by Kade Cook
Gabrian stops breathing. A ring of frost ignites around the edges of her irises as the air hitches in her lungs. Her eyes jump directly to Orroryn and he becomes aware that she knows the significance of it all. A swirl of forest green replaces the calmness of his normal sea-green eyes and it grips her ice blue stare in an embrace—forcing a silent message of understanding as he shifts his head from side to side, not faltering in the intent look.
Ethan’s skin tingles from the sudden thickening of tension in the air and flashes of Gabrian’s long hidden story is released to him in a moment of lapse in her mental shield. His pulse quickens and his mind releases an urgent plea to her.
This is not the time or the place for you to let them in on your secrets, Gabrian, trust me on this one. They will rip you apart.
Gabrian’s eyes slip from her silent conversation with Orroryn, and she lowers her chin just a fraction in a nod to signify she understands both of them.
Keep up your charade just a little longer. Give them only the basics but nothing more until I have a chance to sort this all out with Vaeda and Orroryn, Ethan coaches from his stone chair. Can you do that?
Yes, I think so. She swallows what little moisture she can find in her mouth to wet her throat and enable her to continue speaking, choking down the fear that wants to rush out from every nerve ending she has, and shakes her head in a mock gesture of disbelief or confusion—she does not care which one they comprehend as long as they do not question her on it. Her will is good but after all the internal revelations she was not expecting, Gabrian is not so sure on the strength of her heart.
Vaeda sees the pain of it all struggling to stay buried beneath Gabrian’s tough exterior and takes this moment to steer the inquiry in an altered course.
“Gabrian was a mere infant when all that occurred and there is no way she would have been involved with Cera’s conflict with Adrinn,” she confirms, waving her hand to dismiss and disarm the subject. She places it gently back into her lap, folding her fingers neatly together and inhales a slow ragged breath. “Now tell us, dear, since moving to Manhattan with your parents, did you remain friends with him all this time?”
Dragging her mind away from the scandalous discovery of who Ayden was—is—she cannot help but mouth his name across her lips. It does not sound right to her. How could any of this sound right? She huffs out a sudden hurtful breath in an effort to find words to answer Vaeda’s question, feeling the weight of the unsuspecting eyes of the Elders resting on her.
“Umm...no,” she manages to get out. “He stopped coming to me when my parents moved us away to the city. I hadn’t seen him in years and forgot about him, actually.”
“So, you saw him again when you came back here to visit your parents?” Vaeda encourages, letting Gabrian catch her breath.
“No, not at first—he only appeared to me after my mother and father had...” She swallows hard again to find the strength to force out the words. “...had died. I was in a bad place, desperate to find some solace in my life.”
From the back of the room, Shane’s heart tears a jagged rip through his chest under the guilt of knowing he played a big part in Gabrian’s pain during that time. His arrogant and selfish actions pushed her away in her time of need and he can hardly bear it, blaming himself for her turning to Adrinn for comfort.
“He befriended me and helped me see hope at a time when the world seemed to be at its darkest for me.”
“And so the idea of sacrificing human life to empower a blood thirsty Vampire is an acceptable way for you to deal?” Caspyous spits at her through his steepled hands—the threat of a murderous storm raging within his royal blue glare.
“No... no, I didn’t see...it wasn’t like that,” Gabrian yells out, getting to her feet to defend herself. “It’s not how it happened.” Her eyes rush to Shane who shifts on his feet but stands helpless on the other side, unable to protect her, to comfort her in her distress. He is the only soul in this Realm that knows of her and Adrinn’s indiscretions before the monster decided to turn on her.
“Well, youngling,” Caspyous smirks at her in her show of defiance, “how did it happen then?”
Gabrian’s hands pump with tension as the sparks burn the edges of her fingers, and she slowly lowers back into the stone chair. She still is not one hundred percent sure of what happened. That night is not real as she lived it. She knows Ethan, Orroryn, and Shane told her that Adrinn tried to destroy her in order to get her power but she cannot see it—any of it. She only has the memory of her friend pleading for her help, to save him from the wrath of the Covenant. They were trying to take him away again, to destroy him, and she could not let that happen.
