by Faith Gibson
Gabriel rocked back and forth, stroking her inner walls through the tremors until he came again. Rebekah was once again the young woman who had made love to the handsome young man in her bedroom one night while her parents were away. She was also the mature woman who knew she would never love another as she did this male. They were united in body and soul, and no matter what the future held, they would endure it together as mates.
The first three years passed with Rebekah spending most of her weekdays at the Pen. After her mornings with Gabe, she counseled the Reborn, helping them make sense of what had happened to them. She also worked with any of the human inmates who wanted someone to talk to. Her life was full if not conventional. As the days wore on, so did her energy. Rebekah chalked it up to being on the go constantly until one day, Dante and Isabelle sat her down in the Pen’s infirmary, and they both convinced her to see a doctor.
When she got the diagnosis, she just stared at the physician. Sabrina was mated to a Gargoyle. The woman had taken over as chief of staff when Jonas stepped down. Before that, she had led the oncology department, so Sabrina knew what she was talking about. “But I’m mated to Gabriel,” Rebekah whispered. She couldn’t have cancer. She was mated to a Gargoyle, and they were going to live happily for centuries to come.
Sabrina came around the desk and sat next to Rebekah, gripping her hands. “You are, and their venom can help with many things, but so far, cancer isn’t one of them.” Sabrina showed Rebekah the scans. Explained her options. Offered to get a second opinion. Rebekah didn’t need one. She trusted Sabrina. Over the course of the next couple months, Sabrina was the one who cared for Rebekah, overseeing each treatment. Rebekah tried to hide the illness from Gabriel, but being Gargoyle, he could not only sense something was bothering her mentally, he could somehow smell the disease. Going through treatment was hard, but seeing Gabriel break down each weekend was harder.
The first time Gregor and Aldredge approached Gabriel with the offer of a weekend pass, Gabriel wouldn’t talk to them about it. Said it wasn’t right for him to have special privileges. It took a lot of begging and tears on Rebekah’s part until he finally caved, sensing something was wrong. When Rebekah admitted to having the disease, he donned the prosthetic his father made specifically for Gabriel and spent time away from the Pen with her in their home. After that, Gabriel never hesitated to change into the disguise. When Rebekah went into remission, they celebrated at home in bed for five days. Sex was off the table since she was still weak, but Gabriel tended to her every need, healing her heart while the chemicals healed her body.
Rebekah did her best to take care of herself. For six years, everything was fine. She worked with the inmates. Spent time with her family – she’d stopped thinking of them as Gabriel’s family a long time ago – and watched over the kids on the weekends Gabriel wasn’t home. Her life was filled with a comfortable routine, and she thrived. Every year she met with Sabrina for a checkup, and every year the tests came back clear. Until one day they didn’t. Rebekah didn’t want to tell Gabriel the truth. If it was like last time, she would dread the conversation. Together, they had gotten through the treatments. Her hair falling out, then growing back. The sickness and pain. It was going to be much harder this time. On them both.
When she arrived at the Pen to pick him up for his weekend out, she put on her bravest smile as Gabriel exited the back door.
“This is cheating,” he said after kissing her hello.
“It is,” Rebekah replied as she did every time they made the drive for his weekend away. “But I like having you home. I like it when you can let your wings out.” Making love at the Pen had been fulfilling, but it wasn’t nearly as fun as when they had sex at home where they could be as loud as they wanted, and Gabe could let his wings out without worrying about hitting the wall next to his bed. The first weekend he got a free pass, they had made use of almost every available surface in the house. Rebekah spent hours afterward soaking in the tub.
They stopped having sex at the Pen once he started going home, and their intimate times waned when she got sick. Their love, however, grew stronger, as did their relationships with his family who visited often, bringing their kids. It was the younger Clan that kept a smile on Rebekah’s face when she couldn’t be around her mate.
