Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  I gradually moved my hand to her neck, gliding it beneath hers. Focusing all my intent on relieving what pain she felt, I tried to make her feel better. How I did that, though, I couldn’t tell you.

  Instinct, I guessed. Godly instinct.

  The look in her eyes told me exactly what her mind was, reminding me that I had something I needed to tell her. “Kass, I—”

  She stopped me short of my declaration by setting one hand on my face and the other around my back. A low sigh left her as she nestled her way into the space between my neck and shoulder.

  I could definitely get used to this. Actually, it was all I ever wanted.

  Chapter Forty-Five – Kass

  I knew Gabriel wanted to say something, but I stopped him by burrowing into the refuge of his huge frame and bodily muscles. After the whole dying thing, I just needed to be near him. I needed to know he was okay.

  And he had to know that I was okay.

  Besides, deep down there was a part of me that knew exactly what he was going to say. The only problem with what he was about to proclaim was that I didn’t want to hear it now. Not with everyone around.

  I was so tired. My neck hurt.

  The pricks of his stubble on the side of my face caused me to open my eyes and stare at him. There was something different in his deep blue eyes, and I could barely tell what it was. A new, shadowy glint was hiding behind his eyes, but there was also something else…something purer.

  Gabriel’s forehead leaned against mine, touching our noses and giving me the butterflies.

  A small smile spread across my face when I said, “Your hair.”

  “What?” He grinned in response. “Don’t tell me it’s polka-dotted now.”

  “It’s not.” My hands fell to his chest, and I was thankful that he was cradling me enough that I didn’t need to prop myself up. All I had to do was relax in Gabriel’s arms…which, apparently, was harder to do than I would like to believe.

  Who would have thought that being this close to him while everyone else was a few feet away would be so tough to endure?

  I blamed those stupid butterflies.

  Gabriel hugged me closer, if it was possible. And yep, it was. “It’s not all black or white, is it?” Despite my closeness, I was able to watch him lift a single eyebrow.

  Giggling, I quickly answered, “No. It looks like you went to a salon, but I think it’s—” I didn’t want to finish that sentence because I was afraid of where it might lead. Well, I decided, too late to turn back now. “—nice.”

  “Somehow I don’t think that’s what you were going to say,” Gabriel spoke slyly, an enormous smile creating two dimples on his cheeks.

  “You know what I was going to say.”

  “I still want you to say it,” he cut through my nearly incoherent babbled response.

  Biting my lip, I averted my eyes. While I was bashfully looking away, my eyes spotted something that was different, other than his hair. For a split-second, a millisecond at best, there was a lot of light gathering behind Gabriel…in the form of two, white wings.

  As soon as I snapped my eyes back to do a double-take, the light was gone, as were the wings.

  The strange thing was that I was the only one who saw it, because no one spoke up. No one asked any questions about the abnormal amount of weirdly-shaped light behind Gabriel. Basically, they kept doing what they were doing before: staring at the two teenagers who were forced to grow up way too fast.

  A loud commotion broke the seriousness of the air around us as Max clumsily ran to us, gripping the metal stake and yelling, “Where is she? I’ll purify her before she can…” He used a shaking finger to push his glasses farther up his nose, the way Michael always did. He then pointed to the macabre bones resting beside Gabriel. “Is that…”

  Gabriel’s eyes fell to the spinal column as he said, “Yes.” He was in the process of bringing his gaze back up to the nerdy redhead when Max fell to the ground.

  The question remained: did Max faint because he had a concussion, or because he didn’t have the stomach to see a blood-soaked, tendon-ridden, irregularly-shaped spine?

  Turned out, after a big boss fight, everyone’s starved. So what did we do? Michael ordered some pizza, Max called Claire to tell her the good news, and Liz arranged for the bodies of both Sephira and Taiton to be picked up by members of the Council.