She just couldn’t.
“I didn’t know...” she starts, running her fingers through her long dark tangles of hair. “It was like a dream where nothing makes any sense—where everything is jumbled together into a mess of thoughts and feelings without any logic to it.” Except the understanding that I could not let my friend die, not on my watch. Not to them.
“I don’t know...I didn’t know...that is a common theme with you, isn’t it? How convenient, for you. Well, is there anything you do know? Because I, for one, am having a hard time believing you innocently befriended this monster and willingly tried to kill people for the greater good in order to save him.” Caspyous’ eyes narrow into mere slits as he stares her down.
Gabrian feels his hatred burn through her, making her uncomfortable in her own skin, and she hopes the wards around the Covenant are as powerful as the Elders claim they are. She tucks her arms around her waist—mentally protecting herself from his invisible hellholes of disdain, just in case they are wrong.
“Do you have any idea how ludicrous this all sounds?”
It’s too quiet. Way too quiet. The silence around the table hurts Gabrian’s ears as the group waits for her reply. As rotten as Caspyous is being to her, she knows he has a valid point.
“Yes, I do,” she merely whispers her answer. “I know.”
“Well, at least you know something. Now that is a huge relief to the Covenant.” He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms in front of him, huffing out a breathy laugh in displeasure of her answer.
Gabrian presses hard against her emotions, willing the tears that are stinging her eyes to stay put. She refuses to give the monster sitting at the table an ounce of pleasure in seeing her falter.
Hang in there, kid...it’s almost over, Ethan hums his supportive voice through her mind. Gritting her teeth to hold back the dam, Gabrian’s armor cracks in the warmth of his kindness but she still welcomes it with open arms. Metaphorically speaking.
Vaeda clears her throat to deflect the attention onto her, knowing Gabrian is at her breaking point. “Is there anything else you can recall that might be important, anything at all?”
Gabrian lowers her eyes for a split second and shakes her head.
“Ethan assures us that your memories have been tampered with by compulsion. A very manipulative compulsion seems to be implanted deep within, so I have asked Kaleb to see to it that you have enough tincture on hand to help with the confusion and dissuade any kind of future attempts from anyone to compel you. Isn’t that right?”
Everyone’s eyes slip to touch upon Kaleb’s still presence. His sun kissed honey skin hides the shade of rose dancing across his flesh as the sudden shift of attention is weighted on him. “Of course, Lady Zephyr. I will ensure she has something to help protect any unwanted intrusions.”
“Thank you, Elder of Eorden. Your efforts are much appreciated.”
He nods his head in a gracious bow then lifts his eyes to glance over at Gabrian, still wearing her unfaltering defensive stance. He cannot help but grin at her stubbornness and think that it may serve her well in this world and admires the fact that even though she is surrounded by people willing to push her down and make her subservient, she refuses them this.
“That’s it?” Caspyous snaps, sitting upright and glancing over in Cimmerian’s directi
on. He stares in amazement as his normal cohort sits undisturbed with his hands folded in front of him. His usual herring partner seems to have gone quiet on this matter—odd—due to the sensitivity of the discussion. For the last twenty-six years, Cimmerian has openly displayed his dislike for anything Boragen and is always quite vocal about his disdain for them ...that is until today.
Today, Caspyous will receive no help from him.
“What else would you have her do, Caspyous?” Orroryn presses. “She cannot remember her thoughts correctly. He has fooled her just like he has everyone else before her.”
“But I am certain she will, going forward, alert us to any attempts of Adrinn trying to contact her or of any reappearance of him in any form. Isn’t that correct, Gabrian?” Vaeda sways her honourable intention to give Gabrian the benefit of the doubt.
