When we broke the surface I instinctively inhaled, creating an awful gasping noise. Seth and Paula looked up from where they had collapsed by the pond.
“I have her.” My throat felt restricted, my words rough. “She’s okay. We’re okay.”
They ran over, pulling us from the water’s grip. Lucy fell into her mother, crying, “I’m sorry, Mama,” over and over. But Paula didn’t look at all angry. I think she was too busy thanking God.
Struggling for a clear breath, I leaned back into Seth’s chest and coughed like someone had dragged nails down the inside of my throat. When I was able to stop choking, I asked, “What’s in there?”
Still sitting on the ground, he spoke into my ear, “Souls.”
“Dead?”
“Some of them.”
I tried to stand, but he pulled me back down into his arms. Frustrated with his answer, I said, “That doesn’t make sense.”
“This is the River of Souls.”
“But it’s a pond.”
Paula, gripping Lucy with white knuckles, said, “The name refers to the path of the souls, not the body of water. The stream of souls never stops. Some are waiting to be born. Some died, but it wasn’t time for ‘em yet, so their souls came here. Others were never meant to be part of this world, so they’re trapped and angry.”
I lowered my voice for Lucy’s sake. “They were after her. They wanted to keep her. I could feel it.”
Tears welled in Paula’s eyes. “I know.” She squeezed Lucy so hard into her body that the little girl was in danger of disappearing into the material of her mother’s dress.
Seth and I stood. He told Paula to take Lucy inside for some dry clothes. Once they were out of earshot, he turned and said, “No one’s allowed in the water.”
“That little girl was about to die.” My voice scorned him as I added, “I’m so sorry I had to break, gasp, a rule to save her.”
He moved to stand in front of me, blocking my view of the still water. “The water is dangerous. Promise you won’t ever go in it again, for any reason. Even if it’s me in there, or,” he hesitated before saying, “Gabriel.”
“I don’t know how you or Paula can explain it to yourselves, but I won’t ever stand idly by while a child, or anyone else, suffers to death. She was seconds away from being dead.”
His voice was hushed. “Ell...she is dead.”
“What?” I pulled wet strands of hair from my face, slicking them into place. “Lucy’s fine.” I pointed to the house. “She’s fine, Seth.”
Shaking his head back and forth, he exhaled intensely. His explanation was devoid of any true emotion, maybe because it would have slammed his heart with a hammer, otherwise. “She was a healthy five-year-old until her brother killed her four years ago. Accidentally, of course.” I couldn’t blink as he continued. “He never really had the same morals as humans often do, but he never meant to hurt Lucy on purpose. Paula’s husband, Cole, was the caretaker of the River of Souls. She won’t speak about it, but I know Cole made a deal with someone—or something—to bring Lucy back about a year after they buried her over there.” He pointed to a far field, where two headstones sat beneath the stars.
“Who’s there?” It sounded like the beginning of a bad joke. I already knew the punchline, but had to ask anyway.
“Paula’s husband and fifteen-year-old son. Cole traded his son’s life for Lucy’s. But he knew he couldn’t do that and live with himself so, on the warmest, brightest day that summer, he cooked a huge bacon and egg breakfast for the family. Afterward he pulled his own boy into the water and sank them both.” Taking a moment, he closed his eyes and held them shut tightly before saying, “It’s dangerous to even touch the water here, Ell, because it kills everyone: no one is immune.” He looked so sincere when he opened his eyes and took my face between his palms. With a mixture of relief and confusion, he asked, “Why are you?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Seth and Paula practically ran the opposite direction once we went inside. Lucy was effectively cloaked in the cabin’s interior somewhere. And I hadn’t dared one step from my room after changing into dry clothes amidst a buzzing of muddled voices.
I was glad Danny reminded Seth to pick up the bag I’d packed, but I felt a little silly sliding on the yellow raglan, three-quarter sleeved shirt with orange writing that asserted, ‘When it’s good, it’s really gouda.’ Seth had obviously taken the liberty to flip through the side of my closet I hadn’t worn in years. Granted, the thin, oversized shirt looked good with my distressed stretch jeans. For the finishing touch, I threw on a charcoal hoodie because my hair was still wet.
