She only nodded.
If her mood didn’t lighten once he had found the boy, Gideon would question her more closely. Much had happened this day. Perhaps she was just overwrought.
Transforming into a falcon, Gideon circled the area and spotted Jack on a fallen log near a narrow creek. Diving back into the trees, Gideon regained his human shape and waited a moment before he walked out of the woods.
“Lady Naomi is worried about you.”
In one hand Jack held a fistful of pebbles, with the other he threw them into the sluggish creek. “Lady Naomi…weren’t the other one named Lady Naomi too?”
Gideon straddled the log, facing the boy. “Aye. Roderick’s wife was Lady Naomi as well.”
“She means to save us but she will only make it worse.” Jack threw a rock hard enough to span the creek and bounce off a tree trunk.
“How can it be worse?” Gideon’s tone was just a bit challenging. “You are living like animals in the forest. You are strong, Jack, but what about Midge and Tot? Do they not deserve something better?”
The boy’s defiant gaze slashed through the darkness. “They deserve many things I cannot give them.”
“You cannot, but Lady Naomi can. Do you realize who she is, Jack? She is Lord Roderick’s granddaughter and Lady of Monthamn Castle.”
Jack jumped up from the log and dumped the rocks back into the dirt. Planting his fists on his hips, he faced Gideon. “The Lady of Monthamn Castle wants to save us?”
The question snapped with sarcasm but he chose not to reprimand the boy. “Speak with her. Tell her all that has happened. We already know Father John is at the heart of this. We need to understand what transpired.”
“Why should I trust you? Father John seemed to be kind in the beginning. I still think it’s best if I just care for the little ones here.”
“I’m not asking you to trust blindly. I ask only for the opportunity to understand.”
Jack didn’t argue so Gideon led him back to the ruins. Naomi sat just where he’d left her. Midge had moved off to play with another girl. Naomi had drawn up her knees, tenting her skirts. Firelight accented her delicate features as she poked at the fire with a long stick. Her expression was so forlorn Gideon’s heart gave a mighty lurch. He wanted to take her back to the castle and kiss away her pain.
“You were looking for me.” Jack drew her attention from the fire.
She raised her troubled gaze to the boy and motioned to the large rock across the fire pit. “Please sit. I have some questions for you.”
Gideon stayed back a pace, leaning his shoulder against the wall. She hadn’t so much as glanced his way.
The boy sat, silently waiting for her to speak.
She curled her legs to one side. “Jack, I need you to tell me everything that has happened since you were taken from the castle five years past.”
“Now that would take five years, would it not?” He offered her a cheeky grin.
She smiled and Gideon’s heart pulsed out of time. She was so beautiful. His senses smoldered just looking at her.
“Lord Roderick explained that Father John took all the orphans to the abandoned cloister where the nuns used to live. But he is under the impression Father John found homes for all of you.”
Jack pulled a piece of leaf off his filthy ankle and tossed it into the fire. “Oh, he found homes for us all right. He started with the older boys and worked his way down through the ranks. Two men came and carted off the strong ones all at once.”
“Do you know who the men were or where the boys were taken?” Her brows crinkled slightly above her expressive eyes.
“Father John refused to say, but no family wants five sons unless they have lots of work for them to do.”
Naomi shifted restlessly. “They may not have been taken to one place. They might—”
“Same men came back twice more. I thought for sure I’d be taken the third time but I’ve always been scrawny.”
“They took only the older, bigger boys?” she asked.
“Until there weren’t none left.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Naomi finally glanced at Gideon. He sucked in a startled breath. Her gaze churned with a potent mixture of pity and desolation. This was a tragic tale, but why was she reacting so strongly to events she could not change?
Gideon sat down beside her and tried to put his arm around her shoulders. She rose abruptly, pacing beside the fire. Why wouldn’t she let him comfort her?
“What became of the girls?” she asked.
Jack looked around before he began his tale and Gideon seethed. The lad didn’t want to share the story if the other orphans could hear.
“A fancy man took Esther and Mary. They were sisters and I don’t think it was a bad thing. But that red-haired devil kept coming back.”
“Red-haired devil?” she asked. “Did Father John ever call him by name?”
“Not that I heard.”
“What did he look like?”
Jack shrugged. “Like a man. Had hair sort of like yours only brighter.”
She touched the end of her braid where it extended beyond her veil. “Why did he keep coming back?”
He looked around again and then lowered his voice. Gideon had to strain to hear while Naomi sat down next to the boy and rested her hand lightly on his shoulder. “I found Megan crying after he left one time. She wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, but I knew. He came back twice and then Megan disappeared.”
“It was the same man each time?” Naomi asked. “A man with red hair?”
Jack was responding well to Naomi so Gideon held his tongue.
“Aye. There were three more after Megan. I know he…hurt them and then Father John sent them away. That’s when I took the little ones and left. Father John tried dragging us back, but the last time I broke his nose before he knocked me on the head. I guess he figured I was more trouble than I was worth. Besides, none of the girls are…they have not…the red-haired man said they need to ripen.”
Naomi gave Jack a quick hug. “You have been very brave, Master Jack. I appreciate your honesty.”
