The Return

by D. C. Gambel

  Table of Contents

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  EPILOGUE

  THE EDGE OF

  FOREVER

  The Return

  D.C. GAMBEL

  Copyright © 2017 by D.C. Gambel

  All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission of the author except where permitted by law.

  Published by

  D.C. Gambel at Smashword

  Edited by

  Mina Torres

  Cover image by

  Canstockphoto

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  The author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction: Starbucks, iPhone, True Blood, Keurig, Finding Neverland, Gone With the Wind, Disney, Hard Rock Café, & Silence of the Lambs.

  First Edition October 2017

  ISBN-13: 978-1370394296

  Table of Contents

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  EPILOGUE

  PROLOGUE

  Sebastian dissipated in holding Gabriella in his arms. Before her grief overwhelmed her, he used one of his talents and brought sleep to her. He couldn’t bear to see her in pain. He couldn’t handily to see the blame on her face if she turned her gaze on him.

  If he hadn’t kissed her would she have been out when the vampires found them? He didn’t know. He hadn’t followed her. She had been upset after Grayson saw them together. He thought it would have been in bad form to pursue her, but he should have put all that aside and kept an eye on her like he promised himself that he would.

  When he appeared at her apartment to check on her and found that they hadn’t returned home, he almost lost it. He returned to the tower, but no one had seen them. Sebastian thought luck had been on his side when he felt the draw her blood ignited in him, but he had been too late. When he arrived it was just in time to see Gabriella rush towards her dying mate. Not wanting to see her meet the same fate he removed her from the situation against her will.

  The only good thing from the entire situation was that Sebastian recognized one of the vampires. Marcus had been angry with Damien for years, after trying to bring vampires into the light. His experiment failed forcing Damien to clean up the mess. Sebastian remembered it well. The entire nest had been sent to Germany running an influence clean up. As punishment, Marcus was put to ground for fifty years. Sebastian had argued to put him down permanently, but Marcus’s sire had pleaded for his fledgling’s life and asked to take the punishment onto himself if only to have a weaker punishment brought down onto Marcus.

  It appeared that no good deed goes unpunished.

  “Why is she here?” Damien asked, startling Sebastian from his thoughts as he laid Gabriella down in his bed. The grim look on his face told Damien more than words. “Grayson?”

  Sebastian shook his head. Damien gave him a pained look, no doubt feeling the affliction his daughter was suffering.

  “How?” Damien questioned Sebastian.

  “Marcus,” was the only word Sebastian uttered, but it was enough.

  “Tell me everything.”

  And as much as it pained Sebastian to share his shame over the situation with his oldest friend, he told Damien everything, from the pursuit of Gaby to Grayson’s demise.

  CHAPTER ONE

  With sleep still threatening to pull me under, voices beckoned me back to the real world. Was that Shawn?

  The moment my eyes cracked open I regretted it. Memories swarm to me reminding me that my world was forever ruined.

  “Where is she at now?” I heard him ask.

  “She’s lying down in Sebastian’s bed,” Damien answered.

  I heard footsteps heading my way. “Does she have any stuff?” Shawn demanded.

  “What do you mean?” That was Sebastian.

  “I mean a bag, clothes, something with her belongings?”

  “Jade grabbed some clothes from her apartment earlier,” Damien spoke.

  “Are they in there too?” Shawn wanted to know.

  “Why?” Sebastian questioned with a bit of attitude.

  “‘Cause I figure she’ll need something when I take her home with me.”

  “You’re not taking her anywhere, werewolf,” Sebastian spat.

  “Are you going to stop me? You think she’s safe here?”

  “She’s safer here than anywhere else,” Sebastian spoke.

  “You really think that, because from what I can tell this is the worst place for her. She’s in this mess because of you two. You because you came back and let everyone find out that she’s your daughter, and You because if you hadn’t pissed Grayson off then they wouldn’t have left the party early and been outside where they were abducted. Gaby is my girl. And if you try to stop me from taking her, you’ll have the New York pack of werewolves to deal with. She’s my family and we’ll protect her.”

  I heard the door open then felt the mattress sag. I rolled over and saw Shawn with a gentle expression.

  “I can’t go home, Shawn,” I choked on a sob.

  “You can if you want.”

  I shook my head. “No, I can’t go home.”

  “Your home is with me, baby girl. Come on.” With an arm around my back and the other under my knees he lifted me with no effort. It was hard to remember how strong he actually was. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face into the crook.

  When I awoke again, I was lying in Shawn’s bed. My tattered gown had been replaced with a t-shirt and boxers, although I didn’t remember changing. Even with Shawn’s scent surrounding me, I woke up hoping it was all a dream, a seriously bad dream, but when I looked around the room, I knew it wasn’t. It felt so surreal. I kept feeling that any minute I’d see Grayson walk into the room, pick me up and carry me out of there.