Since I had a few minutes to myself, I decided to study my injuries in the small vanity mirror. My body was healing amazingly fast. The small cuts and scrapes were no more than subtle discolorations. The knife wounds were still healing on the inside, but nothing close to life-threatening, just tender. However, the nasty vamp bite, the one that would haunt my dreams and hunt my fear, was the slowest to heal. Paula had given me bandages to cover it. Not because it needed any, but because it was a chilling reminder to them—to me—of what this world was capable of doing in the shadows of laws and rules.
The chatter stopped suddenly. I sat on the bed waiting...for anything. And then someone yelled right as the door swung open. Gabriel stood in the doorway with a menacing posture, clearly lacking his stylish attire and normally cool composure. He loomed in brown leather shin-high boots with buckles across the calves. And he was wearing ripped jeans with no designer label in sight. His shirt looked like it hadn’t seen a washing machine in months. Thankfully, it didn’t smell. It was just littered with stains, ruining what used to be a very posh blue dress shirt.
His movements were different, too. Unlike his usually controlled form, he moved erratically, as if someone had connected him to a car battery. What called the most attention, however, was his face. I was looking at a face I should have recognized, but it made me step back. His expression was alien, his eyes wrong. Something restless lived there, staring at me like it could eat me or love me. Or be happy doing both.
“Gabriel?” I whispered.
Seth stepped in behind him. “Not Gabriel.” He was unhappy but not panicked.
As soon as my feet hit the floor, the stranger grabbed me, spun me around, and dipped me, holding us close, almost indecently so. With a little squirming on my part and a slight battle on his, I gained enough distance to look him in the eyes. “Who are you?”
The stranger pulled me to his chest and whispered close, “Gideon.”
“Gabriel’s brother?”
He let go, looking quite pleased. “You’ve heard of me.”
“You’re twins?”
Distastefully, he countered, “Apparently you haven’t heard enough.”
Seth groaned “Am I the only one over the twin thing?” Then he collapsed on the bed.
“Jesus,” I muttered.
“You kiss my brother with that potty mouth?”
Caught off-guard, I glanced at Seth and said, “I’ve never kissed Gabriel.”
Gideon stepped closer. “Wanna kiss me? I like it dirty.”
“She won’t be kissing either of you,” Seth asserted.
Paying no attention to him, Gideon seemed much cheerier when he addressed me. “I’m the better-at-everything twin.” He winked. “It seems we have something in common. It’s fate. Marry me!” He dropped down on one knee looking quite sincere.
“Um...no.”
He stood immediately, unruffled. “Hard to get. How alluring. Say it again.”
Was this guy for real? I didn’t have to answer like a puppet. “No.”
“That drives me crazy. Say it again.”
“N—I’m not falling for that again. Why are you here? Do you know where your brother is?”
“Oh, he’s met a horrible fate.” He smirked when I gasped, then added, “Trapped in a cheap hotel room with dirty, low-thread count sheets and no room service.”
Not amused by his humor, I demanded, “Tell me everything you know.”
“Since you’re all bothered, I can’t say no. You call to me like a siren in the mist.”
“Yeah, I hear that a lot.” I must have gone insane. Finally, after everything, I was absolutely batty and Gideon was my punishment. “Just tell me.”
“He’s safe, handcuffed in a dungeon. Don’t worry, the dragons can’t reach him.”
Before I replied, my hands found Gideon’s chest and pushed him against the wall. I was closer than stupid to a strange, insane vampire. Even though he was as tall as Gabriel, I leaned in as we stared at each other. I don’t think he expected such intensity. I practically growled, “I need to know exactly where Gabriel is and how you know. For your personal safety, answer without jacking around.”
Looking down at me like I was breaking every preconceived expectation he had of the Cypher, the insanity drained faster than a sink, leaving a serious residue. “He’s in a cellar. I’m not telling you where yet. How do I know? Because it was my idea to put him there.”
