by Kelly Oram
“Oh.” That didn’t make sense but I was too tired to argue. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against Russ’s shoulder. “I must have just seen a picture of it somewhere. It’s pretty.”
“You’re pretty,” Russ said. When I smiled he finished his sentence with, “Pretty wasted. We need to get you in bed.”
Russ knocked on the door with his foot. After a minute the door swung open. When Alex saw me he gasped. “Dani? What’s wrong with her? What have they done to her?”
“I’m fine,” I said as Russ brought me inside and laid me down on a couch. “Just tired. It’s been a long day, and cloaking the three of us plus the car was harder than I thought it would be.”
“The three of you?” Alex asked.
I smiled and held my hand out to Gabriel who stood in the doorway. Gabriel shuffled awkwardly past Russ’s startled father and took my hand. It wasn’t enough. I pulled him down to the couch with me. After soaking in his energy for a moment, I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Alex. “Alex Devereaux, I’d like you to meet Gabriel. The Seer.”
Alex stumbled backward and gaped at Russ. “You kidnapped the Seer?”
“And stole a car to get us here,” I said.
“He also burned down a warehouse in Newark,” Gabriel added.
I laughed at that.
Alex had to sit down.
“I didn’t kidnap him,” Russ grumbled. “I didn’t even want to bring him. Dani wouldn’t come without him.”
Alex turned his astonishment on me, noticing again that I was cradled in Gabriel’s arms. He waited for an explanation, but I was so exhausted I fell asleep. “Danielle,” Gabriel whispered, shaking me a little. “Just a few more minutes.”
Alex sighed. “All right. You boys can explain everything after we get Dani taken care of. Russ, take her upstairs and get her in bed. Her room is the first door on the left.”
Russ reached for me and in my half delirious state I panicked. “No! I’m not leaving Gabriel!”
Russ groaned and Gabriel held me tighter. “Do not worry,” he said. “I will stay with you.”
“What is this?” Alex asked to no one in particular.
Russ was more than happy to explain it. “The Supreme High Councilor left her cut off from all supernatural presence for over two weeks.”
“He did what?” Alex cried, outraged. “With her aura? That’s not even possible. The cravings would kill her.”
“They nearly did,” Gabriel whispered. He smiled down at me. “I almost lost her.”
“But you saved me,” I assured him.
Alex stared at us like we were from another planet.
Russ sighed. “If Gabe here wasn’t a freaking pure she’d have been a goner. The Councilor starved her of all her supernatural energy in order to break her bonds with you and me. Then he locked her up with just him to help her recover. She’s been completely brainwashed. She panics at the thought of even being in a separate room than him. Duncan said their bond is unnatural.”
“If what you tell me is true, it most certainly is,” Alex said.
“Duncan thinks she physically can’t be without him now. He thinks she’ll get sick without his energy.”
“It is possible, I suppose. I’ve never heard of anyone attempting such a thing. To starve her during the cravings is…well it’s a cruelty I didn’t think the Councilor capable of.”
“He wasn’t being cruel!” Gabriel said. “He was trying to help her. She is the Chosen One. The Councilor was only trying to repair the damage you had already done.”
Alex was taken aback.
“Oh, yeah,” Russ added. “Did I mention the Councilor has been hijacking his brain since he was six? He’s more messed up than she is.”
“Shut up Russ! I’m sick of you being so mean!” I turned to Gabriel and said, “I know what the Councilor told you, but it’s not true. Alex is a good man. We can trust him.”
All of a sudden, Gabriel looked as tired as me. “Danielle, maybe we should go back to the consulate tomorrow.” He glanced nervously up at Russ and then Alex. “I do not think your friends want me here.”
“Of course you are welcome here, son,” Alex said calmly. He sat down next to us and smiled with the fatherly affection I’d always known him to have. “I’m only concerned for what has happened to you—both of you.” His eyes glossed over and his voice became uneven. “Dani if I’d had any idea they would torture you like that I never would have let them have you. I’m so sorry. Forgive me.”
