Love Beyond Loyalty

by Rebecca Royce

  "I'm saying that maybe I'm the one who has to fight on the side of the so-called 'bad' side."

  Kal shut his eyes for a second, and when he opened them, they were hard and steel-like. Leonardo had always thought of Kal's current expression as his Warrior-gaze.

  "Leo, here's the deal, I grew up with you. We shared a bedroom for most of our early years so I'm going to guess that since you don't know your soul mate yet I probably know you best in the world. That gives me the right to say this to you."

  Had he known sharing a bedroom was going to mean Kal would be 'knowing him better than he knew himself' for the rest of his life, he might have slept in the bathtub growing up. "Just get on with it, Kal."

  "You are the best person I know. You're a little difficult to deal with. You like to order others around. All of that being said, you are good, whatever that means. Trust me. No one has a stronger sense of right from wrong than you, and no one chooses to do the right thing more." Kal kissed Isabelle's hand. "So whatever this little bout of self-doubt, thinking you're evil thing is, get over it."

  "Sure."

  Leonardo closed his eyes. Kal was wrong. Most of the time what he wanted to do was completely opposite of what he ended up doing.

  If there was a dark side to this war they waged, Leonardo knew with certainty he'd be the one involved in it.

  For his family, he'd do anything.

  A shiver travelled up his back, and he couldn't help but feel he'd just sealed his own fate. He blinked to clear the image of a gravestone with his name on it from his mind.

  * * * *

  Drew looked down at his cell phone and couldn't help his smile. It was Marina's number. She'd somehow managed to get a hold of his cell phone number. That much ingenuity deserved an answer.

  He spoke into the phone. "Hello, Marina."

  He had to admit, he loved the way her name felt on his tongue. It was like music.

  "Drew."

  They were both silent. He could hear her breathe on the other end of the phone. There was something so intimate about sitting in silence with her. From a distance, he could almost let himself believe it might be possible for them to someday be together even though he knew it to be impossible when he thought rationally.

  "Where are you?"

  "I'm sitting in a train station." Waiting to board a railroad that would take him to Buffalo, New York. She didn't need to know where he was going.

  "Why won't you come here?"

  "We've discussed this." More than once. "We're never going to be together."

  He quickly pushed down to the pit of his stomach the pain those words caused. It could fester in there with the rest of his angst.

  "I don't want you to come to be with me."

  Liar. He wouldn't call her out about her falsehood. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. That was the problem.

  "Then why would I come to Maine? It's not foliage season."

  He heard her slight chuckle. "You're funny. No, I want you to come to Maine to be an Outsider. Be with us, not me. We need you."

  Closing his eyes, he wanted to scream with frustration. "All I would bring the group is trouble."

  "That's not true. You saved Jason. He would have perished at the mental institution without you." She paused. "You saved me."

  "You saved yourself, and who knows what would have happened with Dr. Jason."

  "Say what you want. You and I both know you saved us."

  Drew opened his eyes. "Up until the point you died and Jason, not me, brought you back to life."

  "Drew…"

  "Marina, I can't." He paused, and she would never know what it cost him to say what he had to say to her. "I just can't do this with you. Not now, maybe not ever. It's too hard for me."

  "You could come here, and you could just try. Right now would be a great time. It's quiet. It's just Jason, Charma, Eden, and me. Eden is barely conscious. You could take a little time to get used to the place."

  "It's not the place, Marina. As far as I'm concerned, one place is pretty much the same as any other." He stopped talking as what she'd just said registered in his clouded brain. "Where are the others? Where are Leonardo and Kal?"

  They needed to be there to protect her. Dr. Jason was great, but he wasn't a Warrior. Where the hell were the ones responsible for keeping the women safe?

  "They went with Gabe and Loraine to New Orleans to steal the books back from the demon."

  Ah… hell.

  "So you are completely unprotected in Maine?"

  He stood up and looked at the sign flashing that indicated his train had just arrived.

