A blonde girl to the side of Alex gave her an odd look, and Lorelei’s eyes travelled down to where the girl held Alex’s hand. A girl also dressed as Alice. Lorelei’s stomach flipped, and she cursed herself for feeling jealous. She had no right. They’d both made a confusing mess of their relationship, of course, he’d move on.
Before Alex had a chance to introduce her, Lorelei pretended to spot someone behind him and breezily made an excuse, leaving with a goodbye.
Attempting to pull herself into the party more, Lorelei chatted to some girls from one of her seminar groups while trying hard to sit decorously on the step. She scanned the hallway, switching off from the girls' discussions about who was doing what, with who. Some new arrivals missed the information that the party was fancy dress, their ordinary clothes standing out amongst the colourful crowd.
One person looked more conspicuous than everyone.
Gabe stood in the doorway, looking completely out-of-place in his jeans and a plain grey T-shirt. His blond hair caught the light, and he looked around the room, brow furrowed.
Lorelei’s breath hitched—he was looking for her.
Lorelei watched his confusion for a few minutes, a mix of irritation and excitement struggling inside her. Other girls around gawked at the impossibly beautiful man in the doorway—the man Lorelei spent weeks trying to wipe from her life and her dreams. He was oblivious to them all.
She walked towards him, stomach turning over, annoyed how quickly her body reacted to his presence. His eyes widened as soon as he saw her approach.
"Fancy dress, don't ask," she warned him, leaning forwards so he could hear over the music.
Gabe glanced around at the other people. "I haven’t seen anything like this before."
"Of course, I guess self-imposed exile stops you attending fancy-dress parties."
As usual, he didn't bite at her sarcastic hook. Instead, he appraised her, the same keen expression crossing his face as she'd seen in Alex’s reaction earlier. "You look..."
His voice was low, and Lorelei shook her head, glancing away from his darkening gaze, as her cheeks grew hotter. "I look stupid," she muttered.
“No, you don’t.”
Lorelei glanced back at him. "What are you doing here?"
"Using the front door."
The faint trace of a smile hovering around his mouth irritated her. "You never came back."
"You told me not to."
"Why are you back now?"
Jammed between the front door and the crowds, with music pouring out of the nearby flat, holding a conversation was impossible and Gabe indicated they should go outside. She followed him through the door, immediately hit by the difference in temperature between the winter’s night and the heat of the party. She folded her arms across her chest, goose bumps already covering her bare thighs and arms.
"Have you come to tell me I need to leave again?" For a fleeting moment, when she first saw him, part of her hoped that was why he’d come. Lorelei gritted her teeth, and she wouldn’t let him pull her back there.
"No, I haven’t."
"No evil demons pursuing me tonight?"
"No. And you shouldn't joke about the situation."
"Well, what then? A quick check up on your favourite stalking victim?"
Gabe sat on the low wall by the front porch and looked at his feet. Lorelei sat next to him, wincing as the cold stone touched her skin. Gabe seemed oblivious to the outside temperature, whereas Lorelei’s face already turned numb from the biting chill. It was too cold to dance around the reason he came—he needed to tell her and then leave.
"Has something bad happened that you can't tell me? You're worrying me." Lorelei’s stomach knotted—was something coming for her again?
"I needed to see you,” he said, his voice barely audible against the music from the party. Something about the way he said it ignited a slow heat inside her. No. He couldn’t do this to her. Not again.
"See me why?"
"I need to know—do you really want me to stay away from you and for everything to return to how we were before the summer? Because I can do that if that's what you need." His eyes searched her face.
“I told you, it’s not fair on me when I feel the things I do when I'm around you. I become aware that I'm not feeling the same things for other guys."
"Like him?" A muscle in Gabe’s cheek twitched as he glanced at Alex and back again.
"Alex? No. Can’t you see he’s with someone else?” She looked towards the open door of the flat. “I don't feel I could be with anybody while I feel how I do about you. That won't fade away unless you do.” Involuntarily, she shivered, the effect of the cold increasing the trembling inside her.
