by May, W. J.
Gabriel’s head jerked up at the name while Rae dropped hers immediately. For her part, Molly continued to glare at Rae with the strength of a million suns.
Angel glanced between the two feuding girls before hopping up on the kitchen counter with a look of blatant glee. “It seems I’ve come at an interesting time.”
Rae shifted nervously on her feet, doing her best to avoid Molly’s savage stare while not being obvious about it. “Oh, not really.” She added quickly, “Do you want me to text Jules? I can’t believe he wasn’t here to meet you.”
“He didn’t know I was coming,” Angel said with a mischievous smile. Then her face softened as she considered. “And no, don’t text him. I’m sure he’ll be around soon enough and I’d love to surprise him.”
“Aw,” Molly smiled sweetly, before turning the same saccharine smile to Rae, “the day’s just been full of surprises. Hasn’t it, Rae?”
Angel laughed, a light, sparkling sound that somehow reminded Rae very much of Gabriel. “Okay, what happened? Did Rae kill your dog or something?”
Molly jutted up her chin with a sniff. “It’s so, so much worse than that.”
“On that note…” Gabriel turned to Luke for the first time. “I’m Gabriel, by the way. Really like your style, man. And your hair.”
Rae noticed the hair at the same time. It had grown out quite a bit since being half-shaved down for the surgery following his coma. Now it looked like something vaguely resembling a modern, stylish mohawk. Nothing too flashy, but unique. And undeniably cool. And the way it angled down around his handsome face? Rae had to admit she fully approved.
Luke shook his hand, looking both self-conscious and confused. “Uh…thanks.”
For a minute the lot of them just stood there. There was so much to say, that no one could seem to think of anything to say at all. It had just reached the point of becoming unbearably awkward when the clock chimed seven and there was a prompt knock at the door.
Devon and her dinner date! Rae paled—she had completely forgotten.
Determined not to look anywhere in Molly’s general direction, she broke the silent circle to open the door once more. As she did so she made a mental note to just bolt the damn thing shut. She couldn’t handle any more surprises from it after today.
Both Devon and Julian were standing on the other side. Both dressed in casual dining clothes. Both looking adorably apologetic.
“Hey, babe,” Devon kissed her on the cheek, eyes already searching for forgiveness, “so I know I said that you and I could do a special dinner tonight, just the two of us—but Julian didn’t have anywhere to go and I couldn’t just leave him alone at the house.”
Julian looked at her with wide, serious eyes. “There’s no telling what kind of shenanigans I might get up to.”
Devon shot him a look then turned beseechingly back to Rae. “Do you think maybe he could join us? Before you answer,” he held up two bottles in each hand, “I’ve got wine!”
Unable to answer, Rae simply opened the door the rest of the way with her foot. Devon’s eyes widened as they fell on the crowd standing behind her. “It appears I should have brought a few more bottles…” he murmured.
Before he could say anything else Julian pushed past him, white as a sheet.
“Angel! What’re you doing here?”
Instead of racing into his arms like she did with Gabriel, Angel kept her distance, sliding slowly off the counter and approaching at half-speed. “I heard you’d bought a house in London. Thought I should stop by and check it out.” She meant it to be coy, but Julian said nothing and she dropped the nervous act. “You wrote me a few days ago that Cromfield said he was going underground. Now, you may not know what that means, but I do.” She and Gabriel shared a swift look. “It’s rather literal. It means that he’ll be completely out of touch with the rest of the world, and, as such, he’s no real threat right now to anyone.”
Julian looked like he was aching to reach for her, but a paralyzing fear was keeping him at bay. “And?” he asked stiffly, his voice almost too quiet to hear.
“And then I heard Jennifer Jones was dead.”
Again, Angel looked at Gabriel for confirmation and received the slightest of nods in return.
