My anger fizzled away into nothingness. “I understand.” I did, and I knew he was right. I’d seen it firsthand that night in the warehouse. They were ruthless and heartless and used whatever warfare was at their disposal.
I chased away my disenchantment, pulled in a breath and then dragged myself back to my feet.
Stalking across the room, I bent down and picked up the battle axe from its resting place. All my frustration and exhaustion was gone. Twisting it in my hand, I walked back over to where Gabriel stood on the mat and nodded once, letting him know without words that I wasn’t leaving this room until I got it right.
I lifted the axe and smiled. “Alright, Handler, let’s do this. Give me everything you got.”
And he did. Over and over again until I finally got it right.
Gabriel was unusually quiet on the drive home. I could tell something was plaguing his mind, and as much as I wanted to be there for him, to rummage through his closet of skeletons, I wasn't entirely sure how to even start the conversation. Gabriel wasn't exactly the most talkative guy, and frankly, he was pretty intimidating even on a good day.
I chewed my bottom lip as I tried to wrangle out some moxie.
“Is everything okay?” I finally asked, spitting out the words before my mouth had a chance to chicken out on me. When he looked over at me with creased eyebrows, I added, “You seem kind of upset.”
“Yes.”
“Yes everything’s okay, or yes you’re upset?”
He didn’t answer, but it was clear that he was bothered by something.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked, angling my body towards him.
“I'm not sure there's any benefit in talking to you.”
“Ouch.” Okay, so I wasn't a clinical psychologist or anything, but I wasn't that clueless.
His pale, jade-green eyes fell on me. “What's the point of talking to you if you're just going to lie to me?”
“Who says I’m going to lie to you?”
He arched his brow at me like an insult. “You've already made that quite clear to me the night of the search.”
“This is about Dominic,” I realized. It wasn't hard to guess since most of my issues with people stemmed from my involvement with Dominic. Not that I was like, involved with Dominic. Obviously.
“I know something is going on, Jemma. I can sense your anxiety. It pains me that you don't trust me enough to come to me.” His eyes remained pinned on the road ahead.
“I trust you, Gabriel. I trust you with my life. I just...” I shook my head, unsure of how I could even begin to explain the mess I was in or why I’d kept it from him for so long.
“Is it about the Amulet?” he asked without meeting my stunned gaze. “Are you in trouble?”
“What makes you say that?”
“I noticed a significant change in you right after your sister gave you the Amulet.” His grip tightened around the steering wheel. “Is Dominic after it? Is he threatening you?”
“No.” I lowered my gaze, staring down at my fingers. “He's actually been protecting me.”
“From what?”
I didn't answer.
“Engel.” The word sounded like corrosive metal when it came out of his mouth.
I couldn't bring myself to deny it or confirm it, deciding instead to see what kind of a reaction he had to it.
He looked over at me with wise, knowing eyes. “I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on,” he said pleadingly, like my safety—my life—genuinely mattered to him.
I wanted so bad to talk to him, to confide in him, to tell him the truth about what's been going on. He deserved to know the truth. He deserved absolute transparency. He deserved so much more than what I'd been giving him. I couldn't risk it before—I couldn't risk Tessa finding out about it while Taylor was still missing. She would have completely bypassed her for the greater good of all, and there was no way I could allow that to happen.
But Taylor was home now, safe and sound.
What harm could it do?
“He knows I have the Amulet.” I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders as the words passed through my lips. It was as though the shackles around my ankles had been broken and all I could do was run like the wind with it. “He's known since the Spring Fling dance.”
“Why didn't you come to me?”
“I was trying to take care of it on my own. I didn’t want to involve anyone and risk getting more people hurt.”
“Do you have any idea of the danger you’re in? How could you pretend everything was okay all this time?” he asked, looking at me as though I'd just taken off my mask. “How could you lie to me all this time?”
“I’m sorry that I lied to you, Gabriel, I am. But I've been pretending everything is okay since the day my father was killed, and today is no exception,” I admitted solemnly. “If I don’t lie to myself—if I don’t find ways to keep living my life in spite of everything, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed in the morning.”
He blinked slowly as though taking it in.
“I pretended it was all okay because I had to believe that it would be.” I didn’t meet his eyes when I continued. “But it’s not okay. Nothing is.”
“Has he come after you?” he asked, trying hard to hide the concern in his voice, but it was right there, looming just under the surface.
I nodded that he had. “I know he can't hurt me while I’m wearing the Amulet, but that won't stop him from going after the people I love to get to me,” I explained, trying to keep my emotions steady. “That's why I have to get him first.”
“What is with you Blackburns?” he bit out angrily. “If it were that easy to take him out, someone would have already done it. He's powerful, Jemma. Far more powerful and cunning than you can ever imagine. You aren't ready to face a Revenant like Engel. You aren't ready to face any Revenant.”
