by Kelly Oram
“Our world,” Gabriel corrected. “And I will help you.”
Gabriel lay back down and took my hand again without asking permission. I didn’t fight him. Instead I thought back on the glimpse I’d caught of our future. “Do you really believe what the council says—that you are the love the prophecy speaks of who is supposed to keep me from choosing evil?”
Gabriel was quiet for so long I didn’t think he was going to answer me. “That I do not know,” he finally said. “But I will help you nonetheless because you are the Chosen One and I have faith in the Creator. I have faith in you.”
A lump rose in my throat.
“Get some rest, Danielle. We need not worry about this until you have recovered your strength.”
Gabriel was right. I couldn’t do much of anything while I was still so weak. With a sigh of defeat I closed the distance between us and fell asleep, drowning in the warmth of his body.
. . . . .
Bloodbath. That’s what I was witnessing. Roughly five minutes ago, my sleep had been disturbed with the image of a quiet village somewhere deep in the mountains. It was a compound of maybe a dozen houses, a church and a schoolhouse.
In the center was a small grassy area with an aging playground. It was early morning, the world just barely turning from black to a dull grey. A few houses had smoke billowing from the chimneys.
It was completely serene until a string of four wheel drives came tearing up the main road into the center of town, blinding it with floodlights and filling the air with angry shouts.
Men and older boys swarmed the houses and within seconds the screams began. People, mostly women and children scattered like bugs, fleeing the chaos. I watched as people of all ages were slaughtered one by one. Some women were held down and forced to watch as their children were executed. One man delighted in running down a teenage boy with his jeep.
These people were unaware and defenseless. It took only minutes before the entire town was decimated. The murderers torched the homes, leaving the bloody bodies where they fell in the streets, and drove off as quickly as they had come.
I don’t know when I began screaming. I assume the moment the killing started because by the time Gabriel was able to rouse me from my hysteria, my voice was starting to feel horse. “Danielle!” He was yelling at me. His hands were holding my face. “We will change it. It hasn’t happened yet. We can stop it. Danielle, listen to me. Listen to my voice. We will change it!”
After a few more minutes Gabriel was able to calm my panic enough that I could process logical thought. “You saw the hunters raid the town?” he asked, pushing my sweat-soaked hair out of my face. “The village in the mountains?”
I nodded. “The school children…?” My voice trailed off and I tasted bile. If there had been anything in my stomach I would have thrown it up.
“We will stop it,” Gabriel promised me. “The visions come so that we can prevent these tragedies. Do you understand? What you saw can be stopped. We will save those people, Danielle.”
“Why would anyone do something so horrible?” I cried.
“Because they were supernaturals. Necromancers, for the most part, and a couple of witches. It was a raid. There are groups of humans out there who have learned of the existence of the supernatural world. They call themselves hunters and dedicate their lives to ridding the world of the abominations.”
“What abominations? Those were just innocent women and children! What is a necra—neckerman—”
“Necromancer,” Gabriel repeated. “One who can summon and commune with the spirits. Ghost whisperers.”
“So because they can see ghosts they deserve to get knifed down in their beds?”
“No, Danielle, they do not deserve that. Which is exactly why we must hurry. Get dressed. We must meet with the council.”
All he said when he picked up the phone in the kitchen was, “Wake the council. Tell them to hurry.”
Gabriel dragged me out the front door of our apartment—which I was surprised to find unlocked—and down a flight of stairs into a long hallway that looked like a haunted, albeit luxurious, hotel. “The councilors each have their own apartment,” Gabriel said as we passed the doors.
We came to the end of the hallway where a large pair of glass doors that led to an observation deck stood next to an elevator. Gabriel took me down one floor and led me to the conference room where we first met.
He said nothing but he paced back and forth as we waited for the council to arrive. I could tell he was concentrating, trying not to forget the images he’d seen. I, on the other hand, was trying my hardest to erase them from my memory and couldn’t manage it.
Once everyone was seated, Gabriel stood and addressed them. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”
“What is she doing here?” the werewolf asked sharply, pointing a clawed finger at me.
“We cannot discuss matters of the council in front of that insufferable creature!” another man said. I recognized his face, and wondered what his power might be.
“She is not a creature, Councilor Torres, ” Gabriel hissed. “And she has seen the same vision I have. She will be helpful to us.”
“She’s not a member of the council,” Constance agreed warily. The traitor.
“Yes, my boy,” the Supreme High Councilor said. “You ought not to have brought Danielle. The council business stays within the confines of the council. You know this. Robert? Please escort Danielle back to the tower.”
I don’t know why, but the thought of being separated from Gabriel terrified me. My trembling hand tightened on his. “Please don’t let them take me.”
“You will not go anywhere without me,” Gabriel said to me loud enough for all to hear. He addressed the whole council when he said, “You stole her from her life and forced her into this.” His voice was calm but made of steel. “And then you gave her to me as a mate. Because of that, you all have made her a part of this council because I will not keep things from her. Ever.”
“We do not trust her,” Alistair said. “Her behavior thus far has been that of a radical, traitorous child.”
