“How far is it?”
Gideon slowed his pace, moving to my right. “Four miles.”
“That’s more than a skip and a jump.”
He looked down at me, a little exasperated. “Seth couldn’t drive us to the front door. They think your sister has locked herself in her bedroom in one of her moods.”
“But you took her car.”
“Do I look incompetent?” He didn’t give me a chance to answer. “I planned it out before I took her. Right now, her car is out for detailing. It seems some no good soul scratched it.” By his expression he didn’t have to tell me I was staring at that darling soul.
“Thorough bugger, aren’t you?”
He took a minute to think about that before answering with some moxie, “Yes.”
“Since we have some time here, can I ask you something?”
“Always, my little titmouse.”
I ignored that. We kept walking at a moderate pace and only talked above a whisper.
“What’s my sister like?”
“Shouldn’t you know?” Gideon realized his error when my breath inadvertently wavered. A human wouldn’t have noticed. He started talking so I didn’t have to. There was a hint of compassion. “She is maybe like me. When she’s happy, the world revolves for her. When she’s angry she thinks, since it revolves for her, it too should burn and weep for her. Since it doesn’t, her anger flairs out to those around her. Lately it’s even scorched the Members, who are growing weary of the toasty treatment.”
“Why is she so angry?”
“I would think because the chosen one is supposed to be strong, but she couldn’t do it. She’s weak.”
“Cautious, maybe. She was never weak.”
Softly, he corrected me. “Not as you knew her, perhaps. She’s very different now. The weak at heart always emit the most rage to compensate.”
My heart wrenched in my chest. I could never express in words the pain I felt for Ellenore. She could have had so much, but she wasted it because she didn’t believe it could really be hers without starting a vamp war. Don’t get me wrong. The bitch had to go down, and seeing her hog-tied in her own trunk was priceless. But there was a part of me that just didn’t want to let go of who she was. Optimism, possibly, that she could still be that person.
My companion didn’t let the silence go. “I get to ask you a question.”
Damn, I forgot the unspoken rule. Trying to throw him off, I confessed, “Yes, I’m wearing underwear.”
Gideon looked at me thoughtful. “What are your feelings toward my brother?”
“Wow!” My voice echoed through the surrounding woods. “Gideon, what kind of question is that at a time like this?” I asked in a lackluster tone.
“A perfectly appropriate one. You’re potentially risking your life for him, even another meeting with the Mass. All for my brother. It’s more than appropriate to ask.”
“Well I don’t know how I feel about him. He’s kind of a friend, and he’s been helping me through all this. I owe it to him.”
“You owe him nothing. And I refuse to believe it’s guilt. What are your real feelings?”
I was angry that he put me on the spot. He was a stranger, for crying out loud. “I don’t know what I feel, okay? I haven’t stopped to think about it.”
“That I can believe.” What the hell? He didn’t get room to be crappy.
In a loud whisper, I said, “I am not talking about this with you.”
“Fine. But you will have to tell yourself, and even Gabriel, I’d think, at some point.”
“If he’s not in a million tiny pieces, I promise to make time later to figure it out. It’s not a priority right now.”
“When this is all over, make it one.” Even though his statement sounded like a command, it wasn’t. He seemed to mean it more as a concern. “If you offer hope only to snatch it away, it will break him.”
“You make him sound like a glass ornament.” Watching my step through brush and branches, I continued, “If Gabriel actually has a breaking point, it isn’t me.”
Gideon’s voice was sharp. “He has lost people close to him. That alone makes him breakable. And you have more sway over him than I’m comfortable admitting.”
Angry, I asked, “Who has he lost, Gideon? Enlighten me. We’ve spent years irritating each other but no time actually getting to know one another, let alone stir up this great romance everyone keeps accusing us of having. So please, tell me about the man I’m supposed to be enthralled with.”
He stopped walking and said, “Our family.”
“Your human family?” I felt so foolish for not thinking of his human ties.
“Our only family.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I kept my mouth shut as he recounted the details of their deceased loved ones.
“Our older brother Lyle died from a snakebite while farming when he was fourteen. He was a hard worker. When we were side-by-side in trouble, he was faithfully with our father in the fields.”
“That’s a horrible way to die.”
Gideon acted like I hadn’t spoke. “Three years later, Agnes, our eleven-year-old sister, ran into a flaming barn. She was trying to save our pigs.” I saw a beautiful smile saturated in sorrow. Then I blinked and it was gone. “In the commotion, we didn’t realize she had run in until it collapsed. Her screams were as loud as the fire was high, and then there was nothing but the crackling of wood.”
The peach fuzz stood up all over my body.
“We fought to get to her, Gabriel the hardest. His fingers were bled raw, his body covered in burns. She had been dead a long time before we claimed her body in the coming light of dawn.”
Completely sober, I muttered, “That must have been devastating.”
“It wasn’t until Ruby was lost that torment consumed our mother. Ruby was nine.”
“What happened?” Someone had pushed pause on our mission. In the still of the woods, I listened to Gideon’s story as if it was the only thing in the world. I’d caught a glimpse into his heart, and it left mine feeling like someone was pounding a huge, empty cooking pot with a mallet.