  "We're not unprotected, not really. Jason is here." That didn't make him feel better. "And I warded the place. It's solid. Well…"

  Marina could make a sane man crazy. "Well, what?"

  "The demon got through the barriers to target Gabriel."

  "I'm on my way."

  He hung up the phone. He'd stay… for a little while and leave after he had words with Leonardo.

  * * * *

  Things couldn't be going better for Sebastian. He'd managed to piggy-back on Alexa's power and all but incapacitated Gabriel, which had brought him running back down to New Orleans.

  By the end of the day, Sebastian would have Gabriel locked in a dungeon, and by the end of the week, he'd have all his powers. Plus, Alexa never needed to know about any of it.

  Not that she was turning out to be much a problem…

  The more he physically touched her, the more she succumbed to him. He could see her aura had changed. It had darkened. She was becoming what he always hoped she would be—his very dangerous plaything.

  Chapter Ten

  Gabriel held Loraine's hand as they walked across the street from the airport to the Long Term Parking lot. She narrowed her eyes at him.

  "This is where you left my car?"

  As far as parking lots went it was a little less than desirable, but at the time he hadn't had much luck finding a better place for her car. He'd needed to get to her and to get away from Sebastian. The lot had served its purpose, assuming, of course, her car was actually still inside of it.

  "I was in a hurry, as you'll remember."

  She nodded. "I'm having trouble keeping track of time. Was that yesterday?"

  "It was." He smiled at her. Her face, illuminated by the streetlights coupled with a full moon, was even more stunning than even he had realized. Reaching out, he stroked her cheek with his thumb, loving the feel of her shiver beneath his touch.

  Her voice was husky when she spoke. "It feels like a million years ago."

  He took her hand and led her through the gate of the lot. "Where did you say Leonardo, Kal, and Isabelle were meeting us?"

  "They're getting our bags and meeting us in the 'arrivals' lane."

  He'd prepaid for the car, which meant that it could stay there one month without bother. The same prepaid card would open the gate to let him out when he wanted to retrieve the car. As they walked through the abandoned lot their respective footsteps echoed on the concrete.

  After a moment, he stopped. "Does it seem too quiet in here to you?" He looked at his watch. "It's only eight in the evening. This is way too empty."

  The hairs on the back of his neck stood up straight, and that was never a good sign.

  "Gabriel, I have kind of a sinking feeling in my stomach now that you said that." Her eyes were so huge, he wondered if they were going to pop out of her head.

  "Look, it could be nothing. We're back in Sebastian-land. I could just be imagining things." Not fucking likely.

  "Before, when I was with the demon, I couldn't move. My feet were frozen to the ground."

  From the way she spoke, he could hear hyperventilation setting in. Her words were spoken between gasps of breath.

  "He's not going to get that close to you again."

  Gabriel put his hand on the back of Loraine's neck and pulled her up against him. Quickly, he guided the two of them toward her car. He could see it in the dista
nce. He'd had no choice but to park at the edge of the lot. A fine layer of sweat formed on his skin, and he wanted to pretend it was from the New Orleans' heat but was afraid it was actually anxiety taking its toll.

  He wondered if Kal ever sweated or if the Outsider who came across as the perfect warrior just went through life completely unafraid of everything.

  It wasn't so much that Gabriel was concerned with his own death. No, it was that all of a sudden he had this person he needed to take care of. This redheaded, freckle-faced, violet-eyed person who looked at him, even after he'd all but assaulted her with his temper, as if he could move mountains.

  He was half in love with her, if not fully, and he had a feeling that he would have felt that way even if there hadn't been destiny and prophecy pushing them together. It turned out he had a real thing for redheads.

  Gabriel heard a noise, something akin to a boom, and for a second he was deaf. Then the heat hit him. Moving Loraine, he threw them both to the ground. He covered her with his body to protect her from whatever the explosion was.

  His ears rang, and when he lifted a hand to the side of his face, he felt blood on his fingers. That couldn't be a good thing.