Gabe frowned at her with concern. "You're cold. Sorry."
Standing, Lorelei stamped her feet, trying to get some blood circulating, and breathed mist into the air. "Please, Gabe, tell me what you came to say then go. This is too much for me. I’ve answered your question."
Gabe stood too, and as he looked at her face, she gazed back trying to fathom what thoughts lay behind his wide eyes. "I don't want to stay away from you. I understand that you told me to, and I've tried. I now accept you won’t give yourself over to my world.” He paused. “Which means I need to be part of yours."
Lorelei groaned, running her fingers through her hair. “I've no idea what you're saying. You come, you go. You push me away telling me you can't be human, practically blaming me for the problems I'm causing. I accept it, move on, then you come back again and... this? What is this?" Her head began to pound with the cold and her confusion, desperately wanting to get back into the warmth.
Gabe’s countenance changed and, as she met his steady gaze, she realised she didn't need to ask. Lorelei knew as soon as she saw her desire reflected back in his eyes that she was lost. Her stupid physical self wanted him, and her logic was shot.
“I need you in my life, even if it means I stay here.” Gabe moved closer and reached out a hand. An electric-shock sensation jumped from his fingertips as he touched her face. She jolted, but Gabe kept his hand on her skin, his pupils darkening. With his other arm, he pulled her towards him, enveloping her shivering body with the hardness and heat of his.
Her blood seared through the numbness, towards the places their bodies connected. Where Gabe's hands rested on the bare skin of her arms, the familiar tingling she felt from his touch began—this time instead of snatching his hand away, Gabe lightly traced his fingers down her arm, and the sensation surged through her.
Wordlessly he tipped her chin, hesitantly moving his lips to hers. He kissed her with an urgency which took Lorelei by surprise. An inexplicable power flowed between their bodies and an intensity of feeling beyond her comprehension coursed through every nerve ending. Her scalp tingled and the biting sensation from the cold melted away as the heat from their embrace engulfed her.
Lorelei snaked her hand into the back of Gabe’s hair, pulling him to her. In response, his kisses deepened and the images she'd seen the day he spilt her blood intensified. Their minds connected and blurred her thoughts and his into one, as the intoxicating energy flowed between them.
A bright light flooded her mind, and Lorelei pressed her body into his. She needed to see the light more closely; to connect with it. Serenity flooded her mind, contrasting with her body which ached as he grasped her to him. She wanted Gabe and the light to consume her.
Gabe pushed her roughly away from him, undisguised horror in his expression, hand at his mouth. "No...," he said, breathing laboured.
Lorelei almost fell as she snapped back to the world around her. "What?" she asked, stepping towards him.
He stumbled backwards, half-tripping over the wall. "I knew it. I knew the need wasn't for you..."
"Gabe?" No, he couldn't do this. Not now.
His dazed expression stayed. "It's not you I want. It's not you that my whole being craves—it's what is inside you... I’m stupid...sorry..."
Then he was gone, moving inh
umanly quickly through the shadows into the darkness again. Lorelei stood in confused despair, her body still glowing from their embrace and her heart tearing apart inside.
Tears of anger and hurt spilt from her eyes as she stood frozen in time, staring after him. Shivering as the cold pushed out the warmth left by his body, she turned to go back inside.
This time, he didn’t get to run.
Chapter Thirty
Lorelei turned and ran into the house, pushing her way through the crowds inside, upstairs to her flat and grabbed her coat. She needed to catch Gabe. He couldn’t do this to her.
She weaved her way down the stairs, trying to leave again as fast as she could. The pavements were covered in frost, and she cursed herself for not changing out of her stupid shoes, sliding if she tried to walk too fast.
"Gabe," she yelled.
Surely, he couldn't have disappeared already? In case he re-appeared, contrite, she walked to the nearby bus shelter. She sat on the graffitied wooden bench and picked at the peeling green paint.
How dare Gabe do this to her then walk away without explaining himself?
Everything was a mess, and her mind now made up. She was finished. Forget prophecies, magic powers, mysterious guys who toy with her emotions.
