by Vivian Wood
The blonde shrugged a shoulder, blushing a little.
“Not much, except that I’m the First Light. Oh, and my mother and aunt were the ones that got us in this situation in the first place, I think.”
“How long has Pere Mal held you?” Mere Marie cut in, her russet eyes narrowing on Cassie’s face.
“Four years, I think,” Cassie said.
“Does he solicit visions from you often?” Mere Marie returned.
“Yes,” Cassie said. “Sometimes several in one week. And to be clear, the visions are from the Oracle, not from me.”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Mere Marie sniffed.
“The Oracle possesses me, I am the vessel. She has the visions, I just provide… I don’t know, a physical manifestation. She lives in the spirit world, and uses me to access the human realm,” Cassie explained.
“So you could, in theory, deny a request for a vision?” Echo piped up. “If you wanted to, you could refuse to open your mouth or something, right?”
Cassie’s lips twisted as she considered that.
“Maybe. The Oracle can overtake me, if she wants. But if something happened to me, she would have to find a new vessel, which would be difficult. Believe me, I put up quite a fight when she first came to me. Now, I generally find it easier to acquiesce. It’s rare that I’m asked to summon a prophecy of any real importance.”
Mere Marie’s lips thinned, and Cassie wondered if perhaps the woman knew that summoning visions through an Oracle required a sacrifice; the size and value of the offering correlated directly to the importance of the vision being called forth.
Or perhaps Mere Marie knew that summoning was very draining to the vessel, at times proving dangerous for the Oracle herself. An Oracle’s ability to project a summoned vision came from within, and too much work could snuff a seer out like removing the wick from a candle.
“It makes one wonder how you determine what you deem important,” Mere Marie said.
Mere Marie watched Cassie for another moment before turning and putting her fingers to her lips, releasing a sharp whistle that made everyone in the room jump. The older woman turned back to Cassie with a frown.
“One more test, then you may go to your mate,” Mere Marie said.
Cassie reared back at the word mate. Her gaze snapped back to Gabriel once more, and then her eyes widened as a bit of understanding sunk in. The magnetism, that odd pull she felt, the insatiable curiosity… it all meant something. And of course, she’d seen for herself that Gabriel was a bear shifter, it was was possible. Just… unexpected.
Cassie’s mouth opened, a dozen questions on the tip of her tongue, but then she noticed a furry black shape entering the room. Mere Marie’s attention was fixed on the gloriously sleek black cat as it sauntered into the living room and trotted over to them. It paused at Mere Marie’s feet, staring up at her with something approaching a questioning glance.
Then the cat shocked the daylights out of Cassie by actually speaking.
“You rang?” it asked, its voice a masculine, melodic rasp.
Cassie realized that Mere Marie’s whistle had summoned the creature, which was certainly not merely a cat.
“Cairn, you took your time getting down here. Check her over, make sure she can’t be tracked,” Mere Marie told the cat.
The cat gave a haughty sniff and turned, jumping up on the couch and stepping onto Cassie’s lap. Cassie resisted the urge to raise her hand and stroke the soft-looking feline fur as Cairn rubbed himself against Cassie’s arms and chest. He hopped off the sofa and rubbed his mouth against her legs, seeming for all the world a cat marking its scent.
Cairn looked up at her with eyes as luminous and yellow as golden coins, studying her for several long beats. It was everything Cassie could do not to squirm in her seat under the creature’s scrutiny. Whatever he saw, Cairn must have found her satisfactory, because he turned back to his mistress.
“She’s clear,” the cat purred, the tip of his tail twitching.
Cassie raised a brow at Mere Marie, but kept her mouth shut. She deliberately kept herself from looking at Gabriel, though she desperately wanted to see his reaction to… well, everything. Still, Cassie prided herself on being an exceptionally strong-willed person. She wasn’t about to let some weird, magical lust control her actions.