Gabrian pushes her chin to level out, in an effort to convince her mind to continue on its course of hiding her toxic secret. “Yes...of course,” she says in a ragged laboured breath, controlling her secret desire to leap up from her perch and tell them all where to go but that will only get her into a lot of hot water that she does not need. Also, she does not want to disrespect her friends at the High Table. They are trying to help but they also have a responsibility to the Covenant to uphold the law...at least she hopes.
A few more less pressing inquiries from the table are addressed, then Gabrian is given her release from the meeting. Orroryn asks her to go straight home with the plan that they will rendezvous with her as soon as the Covenant has adjourned.
Desperately wanting to steal into the shadows and end her torment, Gabrian complies to go and wait for them. She has a little something to discuss as well and is quite certain they may not like what she has to say.
5
ALL THINGS CONSIDERED
GABRIAN PACES BACK and forth across the living room floor, wearing a path in the wood as she awaits the arrival of her company. Shane silently lurks above in the kitchen, watching her stew. An attempt to calm her down resulted in a glare at him and the hand while she growled a stressed don’t. He had yielded his attempts quickly, raising his palms to her in surrender, all the while fighting a grin beneath his pressed lips.
She is saving it all, everything she has, for one major blast, and he knows that the best way he can support her right now is to finish making the coffee before the explosion comes.
After a half hour of imagining all the ways she could lash out at her Elders, Gabrian stops just in front of the large glass window overlooking the ocean and her eyes glaze over, not really looking at anything in particular. She stands still in silence, listening to the piercing tick of the clock’s hands on the wall, and glances over at it to check the time only to see mockery in its menacing face.
She sucks in a quick breath as the energy in the room thickens around her to announce the arrival of her Elders. Vaeda’s light, airy essence mixed with Ethan’s familiar aged hum of life, are a combination that is hard to miss. Though she cannot truly feel Orroryn’s presence, Gabrian knows he is nearby as the scent of summer blossoms cuts through the room.
She hears the exchange of pleasantries floating back and forth above her in the kitchen, but Gabrian remains where she is in a half-hearted attempt to compose her emotions. Her aura switches and flares violently against her calm façade, giving away the angst harbouring inside. Drawing her eyes closed and releasing a slow determined breath, she gathers her words.
“So, which one of you thought that was a good idea?”
Shane moves past the Elders, stepping down into the space of the living room to hand Gabrian a cup filled with warm liquid. The Elders follow behind him, preparing to address her question.
“Gabrian, we—” Orroryn begins.
“Which one?” she snarls in a flat, ridged tone but remains unturned, focusing her anger toward the sea.
Ethan slips by Orroryn and Vaeda, removing his distance from her. “Until a few moments ago, I was unaware of the connection. It was a shock to me as well but I knew revealing this delicate parcel of explosive information to the Covenant was not a wise idea, not for anyone. That is why I pleaded with you not to let them know—not until you had a chance to speak with Vaeda and Orroryn.”
Gabrian continues to stare blankly at the water through the glass. “So, I will correct my question: which one of you knew?”
Vaeda and Orroryn’s eyes connect like magnets then ease back toward their host.
“I knew,” Orroryn surrenders to her. “I knew who he was. I knew the secret that surrounded his existence and what his return would mean to the Elders. Especially, how it would affect you if you knew.”
Gabrian nods to the window but offers nothing more.
“Orroryn came to me after the nightmare was over and filled me in on what had happened that night.” Vaeda yearns to edge closer to the young daughter of her friend but stands firm, not wanting to encroach on their already delicate situation. “The thought of his return was devastating. It dug up bitter memories I had buried years ago, and I just could not rest that burden on your already weighted shoulders, not right now. You needed to heal, you needed time to recover. We were just trying to protect you.”
“Protect me, seriously?” Creases shadow the corners of her eyes and ridges of anger bunch above the bridge of her nose as she shakes her head in disbelief then turns to glare at them. “Your idea of protecting me is to leave me in the dark about who this man, thing—whatever he is that supposedly tried to kill me—is?” she growls, waving her free hand around in an orchestrated wave of fury. “Then abandon me to wolves like Caspyous and Cimmerian who seem to drool at any and every chance they get to rip me to pieces?”
