sip of the cocoa. It was hot, just sweet enough, and tasted as decadent as it smelled. “Wow. This is perfect.”
“Thanks,” he told me. “And you won’t be sleeping on my couch. You’ll be sleeping in my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
My eyes widened. I was already intruding on his hospitality enough, much less did I want to kick him out of his own bedroom.
“No, you can’t do that. I won’t let you do that on account of me being here,” I insisted.
“I can and you will,” he said, unyielding. His tone assumed that gentle firmness that meant his mind was made up. I could argue, but I wouldn’t get anywhere. “It’s not forever. Just until you find somewhere you like.”
I blinked, afraid if I thought too hard about the kind gesture, the tears would start up again.
“I don’t know how to thank you.”
“You don’t have to. That’s what friends are for. You’ve had a tough few months, so if there’s anything I can do to make things easier for you, I’m happy to do it.”
I set my mug on the granite counter and hugged him tight enough I was surprised bones didn’t crack.
“Thank you,” I murmured.
He was right—the last months had taken their toll. The heaviness and overwhelming feeling of exhaustion were the products of setback after setback. Failure after failure.
But no matter how many times I got knocked into the dirt, I had to get back up. Knowing I had friends who would be there with a hand to pull me back onto my feet would always keep me trying.
“You okay?” Gabe asked.
I realized I was still clinging to him, so let go and took a step back. “Yeah… sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry for.”
His expression of concern was replaced with a smile when he picked up my mug and handed it back to me.
“Come here. I want you to see this.”
I followed him out of the kitchen and across to the living room. The entire wall that faced the lake was nothing but windows. He touched a button on a remote control and it killed the lights.
Without the light from within, we could see out into the darkness. The faint glow of exterior lights from all the houses around Whitewing Lake illuminated the swirling snowflakes.
Three Times Burned: A Paranormal Fantasy (Remington Hart Book 3) Page 13
