The Real You

by N. J. Nielsen

  Many emotions swept across his cousin’s face as Gabriel answered him. “I was offered a hit. If I took out three people for someone, they were going to pay me a shitload of money, enough that I’d never have to work again.”

  “Who?” Isiah asked, guessing he already knew the answer. When Gabriel didn’t respond, Isiah asked instead, “So why did you protect Mitch instead of killing him, or are you waiting for more money?”

  Gabriel actually laughed. “I may want you dead, cousin, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to allow anyone else to kill you. Strangely enough, while someone else is out to get you and yours, I’ve sworn to protect you from that taking place.” When Isiah stared at his cousin skeptically, Gabriel continued, “I know. I don’t get it either. Blood must truly be thicker than water.”

  “I’m not sure I quite believe what you’re saying, or, more to the point, I don’t trust you,” Isiah said as he stepped so that Claudius, Mitch and Remi were all behind him. He’d learned throughout the centuries that Gabriel often said one thing when he really meant another. “The last time we saw you, you tried to get Mitch to kill us.”

  “And look how well that turned out for me. You two must have the luck of the fucking Irish. I was told the particular demon was a full-blooded killer, so what the hell happened?”

  Mitch stepped forward, and Isiah didn’t like it one bit.

  It was Remi who answered, “You’re right, I am. Luckily for everyone involved, I wanted to live more than I wanted to kill. I guess I should thank you for making us stronger than you ever thought possible. I’d also like to warn you—if you ever go against our family again, you will first have to get through us. I don’t know about Mitch, but I’m all for ripping your heart out and serving it up for lunch.”

  “I thought you were Mitch?” Gabriel asked.

  Remi rasped out a laugh, the only sign of who was in control. “He’s Mitch. I’m Mitch. We’re both Mitch, but we’re both Remi as well, and you best remember that, little boy.”

  Isiah squeezed Claudius’s hand when offered. Turning, he whispered in his lover’s ear so softly no one else had a hope of overhearing what was being said. “Do we trust him?”

  “We have no choice,” Claudius responded with a slight nod of his head.

  “There’s always choices, love,” Isiah replied.

  For now, he’d listen to what his cousin had to say, but that didn’t mean he was going to believe a word the man said. Gabriel would have to prove himself a hell of a lot more before Isiah claimed him as kin again. He didn’t want to let Gabriel back into his life only to see Claude, Mitch or Remi hurt. He would never forgive himself if that happened.

  “I think we should take this conversation back to the house,” Murtagh exclaimed. “You never know who might be listening. I, for one, would feel much safer knowing what we’re about to discuss isn’t presented for public consumption.”

  By the sounds of it, Isiah realized there must be something to what his cousin was saying if the guild members were becoming involved. “Can we leave? I mean, won’t it be odd if we suddenly take off from our own banquet?”

  Instead of answering, Murtagh turned to Princess Telarah and Daven. “You two get everyone back home, and I’ll inform the guild master about what’s going on. Make sure no one sees Gabriel go with you, because whoever tried to hire him may have eyes and ears on us right now.”

  “Will he be staying with us?” Isiah ground out, not liking the possibility one bit.

  “For the time being, it might be best,” Murtagh answered. “Once all the cards are on the table, we can decide what our next step is, even if it is an uneasy truce for the time being. Tonight, we plan. Tomorrow, you can all go back to hating each other.”

  Isiah nodded, took his mates by their hands, and started heading for the exit. Daven was talking into his phone in front of them, and Isiah assumed his friend was calling for their car to be brought around. He wasn’t disappointed when they made their way to the parking garage where the limo was waiting. Prior to being allowed to enter the vehicle, Daven and Gabriel insisted on checking things out first.

  Mitch stared at the very man who had changed his life forever. Not that he was complaining. Having Remi as part of his life only made it easier for him to be able to protect Isiah and Claudius. What kept going through his head was that if Gabriel had any intention of becoming a part of Mitch’s mate’s lives again, then he had another thing coming. Claudius and Isiah were his now, and he wasn’t giving their care over into anyone else’s hands. And if anyone tried to take his mates, they would have to go through him and Remi first.