“Traitorous to who?” Gabriel roared, slamming a fist down on the table in front of him. “A council she never knew existed? To laws she still does not know about? You were mere strangers who took her from her family! You have kidnapped her, and tortured her, and now you reject her willingness to help?”
I was shocked by Gabriel’s outburst, but judging by the looks on the council members’ faces, this was not the first time they’d seen his strength. I don’t know why, but that made me proud. As did the looks of guilt I saw around the room. The council was being reprimanded by a mere boy, and, I couldn’t believe it, but they looked truly remorseful to have let him down.
“Danielle is making an effort to acknowledge her fate, which considering the way she has been treated by this council so far is more than any of you deserve. You will accept her help or you will be without mine.” Gabriel’s entire demeanor was cold as ice. “I will leave those women and children to their fate.”
I gasped at that horrid thought despite the fact that Gabriel was acting on my behalf. “No!” I said frantically. “Gabriel you can’t! We have to help them! Please! You promised me we could change it! You can’t just let those people die!”
Gabriel smiled at me with love in his eyes then scowled at the council. “Do you not see?”
“All right, my boy, calm yourself,” the Supreme High Councilor said smoothly. He was studying us both very carefully. “Of course we always hoped the Chosen One would be a part of this council. If you say she is ready to act reasonably, then we will trust your judgment. You have never let us down before.”
I could tell that most of the council still didn’t want me there, but a couple of people—the Supreme High Councilor, the old woman, and Robert, of all people—looked hopeful.
“Thank you, sir,” Gabriel said. Amazingly, his countenance was again serene.
“So come, tell us what has
us up in the middle of the night.”
Gabriel relayed the horrific vision to the council. I was surprised at how many details he remembered. Even still, there wasn’t much to go on.
“It is not enough!” Gabriel yelled in frustration. “It was the Appalachian Mountains, I am sure of it, but that village did not look like anyone even knew it existed. It is probably not even on a map. It could be anywhere!”
“It’s all right, Seer,” the lady vampire said. “You have done the best you can.”
“What about you, girl?” Councilor Torres asked, clearly still upset that I was here. “Did you see anything that might be useful? I thought you said you were going to help.”
“Um…” My voice shook as all eyes were suddenly on me. “I don’t know, I, there was so much blood. Everyone was screaming.”
The man snorted in disgust. “Some help,” he muttered.
“It is all right, Danielle,” Gabriel said while glaring at the man. “The visions are disorienting at first and this one was particularly upsetting. No one blames you. Just try to think back to what you saw. Do not focus on the killing, try to remember the background.”
I thought back like Gabriel instructed me, but all I saw was a woman with a knife sticking out of her back falling to the ground and a teenager falling beneath the wheels of a jeep. “The license plate on the jeep!” I breathed. “It was Kentucky. I can’t quite remember the….” My voice trailed off as I tried to remember the vision. I closed my eyes and concentrated, then suddenly it was playing for me like a flashback. “Oh, no,” I whispered as I found myself standing in that quiet sleeping village. My body went rigid. “No, no, no. I can’t watch this again!”
“You can see it?” Gabriel whispered in awe. “How? I have never seen them more than once.”
I gasped. “They’re coming! Get out of here! Please! Run! Hide!”
“Danielle.”
“Stop!” I screamed. “Don’t hurt them!”
“Danielle!”
I could hear Gabriel calling my name. I could feel his hands on my face, but I couldn’t see him. I only saw death.
“Do not watch,” Gabriel said calmly. “Try to focus on the background. The town—anything that can tell us where they are, or possibly when.”
I took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. “The trucks,” I said. “They’re all from Kentucky.”
“Can you see any plate numbers?” someone asked.
I read off the numbers of three of the trucks and then a woman fell dead at my feet. I slipped in her blood and fell on top of her body. I could feel the blood on my hands, warm and sticky and stinking of copper.
I finally began screaming and didn’t pull out of my panic attack until the nightmare ended. Gabriel had my face in his hands again. “It is over,” he said, wiping the tears from my face. “It is all over now. You did very well.”
I threw myself into his embrace. “We have to help them.”
“We will,” he promised. “You gave us enough information to track down the hunters at least. We can stop them before this happens.”
“There was a woman,” I said, still sniffling. “I tripped over her. I had her blood all over me.”
“You interfered with the vision?” Gabriel gasped. “I have tried so many times and have never been able to be involved in one.”
“I didn’t. It’s like I wasn’t really there, but I could feel it and smell it. It was just like that first vision I had of you. I could feel it when you—” I stopped abruptly and turned my flushed face away from Gabriel. Several council members had smirks on their faces.
“The woman,” I said quickly. “She had something on her hand. A symbol tattooed between her thumb and finger.”
There was a sharp gasp from across the table. “Maggie?” the Supreme High Councilor asked with concern.
The old woman pulled her sleeve up and thrust her hand forward. “Was it this?”
I didn’t have to look that closely to tell that it was.
“It is the mark of the Lindon School for the Gifted,” Maggie explained. “It’s a place for necromancer children who come into their powers in their early years to live in peace. I was a student there as a young child. Very few know of its existence and even less have any idea where it is. How could a hunting party find them? Oh, those poor children!”