“I've already faced him twice and lived to talk about it,” I shot back, feeling the burn from his words and his lack of confidence in my abilities.
“That is because you have the Amulet,” he said plainly.
“Exactly! I have the Amulet. Who better to face off against him than the girl that can't be killed?”
“I can think of several people.”
I chose to ignore that. “If I don't do something about it, he's just going to keep coming after me and my friends, picking us off one at a time until he gets what he wants. I can't let him do that, Gabriel. I have to stop him.”
“You can't do this on your own. I forbid it.”
“I'm not doing it on my own. Trace and Dominic are helping me.” I looked over at him before continuing. “You won't have to lift a finger. Just please don't tell Tessa about it.”
“I won't be involved in lying to her,” said Gabriel firmly. There were no ifs, ands or buts about it.
“Then don't lie to her...just don't tell her about it right away,” I said, pretending there was a difference. “Give me some time to fix this, Gabriel. I can do it. I know I can.”
“This is a bad idea.” He shook his head, still staring out at the road ahead of us. “No good will come out of this.”
Something in the back of my mind was telling me he was right, but I quickly batted the irksome thought away.
I was already in way too deep to turn back now.
“I have everything under control. Trust me,” I assured him, though I really wasn't sure who I was trying to convince more.
Him, or myself?
34. GREAT TEMPTATIONS
Friday came dressed in gloom with a torrential downpour that smothered the town like a nightmare that couldn’t be woken up from. There was a constant hissing in the air, a scratching taunt that gnawed at my insides, almost as though the wind were trying to reach out and caution me, to warn me of what was to come. My skin prickled from the presage.
There was still no news about Engel. Ben, Trace and Dominic had spent the night tracking his scent and following up with leads that led nowhere. There was absolute
ly no sign of Engel anywhere in town, nor any other Revs for that matter. It was as though they’d all just picked up and disappeared from Hollow Hills.
Of course, I knew better than that. I knew the silence was surely just the quiet before the storm.
Dominic picked me up after my shift at All Saints, ready to cash in on his end of our agreement. I was infinitely less enthused than he was for this date and went into it with the mindset of just wanting to get the whole thing over with. Besides, it would give me a chance to catch up with him and find out if he’d heard anything from the ol’ vampire grapevine.
“Where are we going anyway?” I asked him when he turned onto the main highway instead of the throughway that would’ve taken us to the Huntington Manor.
He turned his smoldering chocolate eyes to me and quirked his lip up on the side. “It’s a surprise,” he said, refusing to relinquish any clues as to what his plans for me were. “Just sit back and enjoy the ride.”
Right. As if that was even a possibility.
I slouched back in my seat and watched the wipers slash back and forth as the slick road became a melted blur of scenic sameness. Seconds turned into minutes and my eyelids became too heavy to keep open.
Angel.
I felt a poke on my arm and opened my eyes, fighting to bring myself out of the sleepy haze I'd drifted into. Realizing the car had stopped, I straightened in my seat and searched my surroundings for telling signs.
“Where are we?” I asked, staring out at an unfamiliar dark-brick building that appeared to be manned by two juice-heads.
“Temptation,” he smiled wickedly. “The most sinful drinking hole in all the lands.”
“I’m not going in there,” I protested, still cranky from having just woken up. “I’m not even legal,” I reminded him.
“Need I remind you that this is my date, therefore my rules? Moreover, this isn’t that sort of establishment. Your identification is not a prerequisite, angel. In fact, they much prefer you come without it.”
“What kind of a club doesn’t want you to bring your I.D.?”
“The kind that doesn’t want you leaving a trail of trouble.”
Oh, sure, because that sounded totally legit. I rolled my eyes. “How long do I have to stay in there?”
“As long as it takes.”
“As long as it takes to do what?”
“To break you out of your good girl shell.” He winked, though something in those dark, sinful eyes of his told me he wasn't joking. “I know there’s a bad girl in there simply dying to break out and I’ve decided to appoint myself as her unofficial freer.”
“How very noble of you.”
Flashing a grin, he swung his door open and climbed out of the car, adjusting his black jacket and then coming around the front of the car.
When he reached my side, he pulled open my door and held out his hand as though this were an actual date; as though he were some kind of gentleman.
I passed on the offer and stepped out on my own instead. The rain was still falling but I welcomed it, enjoying the cold wetness as it trickled down my skin in cleansing streaks.
He quirked an eyebrow at me. “Are you always this stubborn?”
“Yes, I am,” I answered, staring him dead in the eyes. “And I’m also really moody, a hot-head, and a liar.”
“Is that so?” He appeared to be smirking at my self-assessment. “You wouldn’t be trying to sway my interest, now would you? Because I have to say, those sorts of things turn me on.”
Irritated, I rolled my eyes at him again. “Is there anything that doesn’t turn you on?”
“Not when it comes to you, temptress.” He ran the back of his knuckles against my cheek, searing my skin.