  Not long afterward, Murtagh came out and climbed into the car with them. Luckily, the limo was large enough to seat them all—if a little squishy. Even Princess Telarah came along for the ride, though Mitch had his suspicions there was more to the princess than met the eye. As beautiful as she was, Mitch bet she had the brains to back her up. Recalling the way Daven had spoken about the princess over the last couple of days, Mitch realized it had all been for show. The way their heads were bent together in a deep discussion spoke volumes about the pair. Mitch wouldn’t have been surprised if the two had been working the same plan all along. Compared to the rest of the guild, Daven, Princess Telarah, and Murtagh were babes. He wondered if there was an age barrier between these three and the rest of the guild. Knowing they all still reported to the guild master himself was a little disconcerting. If he was meant to trust the people in this car, then each of them would have to come clean and level the playing field.

  The tension between Gabriel, Isiah and Claudius was getting thicker by the second, and Mitch knew he needed to do something to shift the unease to a path that allowed them all to work together without killing one another. Taking hold of each of his mates’ hands, Mitch focused on Gabriel and said, “I wanted to thank you for what you did.”

  “What do you mean?” The wariness in Gabriel’s eyes was unmistakable.

  Mitch gave the man an appraising look. “In trying to kill Claude and Isiah, you made me stronger than I would have ever been if I’d stayed human.”

  “That wasn’t my intent,” Gabriel stated.

  Mitch thought he heard exhaustion behind the man’s softly spoken words.

  “As fucked up as it seemed at the time, the truth is—I just wanted out.” Regret or something akin to it rested on Gabriel’s face. “I’m tired of living and never moving on. When I walked away from my charges, I lost what little motivation I had to live. I never realized how hard it would be on my own. Sometimes, having family around matters, even if it’s family you hate.”

  Beside Mitch, Isiah sighed. “Do you still want us dead?” Isiah stared at their former day warden. “You know it wasn’t our fault you became our day warden, though I am sorry it disrupted your life so much. I would never have wished that fate on anyone.”

  “What fate?” Mitch asked. He’d obviously missed something.

  “When my cousin and Claudius went through the change, I became immortal. I had to watch everyone I ever loved grow old and die while I never aged again. My wife, Elouise, never forgave me for that. She was bitter as hell until her last breath. She blamed me for something I had no control over.”

  “Fuck! No wonder the guy is so pissed off,” Remi stated. “Why didn’t he think to leave her to move on with another mortal? It would have saved a lot of heartache.”

  “Maybe he loved her,” Mitch retorted. “Or maybe he stayed out of guilt.”

  “Whatever it was, it sure screwed up a lot of lives in the process,” Remi said.

  “Let’s hope it’s better from here on out, but under no circumstances do we let him kill our mates after this is all over,” Mitch snarled. “If it even looks like that might be the case, we off the silly bastard and save us all the headache. ”

  Remi laughed deep within his mind, and oddly, it comforted Mitch.

  ”Keep your eyes and ears open. I think the guild is behind whatever is going on.” Remi got right down to bus
iness. “I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them, except for maybe the three sitting in this car. From them, I sense no malice, but at the banquet, I nearly choked on the malevolence permeating the room, though even these three have their secrets. Be ready to share your body at a second’s notice in case there’s another attack.”

  “Our body, don’t you mean? You should know by now I trust your judgment when it comes to everything in this world that I’ve yet to understand. If you feel it’s hinky then let me know and I can take a back seat and get out of your way,” Mitch said.

  “Mitch, baby, are you even listening?” Claudius asked as he gave Mitch’s hand a little squeeze.

  Snapping back to the present, Mitch shook his head. “Sorry, I was talking with Remi. In doing so, I kind of zoned out the rest of the world. What did I miss?”

  Claudius smiled wearily. “Gabriel is going to be staying with us for the foreseeable future. Murtagh thinks that until everything gets sorted, we’ll be better off sticking together. But really, it’s not up to them. It’s up to us. Isiah and I will go along with whatever you and Remi think is best.”

