by Ovidia Pike
“No,” Harley said. “Now get out of here. I should let the crows peck your eyes out, Gabriel. Those are my people you’re killing.”
“The birds are yours,” I said. “All of them.”
“Yes,” she said with a grin. “Just another few hundred soldiers to add to my army. You stand no chance.”
“We’re stronger than your birds,” I told her.
“But not my zombies, not my lions, not the wolves I have waiting for me in the village.”
I swallowed hard, not knowing what else to say.
“I’ll see the two of you soon,” she said. “I have a lot to do to prepare. I suggest you start to do the same—I don’t want to come in and slaughter innocent people. People who are loyal to the Alaricks are different—and when they die I want them to die on their feet. Prepare them for war.”
“I will,” I said to her as she burst into crows.
“Show off,” I called as they flapped away, leaving me and Sophie behind. I felt her eyes on me and I turned to her, trying to read her expression.
“I had to kill him,” I said.
“No, you didn’t,” she said in a sad, tired voice. “You had them plenty scared. He was a bird flying toward you. What could he have done?”
I didn’t respond to her but took a deep breath.
“You think I’m a monster,” I said to her after a moment.
“Yes,” she said, and the word made me feel like my heart had broken in two. It hit me like a freight train and I had to take a step back, staring at her face.
“You should see yourself right now. You look terrifying. You look like you could kill me.”
“I would never hurt you,” I said to her, every word filled with agony. “You don’t have to be afraid of me.”
“But I am afraid of you, Gabriel,” she said. “I am. I’m afraid you’re going to hurt or kill one of my friends. And I don’t know that one day you won’t snap and hurt me. I don’t know that you’re not capable of that.”
“You’re my natural mate,” I said, pleading with her, needing her to believe me.
“It doesn’t matter. We’re not meant to be together. If you love me, you’d understand that. You’d know I deserve someone kind and good.”
“Sophie—”
“It’s okay. I’m not...angry. I’m not angry at you. We’re not fighting. But we’re not falling in love, we have no future together. I want to marry someone who is a good person, not a monster. Okay?”
I didn’t speak—couldn’t speak. The pain within my chest was too much as I turned to go, hurrying ahead of her. She didn’t jog to keep up with me but stayed a few feet back so that we didn’t have to talk. When we got to the village I paused for a moment, letting her catch up with me.
“Are you still going to live in my hut?” I asked.
“Yes. I have to,” she said. “You know that. I have no choice.”
“I know.”
“But listen, the whole ‘you’re going to marry me’ thing? It’s done. I don’t want you to continue thinking that we’re ever going to be together. It’s just going to hurt for you if you’ve been telling the truth about your feelings.”
“Of course I have,” I said.
“I believe you,” she said in a sad voice as we went inside.
Chapter 6: Sophie
I woke up in the morning to the smell of food, which made my stomach growl as I climbed out of bed. I went into the bathroom to quickly brush my teeth and wash my face before leaving the bedroom, turning the corner to see Gabriel in the kitchen. He turned around to look at me and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw he was wearing an apron with pale pink flowers on it, his sleeves rolled up to the elbows, arms covered in flour.
“You don’t have to cook for me every morning,” I said. “I can eat cereal or something.”
“Honestly, I love to cook,” he said, gesturing at the table. “Sit down.”
“You love to cook?” I asked in surprise, sitting down at the table as he put a cup of coffee in front of me.
“I do,” he said. “I don’t get to do it very often. I cooked for the girls once and they loved it.”
“What did you make them?” I asked.
“I made them chicken nuggets in the shape of hearts,” he said. I giggled.
“Was that a request?”
“Yes,” he said. “And it was a hell of a lot of work, but they were happy.”
“I bet,” I said, looking into his sparkling eyes. I got lost in them for a moment when I saw the smile on his face, his dark eyes crinkled at the corners. I pulled my eyes from his face and looked down at his arms, nodding.
“What’s with the flour?” I asked.
“I made bread,” he said. “I think it’s probably done.”
“You’re so domestic,” I said, and he laughed, leaving to go to the oven. He pulled out the bread as I looked over the table, picking up a strawberry and eating it while I waited. He brought it back with a tub of butter and set in in front of me, then sat across from me at the table. I looked at him again, noticing for the first time that his eyes were surrounded by dark circles, his features heavy.
“Did you sleep last night?” I asked him.
“No,” he said, running his hand through his hair. “I can’t stop thinking about her.”
“I know,” I said. “We’ll find her. Do you have any ideas?”
“I want to go to the elders. They may be able to locate her,” he said. “I hope so.”
“Okay,” I said. “We can do that.”
“Actually, I was hoping—”
“You were hoping I wouldn’t go with you, blah blah, how many times have we been over this?”
He chuckled.
“You’re right. Why bother?”
“Good, I’m glad we’re on the same page,” I said as I stood up. He shook his head, putting his hand out to stop me.
“Eat more,” he demanded. “Sit down.”