“Who do we have invading our home this weekend?” Gabriel asked as soon as they walked in the door, removing his prosthetic as he headed toward the kitchen. She cooked for her male when they were together, and he enjoyed a cup of coffee while she worked at the stove. It was their quiet time before the family invaded. Her male liked to complain about their weekends being compromised with nieces and nephews, but he was a big softy when it came to the kids. Having missed out on their own, they never turned down the opportunity for visits. On the weekends when Gabriel remained at the Pen, Rebekah offered to babysit so the parents could have alone time. Being with the younger Clan members so often abated any longing for her own children.
“Actually, we have the house to ourselves.” Rebekah dreaded telling Gabriel the truth, but she needed to prepare him for the inevitable. She went about making pancakes, eggs, and bacon. When she set his plate in front of him, Gabriel dug in. She pushed her own food around the plate, not able to stomach more than a few bites.
“Bek, what’s wrong?” Gabriel was in tune with her moods, and he had more than once questioned her health. She did her best to hide her paling skin with makeup and her lack of energy with a smile. He saw through it all, but she had always played it off. She could no longer do that.
“Let’s go in the living room.”
“You’re scaring me.” Gabriel moved out of his chair to kneel at her feet. He grabbed her hands and studied her face. “You’re sick again, aren’t you?”
“Please, let’s go sit.” Rebekah gently pushed on his shoulder, and Gabriel relented. Once they were seated on the sofa, she gripped his hands in hers, using their connection to strengthen her resolve. “I went to see Sabrina for my annual checkup. It’s back, only this time, it’s worse.”
“How much worse?” Gabriel asked on a whisper.
“It’s pretty much spread throughout my body.”
Gabriel jumped from the sofa, pacing the living room. “What can we do? There has to be something.”
“Gabe—”
“I’ll call Jonas. He can figure something out. He’s a fucking genius for the gods’ sakes!” Gabriel shouted. Rebekah sank back into the cushions. She didn’t want him to accidentally lash out at her, so she curled her legs underneath her bottom and let the tears fall.
Gabriel glanced at her, and when he saw her face, he dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his head in her stomach. Rarely in all their years together had Gabriel cried, but in that moment, he sobbed like a baby. They held each other, neither saying anything for a long time. When Gabe got his emotions under control, he picked Rebekah up and took her to their bedroom. He didn’t undress her or ask for sex. He removed her shoes, then held her in his arms.
“I have a request.” Rebekah lifted her head so she could gauge Gabriel’s reaction.
“Anything,” he vowed.
“Sabrina said I don’t have much time. How much, she couldn’t say for sure. A couple months at most. I can either spend my time taking treatments that will make me sicker and only prolong the inevitable, or I can spend my time with you. I would like what time is left to be spent here, together. I want you to stay here with me.”
Gabriel’s eyes filled with tears once again, and he nodded. Rebekah had already told Isabelle what was going on so she could inform the rest of the family. Rebekah had also cleared it with Aldredge for Gabe to remain with her. She had needed to get his approval before she requested that Gabriel stay with her. Rebekah wanted what little time they had left to be spent together in their home. She was already feeling drained driving back and forth, and soon, she wouldn’t be able to make the trips.
The next three weeks passed with Rebekah doin
g her best to hide her fears. She wasn’t afraid of dying but of leaving Gabriel behind. He had changed over the years, but she was his whole life, and she was afraid of what her death would do to his tortured soul. If it were her in his place, she wasn’t sure she would want to go on without him, but she wasn’t stuck in a prison cell with little contact with the outside world.
When her body began shutting down, Sabrina wanted Rebekah to go to the hospital. “What do you want me to do?” she asked Gabriel.
“I want you to live,” he whispered.
Rebekah weakly raised her hand to his stubbled cheek. What little hair grew in was white, but it was enough to prickle her palm. “I mean about going to the hospital.”
“I know what you mean.” Gabriel closed his eyes, and tears seeped from the corners. Rebekah wiped them as best she could until she was no longer able to hold her hand up. When he looked at her, she knew in her heart he would follow her in death. It might not be immediately, but the defeat was clear. It was on the tip of her tongue to make him promise not to give up living, but she wouldn’t do that to him. If he made the vow only to appease her, he would continue living a miserable existence for her own selfishness, or he would break the vow and be tormented further.