  I knew what I had seen, but I didn’t feel in my heart that he was gone. Shawn came in a few minutes later and I explained that to him.

  “Baby girl, it’s cause you don’t have his body. If you could see him…” he sighed. “They did this to torture you. Killing him wasn’t enough. Robbing you of the opportunity to put him to rest will hurt you more. I’m so sorry.”

  That evening my mother arrived. Either Damien told her where I was or Shawn called her. I laid there in the bed still refusing or unable to move. She walked in without saying a word; I felt the mattress shift and her green eyes met my
blue ones as she laid there next to me, pulling me into her embrace.

  “I am so sorry, Gabriella,” she whispered to me as I began crying again. Honestly I wasn’t sure if the tears had ever stopped. She held me while rubbing circles on my back continuing to give me her sympathies and how it would get easier. I wanted to argue with her, but I didn’t have the strength. I’m not sure how long passed, but eventually she pulled back and wiped the tears from my face.

  “I need to speak to you and I need you to hear me,” she broke the silence with a raise of her brow, waiting for my response. “You were both part of the human world. People will notice when he doesn’t appear. The human authorities need to be notified of his disappearance so they can investigate. This should have been done last night, but you were distraught and no one wished to upset you.”

  “Is that why you’re here?” I pulled away from her

  “I am here for you, but no one else could or would bring this up with you. I had Shawn call them when I arrived.”

  “What?”

  “This needed to be done, Gabriella. If it not, someone else could notify the authorities and you would become the prime suspect which would then in turn bring unwanted attention to our kind.”

  “Is that all you care about, mother, bringing attention? Because I just lost the love of my life,” I raised my voice to her. It was the first time since the attack that I had the energy to fight back.

  “I’m the head of the nest now. Even though you are my daughter and my heart breaks for you, I must do what is best for all those under my watch. You may not see it now, but this is best for you too.”

  Fifteen minutes later, two cops arrived. Officer Brown was a woman who had the look of a police officer, with the stature of her frame to the way she presented herself. I wasn’t sure if they intentionally sent a woman officer because they thought I’d be more comfortable spilling my heart out to another member of the ovary committee, but I barely acknowledged her. The other police officer was Detective Jacobson. He was slightly older than his partner and appeared to have the wisdom behind the years he’d spent on the force. I told the officers that we were being mugged; that I was knocked unconscious and when I woke Grayson was gone. I was sure they would need to speak with Damien since it was idiotic to fabricate an entire evening. The story remained the same, minus the supernatural stuff. They asked me several questions and asked for some of Grayson’s personal information, dental records, doctor information, a family list, and things that I knew they’d use to identify him if they found him.

  After they left came the hardest part. I picked up my phone and scrolled through my contacts before landing on the one I sought. I stumbled for a moment when I passed over Grayson’s name, but I had a task that I couldn’t wavier from because I didn’t know when I’d get the strength again. The phone rang twice before a woman answered.

  “Mrs. Alexander? It’s Gabriella. I’ve got some bad news.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  I sat on the couch in the apartment that I had shared with Grayson. It was taking everything I had not to break down right there with his parent’s sitting across from me. They had arrived earlier that morning.

  I tried my best to talk them out of coming to New York, saying that the police would call when there was some news, but Grayson’s mother had refused, explaining that we were family and they wanted to be here for me. If they only knew that their son was dead because of me, I doubt they’d be so quick in their desire to provide comfort.

  I didn’t know how I was keeping up the charade with them and pretending Grayson was only missing. Perhaps it was because deep down I still thought there was hope, even though logically I knew that no one, human or vampire, could survive a stake to the heart. But something inside me refused to believe it. I still felt his presences. Shawn thought it was from being back in the home I shared with him or being near those he shared blood with, but I didn’t know. Maybe I was in denial. Shawn sat next to me and I was clinging to his hand like a lifeline.

  “How did it happen?” Mr. Alexander asked.

  I cleared my throat and repeated the line I had rehearsed repeatedly. “We were coming home from a party and we were mugged.”

  “Yes, I understand that, but how was he taken?”

  Shawn tensed next to me. “I don’t think it’s really good for her to be reliving the experience by explaining.”

  “It’s okay. They’re his parents. They have a right to know,” I said laying a gentle hand on Shawn’s arm. “He was handing over his wallet when the next thing I knew, everything went black. Someone knocked me out.”

  “I just don’t understand,” Grayson’s father shook his head.