My eyes filled with tears and I threw myself into his arms. I’d missed Alex almost as much as I missed my own parents.
After a minute Alex pulled me out of his chest and wiped my tears away. “It sounds like you’ve had a very rough day. Get some rest and I’ll help you get everything sorted out tomorrow.”
“Okay, but Gabriel stays with me.”
“Dani,” Alex said ruefully. “You know your father would kill me if I let the two of you share a room.”
“Oh, no it’s okay, we’re already married.” I held my left hand up so he could see the ring. “See? The council gave me to Gabriel as a mate.”
Alex nearly fell off the couch. “The council sanctioned your union?” he asked in disbelief.
Gabriel and I nodded.
“The vote was unanimous,” Gabriel said with redness creeping into his cheeks.
“It’s not real, right Dad?” Russ asked. “Please tell them they aren’t really married. They won’t believe me. Supernaturals don’t have arranged marriages. They can’t force her—”
Alex grimaced. “The council has the right to intervene in certain instances. If they have sanctioned it, then the binding is legal.”
Russ’s jaw dropped but he quickly recovered himself. “So they get a divorce.”
“Divorce is a human custom. Only the council could overturn the order, and they would never have forced the union in the first place if they didn’t see it absolutely necessary. I’m sorry, Dani.”
“It’s okay,” I said, avoiding Russ’s eyes. “I was really mad at first, but Gabriel is a good person. He’s helping me to deal with it.”
The front door slammed so violently then that the walls shook. I looked up startled and wasn’t that surprised to find Russ gone.
Alex sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. He seemed to have sprouted a few grey hairs over the course of this conversation. “All right. You kids go get some rest. We’ll worry about everything else tomorrow.”
. . . . .
The next day when I woke up, Gabriel was gone. I wandered downstairs where Russ and his dad were eating what looked like lunch. Russ snorted in disgust when he saw me. “Figures.”
“What?”
“You pass out for twelve hours, sleep through us holding an entire powwow in your room because Gabe refuses to leave your side, and the minute Romeo gets out of bed to take a shower suddenly you can’t sleep anymore.”
“Russell,” Alex warned.
“What? Doesn’t anybody else see how messed up this is? Even if we can’t get them unmarried, we need to fix Dani.”
“Oh! You are already up,” Gabriel walked into the kitchen with wet hair and in fresh clothes. He sat down next to me and took my hand. “I am glad to see you awake. Are you feeling better?”
“Much,” I said. “But I think we should probably lay low here for a few days. Yesterday really wiped me out.”
“Of course. Whatever you need.”
Russ snorted again and I was happy to see Alex whack him in the back of the head.
“Maybe we should try to fix him too,” Russ grumbled, rubbing his head. “He’s completely whipped.”
“No worse than you are,” I spat at Russ.
“Excuse me, you do not have me whipped. I am totally the boss in our relationship.”
“Yeah right. That’s just what I want you to think.”
Alex pushed the two of us into chairs at the table with a sigh. “I see there are some things even brainwashing could never c
hange.”
He set a bowl and a box of Lucky Charms in front of me. I smiled because I know he bought that box of cereal just for me since neither him nor Russ will eat it. He saw my smile and kissed the top of my head. “We missed you Dani.” He went to the fridge for the milk and said, “I have to go up to Princeton’s library to research those items you brought me today. We need to figure out what kind of ritual they might be used in. I was thinking Gabriel could come with me and the two of you could stay here. We’d be back by this evening, of course. We need to know if your separation anxiety is really physical, or just an emotional result of being cared for by Gabriel before we can even think about fixing you.”
“Awesome,” Russ chirped. “When are you guys leaving?”
Gabriel had taken the seat next to me and was eyeing the bowl of marshmallowy goodness as if he’d never seen cold cereal before. I clutched his hand, my chest seizing up in that familiar anxious way when Alex mentioned spending the day apart. “I don’t know about this.”
