“Please give it time. I can feel it raging inside me, and it will come out soon.” Her eyes bored into each of the vampires, then at Finn. “Don’t let me kill anyone. But I beg you not to kill me, either, so I can explain everything.”
Then she went quiet.
Jake didn’t know what they were waiting for, but he could tell everyone anticipated it all the same. They were offered food, and the vampires excused themselves for a few minutes before returning to keep waiting. Surprisingly enough, not even the tough-reputed Vladimir protested that this was bull, and he could sense a certain tension in the air growing thicker as if something was coming.
His hand reached out to touch her elbow, but Gabby jerked away as if burned, her eyes trained on the ground. He wanted to shake her, to…do something, but their situation prevented him, and he found himself standing beside Finn at the dragon shifter’s urging.
A few minutes after the vampires’ return, Gabby’s head snapped up, her eyes focused on Lucinda.
But it was no longer Gabby’s eyes.
Horror filled Jake at the sight of her dark, bloody red gaze. Then horror escalated when he watched her body transform to her half-wolf, half-fox form—all golden-brown fur in the size of a large fox.
Except it didn’t stop there.
Her fur fell off in some parts. Saliva dripped from her mouth, as dark as her eyes. Her sharp teeth turned yellow, and a gurgling snarl came out of her throat that was monstrous and hungry.
Then she lunged at them, her claws raking the ground and eliciting a shrieking sound. She was no longer Gabby, but a violent, irrational beast who strained against her chains over and over again until it started creaking. In response, Raz and Vladimir put more chains on her, ignoring her attacks and her cry for blood.
Finn kept his hand on Jake’s strained shoulder, ready in case he would attack, too.
But he wouldn’t because he knew they would hurt Gabby in the process.
Through it all, Lucinda remained quiet and serene, like she was watching a show. It made Jake want to lash out at her. But the sight of Gabby trying to attack them and hurting herself in the process rooted him in place, and his ears burned with the sound of her rusty voice asking for blood. For violence.
For death.
“I will kill you all…you all…drink your blood…”
Jake must have made a move, because Finn’s hand was suddenly on his elbow, a crushing grip. He cursed but held still as everything clicked into place.
Gabby’s secretive ways.
The cure she said she wanted.
Beside him, Finn whispered in his ear—about how a first-in-line traitor named Killian once mixed magic and blood to create monsters like Gabby, and how up until now, there was no cure found for her kind.
More fur fell, and she spread her saliva all over the floor as if marking her territory. It lasted for almost an hour until she was too exhausted to break out of her chains, her body riddled with injuries from where she strained against them.
When she shifted back to her human form, her aquamarine eyes met Jake’s once, regret and sorrow in them.
“I’ve been bitten by one of Killian’s creations, and the symptoms have been passed on to me. I’m not dead yet, so I’m guessing I’m a rare case. I’m…”
Her voice trailed off. Then her eyeballs rolled up, and she fell to the ground with a thud.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
When Gabby woke up, it was to the feeling of having slept soundly for the first time in days—weeks, even. It was also to the knowledge that she was now at vampire headquarters in New York, where they transported her when she was unconscious and settled her with chains around her wrists for good measure.
Jake was gone.
She asked where he was, and the first answer she got from the vampire guarding her prison-slash-bedroom was that the shifter had certain matters to attend. That had Gabby torn between relief and disappointment—relief that he was let go and wouldn’t have to face the consequences of what she’d done, and disappointment that she was probably never going to see him again.
It was for the best, she knew, especially when her heart rebelled and told her what she didn’t want to know: that her wolf and fox had chosen him as her mate, whether she liked it or not. She couldn’t have him as her mate, not when this was her life, and he would be stuck with it if he stuck with her.
He was better off away and free.
Heart feeling hollow and hurting more than she cared to admit, she tried to put it off her mind. But it was difficult, especially when she was alone like this with her thoughts all to herself. She missed him, and that was insane because she didn’t even really know him.
Aside from the fact that he protected her despite knowing she was hiding something, and continued to do so at the risk of his life.
And that he would, without a doubt, do the same thing over and over.
God. He was ridiculously stubborn in that aspect, and she liked that about him. A lot.
She liked too many things about him, and now it was a matter of trying to forget every single one of them for her own self-preservation…and for his. The scariest thing was, she was on the verge of that thing called falling in love—and that was even more ridiculous because no one could fall in love with a stranger in that short amount time.
Could they?
For a prison, the bedroom she was provided was more luxurious than most, which meant she wasn’t completely ostracized for her revelation. Yet. But Gabby waited it out, and soon the vampire guarding her took her chains carefully from the bed and transferred them all around her body before she was escorted outside. She tried to walk with as much dignity as she could muster with the chains and her wrinkled new dress, ignoring the chill of the place in general and the hushed silence as she passed by vampires who made her neck prickle.
Too many of them.