“Gabrian, we are sorry.” Vaeda slips forward but pulls back again, her eyes dewing at the edges as Gabrian jerks away and returns to stare at the glass—her eyes as glassy as the Elder’s. “We didn’t know how to tell you and then we just...ran out of time.”
“I see that, great job by the way.” Gabrian twists her neck just enough to bare her profile to them, resting her chin against her shoulder, and glances up at Shane who had returned to the kitchen, silently overlooking the confrontation. She lifts her cooling ceramic mug to her lips and concentrates on the distraction that dwells within it. Swallowing a sip, she pulls in a breath and lets out the words riddling in her mind. “You know, I have tried to see the Covenant of Shadows in a different light, to see it from a higher perspective and not judge it by how it was exposed to me. I tried to push past all the bullying and small mindedness. I tried to ignore all the negativity that suffocates those forced to stand before the high table and be judged by all that sit around it. But each and every time I try, I become more and more convinced that Ayden, or Adrinn, or whatever the hell he is called was right about them.”
Vaeda and Orroryn clamor for things to say while Ethan remains ever watchful, agreeing to a fault with what Gabrian is saying as he too—even though he is an Elder and sits amongst the accused—knows all too well the condemning wrath of his peers.
“Different means dangerous. To people like Caspyous, Cimmerian, and whoever else, may feel slighted on that particular day by another’s existence, are quick to pass judgement without truly understanding the repercussions their verdict may cause. In this state of mind, they will not be contested by anyone, regardless of the cost.” Orroryn folds his hands in his lap, hoping his words help but fear they are lost within her anger.
Ethan’s hand brushes against her shoulder and rests there just for a moment before he lets it drop. Seeing the images swirl in a chaotic fury within her mind and knowing the words she would like to scream out at them but is holding back, Ethan is sympathetic and amazed at how well she is managing her composure. He watches her mental replay of the Covenant’s—mostly Caspyous’s—attack on her only moments ago and notes her occasional nervous glances toward Cimmerian with the expectation that he’ll jump onto the Caspyous bandwagon to help contribute to the witch hunt, but it never comes.
&n
bsp; His eyes jump to Gabrian with a sly impish squint to them—a sign of his support to her cause. An underlying understanding between the two is an easy partnership and his subtle glance defuses much of the explosion that claws her skin from beneath its surface and sears through her veins.
Orroryn’s brow rises in a crook as Ethan breaks his silent support for his friend.
“Speaking of Elder Cimmerian and his cost in the matter,” Ethan turns his back to the youngling and slips closer to his peers, scratching the edge of his chin. “It does seem a bit out of character for him to just sit idly by while Caspyous took the helm today in the interrogation—I mean meeting.”
Gabrian’s eyes follow Ethan and stares at the trio open-jawed as they quickly dismiss the complete upheaval of her world...again, and the real reason they were there.
“I am quite certain he has plenty to keep him occupied with the fact that Adrinn escaped from within the Darkness on his watch, in his domain.” Vaeda’s lips curl delicately at the edges as she tries to remain diplomatic and composed but she cannot hide the undeniable hint of humour in her admittance. “He most likely does not want to add to it.”
“I am sure he doesn’t but you have to admit,” Ethan continues, “it is peculiar, all things considered.”
Gabrian stands wide-eyed and dumfounded, watching the Elders, reveling within her internal monologue of how this world works, Hey, sorry we just screwed up your life...again. We apologize, but oh look a butterfly. With a low, loud sigh of acceptance she joins in on the conversation. If they are going to have a serious meeting that involves her life, she can at least take part in it.
“All things considered what?”
The Elders turn at her interjection with furrowed brows—all but Ethan who wears an impish grin.
“Hey, come on now, you threw me under the bus merely moments ago and obviously my life is now stuck in the thick of all this mess.” Gabrian strides up onto the step that leads to the kitchen’s higher level and pivots to face her onlookers, undaunted by their stares. “Now spill!”