“Don’t you want to go? I’m fine,” I said.
“No, sit,” he said forcefully. “You haven’t eaten enough.”
“Okay, mom,” I said, sitting back down again, glad for the moment to rest.
“I have to feed you. You’re just a skinny little human woman.”
“I’m not that skinny, Gabriel,” I amended. He bit his lip, glancing me over as I ate.
“You do have those hips,” he admitted. “And those thighs...”
“Hush,” I said with a smile I couldn’t suppress, tossing a piece of bread at him over the table. He picked it up and ate it, and a few moments later I had finished and we were on the way. Gabriel looked nervous as we walked, but I resisted the urge to take his hand or comfort him. It annoyed me that I wanted to, but it was something I couldn’t help no matter how hard I tried.
“Where exactly are we going?”
“The elders live in a hut on the main road. They don’t usually take visitors in the mornings, but they will see me.”
“Will they let me in?”
“If I tell them to, they will. I shouldn’t.”
“But you will,” I said, nudging him with my elbow.
“I will,” he said. “You’re hard to say no to.”
“You do it all the time,” I pointed out.
“I know, but it’s hard. I look at you and want to give you everything you want.”
“I’ll remember that next time I want something,” I told him with a smirk. He shook his head as we approached a large hut, knocking on the door. An old woman answered, so wrinkled that her features drooped, sagging heavily. When she saw Gabriel, no hint of fear flickered through her eyes, not in the way that the rest of the village looked at him.
“Do you need something?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “We need to find someone. You can do that?”
“We can try,” she said, gesturing for us to come in. We went inside and I looked around at what was the biggest hut I’d been in so far, bigger even than the community center at the corner of Main street.
She led us down a hall and into a back room, lit up by candles and with two other elders sitting down on cushions in a circle.
“Gabriel Alarick,” one of them said.
“Minda,” he said with a nod. “Hello, Alice, El.”
“What are you doing here?” the woman named Alice asked, and there was a definite stoniness to her voice. I almost flinched, expecting Gabriel to snap at her or worse. Instead, he kept his voice polite.
“We need help locating one of the little witch girls who has been living here.”
“What happened to her?” El asked with a frown.
“She was taken by the birds under Harley’s orders.”
The woman gave a solemn nod.
“Sit,” she commanded. Gabriel and I lowered ourselves to the floor and the four elders looked us over, glancing between our faces. They all seemed to frown at the same time.
“What is it?” I asked them curiously.
“Gabriel is not to take a mate,” Alice said.
“She’s not my mate,” Gabriel told her. “Nor will she be. We don’t intend to bond.”
“You better stick to that,” she warned.
“Why, what—what would happen?” I asked.
“It’s nothing,” Gabriel said in a gruff voice.
“Tell me,” I said to the elders.
“Gabriel Alarick’s bloodline ends with him. He will bear no children, and if he takes a mate, she will die.”
I swallowed hard.
“Why?”
“It’s been foretold. There is only violence for you in the future should you choose to mate with him.”
I looked over at Gabriel, whose whole body was tense, lips pressed into a thin line.
“Did you know this?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he said through gritted teeth.
“But you were willing to mate with me anyway...”
“I wasn’t thinking about the prophecy. Harley says she can change it—Sophie’s not going to die, even if we mated.”
“Harley has not altered your fate. Either one of you,” El said. “I am sorry.”
“Like I said, we’re not bonding,” Gabriel said. “She’ll be fine. Can we get to what we came here for?”
“The girl,” Alice said. “One of the twins.”
“Yes. Chelsey,” I said.
“She was taken to the city by a shifter named Gerend,” Alice said.
“A bird?”
“He is a multi-shifter.”
“Bullshit,” Gabriel said.
“That means he can turn into anything,” I said in excitement.
“That makes him more dangerous, Sophie.”
“I know, but it’s cool.”
“Not so cool,” El said. “He is holding on to your witch girl and forcing her to use and practice her powers.”
Gabriel let out a low growl, fists in a ball on his lap.
“Where is she in the city?”
“We...don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” he asked in frustration.
“Our ability to locate her is not precise.”
“How are we supposed to find her?” I asked them. None of them answered, and Gabriel climbed to his feet.
“We’re going to the city,” he said. “Now.”
“Okay,” I told him, standing up as well. “Thank you, ladies.”
They didn’t respond. Gabriel led me out of the hut to the street, his expression livid.
“If he’s hurting her—”
“She’s still alive. We know that,” I said. “We need to make a plan.”
“We have a plan. We’re going to the city. I know someone there who keeps track of the shifters, who comes and who goes. She’d definitely know if a multi-shifter had been through.”
“Who is she?”
He didn’t answer but hurried to his hut ahead of me. I wanted to ask him so many questions about the prophecy, but he was moving too fast, obviously on edge.
“You live in the city, right?” he asked when I caught up with him, leaving the village and entering the woods.
“Yes,” I replied as we walked toward the access road where the jeep was parked. “Why?”