Waiting for as long as she could bear the cold with no sign of him, Lorelei set off back to the party. What could she do now? She didn't feel like socialising, but she’d nowhere else to go. Her last option was to sit in her bedroom waiting for the party to wind down. Either that or get very drunk.
The streets were quiet with only the occasional car passing by. A dark coloured van slowly passed and came to a halt a few metres in front, switching its lights off. The hair on her neck prickled, so she stopped, watching. A man climbed from the van, paying no attention to her as he headed to a nearby house. Lorelei shook her head at the paranoia and kept walking.
People and noise now spilt out the front of the building and into the cold night air. Lorelei pushed her way through a group blocking her path and clomped upstairs in her ridiculous shoes. Her face stung from the cold and her eyes hurt from fighting tears. All she wanted was her bedroom’s sanctuary.
How could there be more people than when she left minutes ago? Lorelei side-stepped a couple wound together other against the wall and ducked into the kitchen. She filled a glass with water and eyed up a half-empty wine bottle amongst the plastic glasses and empty packets. Her mind jumped straight back to her kiss with Gabe. The physical sensations surpassed anything she felt when she'd kissed before, not that she’d many guys to compare him to.
How was it possible to be overwhelmed by something physical, something which felt like it engulfed her whole soul—mind and body seemed to blur into one with his? And what had he meant when he pushed her away? He wasn't taking anything from her—she wanted to give herself to him as much as he wanted her.
Her thoughts broke as the glass began to overflow and spilt down her hand into the sink. Hastily she turned the tap off and shook water from her fingers.
"Lollipop!"
Lorelei turned to an inebriated Scarlet standing in front of her, the dark angel costume skew-whiff and wings no longer intact. Her eye make-up ran down her face, and bright red lipstick smeared across her mouth.
Scarlet only called her that name when drunk.
"Scarlet..." Lorelei held a hand out to steady her friend as someone behind knocked into her, but she regained her footing, not spilling a drop from the plastic cup she held.
"Did you see him?" she whispered in Lorelei's ear.
"Who?"
"The guy I was with." Scarlet giggled in a way that grated Lorelei’s nerves. "The one I was kissing."
"No? Someone new?"
"Kind of. He was a friend of Ben's. Or something." She waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway, he came along tonight with some friends...some very hot friends. You should check them out." Scarlet paused. "Unless you’re wanting to try again with Alex?"
"He's with somebody else." Lorelei's scalp prickled. A friend of Ben's. "Is this guy and his friends still here?"
"Oh... Sorry about Alex." Scarlet dragged the word out and took a swig of her drink.
"Don’t be. I’m okay. Just listen to me—is the guy still here?"
Scarlet steadied herself on Lorelei's arm and scanned the room, blinking. "He should be—he was a few moments ago."
Caleb pushed through the group of people behind Scarlet and wrapped his arms around her waist. "There you are, my fallen angel."
He smiled, kissing her on the cheek; Scarlet giggled again and snuggled into him.
Lorelei's eyes widened as she looked at Caleb holding her friend, and her stomach turned over. Caleb, standing in her flat, dressed as a pirate.
The situation would be ridiculous if it weren’t frightening
"Lolly, this is umm..." Scarlet blinked. “Uh...”
"Michael. Lolly, now that's an interesting name. Very sweet."
"I know him, Scarlet," she said stonily. "We've met."
"Really?"
"This man is called Caleb.”
"No. Michael." She looked to Caleb for confirmation. "Isn't it?"
Caleb looked down at Scarlet as if she was a child. "I think Lolly has mistaken me for someone else, haven't you?"
He whispered something in Scarlet's ear, and she nodded, turning unsteadily to the kitchen.
"What are you doing here? With her?" snapped Lorelei.
His mouth parted as he appraised her, and she pulled her jacket around her skimpy costume, blushing. "I’m disappointed you never sent me an invitation, Lolly. Gabe got one."
"He did not. And don't call me Lolly."