…aaaand three seconds later, she was looking at Gabriel anyway. She caught him looking in her direction, not quite meeting her gaze, appearing exceptionally uncomfortable. Well, that made two of them.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Mere Marie snapped. “Gabriel, take her somewhere and get the mating stuff out of your systems. You’re both useless to me right now. And whatever you do, don’t let her get kidnapped. If Pere Mal uses her to find the Third Light, we’re all screwed.”
Everyone else stood, so Cassie stood too. The rest of the Guardians made themselves scarce pretty quickly, and soon Cassie and Gabriel were alone in the room. Gabriel watched her for a few moments, then beckoned her.
“How about a walk?” he asked, pointing to the French doors that led out into a neatly trimmed back yard.
Cassie’s mouth went dry when she heard the first few notes of his polished English accent. Her feet were already moving toward him at “How about”, which was more than a little embarrassing. Even worse, Gabriel was literally more handsome with every step she took, and suddenly her heart was hammering in her chest.
Gabriel seemed to give himself a little shake before he moved to open the door, holding it open for Cassie. She bit her lip and dropped her gaze to the ground, trembling as she passed him. When his hand came up and brushed her lower back ever so lightly, Cassie exhaled a pent-up breath.
“What the hell is this?” she groaned, growing frustrated. She felt like she had no control over her body’s desires, which was unacceptable. She stepped out into the bright New Orleans sunlight and walked a few paces away, trying to gather her bearings.
“It’s a surprise to me, too,” Gabriel said, following Cassie outside, giving her a little space.
Cassie glanced over at him and crossed her arms.
“I didn’t think you asked for it,” she said, pursing her lips. “Who would want this? It feels terrible.”
Gabriel’s dark brows arched, some flicker of emotion brightening his navy eyes, but he didn’t respond directly. Only a telltale crease at one side of his mouth and a faint narrowing of his eyes hinted at his displeasure.
“No one picks their fated mate,” Gabriel sighed.
“Does fated mean that you’ll end up happy?” Cassie wondered. “I can’t imagine that it does. What about your parents, were they happy?”
Gabriel’s went black for several seconds before he seemed to shake it off.
“I didn’t know my parents. My sister and I were orphans.”
“Ahhh,” Cassie said, feeling heat rise in her cheeks. “That can’t have been easy. Navigating the foster care system and stuff.”
Gabriel’s brows rose again, then a trace of humor curled up the corners of his mouth.
“Believe it or not, there was no such system in place. Mere Marie brought me here from 1850’s London. My sister and I lived on the streets, and we were lucky to survive at all.”
Cassie’s jaw dropped, and it was a solid ten seconds before she managed to close her mouth again.
“You… you’re… what, a shape shifting sorcerer who can travel through time?” she asked, incredulous.
Gabriel’s lips shifted and he smirked outright, then shrugged. Cassie thought that no man should look so good when he was being such a jerk. It was unfair, bordering on sinful.
“To be fair, I only time traveled once, and Mere Marie did all the work. What about you? You’re an Oracle, something I thought died out with the Greeks,” he pointed out. “I suppose that makes us something of an unusual pair.”
Cassie blew out another breath, shaking her head. Gabriel turned and strolled in a circle, hands behind his back.
“H
ow is this real? As an Oracle, I can’t deny that fate exists, but… how can I just suddenly belong to someone? Yesterday, I belonged to myself.” She rubbed her arms, feeling chilled despite the sunny weather. “I guess… I just thought I would have more time before you found me.”
She saw Gabriel freeze for a moment before he spun to question her.
“What do you mean, before I found you?” he asked.
“Well, I’m an Oracle. I’ve seen some of my own future. The second I saw your face back at the Birdcage, I knew who you were.”
“What’s the Birdcage?” he asked. “And if you knew you’d have a mate, why are you so surprised now?”
“The Birdcage is the place where Pere Mal kept us,” Cassie said, choosing to answer the easier question. Luckily, Gabriel jumped on the chance to ask about Pere Mal.
“How many of you were there, exactly?”
Cassie shook her head.
“I don’t know. I’ve met five or six, but when they were taking us out of the Birdcage, it seemed like there were a lot more. They kept us all in our own rooms.”