  After conferring with Remi for a moment or two, Mitch stared straight at Gabriel. “You can stay, but one false move and Remi is kicking your ass. Claude and Isiah are off limits.”

  “Duly noted,” Gabriel stated.

  The driver pulled the car into the garage and waited for everyone to disembark.

  The door had barely shut when the limo pulled out of the garage and presumably headed back to the banquet. The silence was peaceful in a weird way, and Mitch knew it was going to last only for as long as it took them all to get inside and reach the living room. Even though it was already late in the night, Mitch didn’t see any of them getting to bed until way after the sun rose.

  Already Murtagh, Davin and Princess Telarah were taking control of the meeting. Mitch felt like a child being relegated to the naughty corner for a time out while the trio sat them all where they wanted them to be. Luckily, they avoided an argument by allowing Mitch to sit with Claudius and Isiah on one couch, while Eric and Gabriel sat on the other couch, leaving a good distance between the two of them. Murtagh, Davin and Princess Telarah seemed to take turns pacing the room. Mitch sat, waiting to see who was going to talk first.

  He was betting on Murtagh—and he wasn’t disappointed.

  “I think we may have a problem. One that none of us have counted on. Tonight, I was mingling with the purpose of listening in on the flow of conversation at the banquet. What I heard concerns me more than I’d like to admit.”

  Mitch interrupted. “Let me guess, Remi is right and the guild is behind the whole kill order.”

  At his announcement, everyone stared at him in shock.

  Chapter Eleven

  “The guild? Are you sure?” Davin asked.

  Confusion filled his friend’s face. Claudius wanted to know why he and his family were always being targeted of late. Who would hate them so much? Before Claudius could ask, Gabriel spoke.

  “The guild! It doesn’t surprise me they are behind this, but the person I talked to wasn’t from the guild. He wants Claude and Isiah dead because of Mitch. I don’t know what you did to the guy. All I do know for sure is that he’s determined Mitch should never be happy. I never knew a person could hate someone more than the way I always hated Claudius and Isiah. This guy proved me wrong.”

  All the little questions inside Claudius’s mind suddenly slid together perfectly. “Was it Lewis? I really hate him. He’s starting to piss me off. You should go back and tell the asshole again that Mitch is ours now and he can never have Mitch back.”

  “I didn’t get his name, but he was a real looker who thinks his shit don’t stink,” Gabriel answered. “I mean, this guy even makes me seem like an angel. He poses as human, but I sense something else.” He scratched his head. “The one good thing from meeting with him is that I realized I don’t hate Claudius and Isiah as much as I thought I did. This guy, Lewis, did you say? Anyway, if it is him, he’s the one making me re-evaluate my beliefs. I don’t like feeling that I have been wrong all these years.”

  To Claudius, Gabriel was saying all the right things. There was still a part of Claudius that needed to remain wary. Deep down, he felt a person couldn’t change so completely. As much as he wanted what Gabriel was saying to be true—if only so Isiah could have part of his family back—he also knew he wasn’t going to allow Lewis, or anyone else, to get close enough to harm a single hair on Mitch’s head. But Gabriel and his admissions were the least of their problems. He needed to get the conversation back on track, so he turned to Murtagh.

  “So what did you hear tonight that has us all sitting here now?” Claudius asked.

  “In essence,” Murtagh said, “Remi is right. The guild doesn’t want this mating to proceed. The only one besides us here that I trust is the guild master isn’t like the others. The older guild members do not want change. They think change will destroy who we are instead of letting us grow as a people.” Murtagh resumed pacing the room. “So out of a group of twelve, I can only put my trust in four members of the guild, the three of us here and the guild master himself. Not that I think the rest will allow Simon to keep his position for much longer. They’ll consider him collateral damage. What they don’t realize is that Simon is the whole reason we have a guild. He was the first day warden to ever walk the earth.”

  “Maybe we should bring him into the fold, so to speak.”