  With no time to dwell on his injuries, he looked down at Loraine. She spoke to him, but he couldn't hear what she said. With the ringing in his ears all he could do was see her lips moving.

  She lay flat beneath him on the concrete. Her forehead was cut and a long line of blood flowed down her cheek like a river looking for the ocean. Damn, she didn't seem okay. She was going to need medical help.

  Her eyes got huge, and he swung around so he could see what she saw. Sebastian stood behind him. His hands on his hips, he smirked at the two of them on the ground.

  Like Loraine, he spoke but Gabe couldn't make out what he said. In some ways, perhaps, this temporary deafness turned out to be a blessing. He'd never wanted to hear the words that came out of the demon's mouth less than he did now.

  In the distance, Gabriel could see Loraine's SUV on fire. It was a good thing they hadn't been inside of it when it exploded. Again, another blessing in this otherwise horrifying situation.

  He stood. He didn't need to hear what the demon said to know it was bad news. Loraine needed to be far away from the creature. Using his left hand, he concentrated on her image in his mind. With a swipe of his hand, he sent that image travelling to the outside of the airport where Leonardo and Kal waited. Hopefully, she would appear right next to them. He whirled around to see if it worked and was pleased to see she had disappeared.

  That meant it was just he and Sebastian. The demon advanced on him. He moved left. His hearing had to be coming back because he could hear his heartbeat in his ears over the ringing. Maybe that was good, maybe it was bad. There was no time to dwell on it.

  He raised his hand to push Sebastian back through the air. His powers weren't all that useful. Gabe could move things through space and float in the air for short distances. The flight might come in handy if he needed to escape but right now all he could think about was killing the demon.

  The sound of chanting filled his ears and drowned out his heartbeat. He almost stumbled. Where the hell was that sound coming from? With no time to consider where it came from, he felt the rightness of the sound. It filled him with power, made him feel strong like the sound of the singsong voices were for him alone, as if he was being watched and encouraged.

  Well, he'd be damned if he let down whoever was doing this.

  He pushed the air in front of him. Unlike most people, Gabe could see it move. Like ripples of waves, it thrust forward until it hit Sebastian square in the stomach, sending him backwards.

  Sebastian hit the ground on his back. Raising just his head, his glare alone infused Gabe's body with a malicious-feeling heat, enough that he started to sweat. Clearly, Sebastian had become more powerful if he was capable of that amount of magic with just an intense glare.

  Gabe rushed forward. Using his right hand, he pushed the air in Sebastian's direction as he took to the sky at the same time. With his feet off the ground, he aimed his assault to the air directly below Sebastian's feet.

  This time Sebastian blocked him. Using his hand, the demon pushed the air back at Gabriel, nearly knocking him down. Sebastian got to his feet.

  Gabe's hearing started to clear. He could make out the distinct sound of sirens in the background. Someone must have called the police about the fire blazing in the parking lot. That was a nice change.

  Most of the time Sebastian's antics went unnoticed. It was one of those magical things Gabriel never really understood.

  If they were supposed to win this war, it might be a little bit helpful to have the human authorities work with them instead of against them.

  "You're not the only one who can grab the air, Gabe."

  Sebastian pulled on the air, not something Gabriel had known he could do, and started to tug him down to the ground. It hurt, and Gabe had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming. If he was going down, he wasn't going to give Sebastian the satisfaction of knowing he'd caused him pain. He'd die in silence if he had to.

  "Fuck this."

  Using his left foot, he swung forward, striking Sebastian in the face with a sharp kick. Sebastian seemed dazed as he grabbed his now bleeding nose.

  "Didn't expect that, did you, you piece of shit?"

  "You were always so low brow, Gabriel. I'm going to enjoy taking you down."

  The power Sebastian used on him made his skin heat. God, it was so hot. He closed his eyes. Truthfully, he wasn't going to get through this if he didn't come up with a better solution.

  Rather than fighting, he let Sebastian pull him to the ground as he opened his eyes. Let Sebastian use up his energy on him. Hitting the ground, he rolled as soon as the hard pavement touched his back.