“And you think Pere Mal wanted you to seek the Third Light?” he asked.
“He’s asked me to search for the Third Light, yes,” Cassie said, hesitant. “It’s just… how much do you know about Oracles?”
Gabriel blinked and moved closer. Clearly she’d piqued his curiosity now. Though he had the physique of a warrior, perhaps her would-be mate was more scholar than fighter after all.
“Only what I’ve read, which is little enough.”
Cassie nodded, trying to find the right words to explain.
“There are two types of prophecies: proffered and summoned. Proffered sort of rise within me. I don’t ask for them, and I don’t control them when they happen. Summoning a prophecy, though, that’s different. I can try to find specific information, see the outcome of a particular action.”
“And Pere Mal probably kept you for the latter, I imagine.”
“I believe he’s found use in both types, but yes.”
“So why hasn’t he just made you summon the name of the Third Light?”
“It’s very difficult to summon prophecies on things that are not yet meant to be known. Fate has a way of keeping things contained.”
Gabriel shot her a look of consternation.
“That doesn’t explain it,” he said.
“Summoning a vision requires a sacrifice. The greater the request, the greater the sacrifice. Pere Mal was willing to be patient in exchange for only making smaller sacrifices, giving his blood, offerings of fatted calves, that kind of thing. He was not ready to make the kind of sacrifice that would be required to find the Third Light. Not yet, anyway.”
“Ah,” Gabriel murmured, nodding. “I suppose that makes us lucky to have gotten to you first, before he found a sacrifice he was willing to make.”
“Is that the only reason?” Cassie asked, hurt.
“Cassie,” Gabriel said, moving closer and snagging her hand.
His touch spread a fission of heat over Cassie’s flesh, and when Gabriel tugged her hand to pull her closer, she couldn’t resist. She tipped her head back and stared up into Gabriel’s face, interest stirring low in her body as she watched his eyes darken with the same hunger she felt.
Though the swirling desire between them was growing too fast, the kiss happened oh, so slowly. Gabriel pinned her arm behind her, pressing their laced fingers to her lower back. Their bodies came together, making Cassie’s body tighten and her toes curl with anticipation.
Gabriel traced a fingertip from her collarbone to her jaw, his expression something akin to wonder. When he lifted her jaw with that same fingertip and his eyes dropped to her mouth, Cassie’s lips parted in invitation.
Gabriel leaned down and brushed his mouth over hers, a burning tease. He pulled back and hesitated before returning. When he finally kissed her, their lips found each other as if nothing could be more natural, more right.
Gabriel’s tongue touched Cassie’s, lighting a fire deep inside her, and she slid her free hand up to his neck, knotting her fingers in his hair. Gabriel made a soft, low sound that made Cassie’s knees weak, and she nipped his lower lip. Her eyes closed and she sighed, leaning into him, wanting.
A heartbeat later, Gabriel released her and stepped back, looking troubled. Cassie’s eyes snapped open, her fingers flying up to her swollen lips. She saw the fear written plain on Gabriel’s face, and it felt like a slap.
A humorless chuckle escaped her throat and Cassie shook her head.
“Okay,” she said, almost to herself. “Obviously you’re not ready for this.”
She whirled and headed for the back door, scowling when she saw that the tuxedoed servant was watching from the window.
“Cass, wait! Where are you going?” Gabriel asked, following her.
“To find my friend Alice. You guys only saved one girl out of dozens, and I don’t see you rushing to rescue the others. If you’re not going to do it, I will,” she said.
“We should talk to Rhys and Aeric, come up with a plan,” Gabriel said. “You don’t even know where she is!”
“No, but I think I know who I can ask,” Cassie said, flinging the door open and stomping inside. “I have sources. And you can quit being all manly protector man on me. I assure you, I can take care of myself. ”
She stopped dead, realizing that she didn’t know how to get out of the house. When the tuxedoed man arched a brow and pointed toward the far side of the vast living area, Cassie gave him a begrudging nod.