A fleeting shadow flitted across her lovely face—as if she’d stepped momentarily out of the sun—before she looked up with a smile unrivaled by anything they had seen so far. “When I left the hotel in San Francisco, you said you’d be willing to…” She hesitated, scanning Julian’s face with frightful uncertainty. “I didn’t know if you were just saying that or… But the point is, it’s safe now for me to be here if you wanted to—”
Rae had never seen Julian move so fast.
There was a blur of colors followed by a muffled collision.
Then Angel was up in the air. Wrapped in Julian’s arms, gasping for breath as he kissed her with a strength and passion Rae had only seen on the cover of romance novels or on television.
For the second time that day Rae smiled to herself and politely averted her eyes as another of her best friends in the whole world was finally reunited with their one true love.
It had been a statistical nightmare, one of the rockiest roads of them all, and without a doubt—it had been a long time coming.
As she glanced covertly around the circle, she saw similar expressions on the faces of all her friends. Even Luke looked sincerely touched. Julian deserved this, possibly more than anyone else she knew. And from what she knew about Angel, she deserved something like this too.
Only Molly was staring openly at the couple, a stranger to manners. But her look of girlish happiness soon soured with a hint of distaste. “Okay, you guys…time to get a room.”
Julian laughed aloud and pulled away, still holding onto Angel like she was a part of his own body. “Sorry,” he gasped breathlessly though he looked like he was considering doing just that.
Gabriel flashed Angel a similar look of disapproval, but it was ruined by his grin.
For her part, Angel was in no hurry to be put down. But she stroked a long finger down the side of Julian’s face, reading his eyes in a way that made Rae wonder if she also possessed telepathy, before she wriggled her way to the ground with a dancing smile.
“No, we need a little normal. Let’s eat.” She turned to Devon. “You said you have wine?”
“Uh…yeah,” Devon answered, happy for his friend but a little off-balance by the speed at which everything was happening. After all, the last time Devon had seen Angel he’d openly threatened to kill her. He tried to catch Julian’s eye, but with Angel in the room he didn’t stand a chance. Instead, he just gestured to the long kitchen table with a heartfelt smile. “Shall we? Looks like we’ve got a lot to celebrate!”
“I’ll say,” Rae echoed, casually taking a seat as far away from Gabriel as possible.
“And I’m sure we’re all going to need more than a little wine,” Molly muttered, elbowing Devon deliberately out of the way so that she could sit on Rae’s other side. “Gabriel, can you please put a shirt on?”
Rae stiffened, but hung her head when he left the room for a moment before returning to his seat by Angel. Rae was going to have to deal with her best friend sooner or later. The problem was that she had a sneaking suspicion that Molly was far less concerned with the fact that Rae happened to be in her room when she was about to have sex with Luke than she was that Rae happened to be in there with Gabriel. Naked. Well—in towels, but Rae was sure that Molly would write that off as naked. On the one hand, she supposed it was for the best that they just got it over with, considering that for the first time in his life her boyfriend was relatively deaf. On the other hand, dinner was probably not the best time…
For his part, Devon was completely oblivious to the tension emanating between the two, probably subconsciously writing it off as some sort of wardrobe or feng shui disagreement. He busied himself with unpacking the Chinese food he’d brought without another thought.
�
�Babe, could you conjure a few more bottles of wine?” he asked as he carried the take-out cartons to the table. He added to himself, “Thank goodness we got so much food…”
As Rae conjured a dozen more bottles, avoiding Molly’s piercing stare all the while, Luke leaned across the table with genuine interest, staring between Gabriel and Angel.
“So, how is it that you two know each other?”
Still half-intertwined with Julian, Angel shot Gabriel a quick smile. “We grew up together.”
“Oh, that’s cool…” Luke smiled politely but then trailed off, glancing uncertainly at Molly. “Wait, I thought you said that Angel was—”
“Allow me to clarify,” Gabriel took over, “we grew up together…with Cromfield.”
Luke’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes flickered around the table, apparently searching for some sort of ‘just kidding!’ When he didn’t get one he seemed abruptly determined to remain as polite as possible, repeating his original phrase with his best attempt at normalcy.