  Damn, he didn't want to die. He wanted to get to know Loraine better. He wanted to know what she liked and what she didn't. He wanted to know what she looked like naked and how many different ways he could touch her to bring her pleasure. Fuck, he would admit he was bound by the prophecy if it would mean he got to live through this to see Loraine and fight Sebastian again on more even ground.

  "You know it's over, yes?" Sebastian sounded like he spoke with a French accent.

  "What the hell happened to your accent, man?"

  Sebastian looked confused for a second. It was just enough time. Gabriel leapt into the air, and instead of taking off, he grabbed onto Sebastian's back, finally getting his arms around Sebastian's neck.

  The son-of-a-bitch had to breathe in his stolen human body. That meant the fucking thing could die from lack of oxygen. It wasn't pretty but Gabriel had no problem with the concept of choking him to death.

  Sebastian bucked like a wild animal, trying to get him off his back. Seconds later, they were airborne. Flying around like a disoriented bumblebee, Sebastian managed to loosen Gabriel's grip on him only to have Gabriel grab him again. It was an awkward dance for dominance.

  Gabe heard the sirens arrive at the fire below him. Sebastian dove to the ground. As his nemeses threatened to smash him like a bug beneath him during impact, Gabriel was forced to let go. Once again, he rolled as he made contact with the ground hoping to avoid serious injury.

  As soon as he stopped moving, he jumped to his feet. He was out of breath but still determined. This had to end. There couldn't be a life with Loraine if he was under constant attack by this demon. Unless he completely gave in and accepted the idea that his life was going to have to be all about the prophecy there would be no future.

  He turned around, flagging down the first police officer he saw. The man, standing shorter than Gabe at what he would guess was around five-foot five-inches, drew his gun.

  What the fuck?

  Gabe raised his hands in the air. "I'm not the one who blew up that car, Officer."

  He heard another click and looked to his left, leaving his hands raised in a 'please don't shoot me' gesture. Gabe wasn't sure, but he was f
airly convinced he would die if he got shot point blank in the chest or head. Not to mention the fucking pain.

  Standing directly next to him was another police officer with another gun raised. Shit, the first one still hadn't answered him. What the fuck is going on?

  It might have been a falsehood presented by the low light and the fire, not to mention the adrenaline pumping through his system thanks to Sebastian, but Gabe would swear the two police officer's had dead eyes.

  He swallowed as he heard the choked laughter coming from Sebastian. The demon started clapping his hands.

  "Gabriel. Gabriel. It was almost so easy that it's almost not worth my while. You need, or maybe I should say needed, since you are now about to die, to brush up on your history. I have been taking control of human beings since I was an infant."

  Spitting out blood that had seeped into his mouth from an unknown cut somewhere on his face, Gabe might have laughed if the whole thing weren't so fucking sad.

  What were they all wasting so much time saving the humans for? They were so easily manipulated that Sebastian could control them any time he wanted to? Shit.

  A voice behind him startled him. "I've brushed up on my Outsider stories. In fact, I remember when you murdered my family that way and tried to kill Kal and me this way, too."

  Isabelle. Gabe whirled around. If his moving made them shoot him faster, then so be it. They were going to shoot him anyway.

  "Get out of here, Isabelle."

  He narrowed his eyes as he looked back at Sebastian. His 'must protect the women' mentality reared its ugly head, and all he could see was Isabelle standing in a dangerous situation. Hell, even if he took a bullet to the chest, he was getting her out of there.

  Kal had a lot of explaining to do.

  As if on cue, Kal appeared behind Isabelle. "It's okay, Gabe. I'm going to remind Sebastian what happened the last time he shot at an Outsider."

  A bolt of lightning hit the ground turning the first man who held a gun on Gabe to ash. Gabriel gasped, shocked by the suddenness of it but not the violence. He'd seen Kal's work before at the mental health institution in New Jersey. What shocked him was how fast the other man had literally… fried.