She was taken into a hall—one that was bigger than Raz’s meeting room, and infinitely more elegant and understated in taste. It was circular in shape, and she was taken to the middle to face the jury composed of the same three vampires who questioned her before, the dragon shifter, and a few new faces: ultimate shifter leader Dylan Masters, his mate Isabella…and Gabby’s mother.
Gabby’s eyes widened at the sight of Henrietta Montgomery, looking as elegant and classy as always. Her heart mourned at the realization that her mother, the one person she hid all this from the very start, already knew and would probably never forgive her for the betrayal. Henrietta didn’t even meet her eyes, merely looking straight ahead as if she didn’t exist.
Carefully, Gabby kept her expression neutral and waited.
It was Lucinda who spoke first.
“Dylan has been informed of everything, and we don’t want to make this long for you. We have already decided on a course of action that doesn’t involve your imminent death.”
Gabby’s head snapped up at the words, suddenly confused.
“So you’re not going to kill me?”
“No,” Lucinda responded calmly.
Gabby looked at her incredulously, then turned her eyes to the others. Only Raz met her stare head-on, and he looked bothered enough that she suddenly grew bothered, too. Heck, he didn’t even try to hide it.
“But…don’t you kill my kind so as not to spread…?” Her question trailed off.
Dylan finally cleared his throat and spoke. “We usually do. But you’re an important part of society, and you’ve managed to shift back to your regular shifter and human form and blend in. We have to take that into consideration.”
Something in the wolf shifter’s tone indicated that this wasn’t necessarily good news, and Gabby had a feeling that there was no reason to celebrate yet. Impatient at the formalities, she swallowed any noble talk on her end and got to the point.
“Then what will happen to me?”
Dylan nodded as if expecting the query. “You will be put to a test. Lucinda will be the one to handle this part, as per our agreement. Lucinda?”
“We will postpone the test until you feel yourself transforming again. For now, we will keep you here at vampire headquarters as a guest, but please understand the need for us to lock you up as a safety precaution. We understand whatever is inside you is out of your control, so this is for your own good.”
“Understood,” Gabby replied, keeping her voice calm.
“You will be given the best accommodations possible, of course.”
Of course. Gabby bit back any bitter response to that, knowing they were doing their best. Still, frustration boiled inside her. “What is the test?”
“You will find out soon enough. Call us when you’re ready.”
It wasn’t a request.
With an inward sigh, Gabby could only nod once more.
*****
She lasted two days before she felt the darkness inside her lurking again, poking at her and demanding to be let out. Normally, Gabby let it brew inside her for a few more minutes or hours, depending on her will and resistance. But having been cooped up too long in a cold, impersonal room with no one to talk to, she was just impatient to let off some steam now, and she knew there was no better way to do so than to let out the monster.
They took her to a closed, arena-like space that almost looked like a training room, with all the equipment removed. Raz came in through a side door, his face tighter than usual as he announced that a camera was watching and listening to her from all sides and that her test would start soon. He encouraged her to fight her monster once it was out, to try to wrestle control over it as best as she possibly could.
Gabby stared at him. “I tried that each and every time. Last time I did, I killed my bodyguard by accident.”
Raz met her stare directly. “Then you have to try harder. We will place something in this locked area with you to help you. An obstacle, if you may.”
The vampire left, and now frustration hit her harder as she realized that was exactly the test they were trying to do. If she managed to fight her monster and win, then they would probably deem her safe to be let out in society and would no longer have any reason to contain her.
If she lost, then she would be put down like a rabid dog.
It was so simple and effective. But what they didn’t know was that whenever the monster was inside her, the human and shifter Gabby in her took a complete backseat without any recollection of what her monster had done until it was too late. A test she was sure to fail.
The side door opened again, and Gabby wondered what that something was. The darkness in her screamed to be let out, but she fought it for a few more seconds to see what obstacle they wanted her to face.
A man slipped inside, and Gabby felt her blood freeze over, and fear hit her like a hammer.
It was Jake.
Jake was the obstacle.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The look on Gabby’s face when she saw him was something that would stay in his mind forever, along with other images of her that had been embedded there already—Gabby vulnerable, Gabby naked in the barn, Gabby transforming into someone that was no longer her. He added this, noting in his mind that the fear in her eyes was something he never, ever wanted to see again.
The door was locked behind him, and he faced her squarely. Gabby started walking over in his direction before stopping mid-stride, then taking a few steps back.
“I thought you were gone,” she croaked out, her voice slightly hoarse from being unused. Her moans of pleasure drifted to mind, but he ruthlessly banked it down.
“I was here,” he said. “I just needed to take care of some matters with Dylan.”
She nodded her head, but he could tell she didn’t agree. He could also tell she wasn’t fully in the present anymore as her eyes glazed from time to time, the aquamarine dimming even while she tried to focus on him.
You’re beautiful, he said in his mind.
“You have to get out of here,” she said, her voice steady but nearly on the verge of breaking. “You can’t be here. Did they force your hand?”
Jake shook his head. “I volunteered.”