“Oh, that’s…cool.”
“Wine?” Gabriel offered with a sympathetic grin.
“Please.”
Several bottles popped open at once, and Rae sank an inch or two lower in her chair.
It was going to be one hell of a long night…
* * *
With a speed that was perhaps unwise, the seven friends emptied each of the bottles on the table. The more they drank, the more they relaxed, and, therefore, the more they talked. Jokes were told, bonds were forged. Stories that were, perhaps, best kept secret came tumbling into light, with both hilarious and often times disastrous effects.
“—and that’s when he flew.”
Angel slammed her hands down on the table. “He did not!”
“He did,” Julian laughed. “Flew out with her in his arms. It was like something out of a movie. But like…a movie where the guy isn’t that great at it yet, so he ends up getting hurt…”
“I thought you didn’t really fly,” Gabriel interjected, eyes gleaming at Devon over his raised wine glass. “I thought you just jumped really high.”
“Semantics!” Molly cried. “He still jumped off a cliff to save her. And then jumped BACK UP AGAIN!” Although only half the table understood the reason, Molly had been particularly complimentary of Devon over the course of the meal. Increasingly more so the more she drank.
“And that’s enough for you…” Rae tried to remove her glass, with no success.
“That’s right,” Gabriel continued, still looking at Devon with the same fixed stare, “that’s why you were in such bad shape that you actually dropped her while trying to break her out of that secret chamber back at Guilder.”
“Gabriel,” Angel said sharply, “shut up and drink your wine.”
She was the only person Rae had ever heard chide Gabriel besides herself. Circumstances aside, she kind of loved it.
“At least I didn’t force myself on her while she was passed out on a fishing boat,” Devon fired back, his eyes flashing. “Yeah—I know about that.”
Gabriel leaned back with a cocky grin. “Semantics.”
Luke sighed and emptied another bottle. “Your friends are so weird…” he said to Molly.
“No,” Angel hiccupped, “the cliff-jumping thing—that’s actually kind of sweet.” She turned to Devon with a speculative smile. “You know, when you had me strapped down in that chair I thought you might be sweet underneath it all. You were so protective of Jules.”
“That’s what you took from that whole interrogation session?” Julian asked incredulously, gawking at her in disapproval. “That Devon was sweet?”
“Must be losing my touch,” Devon muttered.
She shrugged carelessly. “I’ve been interrogated by worse.”
“Seriously…” Luke said again, “…so freaking weird.”
“Changing the subject,” Angel diverted them, sweeping back her sheet of white hair, “how’s this new house the two of you bought together? Rae said it was just down the street?”
“Oh yeah,” Rae piped up. “How did the unpacking go today? The two of you get a lot done?”
“The two of us?” Julian’s forehead creased in a frown. “It was actually just—”
“We got a ton unloaded and set up,” Devon cut him off quickly. Julian cast him the briefest of looks before clearing his face and pouring himself another glass of wine. “I think you girls are really going to like it. And, no, Molls,” he interrupted her rant before it could even begin, “you can’t be in charge of decorating.”
The pint-sized redhead leaned back in her chair with a pout. “You know, sometimes I think you and I are making such progress, and then—bam! You say something like that…”
“Well you can help me decorate my new place,” Gabriel volunteered. “I put in an offer on a studio just this morning.”
Between the wine and the need for interior design, Molly actually forgot about her issues with him for a split second and leaned forward with unbearable excitement. “You did? Where? Can I seriously help?”
Gabriel leaned back in his chair, looking very pleased with himself. “Right here. In the very next building, in fact.” His eyes flickered to Rae’s. “I wanted to be close to all the action…”
A deep crimson blush flowered in Rae’s cheeks, and she pushed back her chair—eager to end the meal as quickly as possible. “Well, I can’t believe I ate so much food—I’m stuffed!” she said, crossing her arms over her stomach. “Off to bed, I think…”
“Not so fast.” Devon got up and threw her a little wink. “I stopped by the new Italian place you and Molly have wanted to try and picked up some dessert.” He rifled around in a near-empty container before pulling out several smaller boxes. “How do you feel about tiramisu?”
