This connection and the power she had over him—she couldn't only be a Host. But if he followed his feelings any further, he could lose his one chance for redemption. The day she asked to be hidden, she chose her world. Now it was Gabe’s turn to choose his.
He took a deep breath and hated himself for the next words. "I can see in your eyes how you feel every time I look into them. I saw it when we touched. But I can't ever be that to you. Nothing physical could ever happen. It would destroy me."
The room turned as bare and cold as her body now felt. She had her answer; not the answer she wanted but at least he gave her one. Other questions raised by his explanation still needed answering, but his response stunned her to the brink of tears. If she wanted to hold herself together, she couldn't pursue him any further.
What was he?
Gabe fought everything human about himself for years, rejecting the human life he could lead, yet she'd just seen more human emotion from him than she'd witnessed in anyone in a long time. Including herself.
Did Gabe realise his connection to the human world had already started his descent into everything he denied?
Chapter Twenty-Four
Three seats in the council room were vacant—only Jonquil and Nathaniel attended the hastily convened meeting, and Lorelei couldn't tell if Gabe was disappointed or relieved by the lack of participants.
Jonquil sat in the same seat as last time, and her vibrant red curls pulled back behind a blue headscarf, bangles jingling on her arms as she moved. "They are scared, Gabe."
Nathaniel sat at the opposite edge of the table, his white marble face expressionless but his eyes betraying his displeasure at the missing Council members. He fixed his gaze on Lorelei, saying nothing. Lorelei found his eyes too disturbing to look into for any period and quickly looked away, waiting to see how Gabe would react.
Gabe sat opposite Nathaniel and folded his hands on the table. "I'm not entirely surprised," he said quietly.
Lorelei hesitated then sat next to him.
"I've been told what happened with Caleb, Lorelei," said Jonquil. "The situation is very concerning."
"Concerning?" Lorelei bit her tongue before she could say any more, not wanting to upset an ally. ‘Concerning’ wasn’t the adjective she’d use for her recent encounter with the possessed Ben.
"And I imagine quite frightening," adds Nathaniel.
Lorelei nodded, surprised by his empathy. "Which is why I ran."
"Which wasn't the best idea," put in Gabe.
"Well, you weren't around," she retorted
"I would have been if you’d waited instead of disappearing." His mouth pulled into a thin line.
Nathaniel and Jonquil glanced at each other, then Nathaniel arched an eyebrow at Gabe.
"It would seem the discord goes beyond the Council," said Jonquil.
Lorelei looked down at her hands, embarrassed by her reaction. "I’ve had a stressful time."
"But Gabe is right—you shouldn't have run from the situation. Caleb will find you; there is no question of that," said Jonquil.
"Why didn't the magic work? It didn't take him long to get past it." How could she phrase these questions without sounding ungrateful?
Jonquil shook her head. "He's more powerful than any of us imagined; we can't keep up with him."
"What can we do if magic won't protect me?" asked Lorelei
"That is the question we need to address as a Council," said Nathaniel, bitterness edging his voice.
Gabe rested his elbows on the table and leaned closer. "Why did the others refuse to come to this meeting?"
"The reasons vary. Grant's race is frightened of Caleb's growing power, and he doesn't want to appear to aid you. Garrick isn't interested in helping because he has powerful magic of his own, and we haven't heard from Rowan since our last meeting. I tried to contact some of her Elders, but it seems they’re trying to distance themselves too. Jonquil’s shoulders sagged as her confidence in the council's unity slumped with them.
Gabe shook his head. "This situation isn't supposed to start a war. This is why I never came to you before."
"How can it not become a war, Gabe?" asked Nathaniel. "There are two sides here—you and him."
Gabe rubbed his forehead. "But do the Council members want the world that they inhabit to change? You're supposed to help each other."
"And to them, you're threatening the balance," Nathaniel replied.
"Not me. Caleb."
"As soon as the Prophecy came to light, this was no longer about you and him," said Jonquil.