“Brainwashees don’t get a say in this, Dani,” Russ said. “That’s like letting a mental patient choose whether or not they need therapy.”
“I’m not crazy!”
“No one who’s crazy ever thinks they are. It’s when you know you’re losing your mind that you’re really sane.”
“You’re the one who needs therapy!”
“Dani, Russ, knock it off.”
Russ and I stopped bickering, giving Gabriel the chance to speak. “What if I do not want Danielle to be fixed?” he asked Alex.
Russ laughed. “Of course you don’t.”
“That is not what I mean.” Gabriel finally sounded angry. “What if she is not supposed to be fixed? The council believes we are meant to be together. What if this connection we have is not because of the bond? What if it really is our destiny? The council thinks I am the one spoken of by the Oracle. What if you change this and we can no longer fulfill the prophecy?”
My heart sunk even lower. “I hadn’t thought about that. Do you really think that could happen?”
“Dani, he’s just trying to scare you.”
“The prophecy says that only the truest love will keep you an agent for good,” Gabriel reminded me.
“And you honestly think that’s you?” Russ asked. “I got news for you dude, Dani doesn’t—”
“Danielle, tell them what you see when you look into my future.”
Russ’s eyebrows shot way up and he immediately stopped arguing with Gabriel to stare at me. Even Alex couldn’t mask his surprise. “Visions?” he asked.
I blushed under the scrutiny and Gabriel had to explain for me.
“When Danielle touches me, she takes on my form and becomes a seer. As a seer I have never been able to witness my own fate. I can also not see Danielle’s fate because it is tied to my own. But, just as she is more powerful a warlock than you or your son, she is also more powerful a seer than I. She receives visions that I cannot. She can also replay her visions and share them with me, and she can see my fate where I cannot. Tell them, Danielle. Tell them what you see when you glimpse my future—our future.”
Everyone was looking at me. Russ angry, Gabriel desperate and Alex absolutely flabbergasted. I blushed like I’ve never blushed before.
“Oh, great!” Russ groaned. “That’s just fantastic. Like she’s not brainwashed enough? She has to be influenced by lovey-dovey visions too? Why don’t you take a look into my future Dani? I’ll show you freaking destiny.”
“I can’t see your future Russ. If I touch you I become a warlock. I can only see Gabriel’s future, and he’s right. Both times I looked into his future, the Creator showed me significant moments in our relationship.”
“Significant moments? What does that mean? No, wait. I don’t want to know. It doesn’t matter anyway. You said the future could be changed. We spent all day yesterday changing one of your visions. You had those visions of him before I came to get you. Now that you have me back you should look again. Tell me if you still see a happy future for the two of you.”
“No.”
“Why? Scared I’m right?”
“Maybe I respect his privacy. Maybe he doesn’t want to know his future.”
“Actually, I do not mind,” Gabriel said quickly. “I am confident in us Danielle.”
“Ugh, you two are impossible! Maybe I don’t want to know what the future holds. I like surprises.”
“You hate surprises,” Russ argued.
“I hate your surprises.”
“Actually, it might be a good idea,” Alex said thoughtfully. “If your destinies are really intertwined, it may give us some insight on our current problem.”
It was three against one and there’s no way Russ would drop this subject until I gave in. “Fine.”
When Gabriel held out his hand to me and smiled with encouragement, I realized I had a problem. “Um, I actually don’t have any idea how to do this. Both times it happened were accidents.”
“Just relax and look into my eyes with the intent to see into my soul.”
“Really?” Russ asked, laughing. “Did you really just deliver that line with a straight face? Dani if you ever really fall for this cheese ball, I’ll disown you.”
“Shut up Russ. Trying to concentrate here.”
Even though I’d held Gabriel’s hand a million times before, I was shy to take it now. I wasn’t sure I was ready for what I could see, and the look on his face was so eager. His deep, dark eyes were shining. They were beautiful as ever and then suddenly I was staring into them from a different angle.