Her eyes widened. Then anger flared, mixing with the fear, and she took a step forward again and began to rail at him.
“How could you be so…so…why? You could have perfectly gone away and been away from this mess.”
He shrugged. “I prefer to be here.”
It didn’t have the calming effect that he expected. Instead, Gabby grew more agitated, and she was walking back and forth on the spot without realizing it. He watched her hand go to her stomach as if she was trying to hold something in. He braced himself but appeared relaxed outwardly so as not to further scare her.
“That’s idiotic,” she said, her tone prim.
Jake stifled a tense smile. “Maybe.”
She began to curse. It was so surprising that he could only stare at her, growing worried when she began to rub her belly more aggressively. He took a step forward, and her curses trailed off to make way for pleading not to come any closer.
When he didn’t listen, Gabby launched herself on the other end of the room, crouching. It was then that she removed her hand from her stomach area, and he realized that she wasn’t holding her stomach because it hurt.
She was placing her hand there so it wouldn’t rake on the ground and put a dent in it.
Her claws grew. She started shifting into her animal form, that beautiful brown color before she shifted into something else. Her head was turned down, and her whole body shook. Jake didn’t make any move towards her.
But he did whisper her name.
Her head snapped up in an instant, and he watched red eyes look around wildly before focusing on him.
Nothing happened in the span of that moment. And then Jake saw it—her animal shoulders tensing. An eerie roar came out of her throat as she spat dark saliva.
Then she sprang in his direction without warning.
Jake threw his body to the side, rolling around to a crouch. She followed him, and they ran in circles until she almost caught him the third time. He gritted his teeth as he felt claws sink in on his arm. It was small, and she didn’t get any saliva in, but it hurt like hell, anyway.
He didn’t want to shift because it would be a call to taunt. But staying in his human form would also mean suicide. So Jake settled for half-shifting, changing only his limbs to claws as he evaded her every attack. She grew stronger and faster as the minutes flew, and he knew that the more he delayed it, the more she was going to lose herself.
So he called out to her.
“Gabby! Fight it! Come on. You’re better than this.”
It wasn’t Gabby who responded but the monster, its face snarling at him. Gabby leaped over and over until her claws caught on to his legs, and he cursed and shook her off, never letting on to the pain to the cameras recording them. He shouted at her to get a grip, but the monster kept saying the same thing over and over.
“I’ll kill you…”
She kept launching, and he kept running. He made the usual turn.
Gabby didn’t.
She jumped in the opposite direction, meeting his evasion head on. They both rolled to the ground, and he felt his spine hit the tiles hard before he rolled away. Pain radiated everywhere, but he ignored it as she leaped to her feet and faced him. More saliva dripped, and her fur kept shedding.
She attacked him again, and they rolled once more. He gripped her neck and pushed her away, but she strained against his hold and snapped her sharp teeth over and over near his face.
“Gabby! Come out of there!” he shouted at her. He kicked, and she kicked back. Then she dug her claws into his arms, rendering him immobile.
Jake cursed. He cursed over and over, then looked into her red eyes. He turned his cursing to calling out her name, doing so repeatedly until it drowned out her growls.
He kicked her away again and crawled to his knees. He watched as her shoulders bunched, intending to jump on him again. Jake could only crouch, not sure if he could defend himself this time without hurting her. He locked his jaw in case this last hit would knock him out.
But something happened before she could attack.
Her body shook again, and she moved back instead of forward. Gurgling sounds came out of her throat, followed by a hiss that she would kill him—then Gabby’s real voice, telling him to run. His eyes widened when she curled in on herself and clawed at her own skin, almost as if she was trying to shed her monster to make a place for the real her. He could see her struggling, and Jake did the only thing that his heart urged him to do, even while instinct told him to go away.
He crawled towards her.
Her red eyes zoned in on him, and she looked like she was about to attack again. Then she rolled over and over on the ground, and he stubbornly crawled after her and took her wrist. Her claws sank into him again, drawing blood, but he ignored the pain and kept meeting her gaze.
“Gabby? Come out now…come back to me…”
The claws slowly started withdrawing.
Her body shuddered, and her red eyes dimmed. Then they turned into black, and her body shook violently as she screamed and screamed. He wrapped his hands around her animal form, ignoring her body’s jerking at the touch and tightening his arms all the more. She fought it, but he held on, placing his mouth near her ear and whispering soft, soothing words that everything was going to be alright.
That he was here.
The shift happened gradually, and he felt her fur slowly disappear, to be replaced by human skin and warmth. Her breathing grew more stable, and her head buried in his chest as she tried to fight off any remaining shudders. Finally, she slumped against him, and he gathered her closer and covered her from the cameras. Then he glared at the watchful eyes.
“Happy now? She didn’t kill me. Let her go.”
A whimper came from her throat, and he soothed her again. Then he carried her tired form outside the now-unlocked room, telling her that they were leaving.
Jake (The Clan Legacy) Page 8