Maggie began to cry and the werewolf man put his arm around her shoulder. “We’ll stop them Mags.”
“Maggie,” the Supreme High Councilor said, “Go with Angelo and give him the location of the school.”
Angelo appeared to be the man who didn’t like me—Councilor Torres. He rose and helped Maggie to her feet.
“Assemble your nephilim brethren and get the people of that village someplace safe,” the Supreme High Councilor ordered.
Angelo nodded and ushered Maggie out of the room, but not before Maggie stopped and kissed my forehead. “Bless you, child,” she said and then was whisked off.
I was stunned. I glanced up to see everyone now looking on me with approval. Even the corners of Robert’s mouth were turned up, and for once it almost looked like a real smile.
“Robert,” the Supreme High Councilor continued. “Fetch Duncan and have him gather the guardians. We need to trace those license plates and track down that hunting party.”
Robert was gone in an instant. I was still staring after him when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I knew it was Gabriel’s without having to look.
“We should get you back. You must be exhausted.”
It was still the dead of night when I woke up from a restless sleep, which made sense when I realized I was in bed alone. I never slept as well when Gabriel was gone. What didn’t make sense was the panic I felt knowing he should be lying next to me and wasn’t.
I told myself I was being irrational and to just go back to sleep, but I wouldn’t be able to rest until I knew where he was and that he was safe. It was pathetic. I sat up to go look for him and froze at the sight before me. I’d never seen someone look so beautiful.
Gabriel stood with his back to me gazing out the floor to ceiling window at the city far below him. He wore no shirt and his silk pants hung low on his hips. His shoulders were broader than I realized, his skin was perfect, and the moonlight was doing its best to cast shadows in just such a way that accentuated every muscle in his tall, lean body.
In spite of all that, my eyes were drawn to the tattoos on his back that I hadn’t known were there. A series of elegant symbols flowed gracefully down his spine between his shoulder blades, inked in all black to contrast with his olive skin.
Never has anything made me want to touch something so badly as those drawings made me want to run my fingers over Gabriel’s back. I’m not even sure why. My best guess was that the idea of Gabriel having body art was so surprising. He seemed much too sweet and innocent for something as rebellious as tattoos. It made his sexy factor immediately jump like five hundred percent.
Gabriel turned then as though he could feel the way my eyes were lustfully raking in the sight of him. “Did I wake you?” he asked.
I shook my head both in response to his question and to snap myself out of my daze. “Can’t sleep.”
Gabriel smiled, but it was a sad smile. “An unfortunate side effect of the visions I am afraid.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sleep again. Either from nightmares, or fear of falling into a new vision.” I got out of bed and joined him at the window. “How do you stand it?”
Gabriel took hold of my hand. “By thinking about the fact that you just saved all of those lives. I am very proud of you, Danielle. I would not have been able to find them. Truly, you are a miracle.”
I’ve never been one to take a compliment gracefully so I said, “You only think that because you haven’t seen enough of my temper.”
“Actually it is your temper that most attracts me to you. Though I believe spirit is a better name for it.”
Instant butterflies. I tried to ignore them.
“So you have tattoos and like your women a little rebellious. Do you also have a motorcycle parked in a garage somewhere that I should know about?”
“No.” Gabriel blushed and rubbed the back of his neck as if he was self-conscious about his tattoos.
“You’re really going to have to explain those to me.”
“Why?” Gabriel asked, startled. “Do they displease you? I hope you do not find them offensive.”
I wanted to laugh, but Gabriel looked genuinely worried that I disapproved, so I resisted the urge to tease him. “Just curious. You don’t strike me as the tattoo type. Seriously, what made you do it?”
Gabriel shrugged. There was obviously a story behind them that he was hesitant to tell me. I waited, but he wasn’t going to explain.
“Please?” I asked. “Not that I want to be nosey, it’s just….” I stopped. I’d made him uncomfortable and suddenly I wasn’t in the mood to talk anymore.
“What is it?” Gabriel asked.
“Never mind.” I gave his hand a squeeze and then let go. “Goodnight, Gabriel.”
I turned to go back to bed but Gabriel caught my wrist. “I have upset you.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Danielle.”
“It’s just I wish I knew something—anything—about you. Did you see the way the council watched us tonight? You people with your stupid prophecy and all your talk about true love and destiny. Everyone just expects me to fall in love with you, but what if that doesn’t happen? You seem nice, but that’s not enough. What if I get to know you and I don’t like you? What if you don’t like me?”
“I do not believe that will happen, but you must be willing to give us a chance.”
“How?” I wanted to kick myself when I became choked up. “How can I do that when everything inside of me wants to hate you? I was dumped here and told that I have to be your—what? Your wife? Your lover? Some plaything to keep you happy?”
When I said the word lover Gabriel dropped my wrist and looked at his feet. I felt a little bad, but now that I’d opened a can of worms I had to let it out. “I feel like Buzz Lightyear!” I said unable to keep from raising my voice. “Like if I lift up my foot I’ll find your name written on it in black magic marker.”