It was the middle of the night—so late that the moon was already starting to dip low in the sky—and we were in a parking lot somewhere that looked all but deserted. I could hear the roar of a freeway somewhere in the distance, but that was all the sound there was at the moment because in front of me something was transpiring between Gabriel, Russ and me that was so tense none of us seemed to be able to breathe.
“Russ,” my other vision-self whispered. I could feel her panic and confusion and wished I knew what was going on. “I…”
And then Russ kissed me. When his lips came down on mine it was just like when Gabriel kissed me in the very first vision I’d ever had. I could feel all of the emotion wrapped up in that moment. Only this time there were three different sets of emotions hitting me.
Russ felt desperate, like the first time he kissed me. My other self’s initial instinct was to pull away from him but for some reason she told herself to be objective. When she finally kissed him back I expected the encouragement to excite Russ into some sort of frenzy, but instead it calmed him. His haste melted away into something tender, so much more tender than I thought him capable of.
His love was overwhelming. He trembled and became almost shy as he brought his hands to my face and tangled his fingers in my wild curls. This kiss was more sincere than anything I’d ever experienced in my entire life and it wasn’t even technically happening to me.
The love was too much for my future self’s torn heart to handle. I’d never felt more confusion and heartache in my life. She loved him—I loved him—but there was something else. A pain that was so out of place in the midst of such an epic kiss. Her heart was soaring and breaking all at the same time. It was so strong it overwhelmed me as I watched them and I had to tear my eyes away from them.
Unfortunately, when I looked away my eyes found Gabriel’s and the agony I saw there made me gasp. He looked as if his entire world was falling apart, and he felt much worse. If my heart was breaking in that moment, then his entire soul was shattering. He stood there unable to look away from the kiss, a piece of him dying, until my other self finally broke apart from Russ with a sob and buried her face in his chest to cry.
“You see?” I heard Russ whisper. I didn’t see him though because I couldn’t look away from Gabriel’s pain-stricken face. “The Councilor couldn’t break you completely. I’m not giving up on you. I’ll wait as long as it takes. You’ll reme
mber how much you love me Dani. You will.”
Gabriel waited until the vision me got her tears under control to interrupt. “I am going back to the consulate.”
Before anyone could argue, Gabriel shook his head and managed a small smile. “It is what is best. You go with Russ and find the resistance. I will return to the council and explain everything that has happened. That way we will have double the chance at stopping the tragic vision in time.”
“Gabriel, don’t,” the vision of me pleaded. I felt that the vision Danielle’s heart broke even more than it had during the kiss from Russ.
“The consulate is my home, Danielle. The council is my family. It is where I belong.”
“But—but—what about—”
“The prophecy says only the truest love will help you. Russ is right. That cannot be both of us. All my presence is doing is confusing you. You need this in order to fulfill your destiny.”
I was so shocked I couldn’t even fully comprehend what was really going on. “No. Gabriel no. This…. It can’t be right.”
Gabriel smiled at the vision me more sweetly than I’d ever seen him do. He reached up and put his fingertips to her cheek in such an intimate gesture that I became jealous of my other self. I wanted to knock her out of the way and let him touch me like that.
“Do not worry yourself Danielle,” he whispered.
“But what about the prophecy?”
“You will fulfill it. I have never doubted you, and I do not doubt you now.”
“Gabriel, I—” the other me whispered. She was too emotional to continue.
“It is all right, Danielle.”
“No!” she insisted. “It isn’t. I don’t want you to leave.”
Gabriel smiled but he looked as sad as I felt. “Forgive me, but I cannot stay any longer. I—” Redness crept into his cheeks and his voice faltered. “I cannot bear it.”
The vision me started to cry and I felt my own eyes well up.
Gabriel leaned down and gave the other me a kiss so tender it hurt my heart to watch it.
“Goodbye, Danielle, my love,” he whispered as he pushed my hair off my face one last time. “Parting is such sweet sorrow.”