  I could only assume that the same people who took Koath’s body would show up to collect the new ones, minus Cleo, of course, because she was as dead as a doornail. Deader, even. Normally, if you’re as dead as a doornail, there’s still a body to be found. That wasn’t the case with Cleo; that’s what I was told.

  It was a good thing our neighbors on this side of the street weren’t exactly close-by, and that woods butted up against the back of our house.

  The furniture in the living room was pushed to the sides of the room, and we all lounged on pillows and sleeping bags. It was like we were one, big, happy family.

  In an odd way, I supposed we were one, big, happy family.

  Excluding Crixis. That should go without saying, really. He wasn’t part of the family, and he never would be. It was a good thing the Daywalker wasn’t even here; otherwise I’d have a bone to pick with him.

  It was his fault I died, after all.

  Everyone was in such a happy mood that we might have let him stay (temporarily) if he didn’t have errands to run. And by errands, I meant people to probably kill. At least, that’s what I imagined his errands were.

  It wasn’t like he had to go to the grocery store to pick up some milk and bread.

  Liz laughed, sounding thankful. “I know we all didn’t make it, God rest Taiton’s soul, but I’m beyond thrilled that we survived, that we managed to beat Sephira.” Her small hand found its way into Michael’s.

  “From what I hear,” Max guzzled some carbonated beverage we had in the fridge, “it wasn’t so much us as it was Gabriel.” His beady eyes met with Gabriel, who immediately hi-fived him in response.

  “Amen to that, brother,” the blonde boy joked. His handsome expression became fatally humorless. “I’ll take thank-yous in the forms of checks, cash, weapons, and sexual favors.”

  Michael sharply coughed, Max almost spit out his Dr. Pepper, and Liz crinkled her eyebrows, saying, “Dear Lord!”

  Was I seriously the only one here who wasn’t surprised in the least by that comment?

  Gabriel was hasty to continue, “The last one from just Kass, obviously.” His blue eyes winked, causing the heat to rise to my face.

  “Technically,” Max was the first who gambled to talk, “they wouldn’t be considered favors if both parties want it.”

  Gabriel outstretched an arm and gently punched him, saying, “Dude, I’m loving you right now, because that’s so true and we all know it.” His drop-dead face turned to me, showing me that he was completely serious.

  Just like I knew he was.

  Once the room’s raucous laughter, whether it was disgustful or agreeable, quieted down, I realized someone was missing. And no, I didn’t mean Crixis.

  I meant Raphael.

  Partially against my better judgment, because of Gabriel’s jealousy, I asked, “Where’s Raphael?” The irrelevant chatter in the room ceased instantly as everyone came to the same epiphany I did.

  Michael’s eyes met mine when he said, “I don’t know. I didn’t realize he wasn’t here.”

  “Last I saw him,” Gabriel murmured beside me, “he was in his room.” There was a glimmering in his azure eyes that told me things I didn’t want to hear.

  Not liking the twinkle in his eyes, I stood and walked to his room. The door was wide open, which set me on edge right away. Raphael was always keen on his privacy, so the fact that his room wasn’t shut was the first clue that something was wrong.

  “Raphael?” I spoke his name cautiously, heading into the heart of the room. My eyes noticed the emptiness of the area. There were no random books, no clothes, and no bags. Everythi
ng was gone.

  It was like he wasn’t even here. The room was impeccably cleaned, the bed was made, the closet was completely empty. There was no note, no anything that would hint to what occurred here.

  Not that I needed one, because I knew exactly what happened. I didn’t know where he went, but I knew he left.

  Raphael was gone.

  Chapter Forty-Six – Raphael

  It was time.

  Part of me wanted to stay, because it’s never easy to leave, but I knew I couldn’t stay. I didn’t belong here. I was the original Purifier. Someone who never aged, never slept, and always followed orders. Being made Vampire by the first woman I felt anything for was the last straw.

  I’d never be anything that was remotely human.

  Why stay?

  Kass did not need me anymore. She had a vast array of friends who would do anything for her, including a boy who was not what he seemed to be.