“She was sick. Nothing could be done. It was the nineteenth century. After her burial, our parents grew apart from each other, then from us.”
“Did they recover?” I was sure the answer would be yes.
“Our father showed improvement as years passed, but Mother was heartsick. She deteriorated so much that finally, he made us leave so she could wither in privacy.”
“And that was it? They sent you away?”
“He called us home just after our twenty-third birthday. We thought it was for her funeral, but it was a horror far worse.”
What could be worse? What had happened? Not wanting to ask, I found I had to. My voice was tiny, but persistent. “When did you die, Gideon?”
“Five days later.” He smiled, but it was sick, anemic. “Our parents thought they found a way to cheat the Grim Reaper. Our mother befriended vampires and made a deal to save us all. Father disagreed, but her rapid improvement and newfound hope swayed him. Gabriel and I walked into their trap and were taken against our wills to see the Cypher.”
I blushed, though it had been a Cypher from long ago, not me.
“Then they turned us.”
“Why did they want you?”
He shrugged. “We didn’t have time to ask.”
“Did your parents recover?”
“Maybe in heaven. They, too, entered the trap.” He smiled again, but this time it cast a wicked shadow.
“What happened to the vampires?”
“We killed most of them. Burned their ashes, buried our parents, and left home.” He forced a laugh. “It was a busy evening.”
I was speechless for a long time.
We continued walking, silent until Gideon cleared his throat. “I noticed you took a swim earlier.”
“You saw that?”
There was a hint of satisfaction. “There isn’t much I miss.”
“Good to remember.” Rubbing my hair, still surprised by its new length, I said, “That little girl needed help. It wasn’t a big deal.”
“To you. To the rest of us it was exceptional. Unheard of, some might dare say.”
I stopped. “Why? Seth asked me why I’m so special.” Raising my arms and letting them drop to my side, I asked, “So, why?”
Gideon made a show of his annoyance. “You don’t think much of me, yet you expect me to tell you everything I know. You call me crazy, yet I know more than anyone else.” His accusation was almost identical to Gabriel’s. Apparently I was giving both of the Vertiline boys a complex.
“Just tell me why what I did was such a miracle.”
“Oh, that?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. You must be some kind of freak.”
I rolled my eyes. “Very comforting. Thank you.”
He bowed from his waist, dramatically snapping his body upright. “How else may I serve you?”
“Is that an offer or a threat?”
We laughed and kept walking.
Chapter Thirty
A clearing formed, giving way to a huge complex. It was the epitome of wealth. The monetary equivalent could have sustained countless charities. Miraculous. This was Ellenore’s house? A city could have fit in the monstrosity staring back at me! The walls resembled a shiny, dark metal material. It didn’t seem to have a traditional front or back yard: rather, the manicured structure hit the wild like starch in a shirt.
“This is her house?”
“One of them.”
Well la-de-da. What the hell did she need my soul for? Her material life seemed more than adequate. Luxury always represented happiness to her, so what was her deal? Maybe she’d finally realized that money couldn’t buy life. I could only cross my fingers. Wait. Should I cross my fingers now that she wanted more? More being my soul.
Gideon grabbed my wrist loosely. “We need to enter through the porch attached to her bedroom. Once inside, there’s a hidden staircase in the linen closet right outside the bedroom. You will find Gabriel downstairs.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll go through the front and act as a diversion.” Almost bragging, he noted, “I’m very good at that. Once you’ve had enough time to find the door, I will make my way over to help gather my brother. Questions?”
“Do you have a room number or something for me to find him easier when I get downstairs?”
His eyes grew wide, letting me know he thought my question was a waste of time.
“You know what, never mind. I’ll just use his cologne as a reference.”
“My brother doesn’t wear cologne.”
“He wears terrible cologne. It smells like a pile of rotten fruit in a heated, airtight room. It’s so completely horrible it makes my nose want to crawl up into my skull.”
He grinned like he ate the canary. “Then he’s playing with you, because Gabriel would never smell like that on purpose.”
Anger stirred below my skin. Gabriel had subjected me to that poison for years, on purpose? What an asshole. I hoped he wasn’t dead already because I wanted to kill him myself.
Suppressing his amused grin, he asked, “Any more questions?”
Trying to let go of the frustration, I said, “Yeah. How will he know it’s me and not Ellenore?”
“Do you make it a point to underestimate all vampires, or just my brother?”
I didn’t waste time arguing. Instead, I walked away.
Following his directions, I found the porch. Once I was in her bedroom, I couldn’t help but snoop a bit. Hey, not a lot. Her room was reminiscent of the one growing up. There was an overstuffed mattress sprawled across the queen-sized frame, every bit of material either covered in lace or floral print. And surprisingly, she still had the turquoise baroque companion loveseat to the chair she’d given me for my spare room.
The walls were a bashful shade of pink, sprinkled with dark picture frames. Unable to stop myself, I inspected the photographs, secretly wishing to find one of me. What a disappointment. They were photographs of famous monuments. Places Ellenore had visited, I presumed.
