Chameleon (Supernaturals)

by Kelly Oram

  I hit the button on the elevator again like that might make it move faster, then I ran down the long hall to the stairs up to my apartment. “Ugh, would you hurry old man!” I hollered back at him down the stairs.

  “That is hardly necessary.”

  Once the Councilor stepped into the apartment and shut the door behind him he lost his composure. “All right child! Now tell me, where is Gabriel?”

  “I don’t know! That’s what I need your help with. Where’s Robert?”

  “We got a lead on the location of the resistance. Duncan is busy looking for you so I sent Robert to check on its accuracy. What do you mean you don’t know where Gabriel is? Danielle, if anything has happened to him—”

  “Yeah, yeah, you’ll bring the wrath of the council down on me. I know. And you can torture me all you want and tell me ‘I told you so’ until you’re blue in the face just as soon as we save him.”

  “What happened?”

  “The resistance is going to sacrifice him in order to raise The Angel of Death.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “They attacked us at the Devereaux’s house in New Jersey last night. This chick Simone, some old witch girlfriend of Alex’s, found us and—”

  “Simone Laroche?” the Councilor interrupted, confused. “Cosmetics chick? She’s dead.”

  “Yeah, that’s the one. Only she’s very much alive and really pissed off now because I totally ruined her kidnapping attempt. She and a bunch of grumpy vampires tried to steal Gabriel and me last night for the resistance. Then she tried to convince Alex to join them. You were right about Alex being a liar, but he’s not the leader of the resistance. He told her to take a hike.”

  “Don’t be so naïve, Danielle. He most likely set the whole thing up in order to regain your trust.”

  “No way. They attacked us.”

  “Brilliant. Then you and Gabriel would have been too scared to risk leaving him.”

  “Except that one of the vampires impaled Russ through the chest with a wooden stake.”

  The councilor’s face paled. “Alexander’s boy was killed in the battle?”

  “He would have been if I weren’t there. Alex said not even he could have healed Russ.”

  “Alexander would never have risked the safety of his boy,” he muttered, then turned to me shocked. “No, I believe you must be right Danielle.”

  “He’s not with the resistance. I promise. You should have seen him last night. He was pissed. He almost killed Simone.”

  The Councilor had to sit down.

  “It has to be Robert,” I said.

  “It can’t be Robert.”

  “He must have learned the location of the village somehow,” I said. “The resistance knew about me. They knew I changed forms by skin-to-skin contact. They waited until I was a Seer to attack us and they were covered head to toe so that I couldn’t take on their forms when they grabbed me. Only the council knew about how my powers work.”

  There was a moment of dreadful silence.

  “It has to be Robert,” I said again. “And now he’s got Gabriel and he’s going to sacrifice him instead of me. I had a vision of it. We have to stop him!”

  The Councilor sat speechless for a minute and then jumped to his feet and whirled on me, completely furious. “This is all your fault you stupid, stubborn girl! You talked him into leaving and you got him kidnapped!”

  It was true. It was all my fault that Gabriel was gone. I talked him into leaving the consulate. I got him kidnapped.

  The severity of the situation hit me doubly hard suddenly. “You’re right, this is my fault.” Tears sprang up in my eyes and my voice quivered as I swallowed my pride and begged the Councilor. Filled with desperation I begged, “But forget that you hate me for now and help me find him. Please?”

  The Councilor appraised my tears and his anger faded. “What do you suggest I do, Danielle? Even if we can track down Robert, he will never admit any of this. I know him. He will not give up Gabriel’s location even if tortured.”

  “That’s okay,” I said. “I think you might know it already.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “In my vision, it looked like it was part of the consulate or something. It was the same creepy décor.”

  “Tell me everything you saw.”

  “I’m going to try and do one better,” I said. “We can’t afford to be wrong.”

  I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I held out my hand, determined, and held as tight to the feel of Gabriel’s warm energy as I could. “Very slowly,” I said, “Touch my hand. Just one finger.”

  “Danielle.”

  “Just do it!”

  I heard the Councilor sigh and then I felt the prickle of magic against my palm. It was stronger than Russ’s, but surprisingly not by much and I was able to fight the urge for the warlock in me to surface.

  “Seer,” I told myself. “I need to stay a Seer.”

  I took another deep breath and then clamped my hand around the Councilor’s. “Seer,” I commanded myself again as the conflict raged beneath my skin.

  I knew I wouldn’t have long so I didn’t take the time to explain. I simply thought of my vision again and in a moment it was playing before me.

  I heard the Councilor gasp, and I knew he could see what I was seeing.

  “Do you know this place?” I asked.

  “How are you doing this?” he replied in wonder.

  “I can’t hold it long! Do you know this room?”

  “I—” The Councilor stopped and then gasped again. “I do know this place!”

  “Good.”

  I let go of the Councilor and collapsed to the couch exhausted.

  “Danielle?”

  “I’m fine. It just takes a lot out of me to keep from shifting. I’ll be okay in a couple minutes. Where is that place?”