  I thought I had Gabriel figured out, but I supposed I was wrong. No normal human, Purifier or not, could do the things he did a few hours ago. There was something in him that was unleashed when Kass died.

  Unfortunately, I had no clue what that something was.

  The darkness inside Gabriel must be controlled by Kass, and losing her pushed it out, helping him over the edge.

  As it was, practically my whole relationship with Kass was a lie. I hid my true identity from her, not to mention my feelings. It was for the best, though she was forced to find out from Crixis. Let’s not forget to mention how I compelled Michael to let me train her after they moved here.

  That was only the beginning.

  An unearthly urge told me to pick up my phone, so I slung my bag over my shoulder and watched as the caller ID appeared, changing the screen’s normal appearance. I recognized the number right away, so I flipped it open and said, “You got my message?”

  There was a laugh on the other line. “Of course I did. Sorry I took so long to call back. It’s been a busy few days at the morgue. Lot of people are dying here…we’re beginning to suspect there’s something causing it. Could you help out? I hate seeing my neighbors dropping like flies.”

  “Of course I’ll help you,” I quickly replied. “I don’t suppose that I could—”

  “You can stay here, with us, Raphael,” he hurriedly said, knowing exactly what I was about to ask. “It’s been a while, after all, and I could never turn down a friend such as you.”

  A sad smile crossed my face as I said, “Thank you.”

  “When can we expect you? The house is a bit of a mess right now, so—”

  Cutting through his speech about how filthy his home was, I laughed and said, “I’ll be there tonight.”

  There was silence for a few moments before Andrew spoke, “That doesn’t give us a lot of time to clean.” He was always the neat and orderly man. It was good to know time hadn’t changed him.

  I sighed, saying, “I can help you when I get there.”

  “Well, that defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? I would like you to see our house without its usual messy clutter.” I could hear him shuffling papers around. “It’s just that the wife moved her tutoring and self-defense class here, so there’s always kids around…is that going to be a problem for you?”

  My mind recalled all the times I had training Kass. All those times were now gone, and they were never coming back. “No, I’m used to it. Thanks again. I’ll be right there.”

  He joked “Please, take your time” before I hung up the phone.

  Standing on the side of the road, I threw one last look at the house before flashing away.

  Goodbye, Kass.

  Chapter Forty-Seven – Kass

  I banged my head on the windowpane. The sun was rising, creating a picturesque scene, like a watercolor made with yellows, oranges, and pinks with small blurs of red. It was pretty, but somehow I couldn’t focus.

  Raphael was gone. Taiton was dead. Crixis was…whatever he was. Don’t even get me started on Gabriel. Things weren’t ever going to be the same. I knew I said that before, but this time I really meant it.

  Tucking my arms around my legs, I settled into the overly large windowsill.

  A six-foot figure sat beside me, but instead of gazing out of the window at the sunrise, he stared at me. Even in a hunched, sitting-down position he was taller than me. I kept my eyes firmly glued to the window, not knowing what Gabriel was trying to do here.

  It was when he said “Don’t make this harder for me, Kass” that I came upon the realization of why the blonde boy was in my room, sitting on my windowsill, leaning his head down and cornering me against the crook between the window and the wall.

  “Gabriel—” I couldn’t finish my witty remark. Why? No big reason…except Gabriel’s mouth was on mine.

  Yes, that’s right. Gabriel was kissing me. He was kissing me and it felt good. No, scratch that.

  Keeping his lips locked with mine, Gabriel set a hand on my neck to better the angle between us.

  I closed my eyes and gave in. I couldn’t help it. There was something electric about his touch that made me want to let him do whatever he wanted with me. It was the best feeling I ever experienced. An impulse took over, requiring my hands to slowly make their way up his chest and around his neck.

  My lungs needed to breathe, but I never wanted him to stop.

  In one, swift motion, I was picked up and moved to the bed. Our lips never separated, which must have taken some skill on his part. Even with my closed eyes I could imagine the way his huge figure covered mine.