“The red-haired man said no one could touch him ’cause it would always be my word against his,” Jack said.
“We shall see about that,” she insisted stubbornly.
Gideon was relieved by the determination in her words. “I brought provisions for you, Master Jack.”
“Provisions?”
“Aye. Blankets and tunics and,” he paused for effect, “food. And a very good friend of mine will be patrolling the perimeter. His name is Daniel and you can trust him.”
Naomi stood and grabbed the sleeve of Jack’s ragged tunic before he could dash toward the cart. “Everyone must bathe in the creek before they don new tunics.”
“But we will freeze to death,” he objected.
“It can wait ’til morning,” she said. “Then the sun will warm your hides.”
“Oh aye.”
Gideon led Naomi to the cart and motioned toward his lifelong comrade. “Lady Naomi, this is Daniel.”
Naomi looked at the tall, somber man standing beside the cart. Dressed all in black, his features were nearly as arresting as Gideon’s. Pitch-black eyes watched her closely, and he made no attempt to smile.
“Is he a friend of yours as Gabriel is a friend of yours?” she asked, dragging her gaze back to Gideon.
“More so,” he said meaningfully.
Daniel was one of the rebels. Naomi crossed her arms in front of her, shivering. These creatures surrounded her.
The orphans. She must focus on the orphans. Daniel handed her a bundle of blankets with a mocking smirk. Her anxiety obviously amused him.
“If you harm one hair—”
“I have sworn to protect them. I may be many things, Lady Naomi, but an abuser of children is not one of them.”
Naomi tossed the bundle to Jack.
“If Sir Gideon trusts him…” Jack’s words trailed off uncertainly.
“Al
l is well?” she assured him, but her gaze moved to Gideon, making the words a question.
“All is well.” His firm words reinforced Naomi’s promise.
Jack handed the blankets to another child and reached around her to grab the bag of food. With one last uncertain glance at Daniel, he headed back to the fire.
Naomi arranged the children in three neat rows. She passed out the food and stood back to watch them wolf it down.
“How do creatures so tiny consume so much food?” Gideon’s awe was obvious in his glistening eyes.
Naomi studied his chiseled profile and felt her heart lodge in her throat. What do you consume? On what do you feed? The questions rang through her brain like the sharp toll of an iron bell.
She had a bag ready to collect the scraps, but nothing was left after the children finished eating. Jack ate his portion while keeping careful watch over the “little ones”. How had his narrow shoulders borne such a burden for so long?
Jack promised to see each child scrubbed clean in the morning. Naomi intended to return and supervise the task. They distributed the blankets and Naomi received countless hugs before she was ready to depart.
Daniel remained in the shadows, an unobtrusive sentinel. She offered him a silent nod as she left the encampment, comforted to know the children would be watched.
Gideon fell into step beside her, leading his horse.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” he asked after a long period of strained silence.
The need to understand overrode her fear. “I spoke with a friend of yours on my way to the ruins.”
“Male or female?”
“Male.”
“Daniel is my only male friend in England.”
“This friend came from much farther away.”
He dropped the horse’s lead and grasped her shoulders. “Domieno appeared to you? Did he touch you? Were you harmed?”
She swallowed past the lump in her throat, refusing to be moved by his concern. “He failed to introduce himself, but I assure you he was not human and he was far more menacing than Daniel. This was a demon, Gideon. From the pit of Hell.”
He attempted to pull her into his arms, but Naomi twisted away.
“What did he tell you?”
“That you are going to Fall and I will be dragged down with you unless I stop confusing you with my…love.”
Time stood still. Naomi could hear her blood rushing in her ears. They had never spoken of love. But surely he knew she loved him. Tears blurred her eyes. He was not human and yet she loved him.
“I will not Fall, Naomi. I want to—”
“How do you feed?” she cried before she lost her nerve. “What did he mean? He told me to ask you on what you feed.”
He staggered back a step, his expression a contortion of self-loathing. “I will change. I am working to change.”
“You…must…tell me.” She felt as broken as her words.
He reached for her again. Naomi couldn’t let him touch her. The world fell away whenever he touched her and this could not go on. Once and for all she must understand who and what he was.
Shaking, his eyes filled with pain, Gideon responded to her demand. “After Lucifer Fell, I was filled with useless rage. I longed for violence and hungered for bloodshed. We told Michael he was a slave to God’s will, that we were all slaves. So Michael set us free. He loosed the boundaries within our beings, allowing our spirits to corrupt themselves according to our individual contentions.”
“And what was your contention? What did your spirit choose?”
He glanced away and took a long, shuddering breath. “My thirst for blood became literal.”
Her hand flew to cover her mouth and Naomi tasted bile in the back of her throat. “You feed on human blood?” she whispered behind her hand.
“Aye. I feed on human blood.”
He sounded almost relieved but Naomi’s head went reeling. “Have you ever…how is it done?”
Slowly moving toward her, Gideon opened his mouth and showed her his fangs. Naomi gasped. Her knees gave out beneath her and she found herself in Gideon’s arms.
“Please do not hurt me,” she whimpered.