“If you hurt him—”
He waved my threat away with the brush of his hand. “He’s fine. Probably having the time of his life fulfilling some fetish fantasy or catching up on beauty rest.”
Each word from his mouth impelled me to press harder. My hands hurt, and my left arm started quivering. Gideon’s eyes dropped to let me know he noticed. With a nod of his wrist, he shifted my shirt collar to see the bandage. The smell of my blood roiled his senses, causing his viridian eyes to erupt. While my heart beat like a tribal drum, I noticed that his eyes, in either form, were more on the blue side of viridian than green. Gabriel’s eyes were pure emerald. Such an inconsequential difference was, nonetheless, imperative to my heart.
Artfully shifting back to his human gaze, he peered down with his head against the wall, smirk reestablished. “I’ll tell you, but only if the others leave the room. However, I’m sure you would never agree—”
“Everyone out.” I didn’t need time to think it over or give him the pleasure of trying to scare me further. Well, he was a little scary in that loose-cannon, caged-dog kind of way. But there was information to acquire, so I didn’t waste time.
I couldn’t help but notice Seth hadn’t budged and Paula was hovering at the door.
Trying to control my temper, which was teetering on the edge of failure, I slowly said, “Everyone who is not a Cypher or clinically insane, please leave.”
Gideon’s left eyebrow lifted, full well knowing that he wasn’t the Cypher, but I wasn’t asking his crazy ass to leave.
Seth spoke up. “You can’t trust him, Ell.”
“Maybe not, but I’d appreciate it if you and Paula would give us some space. If he tries to bite I’ll—” Waving my arms, I settled on, “I’ll scream like a big ole’ girl so you can rescue me, okay?”
It was pretty much true, so after a minute of thinking it over, he caved. “Okay. But we’ll be right outside the room.”
“Thank you.”
Seth and Paula left, shutting the door. I heard Paula walk down the hallway, but I knew Seth really was standing right outside.
Gideon leaned down and spoke low. “If you’re in pain, let go. I don’t bite on the first date. Much.”
He could have tossed me through a wall with a flick of his eyelash, so it was silly to try physical intimidation on him. I lowered my arms. It did feel good.
“Tell me everything you know.”
“If I tell you everything, you might not have further use for me.”
“If you don’t, I don’t have any use for you at all.”
“True. I will tell you what I know. I’ll even help get him back if you pin me to the wall again.”
Gross. “You need a girlfriend.” He started to talk but I cut him off. “Not me.”
“But you look so gouda in that shirt. It’s hard to resist a woman with such taste.”
I wanted to kill Seth. Instead I said, “I know. I set the bar high for women everywhere.”
He laughed. It was similar to Gabriel’s, but more animated. “I surmise from your humor that you’re healing well?”
“Yeah. I never expected it to be this quick, actually.” I was happy, but it freaked me out at the same time. This was my proof to everyone that I was the real Cypher, but it also made me face the fact that I was different from all of them, vampires and humans. Surviving the River of Souls, for unknown reasons, only drove it home. My luck concerning both incidents was a badge and a cross.
Gideon was fascinated with my reaction.
“You’re very candid with your expressions, but you keep your true feelings safeguarded. That’s hot.”
I gave him a kiss-my-ass expression. “Don’t go there, Gideon.”
“Give me a shard to dream.”
“Not gonna happen.”
“Fine,” he sighed dramatically. “Let’s talk business.”
Finally, he settled down and we talked for almost half an hour. He’d gotten wrapped up with people who knew my sister and her husband. It just so happened he was hanging out with them, found out about their beef with me and, apparently, didn’t want to be left out of the fun. But in his defense, he didn’t know about the Mass, or so he claimed.
“Why would you leave Gabriel in a cellar to starve?”
“We’re brothers. Brothers kid.”
“That’s not kidding, that’s attempted murder.”
He shrugged. “I wanted to meet you without him skulking around. Don’t worry, his rescue was imminent from the time you groped me. We may even have time to play a round of miniature golf before it’s all over.”
