Just as she pushed through the door, she was deafened by the sound of the explosion, and the heat from the ignition burned her back. She rolled through into the next room as small particles of wood rattled past her and bounced off her legs. Gabrielle hit the ground hard, and her head bounced off an old desk.
As she laid there, consciousness waning, something landed in front of her. Gabrielle focused her sight and saw the pale skin of an arm illuminated with the orange glow of a fire. A small laugh burst its way through Gabrielle’s lips as she looked at the lifeless, pale arm with talon-like nails.
“He did it. It’s over,” she muttered before falling into darkness.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Gabrielle wasn't sure what would happen next. She knew there wasn’t another life to live. She had reached the end of her journey, so now what? All that she saw was darkness. She looked down at her hands but still only saw black inky nothingness. A sudden shock of terror enveloped her. This can’t be it! Gabrielle opened her mouth to scream.
“Help! Help! Alexandra!” She knew she was saying the words, or at least, she thought so, but she couldn’t hear any sound.
Suddenly, Gabrielle was yanked back to reality and sat upright, yelling.
“NO!”
“Calm down! I had to reset the shoulder. Relax and rest.” The familiar voice of Lyudmila drifted into Gabrielle’s ears. A bright light, unlike anything she’d seen before stung at her eyes and forced a migraine into Gabrielle’s head. The rumbles and slaps of footsteps echoed around her as she lay on the floor with Lyudmila holding her. Gabrielle squirmed in her hands until she felt the release and pulled away, sitting up on her own. Her vision was blurry, but as light glimmered off several large jewel encrusted chalices, Gabrielle knew she was no longer in the room where Gianni had killed Arawn.
Somehow, she’d ended up back in the large room with the treasures Arawn had collected. How long ago was that? How long had she been out? Thoughts of Fausto and Gianni pushed their way back into her mind, and she swung her body around so that she was looking at the door hidden by the Nazi tapestry.
The bullet ridden door was hanging slightly ajar, and Gabrielle could see movement inside. Electricity soared through her, and she rocked on her hip as she lunged for the door.
“Fausto!” The name fumbled from her cracked lips as Lyudmila wrapped her arms around Gabrielle again and pulled her back. Her mind was fuzzy, and she couldn’t concentrate on a single thought except getting to Fausto and Gianni.
“No,” a soft voice cooed. Sadness filled every letter with such lament that the simple word brought an ocean of tears to Gabrielle’s eyes. “Our friends . . . our friends are gone,” Lyudmila continued as she stroked Gabrielle’s hair.
Tears rushed down Gabrielle’s cheeks like a dam had been broken after a long storm. The salt from each droplet stung cuts and scrapes on her face as they weaved and curved around the contours of her cheeks. Once more, she had lost friends. Once more, she had lost people that she held dear to her heart. Gabrielle looked up at Lyudmila through her swelled eyes and saw a mirrored look peering back at her.
The two wept in silence, surrounded by magic, and lost to the thoughts that they would never see the smiling faces of their friends again. So much life had come and gone, all thanks to one thing. One creature, or god, or whatever he should be called, that created all this destruction.
“Did anyone survive?” Gabrielle asked through the gurgles and bubbles filling her throat. The question hung sour in her mouth, but she knew she had to make certain Arawn really was dead. Lyudmila wiped her tears away and shifted in her seat.
“No one could have made it out of there, Gabrielle. It looks like Gianni used one of his grenades. That explosion set off the others he had. Even if he were to survive the initial explosion, and survive the shrapnel, the shockwave alone would have killed him. Our enemy is in pieces, and it is all thanks to you and Gianni.”
Gabrielle held her breath and let Lyudmila's words fill her. Was he really dead? Was it all over? She knew she’d hurt him just as she’d hurt Morrigan. The purple light bursting from Arawn’s chest when she stabbed him had been evidence of that. Morrigan had died from it, so Arawn must have already been dying when Gianni set off that bomb. He couldn’t have survived that. Gabrielle was lost in thought when something occurred to her. Why am I still here if all of this is over? Why haven’t I woken up in Alexandra’s loft yet?