I turned my face away from his touch, quickly breaking the connection. “It’s not going to work, you know.”
“What’s that?”
“Trying to coerce the good out of me.”
“Is that a fact?”
“I’m nothing like you, Dominic, and I never will be.”
“Never say never, angel.” He stepped in closer to me, prompting me to push back against the car door and suck in a breath. “I think you’re a lot more like me than you’d ever care to admit. I can see it in those seductive eyes of yours.”
“See what?”
“The curious thirst for the darkness.” He pushed up against me, commanding yet careful. “It’s in your blood.”
My hand instantly moved up between us, forcing him to reopen the space. “You don’t know the first thing about me,” I bit out through gritted teeth. “And you never will as long as I have anything to say about it.”
The words had come out far angrier than I had intended them to, and even though it troubled me to see myself react that way, I wasn’t yet primed to question it.
“If you say so, angel,” he said, chuckling softly as though he knew he’d gotten under my skin. “However, be warned.”
“About what?”
“About how much I enjoy a good challenge.”
I walked into Temptation with my expectations low and my guard all the way up. The club boasted two floors of fully stocked bars and a purple-lit ambiance that fell over the club like a blanket. Bodies moved wickedly, grinding against each other as they danced to the kind of music that sounded like a prelude to something more. There was sin in the air and everyone appeared to be high on the fumes of it.
I followed Dominic to a private table tucked away behind white organza curtains, feeling increasingly uneasy as I moved deeper into my own personal Hell. There was something off about this place, something wrong, and it was making my skin burn with trepidation. Straightening my back, I put on my best resting bitch face and slid into the booth ahead of Dominic.
“Something to drink, love?” he asked, gesturing over his shoulder like he was part-owner of the joint.
A blond waitress with hair that reached all the way down to her round hips walked up to our table. “What can I get for you tonight, Dominic?”
She knew him by name. Figures.
“I’ll have my usual.”
“And for your little friend?” she asked him with ridicule in her tone.
“His little friend will just have water,” I answered her, forcing her eyes to begrudgingly fall on me. “Bottled.” I didn’t trust this place. God only knows what kind of venereal diseases were floating around in the tap water.
The waitress arched her brows and glanced back at Dominic like he had the final say.
“She’ll have the same as me.”
“Um, no I won’t,” I objected, but it was like I wasn't even in the room, let alone at the table.
He gave her a cunning wink and she smiled impishly at him before prowling off, swishing her hips from side to side like some sex-infused pendulum.
I glowered at him. “Are you this courteous with all your dates or am I just the lucky one?”
“I don’t have dates, angel. I have liaisons.”
“Gross, Dominic. I don’t even want to know what that means.” Though, I had a fairly good idea.
He laughed, leaning back in the booth and then stretching his arm across the frame behind me. “Well, if you change your mind, I’d be more than willing to show and tell with you.”
“I’d rather set myself on fire, but thank you.” I gave him a pointed look and then glanced out at the room, gauging our surroundings and company before focusing my attention back in on him. “Have you heard anything from Engel?”
“Must we sour our date with business talk? We have plenty of time for that later.”
“In case you haven't noticed, I'm running out of 'laters',” I said impatiently.
“I haven't heard anything directly, though from what I’ve gathered thus far, he’s vacated Hollow Hills until further notice.”
For whatever reason, Engel was still gone and seemed to be keeping it that way. I felt my heart gallop with hope.
“That isn’t a good thing,” he quickly clarified, busting my bubbl
e of happiness.
“Why not?” I asked, baffled. Frankly, it was the best news I'd heard all month.
“Because Engel doesn't give up. I'd say it means he’s gone to gather reinforcements.” He placed his free hand on the table, palm down as though rooting himself in the conversation. “Something big is coming, and I’m not sure I want to be around here when it all goes down.”
I scoffed at his vow of abandonment. “Thanks for the allegiance, Dominic. It's nice to know that when the going gets tough, you get gone.”
“It’s a matter of self-preservation, love. You ought to think about getting out of here too. You have the Amulet, the blond is safe and sound. I'd say it's about time you move on to greener pastures.”
“I can’t just run off and save myself, Dominic. He’ll go after the people I love.”
“And?”
I glared back at him.
“Ah, yes, of course. Attachments.” He tweaked his dark blond eyebrows as though he were above it all. “They're far more trouble than they’re worth if you ask me.”
“You say that yet here you are,” I shot back.
He looked at me strangely, though he didn’t grace me with a rebuttal as the waitress returned with our drinks. She placed two glasses on the table (along with zero water bottles) and then left without a word to either of us. Dominic, like a predator that already had his prey cornered, never took his eyes off me.
I straightened under his stare and trudged on. “So, basically, you think Engel's gone to build his goon brigade because something big is coming, but we have no clue what that might be,” I summarized, feeling more bleak than ever before.
“Precisely.”
I pushed out a gust of air, sending a lock of my hair fluttering in front of my face.
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