  “What are you not understanding Charles? Grayson is a well known billionaire in New York. Anyone could have taken him, even if it was just for a ransom,” Mrs. Alexander explained.

  “Then why haven’t we heard anything? No one’s called. No one’s made demands…”

  I felt the familiar pull just before there was a knock at the door.

  “Damn it,” I mumbled. Shawn’s eyes glanced at me letting me know he heard it. Ignoring the knocking wasn’t an option. It would raise questions from Grayson’s parents if I refused to let anyone answer it. Shawn started to stand, but I held my hand out and stood instead. I straightened up my outfit before making my way to the door. I cracked it open so only I could see who stood just over the threshold. My breath caught a little at the sight of him but I shoved it down. I knew it was just his angelic blood calling to me. I was still angry with him for kissing me, but my grief over Grayson overshadowed the anger making it almost nonexistent. I didn’t have space for any other emotion.

  The room was quiet. I didn’t need to turn around to know everyone’s eyes were on me. I could feel them burning into the back of my head.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked in a hushed tone.

  “I wanted to check on you, but you weren’t at Shawn’s.”

  “Now’s not a good time.” I tried closing the door on him, but his foot wedged between the door and the frame, stopping it.

  “Please, Gaby.”

  I knew with Grayson’s parents here it made it an especially bad time, but something in his voice had me biting my lip, contemplating letting him speak. Finally, I nodded telling myself it would hurry him along if I just heard him out. I stepped over the threshold and closed the door.

  “What, Sebastian?” I asked as soon as I secured the door closed behind me so Grayson’s parents couldn’t hear.

  “I wanted to see how you were doing?”

  “How am I doing?” My brow furrowed.

  Sebastian looked down at the ground, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Yeah, I suppose that was a stupid question. I’m sorry.” His gaze met mine. “I am so sorry, Gaby. I obviously had no idea that…what happened at The Tower…” He looked anywhere but at me. “Please forgive me?”

  “For what? For trying to ruin my relationship or for getting my fiancé killed.”

  He winced like I hit him. “I deserve that.”

  “No Sebastian. I really want to know what you’re asking forgiveness for. If it’s for the kiss, then no, I don’t forgive you,” he looked away embarrassed, “but if you’re asking for my forgiveness for Grayson’s death, then there’s nothing to forgive. You didn’t kill him.” I was bitter with him for kissing me that night and I resented him for it, but the guilt of Grayson’s death weighed too heavily on me. It would have been easy to put the blame on someone else. Sebastian for kissing me, Damien for being my father, but I knew that it was no one else’s fault but mine. If I had walked away from him in the beginning he’d still be here and still be human. Everything shitty that had happened to him was all because I didn’t have the strength to walk away.

  “How can you say that? If I hadn’t kissed you, then you two wouldn’t have been on the street.” I had déjà vu hearing these words and I remembered Shawn uttering this same thing to Sebastian the night Grayson died.

 
; “That’s true,” I said then watched Sebastian lower his gaze. “But they would have gotten to us some other way, some other time.”

  “Gaby…” Sebastian furrowed his brow and shook his head. He thought I was trying to make him feel better.

  “Did you kiss me knowing that we’d be kidnapped? Knowing that he’d die?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Don’t get me wrong Sebastian, what you did was shitty. You used our bond against me and I am nowhere close to forgiving you for it, but I don’t blame you for Grayson’s death.” My head sagged between my shoulders. “I blame myself.” I felt my eyes fill with unshed tears.

  “Gaby,” Sebastian sighed before taking me into his arms. I brought my hands up to his chest planning on pushing him away, but instead I curled my hands into his shirt, pulling him closer as I bawled my eyes out. I didn’t have the strength to fight him and I needed the comfort.

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “Yes, it is. They wanted me and he was with me. His parents are in there talking about how Grayson was the target because of his money, but I was the target. They hurt him trying to hurt me.”

  “Gaby, you forget that I was there at the end.” I adjusted so I could see his face. “Grayson saved you. The stake was coming for you and he pushed you out of the way causing him to get hit instead. He knowingly risked his life for you because he loved you. He’s a God damn hero and I wish you could tell his parents that.”

  He brushed my hair back and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead just as the door opened. I panicked, realizing how this could look to Grayson’s parents, but sighed in relief when I saw Shawn.

  Shawn’s eyes narrowed at Sebastian. “They’re asking for you.” I nodded and let my hands fall away from Sebastian. He cupped my face and wiped away my tears with his thumbs. He still looked guilt ridden and part of me was content with that, even if it was for the wrong reasons.

  I turned to walk in the apartment just as Mrs. Alexander was heading out. Her eyes locked on Sebastian and I heard her inhale sharply. I sometime forgot how angelic he looked when you first saw him.