“Is this her?” A man’s voice shouted from across the room. Lyudmila stood and wiped the tears from her face. She lowered her hand and offered to help Gabrielle to her feet. A man Gabrielle didn’t recognize rushed into the room and over to the two women. He was tall, well over Gabrielle’s height, and wore a uniform she had not seen before but knew immediately by the insignias that he was a Russian soldier. She’d seen similar symbols on some of Lyudmila’s things.
“This is her. I told you that she would still be alive,” Lyudmila answered, sounding relieved. The officer looked Gabrielle up and down and then gave a curt nod.
“It’s good to meet you. I am Vasily. It appears that I owe you gratitude. You have killed the man that created this war, and for that, we are all forever grateful for your sacrifice.”
“What happened to the Americans?” Gabrielle blurted, turning away from Vasily and back toward Lyudmila.
“Well . . .” he began. “When we arrived, the Americans were already sieging the compound, and they were having quite the rough go of it at that. So, we came in and provided support, and with our presence, we were able to overwhelm the enemy and breach the compound.”
Vasily’s bravado was almost nauseating. He clearly had an inflated image of himself and Gabrielle was in no mood to deal with more masculine egos.
“Well, in that case, you’re welcome for finishing your job,” she replied snidely. Lyudmila coughed at Gabrielle’s words and yanked on her arm. Gabrielle didn’t care who she offended, she was over all of this. Vasily curled his lip and made a face like he just smelled something foul, but he held his tongue.
Several soldiers walked past carrying large crates that bore the Nazi symbol. Weapons, she assumed. Gabrielle watched them disappear down the hall as she lost herself in thought once more. Everything was surreal like she was in a waking dream and she suddenly couldn’t tell the difference between the nightmare and reality. Without Arawn’s war, was she now lost to time?
“I am obliged,” Vasily continued, clearing his throat and turning the conversation back to himself, “to offer you anything that you desire, within reason, as a reward for your invaluable service to our nation and the world.”
Gabrielle didn't respond at first. She brought her focus away from where the soldiers had disappeared and let her eyes dance over everything in the room. Slowly she began to realize that she perhaps was not as lost as she had felt. Now that it was all done, maybe this is what life felt like. She had clung to the talons of death for so long, to be rid of them was almost a sweet dream. Gabrielle sucked in a long, slow breath, savoring the feeling of her lungs expanding.
“All of it,” she replied sweetly, gesturing around the room at all of its contents. Vasily and Lyudmila both shot her looks of disbelief and confusion.
“I say again, we offer you anything. You can have riches, titles, praise . . . you can have anything. You chose these things?” Vasily reiterated, walking past her and flicking an unimpressed hand at the pile of junk. “These . . . uhh . . . antiques are what you want?”
“Surely, Gabrielle, after all that we have been through there is something more you want. You are a hero. The biggest hero the world has ever known. You want a room full of, well, junk?” Lyudmila shared in Vasily’s disbelief, but neither of them knew what Gabrielle knew. She was supposed to have the junk in the room. She was meant to take it back to Alexandra’s loft and keep them safe.
“Yes. I want everything in this room. I want Lyudmila to also be compensated for all that she has done. I want my friends to be buried as the heroes they are. I al
so want to never be mentioned in any telling of this day. I just want to go home.” Chills coursed through Gabrielle’s body at the mention of home.
“What do you mean you don’t want to be mentioned? Who will we say killed Hitler?” Vasily asked, a confused lilt to his voice. Gabrielle thought for a moment before the answer came to her.
“Give the people of the world what they need. Give them the power over the monster. The man responsible of all of these deaths, when his own was at his door, took a coward’s path and killed himself. He was not the true visionary that he made his people believe. Hitler was a coward and a monster. Let that be his tale.”
Lyudmila and Vasily exchanged glances for not the first time that day. Lyudmila shrugged, and Vasily looked back at Gabrielle, a smile on his face.