“We’ll need a place to stay.”
“Oh, yeah. We can stay there. It’s just a studio, though.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re sleeping on the couch.”
“I can live with that,” he said, climbing into the jeep as soon as we got there. I started it and we drove down the access road in silence, Gabriel staring out the window.
“Are we going to talk about this prophecy?” I asked when I couldn’t take it anymore.
“What else do you need to know, Sophie?”
“I...don’t know. But we need to talk about it. Is that why you sent me away?”
“Yes,” he said, finally looking over at me. “That’s the only reason I sent you away. I didn’t want to.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?”
He paused, not answering for a long moment.
“Gabriel?”
“I don’t really know,” he said. “I guess I just wanted to hold on to you. I didn’t want it to be over before it started.”
“If I’d have known—”
“You would never have let me kiss you, or touch you, or fall in love with you.”
“It would have saved us both a lot of trouble.”
“It was worth it. The trouble was worth it.”
I glanced over at him.
“Why do you say that?”
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’re the love of my life. I got to kiss you. It would have been worth it for just one kiss.”
“Do you mean that?”
“Yes,” he said. “I do.”
“I’m not the love of your life.”
“You know better. You’re my natural mate whether we bond or not.”
“We can’t bond. There’s no way we could be together even if—even if I was interested. And I’m not.”
“I know,” he said. “I know that.”
“I wish you would have told me.”
“I know,” he repeated. “It would have saved you.”
I didn’t say anything. It was quiet as we entered the city, pulling onto the highway to head to Sheila’s across town.
“So who is this woman we’re going to see?”
“She’s uh—an old friend.”
“You mean girlfriend,” I said.
“Yes,” he said. “She was the granddaughter of one of the elders, came to the village to take care of Monica before she died. She was here for a few months.”
“Did you love her?”
“No,” he said. “No, I didn’t.”
“Is this going to be weird for you?” I asked as he squirmed next to me, obviously uncomfortable.
“It...might. She’s very...”
His voice trailed off.
“What?” I prompted him, nudging him with my elbow. “Tell me.”
“She thinks I’m very handsome.”
I laughed. “You mean she’ll flirt with you?”
“Probably,” he said. I snorted in reply and he looked at my face again, lifting an eyebrow.
“Is that a problem for you?”
“No,” I said quickly. “No, I don’t care. Flirt with her back for all I care. Maybe you can spend the night at her place instead of mine.”
“Maybe,” he said with a smirk.
“Shut up,” I muttered as we pulled up to the address he had given me.
Chapter 7: Gabriel
“Is she gonna hate me?” Sophie asked when we got in the elevator.
“I don’t know,” I told her honestly. “Maybe. Just try to get along. We need her.”
“I’ll play nice,” she promised.
“Good,” I said, though I knew better. I dreaded seeing Sheila but knew we didn’t have any other choice, and I was willing to do anything to get Chelsey back. I paused before knocking on the door
of Sheila’s office, exchanging a glance at Sophie as the door opened. Sheila’s deep green eyes widened when she saw me, and immediately she threw herself against me, pressing her mouth quickly to mine, her hands cupping my cheeks. It caught me off-guard and I took a step back in surprise, glancing at Sophie, who was looking decidedly ahead.
“Gabriel Alarick,” Sheila said breathlessly as I gently pulled her hands away from my face. “I thought I’d never see you again. What are you doing in the city?”
“I’m here to find someone,” I said. “With my friend. This is Sophie.”
Sheila turned her eyes to Sophie and let out a surprised laugh.
“I didn’t even see you there, honey. This is your friend, Gabriel?”
“We work together,” Sophie said in a stiff voice.
“Sophie is currently the ranger assigned to the village.”
“I see,” Sheila said, looking at me again with a leer. “Well, come in.”
She turned around and went to her desk, but instead of sitting in the chair, she sat on the edge and dangled her legs back and forth. For a shifter, she was tiny, a playful fairy who stared at me with big eyes and a wicked grin, pretending Sophie wasn’t there at all. Sophie cleared her throat.
“We’re looking for a shifter named Gerend.”
“A multi-shifter,” I added.
“I know him,” Sheila said simply. “I know where he lives. He’s been around with his sister.”
“She’s not his sister,” I said through gritted teeth. “She’s my—”
“A girl from the village,” Sophie said. “He kidnapped her.”
“I’m sorry?” Sheila asked. “He kidnapped her?”
“Yes,” I said. “We need to know where he is.”
“I usually charge for that information,” she said in a silky voice.
“How much?” Sophie asked, picking up her purse. “I’ll write you a check.”
“I don’t want money,” Sheila said, her eyes still focused on me. “I just want to catch up.”
“Catch up?” I asked.
“Yes. Grab a drink with me. I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
“Just tell us,” Sophie snapped, and when I glanced over I noticed that her cheeks were red, a cold look on her face. Sheila still didn’t look at Sophie, who I could sense was growing more tense beside me.