Lorelei pulled a face at the mention of the Prophecy, and Nathaniel smirked at her. Last time, Nathaniel never mentioned what he thought of Prophecy. Not much, it would seem.
Gabe rubbed his temples, inhaling deeply. "I have revealed who Lorelei is to people who are possibly siding with Caleb. This is bad news."
Who she is, thought Lorelei, not where the Key is. She took a sideways glance at him. Had Gabe subconsciously separated her from the Host?
"Even if you hadn't come here, you wouldn't keep Lorelei hidden much longer—she isn't like the others, look at her, can't you see?" asked Jonquil.
All eyes in the room turned to Lorelei, and she squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. "See what?" she asked.
"Your aura," said Jonquil. "You have a distinctive aura."
"What’s that supposed to mean?" Nobody mentioned anything about an aura before.
"Everybody has auras. The power you contain is shining through yours. I'm sure it must be detectable. Some see it as a faint glow around you as I do. How does the aura appear to you, Nathaniel?"
Nathaniel scrutinised her before turning to Gabe. "I sense her more strongly than I would a normal human. I would easily pick her out, even in a town filled with hundreds of people. She's very... attractive to me."
Lorelei swallowed and shifted in her seat.
"And all your kind would feel this?" asked Gabe.
"Yes. And the other races would detect Lorelei is different from a normal human in one way or another. Lorelei could never stay hidden permanently. I'm surprised nobody found her sooner."
Gabe crossed his arms. "The last few years have been difficult. I needed to keep away from Lorelei. Every time I travelled to check on her, others followed me. Evading them became increasingly difficult, and the last months became impossible."
"So that's why I didn't see you for those years?" blurted Lorelei.
Gabe nodded. "It was too dangerous. I thought everything was under control until Caleb managed to get past my defences that night outside the club."
"It was when she became a woman," said Jonquil, pride in her voice. "That’s when she became more noticeable, the power of the female soul mingled with this...it's new."
Lorelei rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of Jonquil’s words, and Nathaniel snorted in amusement. "I believe Lorelei doesn't accept some of your opinions."
"That's the problem," muttered Gabe.
"I am accepting the situation more. That's why I'm here. I'm accepting what I can, but I can't change my world view overnight," said Lorelei's sharply and Gabe looked at her in surprise.
Nathaniel laughed softly again, looking between Lorelei and Gabe. "I've more experience of humans than you, Gabe. This is a normal reaction. Although the ones I've consorted with have been a little more willing. And of course, not as unique as the lovely Lorelei."
"You’ve known who you are for months," said Gabe.
"I tried to forget. I didn't want to be part of a world I didn't belong in, with people who I don't belong amongst. I still don’t. I haven't accepted what I am; I've denied it. I thought when Erin hid me that my life was my own again."
Gabe opened his mouth to respond when the door to the Council room opened, and Rowan rushed through the door out of breath and her hair mussed. "We have to go!"
Gabe jumped to his feet, placing himself between Lorelei and the doorway. "Go where? What do you mean?"
"They're coming!
Now! Go!" Her eyes were wide, darting to the open door behind her.
"No, they're not," said Nathaniel laconically, regarding her through narrowed eyes. "They are already here, and they're at the top of the stairs."
"There is another way out—take Lorelei through the back door." Jonquil stood too, indicating a door behind Gabe and Lorelei.
"No, they are there also," said Nathaniel. "Rowan knows this."
Rowan's mouth fell open. "What?"
Lorelei blinked as Nathaniel flew across the room in a blur, slamming the door shut behind Rowan.
"You're dealing with a powerful Lamia demon here, shifter. My senses are acute. Didn’t you consider this before you brought your friends here? And don't underestimate Jonquil. We were chosen to be Council leaders for a reason. We’re stronger than you realise."
Nathaniel’s lithe figure towered over Rowan's small frame and Rowan stared up like a cornered animal as she reached behind for the door handle. As she touched, Rowan snatched her hand away and cried in pain, nursing her hand against her chest.
"The barriers are up. Don't try shifting either, because I’ve stopped that too," said Jonquil, voice hard.