“I think you’re mad, maybe you took one too many hits to the head, but my people stand by their convictions and their word. You shall have all that you request. Let anyone who ever thought this man a god or a leader know that he was always just a coward. I shall arrange the collection of these items and see them to wherever you wish.” Vasily bowed his head in agreement, and Gabrielle turned and looked at her newly recovered collection.
“Where would you like these items sent?” Vasily asked, stepping beside her.
“I would like these items to be sent with me to my home,” she replied, rubbing the bangle on her wrist that now lay cold and dormant once again.
“Where might that be, then?” Vasily inquired. Gabrielle stood in silence for a moment before turning to him and smiling.
“Envisage.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Long have men fought one another over trivial things. Generations have been lost, love shattered, families torn, and spirits trapped. It is without the knowledge of acceptance that we all ask in the ignorance of hatred. Gabrielle had lived centuries, seen much of the two sides, and now that her journey was complete, she had never felt more whole.
After the war, she spent some time with Lyudmila in the following days as the collection was cataloged and prepared for the long journey home. As the two friends said their goodbyes, Gabrielle knew she would never see her friend again.
Strangely, this notion brought both happiness and closure to Gabrielle. Lyudmila would live a long and happy life. She’d never had the chance before to say goodbye to a friend, and the thought of Lyudmila living a life after Gabrielle was enough to make it all worthwhile.
After a long voyage at sea, Gabrielle found her way back to the last place she had ever been able to truly call home: Envisage. Though she had only asked for the curiosities, Vasily and Lyudmila insisted on further compensation. After days of insisting, they broke her into accepting a modest fortune for her sacrifice. As Lyudmila had said, saying no would be disrespectful to her country and her culture.
So, she made her way to Envisage, purchased an old shop that had long since been vacated, and made it her home. She sorted the rest of her fortune away and only touched what she needed to get by. Often, she laughed at the generosity and gratefulness of those involved in that day. She knew that, even if she lived a hundred more years in this life, she would only use half of her wealth. After a while, things settled down into some semblance of a normal life.
Gabrielle had been tending to her books, which she had grown to love more and more as the years went by, when she found herself lost in thought staring out of the window. A breeze rattled the glass panes, and a slight whistle teased her from the outdoors. Something about the way the wind danced through the leaves outside brought back a memory from long ago. Gabrielle couldn’t believe she’d forgotten what today was. Maybe it was the last 500 years of constant travel, but suddenly she remembered.
It had been sunny and not a cloud had passed in the sky all day. The sudden thought that it was going to rain this afternoon crept into Gabrielle’s head, and for a moment she wondered how she knew. Gabrielle pulled herself up from the chair near the fireplace and walked to the window. She’d been living in Envisage for so many years now that she’d forgotten today was the day a new family moved into the quiet town. Several blocks over, a young writer, his beautiful wife, and their curious young daughter were unpacking boxes and looking forward to their new adventure in a new town.
Gabrielle’s mind ran rampant. She could easily go see herself, see her mother and her father. Suddenly every fiber of her being was consumed with the thought that she could see her parents again. She needed to see them, to hug them, to let that familiar smell of home waft into her senses as she buried her face in her father’s neck.
The thought turned sour when it occurred to her that she wasn’t Gabrielle anymore, she was still Alexandra. They would think her mad, but it would be worth it. Then the horrible image of the Sluagh crept into her mind. Would they come for her parents if she approached them? Just because Arawn was dead didn’t mean the magic and all the creatures of the Other World were dead also.
A plan started to develop in Gabrielle’s mind as she leaned against the wall next to the window. She was going to sneak to her house that night just to catch a glimpse of what she could. If nothing more, to peer through a window and see her father in his study and her mother reading on the couch one more time would be all that she needed. She would trade any of her treasures just to know that her parents were alive and happy again.
As the sun set and the day became night, clouds began to form, and Gabrielle knew it was time to go home. Undercover of night, she would be able to slip through the shadows and get close to her home unseen.