  “It is a secret chamber beneath Princeton University. It was originally built to be the consulate when the council was first established here in America. That was before I joined the council but when I was a student at Princeton we used that room as a sort of supernatural fraternity meetinghouse. It is secret, and heavily warded.”

  “How far is it from here?”

  “Fifty miles.”

  “Fifty miles,” I repeated. “We probably still have time.”

  “How can you be sure? There is no way to tell the time of day from what we saw.”

  “Today is October thirty-first. Gabriel said Samhain is supposed to be the most magically potent day of the year, right? I assume all the hocus pocus stuff happens after dark.”

  “Of course! He’ll wait until the veil is thinnest to raise Addonexus.”

  “When is that?”

  “Midnight.”

  “Well,” I said, getting to my feet. “There’s no need to cut it close.”

  “For once, child, you and I agree on something.”

  . . . . .

  The Councilor and I sat in awkward silence as we drove to New Jersey. It felt like a small miracle when Gina’s cell phone rang to life—even if it did scare the pants off me.

  “Hello?”

  “Dani?”

  “Duncan!”

  “Danielle, do not speak of what we’re doing,” the Councilor whispered next to me.

  I glared at the Councilor and said into the phone, “It’s Robert! He’s going to sacrifice Gabriel in order to raise the Angel of Death. I’m with the Councilor right now. We’re going to some secret supernatural fraternity clubhouse at Princeton University.”

  “I know it. It used to house the council when they first established themselves in the States.”

  “Good. Meet us there. I have a feeling we’re going to need your help.”

  Duncan hung up without saying a word, but I knew he wouldn’t let me down. “Thank you, Gina,” I whispered to myself as I put the phone back in my backpack.

  “You should not have involved them, Danielle. Not only will it endanger them, but we need to keep this mat
ter as contained as possible.”

  “No offense Councilor, but I trust both Duncan and Gina way more than I trust you. I’m only here because Gabriel said I needed your help.”

  “Well, at least Gabriel was able to talk that much sense into you child. Pray that we find him in time and one day you might just be of some use to the council.”

  That pissed me off. “When you left me in the white room for so long were you actually trying to help me, or were you just mad because I refused to do what you wanted?”

  “I do not act out of spite, Danielle. It was the only way to correct the damage Alexander had done to you.”

  The Councilor’s annoyance irritated me, but I lost my energy to be really angry anymore. “Do you really think that mine and Russ’s relationship was unhealthy?”

  “I believe your relationship with Alexander’s son was contrived. Whether or not the two of you were good for one another, I do not know.”

  The Councilor sighed. He apparently didn’t have the energy to keep being mad at me right now either. “Because of our ability to share energy, supernatural beings form strong bonds with one another. We become connected both physically and emotionally to those around us. As a result of this, our relationships—be they romantic or kinship or friendship—are much stronger than those of humans. Most supernaturals form many of these bonds with the people who are in their lives. When you came to the consulate you had only ever bonded with two beings—Alexander and his son. Your bonds with them were so strong that you were rejecting all other supernatural energy. Had I not broken those bonds you would never, in your entire life, have been able to form new bonds with anyone else.”

  “And the only reason you could break the bonds was because I’m going through the cravings right now?”

  “Yes. Supernatural bonds are permanent. That is why most supernaturals mate for life. Divorce is a human practice. In order to actually break a bond, one must be starved of their supernatural energy. That is near impossible to do without dying. It was very fortunate that you were in the very beginning of the cravings. I believe it would not have worked otherwise.”

  “So...you broke my bond with Russ, but he still has that bond with me?”

  The Councilor’s face fell when he realized why I was asking about all this. He looked genuinely sorry. “Yes. Russell will carry his connection with you for the rest of his life.”

  I couldn’t forget the look on Russ’s face as he drove out of my life last night. That he would feel this heartbreak forever brought tears to my eyes.

  “Why would you do that to him?” I asked. “We weren’t hurting anyone by loving each other. If you knew breaking my bond would leave him alone for the rest of his life, how could you do it? There’s no way to break his connection to me. I broke his heart. He’s going to hurt forever.”

  “I am sorry for that, Danielle. Truly. But I had no choice. You would never have accepted Gabriel otherwise and he is the one spoken of in the prophecy.”

  I started to cry and the Councilor studied me for a moment before saying, “You know that now, don’t you?”

  I nodded but I felt numb.

  “I am sorry Danielle. I know what you think of me, but I am not a heartless creature. I did not enjoy taking you away from your home and your family. I hated myself for the torture I put you through, but as the Supreme High Councilor I am forced to make difficult decisions. Those decisions must be made for the whole of the supernatural world. Your sacrifice was necessary. The one consolation I felt in all of this was that I was giving you a gift in your mate. Most people, even those free to choose whom they will, are not so lucky as you.”

  “If you love him so much then how could you do to him exactly what Alex did to Russ and me? You think the bond Gabriel and I share isn’t contrived? You think my feelings for him are real? He loves me. Really, truly, loves me. More than anything. Doesn’t he deserve that same love back?”

  “You love him too, Danielle. Do you not?”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Then why does it matter how that love was formed?”

  “Because it’s not real! It was forced! I was manipulated into falling for him. That’s not love.”