"Well, he was invited to do something with you...” The annoying smirk crossed his face. “I saw you outside. Has he left you all alone? Bad Gabe."
"I’m not doing this,” she hissed. “You need to leave too."
"Sorry, I can't hear you." Before she had time to stop him, Caleb steered her by the arm into the bathroom. She stepped towards the door to leave, and he stood in front of it.
"Trying to lock me in rooms again?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest.
"It's not locked. I imagine some impatient partygoers will be knocking on the door soon. Don't worry; I won't hurt you."
Lorelei sat on the edge of the bath. "What are you doing here, apart from messing with Scarlet?"
He blows air into his cheeks. "I met your boyfriend. Nice guy. Shame. And poor Gabe, he chose exactly the wrong moment to succumb to his needs. I certainly wouldn't have waited so long."
The tone of his voice and the lingering gaze on her figure caused her to shiver, as she fought the too familiar mix of attraction and fear. “Alex isn't my boyfriend.”
“Alex,” he said in a musing tone. “I’d love to meet him. Maybe introduce us later?”
She glared. "What are you doing with Scarlet? Don't you dare do anything to hurt her."
He scoffed. "I don't hurt people—if I don't need to."
She ignored his veiled threat. "Then why are you here?"
"To see you of course. Although Scarlet is an interesting distraction..."
Lorelei thinned her lips. “Keep your hands off her.”
"Are you jealous?" he asked as he leaned against the door, stretching his legs in front of him.
"No. Are you?"
He laughed. "Me? Of who? Gabe?"
Someone banged on the bathroom door. "Hurry up," called a girl's voice.
"We won't be long!" called back Caleb.
“He never takes long!” added Lorelei, eyes fixed on his.
Caleb chuckled and shook his head. “You don't know me at all, beautiful.” Her mouth dried as he moved closer to her, heart hammering with more than fear. "The thing is, I'm worried that you’ll disappear again. As a little safeguard, I came along with some friends, to ensure you didn't leave."
"You mean kidnap me again?” she retorted.
Caleb's smile broadened. "No, my friends will stay here unti
l you agree to come with me. If you disappear, they'll stay a bit longer and... well, as you know, some of them don’t have a tremendous amount of self-control.
Lorelei frowned at him. "Are you threatening people? Do you honestly think your friends can get away with attacking people without anybody noticing? I hardly think so."
Caleb leaned closer, and his dark fringe tickled her ear. "I see through your bravado. You underestimate me, again. Nobody can touch me. I also know the kind of person you are—you’ll do anything to avoid your friends getting hurt even if it puts you in danger. That’s one of the reasons you ran before, isn’t it?"
Holding her breath, Lorelei closed her eyes, allowing his closeness to wash over her. What was Caleb saying? That he'd have people killed if she didn't go with him? Opening her eyes, she looked at him as he drew away from her, one eyebrow raised.
"You've moved from kidnapping to blackmail?" she snapped.
"I suppose."
"Gabe won't stay away long. He'll find us if I go with you."
"Eventually. I have a head start since he's struggling with some kind of Gabe-style existential angst at the moment. Brought on by you, of course."
Lorelei opened her mouth to reply, but the banging on the bathroom door grew louder, interrupting.
Someone tried to open the door, and Caleb slammed his weight against it. "Wait!" he yelled in anger this time.
"You want me to come with you tonight?" asked Lorelei.
"Yes. Before the party finishes would probably be a good idea. Although I have to admit I'm having enough fun to hang around a little longer."
"And if I don't?"
Caleb shrugged. "On your head be it, if anybody is hurt. Your choice."
He pulled open the bathroom door and gestured for Lorelei to go through. Fixing him with narrowed eyes, she pushed past into the impatient girl waiting to use the bathroom. The girl paused and looked between Lorelei and Caleb, and her mouth fell open. Caleb winked, clearly enjoying her reaction as she ducked her head and walked past him.
"Remember—don't disappear again," he called after Lorelei as she rushed down the hallway and into her bedroom.
Hidden (Her Immortal Guardians Book 1) Page 18