Ignoring the majority of what he said, I asked, “What’s so great about meeting me?”
“My brother’s enraptured by you. I wanted to meet the woman capable of such a deed.”
Enraptured? No way in hell. “Think what you want, Gideon. You obviously don’t have all your dominoes lined up, but whatever.”
He leaned his back against the wall, very reminiscent of Gabriel’s habit. “No, think what you want, Cypher. I have no reason to lie.”
“I’m not lying, either.”
“Not if you believe what you say.”
“Maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself.”
He didn’t like that. I was annoying him. Good.
“Gideon, right now we need to get Gabriel before my sister lets him play with the Mass again.”
“I would never have left him if they were close.” He seemed utterly affronted that I’d even imply that he endangered his brother.
“Well they’re pretty bloody sneaky. And if my sister has anything to do with it he’d have better luck kissing copperheads.”
His eyes lit up. “That reminds me! I have a very pleasant surprise for you. I couldn’t meet the Cypher without bearing a gift.”
Great. Would it be headless chickens or flowers?
He saw my unease. “It will be unforgettable. I promise.”
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
He smiled. “It will be very helpful in our plan. Let’s include Seth in the conversation, and then I’ll unveil your gift.”
I agreed because I didn’t want to waste time trying to convince Gideon to stay out of it. Actually, he’d proven to be somewhat helpful. But all I could think of was Gabriel.
A strong sense of possession came over me. I wanted him back and safe. That was my priority because I knew he would have done the same. Damn, he had done the same. But I admitted, only to myself, that it was more than that. It wasn’t the right time to indulge my psyche to find out why. It was enough to acknowledge that something was there, more than friendship.
We also needed to come up with a good plan that involved Seth being very far away from the cellar. Fifty miles would be too close. I had feelings for Gabriel, but the minority side of me, the one that liked long walks and rainy day cuddles, carried a majority vote for Seth.
I looked at Gideon decisively. “Let�
�s do this.”
“I see why Gabriel likes you. You’re spunky.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
After some consideration, Seth and I agreed it was best not to get Paula involved. After all, she had a daughter to safeguard, and we didn’t want to be responsible for what would happen if the Mass got a hold of them. Once she agreed—more than relieved, I’d like to add—the three of us came up with a plan. Well, Gideon already had the plan. Seth and I simply nodded as he told us what our parts would be. Thankfully my wish to keep Seth out of the hot zone would come true.
Gideon and I were going to infiltrate the house Gabriel was being kept in. Seth would wait a few miles away with a car until Gideon signaled him. Oh, and the best part: how were we going to break into the fortress? My present from Gideon was a very pissed off sister stuffed in the trunk of a stolen vehicle. Actually, the best part was that it was her own car, which Gideon stole immediately after kidnapping her. I was starting to like him, the crazy, wonderful son of a bitch.
The worst part of the plan: since I would be walking into the fortress pretending to be my sister, I had to cut my hair. Seth had the honors. When he was finished though, my hairstyle was sadly reminiscent of Gabriel’s. Gideon found it amusing. Even giggled, the bastard. Maybe bad karma had come back to bite me in the ass.
We were to leave immediately. Thankfully Gideon had the foresight to snag a few of my sister’s clothes so we didn’t have to go shopping before the big rescue. I decided on the teal stretch satin, ruched halter with black detailing that tied around my neck, matching black pants, and dainty black gladiator sandals. This was the most expensive outfit I’d ever worn. I’ve always been a no-frills girl, but damn if I didn’t look good in my sister’s clothes.
She was stashed in some old house nearby, so we were ready to charge off into the night, right after I applied makeup over my remaining bruises. Seth drove for an hour and forty-five minutes while Gideon gave directions. The car stopped on the side of a desolate road. Gideon motioned to a parting in the trees, where Seth could park unnoticed. His job was done until we called him. A weight lifted, just knowing he was safe. Now we could focus on Gabriel’s safety. Waving goodbye to Seth, we walked across the road into the woods.
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