  “How do you know your feelings for him are manipulated solely from your shared energy? Is it not possible that you bonded with him so easily because you genuinely care for him? What of the Creator’s visions? Do you believe the Creator would pair the two of you if you were not meant for each other?”

  “Do you really believe that?” I asked. “Do you honestly believe that Gabriel and I were destined to be together so much that you were willing to take away my freedom over it?”

  The Councilor was finally getting annoyed with me again. He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. “Do you want the truth Danielle?”

  “I deserve the truth.”

  “It was convenient that you were the Chosen One, but that is not why I did what I did. Had you not been vital to the salvation of our people, I still would have broken your bond with the Devereaux boy.”

  “I thought you said you don’t do things out of spite.”

  “Ruining any plans Alexander had for you was a stroke of luck. I broke you for Gabriel and Gabriel alone because, for some incomprehensible reason, he wanted you. He wanted you, and I wanted him to be happy.”

  “What?” I gasped. That was probably the last thing I’d ever expected him to say.

  “Gabriel has had countless visions involving females close to his own age, but when he had that vision of you it was different. He could think of nothing else, speak of nothing but you. He could not eat or sleep until he knew you were safe.

  “He was so afraid he’d been wrong about his vision—that you were only a dream he’d had while sleeping and that you didn’t actually exist. He was terrified that we would never find you. When I told him Robert had retrieved you safely and was bringing you to the consulate Gabriel became a different boy. He was giddy, excited and more animated than I’d ever seen him. He was so anxious for your arrival that he simply could not hold still.”

  I smiled at the thought of Gabriel driving the Councilor bonkers over his first real crush. I’d seen Gabriel giddy once, the day he took me on our picnic. It was the most adorable thing I’d ever seen.

  “He didn’t seem that way when I met him that first night.”

  “I imagine he was terrified of you, Danielle, and a bit shocked. You were such a wretched little thing that night. Angry, irreverent, insubordinate. Hitting and cursing, yelling and screaming.”

  “I’d just been kidnapped by a bunch of mythical freaks,” I grumbled in my own defense.

  “I thought for sure Gabriel would have changed his mind after meeting you, but he was only worried that you hated him. He said you were scared, and sad, and full of anger and hate for the council. He believed it to be his fault and feared you would never forgive him. He was so upset over it that he couldn’t concentrate on any discussion I tried to have with him that night.

  “I could see it in his eyes how much he wanted you, and he was so hopeful because you’d had a vision concerning the two of you. Personally, I loathed the very sight of you, but Gabriel is so pure and innocent and selfless, how could I deny him anything he wanted?”

  I think the Councilor and I sat in contemplative silence for a full five minutes after that. I had to break it. “For what it’s worth? I loathe you more.”

  The Councilor surprised me with a laugh. “Oh, I very much doubt that, child.”

  I glanced at the clock again and the Councilor gripped the steering wheel harder. “We will get there in time, Danielle.”

  “I know,” I whispered. I just wished I believed it.

  Princeton’s campus was so beautiful it made me homesick. Not that anything in Carmine, Pennsylvania had rows of manicured trees lining old stone paths and buildings that looked like they’d been painted there, but my history geek parents would have loved Princeton. I wished I were here with them taking a college tou
r and not with the man I hate most in the world rushing to save my husband from the Angel of Death.

  The Councilor heard my sigh and guessed my thoughts. Or, close enough anyway. “Your life is not over, Danielle. One day after the resistance is stopped and we are at peace, you and Gabriel may yet be able to attend a university such as this.”

  “Right. Because Princeton accepts supernatural high school dropouts.”

  “We will see to it that you finish your education.”

  “Meaning that once again you are taking claim over my life.”

  The Councilor looked like he thought he had the worst end of that arrangement. “Unfortunately you are needed,” he admitted. Grudgingly. “You have responsibilities.”

  I gave up. My staying at the consulate was inevitable and I knew it. “And it’s Gabriel’s home,” I relented. “He wouldn’t be happy anywhere else.”

  The Councilor glanced sideways at me. “You have finally accepted your fate then?”

  “I’ve accepted Gabriel,” I clarified. “I will listen to him and respect his wishes, but you’re still a bastard. Good luck trying to get me to do anything you want without him.”

  Mentioning the possibility of losing Gabriel killed the conversation and we picked up our pace, walking as fast as we could without drawing attention to ourselves.

  “Figures,” I muttered when the Councilor led me to a huge building that looked like a medieval castle. “Haven’t you supernaturals ever heard of cliché?”

  “Pyne Hall,” the Councilor said proudly. “My dormitory once upon a time.”

  “Looks like it’s haunted.”

  “Most likely. I couldn’t tell you for sure though. Never had a necromancer around to tell me.”

  We entered the building and the Councilor led me down a long hallway, stopping in front of a giant tapestry. He looked around to make sure we were alone, and then waved his hands the way he’d done to uncover his secret elevator at the consulate. This time the tapestry melted away to reveal a large wooden door.

  I groaned when it opened up to a dark set of steep spiral stairs. “Of course.”

  “Careful now, Danielle. We do not know what we are walking into.”