"What's happening?" asked Gabe.
"I don't think Rowan's kind want to be part of the Council anymore," said Nathaniel steadily.
"I don't know what you mean," cried Rowan
"I mean," growled Nathaniel, "that you have three of your kind at the top of the stairs and two at the other exit. You brought them here. I can't read all your thoughts, but I do know you came for Lorelei. Sit over there before I do something Jonquil will regret."
Rowan scuttled around him and sat at the table, glancing back at the door.
"Her friends can't get inside. This area is protected by magic wards which won't allow anyone but the Council members in," said Jonquil. "And specific guests," she added, looking to Lorelei.
"So, we're safe?" asked Gabe.
"Yes," Jonquil said.
Nathaniel strolled back to his seat, leaned back and watched Rowan, his pale eyes barely visible as he narrowed them.
"Rowan," said Jonquil gently. "What are you doing?"
Eyes filling with tears, Rowan shook her head and folded her arms across her chest, looking down at the table. Nathaniel slammed his hand down in front of her, and his eyes turned amber as his features took on a harder edge. Lorelei shifted closer to Gabe as Nathaniel bared sharp teeth at Erin; a reminder of the demon who once attacked her. The night this world became her horrible reality.
"You’d better tell us, or we will report you to your Elders," he snarled. "This will not end well for you."
"For me? For none of us. I warned you! I told you she wasn't welcome. My kind won’t accept the Council helping him." Rowan looked at Jonquil. "You know the story—you know why."
Jonquil rubbed her eyes with her fingers. "Yes, I know the story, but that was years ago. Nothing to do with this Host, or with Lorelei."
"But everything to do with my family," retorted Rowan. "My family are the Elders you talk of, and we want revenge for the brother and son we lost."
Lorelei closed her eyes. Her brother. She always knew something deeper lay behind her reaction to Lorelei.
"You’re all behind this plan? What are you hoping to do?" asked Gabe, anger building in his voice.
Rowan refused to look at him. "The war begins now, and you’re foolish if you don’t believe that. Many amongst all our kinds are aware of the Prophecy. We need to take sides ready for the Gateway opening, and we’re siding with the stronger ones."
"By coming here? To do what?" snapped Nathaniel.
"We wanted to take her to Caleb and not delay the inevitable. More will die trying to prevent this happening, including those who get in the way," she said, her tone loaded. “No more death. Who says we can’t live in a world where the Gateway has opened? Who cares if the humans die?”
"Deaths such as yours?" growled Nathaniel, leaning across the table towards her.
Jonquil put a steadying hand on his arm. "You seriously expected to carry out this plan with Gabe here?"
Looking at Gabe, Rowan sneered. "He's weak—weaker than before. We all know why."
Her eyes flicked to Lorelei then widened in alarm as Gabe jumped to his feet, the chair falling to the floor. "You have no idea who I am and what you are dealing with if you take me on.” Placing his palms down on the table, he loomed over Rowan, his muscular frame shadowing her from sight. “I have protected Hosts for over a hundred years on my own. I'm no weaker now. I will fight to protect Lorelei—and win. If you don't tell your friends to leave, then I'll go outside and deal with them myself."
Lorelei paled. Would Gabe jeopardise his standing amongst these people by killing? Rowan’s terrified eyes told Lorelei that she believed it was possible.
"I could leave now, with Lorelei," continued Gabe. "I’d go through the back door where your two friends are, and I’d destroy them if they try to hurt her or me. They're no match for the power I have, and you damn well know that."
"I think they counted on tricking you, Gabe," said Nathaniel. "They understand that you have, shall I say, a soft spot, for this girl. Rowan and her friends hope this will cloud your judgement in a threatening situation and give them an advantage."
Gabe shot him an angry look then turned to Rowan and continued. "Are you going to tell them to leave?"
"If you don't things will get out of hand quite quickly, Rowan," interjected Jonquil.
Rowan shrugged. "Well, we're expecting a war so what does it matter?"
"It matters because people will die, Rowan. Isn't that one of the reasons you’ve put us in this situation? Because someone died."