“I want you to be where you want to be. If you want to stay here in our home, I’m good with that.” Jonas had already brought equipment to Rebekah. She had pain medicine running through an IV to keep her comfortable. “No matter where it happens, it’s going to gut me. And it’s not like I’ll be coming back here after you’re…”
“This is your home, Gabriel. Everything I have is yours.”
“No. You are my home.” Gabriel kissed her on the forehead, his cool lips lingering against her heated skin.
“I want to stay here. I don’t want to go to the hospital where you have to disguise who you are. I want to look at the face of my mate until I no longer can.”
Gabriel nodded against her head. He kept his face pressed against her hair as his shoulders shook with silent sobs.
“I love you, Gabriel Montague. Thank you for giving me the best years of my life,” Rebekah whispered before closing her eyes.
Epilogue
December 2057
“Please just take me back to the Pen, Izzy.” Gabriel was drained. He was broken-hearted and had little drive left inside. Gabriel still took his monthly weekend passes at Isabelle’s insistence. Today they were gathered at Isabelle and Dante’s house for Christmas. Gabriel didn’t want to be around family. He didn’t want to be anywhere. For almost a year he had sat in his cell, recalling every moment he had with his mate. Her scent had faded from the pillow he took from their home. Her voice no longer whispered to him in his head. If it weren’t for the pictures he kept, he would have probably forgotten the gleam in her eyes and the way her cheeks pinkened when she blushed. Gabriel’s imprisonment hadn’t been punishment enough for his crimes. The fates saw fit to reunite him with his mate only to take her away again.
“No. We’re already here. You can sit and stare at nothing in there just as easily as you can at the Pen. Besides, your niece misses you.” Christina was Isabelle’s youngest, and for whatever reason, she loved Gabriel.
Gabriel pushed open the car door and trudged inside. Kids were scattered all around either playing or running, and the adults had already started drinking. Not that those who had Gargoyle blood could get drunk. If they could, Gabriel would have grabbed a bottle of whiskey and hidden out in a corner. Instead, he headed for the recliner and parked his ass.
“Hey, Brother.” Dante walked over to Gabriel, cradling a sleeping Christina.
“Hey.” Gabriel held out his arms, and Dante handed the baby over. He knew it was pointless to refuse. His family tried to use the kids as weapons. Before Rebekah passed, it had worked. Now, it just intensified the ache where his heart used to be. Dante didn’t hang around to make sure Gabriel took care of his child. Isabelle brought a bottle and burp cloth, setting them on the end table next to the recliner.
“In case she gets fussy,” Isabelle said.
Frey’s kids were on the floor with Dane and Marley’s toddler. Gabriel was happy for his youngest brother. Marley was a good mate. She was spunky but sweet. She and Rebekah had become fast friends, while it had taken Dane longer to open up. He still hadn’t forgiven Gabriel for kidnapping Kaya and trying to kill her. Gabriel didn’t blame his brother. Gabriel still hadn’t forgiven himself.
Gabriel inhaled deeply, letting the new- baby smell wash over him. Tessa’s twins were in trouble for something, but that wasn’t anything new. They were always in trouble. When the adults managed to get all the kids gathered and settled, Tabitha asked Jonas to read from a journal she and Anthony had found in Isabelle’s closet.
When Jonas flipped the journal open, he was quiet for a moment. “Wouldn’t you rather hear about Santa Claus or some other nonsensical story?” he asked Tabitha.
“No, sir. I want to hear about you and Grandma.”
Jonas glanced at Caroline who nodded. Settling back with Tabitha in his lap and Anthony sitting on the hearth holding his twin’s hand, Jonas read his own words, telling about meeting his mate, Gabriella. Caroline was her middle name, and she adopted it once the two of them went on the run. He spoke of their kids and how they put them up for adoption. When it came to the part of what happened to Gabriel, Jonas paused and looked over at him.