Rae spat a mouthful of wine across the table.
The others jerked back as the red stain spread slowly towards them. Only Gabriel remained where he was, eyes dancing as he grinned down at his lap.
“Babe?” Devon asked cautiously. “You okay?”
Rae froze in her chair, utterly humiliated, utterly mortified all at the same time. “What? Yes—I’m fine. Sorry! Just…went down the wrong pipe.”
Angel gave her a curious look before heading to the kitchen. “I’ll get some napkins to clean this up.” Luke and Julian went to help her, while Devon began plating up the dessert.
Molly in the meantime turned to Rae with a whispered hiss. “You are SO lucky Angel happened to show up, because otherwise you’d have a LOT of explaining to do!”
Rae rolled her eyes and lowered her voice as well. “Molls, it’s not what you think—”
“Oh really? It’s not what I think?” Molly pulled back and gave her a stern look. “Then let me tell you what I know. Because all I know is that you and Gabriel were in my room together. Naked!”
“Naked?”
Everyone in the kitchen stopped cold.
Devon had paused by the plates with one hand still raised in the air, looking at Rae like he’d never seen her before.
“You and Gabriel?”
It was like all the air in the room had gone cold.
Julian, Angel, and Luke averted their eyes, and even Gabriel had the decency to lower his stare to the table. But Rae couldn’t tear her eyes away from Devon.
She tried to answer several times but her windpipe locked down, and she went white as a sheet. Eventually, she managed a small, “Dev…”
His face was hard as a statue. Not a hint of emotion upon it.
“Like I said, we have a lot to celebrate.” His eyes never left hers. “I got my tatù back today; Kraigan must have taken another. Perfect timing, huh?”
Ice-cold tears started running down Rae’s face as she pushed herself up from the table.
“Devon, I can explain this—”
He held up a hand and she fell silent. “You know what, Rae?”
Their eyes locked again and it felt like something died.
“I don’t think
you can…”
Chapter 13
Devon had certainly gotten his tatù back. He was out the door before Rae could even blink. Her hands came up to her face in what felt like slow motion as she stared after him, unable to move.
What have I done?
Then all at once the kitchen became a flood of movement.
Both Molly’s hands clamped over her mouth with a look of pure horror, and she swiveled around in her chair to Rae. “Oh my goodness, Rae! I thought he still couldn’t hear me. I had no idea he could! I just wanted you to tell me what was going on with Gabriel; I would never have said anything if I’d known—”
How did I let this happen? How could I let it happen?
Rae muttered inside her head on a continual loop, her eyes unfocused as she continued to stare out the open door. She was vaguely aware of the fact that people were still talking to her and things were still happening, but she couldn’t get over those two little phrases over and over again. Was this how her father felt when her mom caught him?
“Go after him,” Luke knelt at her other side, reasoning with her gently. “If it was me, I’d go after him.”
How did I let this happen?
“What was that?” Luke turned to Molly with concern. “What did she say?”
Molly just shook her head in despair and clutched at Rae’s hands. “Rae, I’m so sorry! You have to know I would never have said that if I’d known he could hear me. I was just drinking all this wine, and—”
Julian crossed the kitchen in three long steps to where Gabriel still sat at the table, the look on his face unlike anything Rae had ever seen. Gabriel rose cautiously to his feet, shifting uneasily as he turned to face Julian.
“Which side did Cromfield break, again?” Julian asked softly. There was a quiet anger simmering behind the words that sent chills down Rae’s spine.
Gabriel glanced down automatically, taking a nervous step back. Before he could even look up again, Julian punched him with devastating strength right in the ribs. There was a sickening crunch as old wounds broke open, and Gabriel doubled over onto the table with a silent cry of pain.