Gabrielle stood just inside the door to her shop, hand clutching a jacket begging to be thrown over her shoulder. She was frozen in her stance for a moment with her other hand squeezing the handle of the door firmly until its cold metal turned warm. Excitement raged through her body as she waited for just the right moment. Just the right time to flee into the night. With a crash of lightning and the rain starting, Gabrielle threw the door to the shop open and sprinted into the street.
Cold rain tapped the top of her head and face as the sound of heavy wood slammed behind her. She never bothered to lock the shop. In this town, nobody ever paid much mind to her things. Gabrielle told herself it was because most people in the town were steadfast and honest, but in reality, it was because people in the town were scared of her.
Gabrielle had become the crazy old woman who talked to inanimate objects and never left her home. Local teens, even if they were curious about what was in her shop, would never try to break in; they were too worried about her putting a spell on them or grinding them down to make stew.
Gabrielle’s feet slapped and splashed in the accumulated puddles of the old stone streets as she ran. Lightning split the sky and thunder roared above her, but her mind was only focused on one thing . . . home. She felt every particle of air enter her body and rejuvenate her, it was like she used to feel when magic coursed through her all those years ago.
She ran as fast as her old legs would carry her. Brief glimpses of white from her running shoes fluttered in the dancing light of the puddles as she ran. Gabrielle remembered the first time that she ran these streets as a young girl. What wonders she’d gone in search of and what adventures she’d found. An intriguing question plagued her as she moved. Was the first time she ran this way when she was a young girl or was this? This technically happened before her younger self even found the shop. The paradox wracked her brain, but Gabrielle just shook the thought from her head.
Other thoughts had been teasing her all day. Was she going to get the chance to meet herself one day? A young Gabrielle sneaking her way into an old shop only to be greeted by an old woman who seemed strangely familiar? What would she say? Would she still offer her the bracelet and the adventure? Was there even an adventure to be had now that Arawn was gone? Gabrielle glanced down at the bracelet that still sat on her wrist as she ran. She thought back to when she first found the bracelet in an old dusty drawer, and she realized she could never find the bracelet if Alexandra never misplac
ed it.
As her heart pounded and air began to sting her throat, Gabrielle used her final bit of energy as she neared her childhood home. The rain had let up slightly, and the thunder and lightning had become more sporadic.
She came to a sliding halt as she neared a white fence at the base of a small hill. Her eyes danced up the glistening surface to a small house at its peak. Gabrielle let her eyes linger on the brick siding. The familiar shutters and large wooden door brought a bubble of tears to her eyes. As she fanned over the house, she noticed a light was on in her father’s study. Her heart quickened at the golden rays shining from the window, illuminating a small patch of grass in the front yard. She was home.
It took all she had to fight the urge to run and pound on the front door. Gabrielle squeezed the top bar of the waist-high fence and considered her options. What if when she walked up the open lawn to the window, her father looked out as he often did, and saw her?
She looked to the line of trees that outlined the right side of the house and decided to use the tree line to hide in the shadows while she crept up to the side of the house. With a spry hop, she leaped over the small fence and kept herself low as she made her way over to the trees.
In the dark around her, she was surprised that she could see anything at all. The light from the house windows and the occasional lightning strike did her just enough justice to be able to see what she needed. She thought back to the little girl likely getting ready for bed just inside and how once she was terrified of the dark. The woman she was now knew what lay in the darkness, and she knew there was nothing left to fear.
Her hands slid over the wet bark of trees, and her feet made dull slapping sounds over the wet, fallen leaves. The sounds kept her company as she slowly made her way nearer to the house. With every step closer to her childhood home, her heart pounded harder, threatening to burst from her chest.
Time had lost all meaning to Gabrielle, and within hours or minutes or days she had made her way to the side of the house and paused in the shadow of a large oak tree. The small moon shaped night light gave a faint glow from her bedroom, and the window from the first floor illuminated the yard ahead of her. Gabrielle stared at the dark glass of her former bedroom, trying to gain the courage to peek inside the dimly lit window.
The Gabrielle Series Boxed Set Page 54