Tension rippled through his entire body. She felt his arms tighten and then relax. “I will never hurt you, Naomi. Never.”
She clutched his tunic while she arched away, needing his comfort yet terrified of him at the same time. “I cannot do this. I cannot love you. I cannot…”
She squirmed and twisted until he let her go. Gideon watched her run into the night. Desperation crept over him with insidious intensity. He couldn’t do this alone.
If she turned from him—he would Fall.
Emotion choked him. Tears blurred his vision.
He could feel the darkness closing in.
* * * * *
Naomi threw herself onto the bed and buried her face against the mattress. Hard, racking sobs shook her entire body but nothing eased the oppressive emptiness within her chest. She rolled to her side, covering her face with her hands.
Gideon was a demon, a monster, a beast who fed on the blood of humans. She shuddered and sobbed. How could she love such a creature? How could she long to be with him, to share her life and her future with him?
Even as the questions tore her world apart, images filled her mind. She saw his gentle smile. She remembered the pleasure he found in arranging her tower room. The orphans revealed glimpses of his nature that she had never imagined. He could be kind. He could be caring. He could be tender.
“He can be vicious. He can be deadly. He can rip out your throat and gorge on your blood.”
Naomi scrambled off the bed and tossed her hair over her shoulders, facing the demon. “Get out! Get out of my house. Get out of my life.”
Domieno laughed and putrid currents stirred the air. “But then who would amuse me? Nay, you and I must come to an understanding. Gideon is clinging to hope and I am running out of patience.”
His demonic nature rolled beneath his skin. Naomi fell back against the bedpost, clutching it for support. “He told me everything. You cannot frighten me.”
Domieno stalked toward her but she had nowhere to retreat. “You are frightened, Naomi. You reek of it. Yet I’m not certain I inspire the fear.” He leaned in. She shrank back, turning her face away. “Gideon confessed the depravity of his nature and you love him still. What sort of creature does that make you?”
Naomi ducked and turned, quickly putting the bed between them. Her heart hammered and the world tipped out of balance. Why was he here? What did he hope to—
“Just as Jack is the key to the orphans, you are the key to Gideon,” Domieno answered her silent question. “I hoped you would reject him utterly and he would come running to me. But he senses your indecision. He is as much of a monster as I. How can you still care for him?”
“There is good in Gideon. There is nothing but evil in you.” She glanced around for something to hurtle at him, but she had witnessed the speed with which he could move.
His empty eyes narrowed and he stroked his chin with skeletal fingers. “There is another way. Less pleasant I admit, but we are determined to add Gideon to our ranks. If your nature were evil, he would follow you into darkness.”
Dragging air into her lungs, Naomi intended to scream the house down.
Domieno closed her throat with a look. “We have been through this before. I know your thoughts before you think them. Stop provoking me!”
Naomi gasped and rubbed her neck as her airway opened. She must do something. The demon’s influence enveloped her like a cloud, dampening her senses and muddling her mind. She sank to her knees, folded her hands and desperately prayed for help.
The demon went wild. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to her feet. Naomi cried out. Pain stretched across her scalp but she continued to pray. She steadied herself and covered his hand with hers.
“Stop it!” He sneered into her face.
He drew back his hand but s
omeone caught his wrist, preventing the blow.
“Release her,” Gideon said, his tone calm and deadly.
Domieno obeyed so suddenly Naomi stumbled backward and fell. Pain ricocheted up her spine as she slammed against the wooden floor.
“It is me you want,” Gideon snarled. “Leave Naomi out of this!”
“I am not the one who dragged her into this. You should have stayed away. You should have accepted what you are before others became involved.”
“I will not Fall!” Heaven’s light ignited within Gideon. He felt his eyes dilate and knew they glowed. “Leave this place!”
The demon glowered at Naomi, his lips curled back from his yellow teeth. “We will meet again.” Then with a threatening hiss he disappeared.
Gideon turned to Naomi. She huddled against the wall, eyes huge, face devoid of color, lips ashen and trembling. His breath lodged in his throat as the impact of her terror kicked him in the chest. Protective fury screamed through his being.
Slowly, he took a step toward her. “Naomi.”
Her eyes shifted to his face but her gaze seemed unfocused. Gideon knelt before her and reached for her hand. She snatched it away and pressed herself against the wall.
“This cannot be real,” she whispered. “How can this be real?”
Tracing the contour of her face with his fingertip, Gideon tucked her hair beneath her veil. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to ease her fear.
“I love you, Naomi.” The words escaped in a sudden rush. “I will do anything you want. Tell me what you need.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks, launched by the sweep of her long lashes. “I need…I want…”
She wrapped her arms around her legs and hid her face against her knees.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
Naomi heard him leave the room. Part of her desperately wanted to call him back, but—he drank human blood. She trembled, waiting for her emotions to run their course.
He loved her.
He drank human blood.
He had protected her.
He drank human blood.
He could be so wonderful.
He drank human blood!
“He survives on human blood,” a female voice interrupted her thoughts. “You make it sound like he hunts for pleasure.”
Rage and Redemption (Rebel Angels) Page 18