“You’ve been a prisoner for four years. How can you have sources?” Gabriel demanded to know.
Cassie shot him a glare over her shoulder and headed for the Manor’s front foyer, not pausing until she was out the front door. She walked down the broad marble front steps and looked around, getting her bearings.
“Where are we, Esplanade?” she asked.
“Yes, but—” Gabriel tried.
Cassie turned and looked at him.
“Are you coming or not?” she asked.
Without waiting for an answer, she headed out to the street, intending to hail a taxi.
4
Gabriel suppressed a groan as he watched the flame-haired vixen stomp down the Manor’s front steps. He wanted nothing less than to spend time with her, let himself get closer to another woman, one more person for him to fail. Maybe it was that Cassie’s fiery temperament reminded him of his sister Caroline’s intolerance for foolishness. Maybe it was only their gender; maybe he was being sexist, an amusing new word he’d learned in one of the night classes he’d taken at Tulane University.
The concept of sexism was definitely more modern than Gabriel himself, but he understood it well enough. He supposed he didn’t have a problem with Cassie or Caroline or any other woman, exactly. He merely knew that he was never able to do right by them, so he avoided anything longer than a few hours’ pleasure.
He’d racked up many, many hours of pleasure since his arrival in New Orleans, but that was neither here nor there… Especially looking at Cassie, dressed in that alluring ankle-length sapphire skirt and tight white dress shirt, her fiery red hair spilling down her back. If Gabriel had spotted her at one of the Kith clubs, mate or no mate, he’d have done almost anything to take her home.
A Yellow Cab pulled up at the curb, and Gabriel trotted down the steps. He slammed his hand onto the door before Cassie could open it, ignoring her furious glare.
“At least let me drive you,” he said. “One of our cars is parked across the street.”
He pointed to the sleek black SUV sitting only a few hundred feet away, and to his relief Cassie relented.
“Fine,” she said, her mouth pressed into a tight frown. She waved the taxi on, looking impatient.
“Let me grab the keys from Duverjay,” Gabriel said. At her puzzled look, he clarified, “The butler. In the suit and tails?”
Cassie rolled her eyes and walked back into the Manor’s front yard, plopping
down on a marble bench to wait. Gabriel knew he’d made her well and truly angry, but he’d be damned if he knew what to do about it. He couldn’t very well apologize for his feelings about mating, could he? No matter how full her lips might be, how sexy her wide gray eyes…
As he fetched the keys from the Manor’s foyer, he wondered if it wasn’t better that she remain angry. Gabriel intended to keep distance between them, and what better way than to let nature take its course?
Before he left the Manor, he grabbed a go-bag from the foyer. It lacked a sword, his favored weapon, but it did have several weapons and some money, just in case.
“Alright,” Gabriel said as he rejoined Cassie. He unlocked the car and went around to open her door, trying not to smirk at her suspicious expression. He tossed the bag in the back seat and climbed into the driver’s seat, frowning as he crammed his lanky frame into the car.
“Never will get used to autos,” he sighed as he pulled the car out onto Esplanade.
“I had a car for a few years, back when I was a teenager. A junky little subcompact. Your legs and that car would not mix well,” Cassie said. “You would’ve had to ride in the back seat or something.”
“Let’s not find out. Where are we going, by the way?” Gabriel asked.
“Jackson Square,” Cassie said.
Gabriel blinked, surprised by her answer. Right in the center of the French Quarter lay the St. Louis Cathedral, one of the city’s oldest tourist attractions. Before the grand church lay a miniature park, surrounded on all sides by restaurants and art galleries and retail shops. Crammed into the empty spaces were artists, hot dog and snoball vendors, chess grandmasters offering lessons, street performers, and every other kind of merchant imaginable – Jackson Square.
Gabriel had expected Cassie’s sources to be in the Gray Market, the vast underground paranormal market hidden from human view. If not there, then in some other venue that served the Kith, the supernatural community.
“You wanted to come,” Cassie said, turning to look out the window. “Parking is going to be a nightmare, you know.”