  Remi’s guttural voice sent a shiver racing down Claudius’ spine.

  He’d soon come to realize that when Remi wanted something done, it usually meant evil was headed their way. Was it bad that Claudius wanted to start battening down the hatches? Since the bonding between him and his men had been finalized, he’d begun to sense his mate’s feelings. And right now, his senses were telling him that Isiah was about to lose it big time and have a meltdown of epic proportions. He got up and moved to the other end of the couch so he could comfort Isiah before things got out of control. Leaning in, Claudius placed a soft kiss on his lover’s throat.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Claudius whispered in Isiah’s ear. He was rewarded with a slight nod of Isiah’s head.

  “I’ll ring Simon and get him here,” Daven said as he pulled out his phone and walked out of the room.

  Claudius noticed that Gabriel’s gaze had never left Daven the whole time he’d been with them again. He thought back to the time when Gabriel’s personality had changed from Isiah’s loving cousin and their day warden to the man filled with hatred he’d become in later years. Back then, Claudius had always wondered if Gabriel had been attracted to Daven. Knowing he’d been married to Elouise, Claudius had always believed Gabriel was straight, but after meeting Daven and Eric for the first time, Claudius doubted what he’d originally suspected. Tonight, in the here and now, he saw the spark within Gabriel flare to life. He’d have to watch Daven to see how he would react. Daven was probably oblivious to the fact. In all the time he’d known the man, Daven had never worked out that his own day warden was gay, or if he had, he’d never even hinted at knowing.

  “Is this house safe? I mean, the guild had it built and sanctioned for us. What’s to say they haven’t tinkered with it in some way?” Remi asked.

  Hell, Claudius hadn’t even thought of that possibility.

  * * * *

  Sharing a body with a whole other person was sometimes draining on one or both of the inhabitants. Remi was glad Mitch so willingly let him take control every once in a while so neither of them burned out completely. Right now, he had Mitch nestled away to rest as he took charge. There was so much that needed attending to. The more he listened to what was being said, the more he wanted to meet Lewis, his counterpart’s ex-lover. If everyone could sense his difference, but not nail it down, Remi wondered if Lewis was some form of demon. If so, then what was his interest in Mitch?

  “Is Mitch okay?” Isiah asked softly, worry filling his words.

 
; It never ceased to amaze Remi how Claudius and Isiah could tell which one of them was in control at any given time. Isiah had explained it to him once by saying when you loved someone it was easy to tell who was the real you. Remi knew that was the same reason Mitch and he could always tell Claudius and Isiah apart. He also knew his and Mitch’s eye colors varied to some degree.

  “Mitch is only taking a breather, love. He’ll be back before you know it.”

  “I like you being here just as much,” Isiah said.

  Remi knew Isiah was trying to tell him he was as loved as Mitch was, and didn’t that go against Remi’s demon nature and make him all gooey inside? “I know.”

  “What are we going to do?” Claudius asked from where he sat on the other side of Isiah. “Is it safe to trust Gabriel?” he added in a whisper.

  “Yeah, I think it’s going to be okay,” Remi answered. “Gabriel probably now realizes it would be fucked up to still go against you, especially while we have so many potential threats from other sources. I believe Gabriel finally understands that any family, even if you don’t always get along, is better than having no family at all. I also think Lewis might be of demon descent.”

  Isiah snorted. “Lewis is a pompous ass. He thinks the world should revolve around him. He’s only after our Mitch because Mitch left him for us. He treated Mitch like shit the whole time they were together.”

  “If he’s a demon, as I think, then we’ll have to see what clan he’s from and how much power he wields,” Remi said.

  All demons had power. It was just that some clans had more than others. His clan, the Larkos, were one of the strongest there was. Soon he’d have to let the clan know he was alive again. His kin would want to live closer to him as nearness strengthened the magic of the clan. A smile settled on his lips as he thought what an added boost having the clan near would give them. Not much would get past the Larkos clan. He’d have to find out who was now in charge and how Gabriel had first come into possession of his essence. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think this was the clan’s way of reviving him.