A dazed Lorelei watched, heart in mouth. What was more shocking? Rowan's betrayal or the confronting new side of Gabe? A dangerous Gabe threatening to kill people, and she knew he meant every word. He would kill rather than let Caleb get hold of the Key.
Gabe's awkward persona around her in his human form wasn't the real Gabe—this man was. She’d only caught glimpses of him before when focused on his role to protect his Key above all else.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell them." Rowan stood slowly and inched towards the door.
Nathaniel rose too and stepped towards her. "Go out there; call them off, then come back here."
Rowan opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it, instead turning and rushing through the door. Nathaniel slammed it behind her and cocked his head to listen.
Jonquil and Gabe looked at him expectantly as he turned around and walked back to his seat at the table. "She's gone," he said darkly.
"All of them?" asked Gabe
"Yes, but I don't know where."
Jonquil shook her head. "I knew she wouldn't come back to us. It's starting."
"What is starting?" asked Gabe
Lorelei only ever saw Jonquil’s face as calm and open, and the smile in her eyes constant. Not now—exhaustion lined her features.
"The end."
Chapter Twenty-Five
"No more. Lorelei, we should go." Gabe moved towards the exit, his tone emphatic.
"No more?" asked Jonquil, alarmed.
"I can no longer turn to the Council for help. Your involvement hasn't worked. All I’ve done is expose the Host and caused divisions amongst you."
"No, Gabe, the divisions came because of Caleb, not you. The alliance has always been uneasy between us all."
"And disunity threatens us more than Caleb and his allies. Nobody knows how the battle lines will be drawn and more know who Lorelei is and where to find her. What was the sense in me coming to you and risking us both?"
"You needed to choose allies, Gabe," said Nathaniel softly. "Rowan is right about one thing. There will be a war. You know I don't believe in Prophecies, and I don't believe it’s inevitable that the Gateway will be opened. But war is."
Gabe leaned against the wall near the door; arms crossed his expression hardening by the second. Was he going to take his fury out on
Nathaniel?
"Lorelei, what are your thoughts?" asked Jonquil. "Gabe has no choice but to follow where you go. Will you accept our help? For the greater good?"
Thrust back into the world which only wanted to cause her harm, Lorelei faltered. She chose to let Gabe bring her to the Council, trusted in their magic and help, but where had their visit led? To threatened violence and deaths. If the Council couldn't stop Caleb, she’d be better off living her own life. Gabe was right, exposing her to this had been his biggest mistake so far. And hers had been to trust him. Again.
"I'm going back to university."
"You can't!" gasped Gabe. "That's foolish. When I said we should go, I meant somewhere away from all this. Not straight back to a place that isn't safe."
"Caleb will find you," said Jonquil. "You're choosing to end your life if you go back there because he won’t need to look far."
"If I stay away, then what happens? I have to hide amongst you and spend my life running? That's not a life either, and it brings the threat here—to all of you.” Lorelei turned to Gabe. "You’ll still be around me, I know, it's your purpose, but you need to stay out of my life. Let me go. If this is inevitable, then whatever I choose to do doesn't matter. I choose to keep away from all of you. For the rest of my life."
Nathaniel leaned forward on the table, chin propped beneath his chin. "Are you sure? You're putting yourself in great danger, and that end of your life could come sooner than you’d like."
"I'm in great danger here—look what just happened."
"We can protect you," urged Gabe
"Maybe you can, but from a distance as you always did me and the other Hosts. I know you need to watch and protect the Key, and you still can. This isn’t about me—you told me that."
Gabe closed his eyes.
"Step back, watch who comes, defend me, but don't stand half-in and half-out of my world. Turn everything back to how it was with the other Hosts. The ones who didn’t know." Lorelei turned to Jonquil. "You’ve tried, with your magic, and it didn't work. Will anything work? Probably not. I want out. I want to pretend that I never saw any of this. I wish I were blissfully ignorant like the Hosts before me."
Hidden (Her Immortal Guardians Book 1) Page 15