Her closet was so crammed with the latest fashions she hadn’t even taken the time to remove most of the price tags. Shoes lined the bottom of the closet walls. They looked like they were in danger of marching right out. Ellenore never took good care of her things.
I peeked into another door to find a much smaller closet filled with very organized men’s apparel. It was the only evidence that a man had ever been given clearance to enter the gaudy sanctuary. Hell, even as a woman, I didn’t find the place very comforting.
I hadn’t forgotten Gabriel. Time was limited, but I figured he would forgive me a few moments to dump all the expensive perfume on the floor on my way through the swanky room.
Nothing moved as I listened through the door before opening it to the hallway. As Gideon had said, there was a hidden spiral staircase in the linen closet. It was a tight squeeze because I didn’t risk moving everything out of the way. I did, however, remember to shut the linen door before descending the steep stairs.
At the bottom, I was standing in a six by six room. The floor was nothing but dirt. It literally looked like someone had taken a gigantic shovel and dug a large hole in the ground under the house. Only, with the aid of a small wall-mounted lamp, I could see wooden beams holding the ceiling in place. That gave me some peace of mind that the whole damn thing wouldn’t cave in.
There was a wooden door next to the oil lamp. When I opened it, I couldn’t help but find myself impressed by what lay on the other side. Gideon’s earlier reference of it being a basement or safe room wasn’t accurate at all. It was a full-blown house underneath the existing house. The furniture was conservative, the decorations minimal, and the windows absent. It was perfect for a vampire and his or her twenty closest companions. The place was huge. How was I ever going to find Gabriel?
I saw two parallel hallways on each side of the living room, both lined with doors. It would have been nice for Gideon to tell me which room Gabriel was in. I started moving slowly down the hallway to the right, taking a moment to notice the huge tapestries on the walls.
The rooms were silent. A few of the doors were cracked, but all I found were bedrooms that reminded me of swanky hotel rooms. Halfway down the hallway my hand accidentally pulled one of the tapestries aside, uncovering a hidden door. Quickly I ran down the rest of the hallway, swooshing the material aside, uncovering a total of four doors. I opened one to discover nothing more than a dirt hole. It was completely contrary to the civilized rooms.
I forced myself to focus my thoughts on Gabriel’s soul. Not on what it had said, but how it had felt. Remembering the feel of it in my chest, rolling it around, trying to reshape it, a foreign puzzle piece. Each had its own shape.
Without a second thought, my hand turned the knob on the second to last hidden door on the right. Inside, Gabriel lay on the ground. He was on his side so I could only see his back. There was no movement. I wanted to run to his aid, but he could have been sleeping, which would pose a danger. Or worse, he could be hungry, just waiting for an idiot with a new haircut to walk over for dinner.
I inched into the room. Each step closer brought with it a silent prayer. No signs of life yet. I decided it was best to move along the wall until I could see his face. There wasn’t a lot of space between us, but it was the most I was going to get so I wasn’t whining.
When I made it to the far wall, I had clear sight of the front of his body. The light was dim. It was still apparent, though, that the minor cuts and scrapes on his face were new. The ones I’d inflicted days ago were a memory. Maybe Gideon had been telling the truth. Gabriel was probably hungry and pissed but otherwise unscathed. Keeping that in mind, I kneeled in the dirt in front of him.
Gideon appeared in the doorway. Before I could hear him yell, “Get away!” Gabriel’s eyes snapped open and he latched his icy hands around my wrists.
Chapter Thirty-one
Gabriel caught the idiot! I froze. If I fought, his vampire instincts would kick into overdrive and any chance of survival would be extinguished. If I remained calm, his senses might wake in time to not rip my throat out.
His eyes raged black and emerald, a deadly fusion. And his breath was too slow, purely manufactured to lull me into a false sense of security.
While I pretended to be a mannequin, Gideon slid gracefully across the room until only three feet separated us. I thought he had a great plan of action or some wise words that would help me not die. Instead, he said in a singsong voice, “You should have waited for me.”
In the same tone I replied, “Don’t point out the obvious. Get him off.”
Gabriel’s hands were like metal shackles around my wrists. But since I hadn’t struggled, his grip remained firm rather than bone-crushing. Gideon seemed to be thinking up a Plan B. Mental note: Next time, think of Plan B before it’s actually needed.
Duh.
Gabriel stared like I was the last Twinkie on earth. Not comforting. After waiting for Gideon’s miraculous plan that never came, I thought of my own.
I talked low, like you would to a man on a ledge. “Gideon, he’s your brother. Feed him.”
He had the balls to look at me like I’d said, “Gideon, let’s do a revival of Gypsy. That might cheer him up.”
“He won’t want my blood.”
“Why not? He might rip my throat out.”
“Yours is more...satisfying.”
“Tasty. You were gonna say tasty, weren’t you?”
After a moment he shrugged. “Yes, but this isn’t an appropriate time to argue. We don’t have much time.”
Still trying to sound pleasant, I answered, “Well, it’s your neck or mine, and he’s your brother.”
“But he’s made his choice. He hasn’t even acknowledged my presence—which, I would like to add, makes me feel like a third wheel.”
Oh, come on! “This is not a therapy session. Get over it.”
Souled Out Page 18