  Gabriel.

  I didn’t care where we were, I only cared that I was with him.

  He broke away, but not for long. His lips landed on my neck, sending tingles down my body. These tingles were good ones, though. Not like the tingles I got whenever a certain someone would near me or even look at me.

  My eyelids gradually opened to see why the boy suddenly put some space between us. He leaned up enough so that he could take off his shirt.

  Weird.

  When Gabriel came in, I didn’t remember him having a dressy black shirt. And last time I checked, he didn’t have bright green eyes and pitch-black hair.

  What was going on?

  Crixis tore open his shirt, not bothering to waste time undoing each individual button. His tanned chest was perfect, just as it was in my visions. My anger surfaced. Another trick? I was so done with tricks.

  Before I could move a muscle, the evil Daywalker embraced me in a hot, sweaty kiss. His hands traveled down my body, stopping in places where I never wanted Crixis to touch. Keeping his mouth secure on my own lips, he took my hands and intertwined his fingers with mine.

  I couldn’t move. I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t do anything.

  Crixis, the mass-murdering father/mother killer, was on top of me, shirtless, kissing me.

  My skin felt hot. I wanted to scream. I wanted to beat the crap out of him. I wanted to kiss Gabriel again.

  And, when I realized that, I woke up to find my sheets sweaty.

  I did not feel like going to school today. After the big fight last night, and dying, I felt like I deserved a few more days off. Gabriel and Max? They could go to school, because I also needed some time alone.

  That dream last night…I needed to make sense of it without Gabriel staring at me the whole time.

  When I reached the kitchen, I knew I would have to stop thinking of it, so I let my mind wander while I was walking at a deliberate slow-as-a-snail pace down the stairs. The touch of Gabriel’s hands, the warmth of his lips…it all felt so real.

  It was so real that I believed it was really happening.

  The moment that Gabriel turned into Crixis was the moment I began to wonder about the authenticity of it all. I was still pissed after dreaming of Crixis. Whether or not it was because he invited himself into my dreams was beside the point.

  Nearing the first floor, I mentally snapped out of it and forced myself to think of how badly I didn’t want to return to
school. It felt like it esd ages since I went.

  Gabriel lounged in the kitchen, taking up two chairs, just like he always did. His new hairdo startled me for a short while. I had just gotten used to his lighter hair, and now I had to get used to it all over again.

  Instead of being its recent shade of bleached blonde, it now went in layers. His usual dark blonde color was situated at the roots and the platinum blonde part was the middle layer, while the new color, white, lay at the tips.

  It was hot, especially since it was styled in his usual spikey-fashion. Combine his new hair with his imposing face, his crooked nose, his amazing blue eyes—and his muscled, towering figure…

  His blue eyes flicked to me.

  The smirk in his gorgeous face caused me to say, “Yes, Gabriel. I was thinking how good you looked. You’d probably know it even if you couldn’t hear my thoughts.” I ignored the inevitable chuckle and snagged the box of pop tarts on the table.

  Where was Michael when you needed him to make a good breakfast? It was going to be hard enough facing the day, and now I had to go through it without a delicious meal to kick it off. Today was going to be torture.

  “Can I get you a ladder so you can get off Michael’s back?” Gabriel lifted an eyebrow at my response, which was a weird, facial expression of my own. “He’s making us a homemade lunch as we speak. I just hope it’s ready before we leave for school.”

  Sighing, I practically shoved a whole pop tart in my mouth. “Where is he?”

  “He went into his room after Liz and Max went home to get ready for work and school.” The blonde boy seemed to remember something, for he looked to the front door and said, “Speaking of Michael, he wanted me to get the mail…so do me a favor and get the mail from yesterday.”

  I dropped the box and headed for the door, pretending not to hear the incredulous comments that left his lips. Slamming the door behind me, I couldn’t stop myself from beginning to daydream about his lips.