“It’s okay, Jonas. I’m not going to lose it if you continue with what happens next.”
Jonas didn’t continue reading, though. He suggested they open presents instead. Gabriel remained in the corner, content to rock Christina. He closed his eyes as chaos ensued, and his mind drifted to all the Christmases before when Rebekah was with him. The evening wore on with the children being sent upstairs to play with their new things, while the adults peppered Jonas with questions about cloning and Tamian being a full-blood.
“I had selfish reasons for what I did. I was trying to find the cure for cancer, but I also wanted to figure out if I could create a full-blooded Gargoyle using Tessa’s DNA as well as my own. Don’t get me wrong. I am not ashamed of my children, but I wanted to know if there was a way to engineer the cells so a child would be full-blooded. I succeeded with Tamian, and that fact needs to remain a secret. If word got out I managed to clone a full-blooded Gargoyle, I’m afraid he would be targeted the same way Gabriel was.”
Before they could argue about Tamian’s safety, someone knocked on the door. Isabelle surprised Jonas with a special gift. She had traveled to Cairo and convinced their oldest siblings to come visit. Lucian and Marcella had never wanted anything to do with Jonas and Caroline, but there they were, all the way from Egypt. Gabriel continued rocking Christina, half listening to the conversations. When he overheard whisperings that Marcella had cancer and Connor had finally come up with a cure, that was when Gabriel knew he needed to get out of there. He couldn’t listen to how they would be able to treat his oldest sister when they had been a year too late for Rebekah.
Gabriel didn’t blame Connor. No, he blamed the fates. And himself. If he had been stronger, been able to resist going back to work for Gordon Flanagan, he wouldn’t be in prison. Wouldn’t be paying for his crimes. Rebekah wouldn’t have paid with her life. And without her, there was no point in living. Getting out on weekend passes was only breaking his heart further, and watching his family with their kids living happy lives when he would never have that was the worst punishment of all.
His reason for living was gone. It was time he was too.
Isabelle sobbed as Jonas placed the urn containing Gabriel’s ashes next to Rebekah’s. She blamed herself for pushing her brother to leave his cell every month and join their family. She thought their happiness would rub off on him, only it had the opposite effect. After Christmas Eve at her home, Gabriel shut down. He refused to leave his cell even to go outside and smoke. He sat in his room with Rebekah’s urn cradled in his arms. He stopped eating. Stopped drinking. Isabelle continued visiting, t
alking about anything and everything, but the day she mentioned their sister Marcella had been cured, Gabriel lost his shit. It was the first time he yelled at her. The first time she honestly feared her brother.
Isabelle should have thought about how insensitive her words were. How it cut her brother that his mate had died from the same disease Connor found a cure for too late to save her. Gabriel kept the window blocked so Isabelle couldn’t see in, and at her request, Aldredge removed the covering. Gabriel ignored Isabelle after he yelled at her to get out. He ignored everyone. She wanted Dante to do something, but her mate sat her down and told her she needed to be prepared – Gabriel was letting go.
It took a lot of soul searching on her part, but Isabelle finally got it. Even if Gabriel got out of prison someday, he would never find happiness. His mate was gone, and he had nothing to live for. The next time she visited him, she stood outside his door and told him she understood. Isabelle told Gabriel she loved him. That she would miss him greatly, but she would be okay. The next day, he crossed over.
Caroline stepped beside Jonas and straightened the already perfectly placed vessel. When she turned, she had her hands cradling her stomach the same way Isabelle did when she was…
“Mom?”
Caroline’s smile was sad, but she was smiling nonetheless. “I have some news.” She grabbed Jonas’s hand, and he raised their joined fists to kiss her knuckles. “Jonas and I… We didn’t plan it. I never thought…”
“We’re pregnant,” Jonas finished for her. “In six months, we’re going to have another child. A girl according to Connor.”
