A Cross to Bear

by M. J. Lovestone

  “Yes . . . of course . . . please come in.”

  Michael strode into the house as though he had been there before. Gabby had forgotten how ruggedly beautiful he was.

  “Would you like something to drink?” Gabby asked.

  Michael nodded. “Might I suggest a bottle of Château Lafite Rothschild? Maggy enjoyed it immensely. There should be a few bottles in the cellar.”

  Gabby stood there staring, surprised. “I’ll go look.”

  In the cellar, she took a moment to get ahold of herself. It was hard to look at Michael. She had imagined killing him for months, building him up as a monster in her mind, all the while being bedded by a real one.

  She felt like such a fool.

  The Château Lafite Rothschild was on the rack beside the secret door to the white room. Gabby grabbed one of the three bottles, took a few steadying breaths, and returned to the kitchen.

  Michael had found—or knew where to find—the wineglasses. He stood waiting for her at the island.

  “Just like you said.” Gabby held up the bottle.

  He just smiled at her and reached for the bottle. She handed it to him and nearly dropped it when their fingers grazed one another.

  “We should let it breathe for a few minutes,” said Michael, popping the cork and setting the bottle down on the counter. He regarded her from across the island with sympathetic eyes. “I’m sorry, Gabby. I should have told you what kind of danger you were in when you first came to me.”

  “Yeah,” she said with an arched brow. “You should have. And Maggy should have told me a long time ago.”

  “Your sister and I spoke of it often. She was torn, though, you see? She promised your parents that she would keep you safe from the supernatural world.”

  “Why? Why did they think I was so weak?” Her eyes were tearing now, but she stubbornly willed them to stop. She wasn’t about to cry in front of Michael.

  Gabby grabbed the bottle and poured two glasses. She took hers and drank half before Michael could lift his in a toast.

  “It isn’t that they thought you were weak. They just knew what kind of life you would live. Like most parents, they wanted their daughter to have a better life than they did, and they thought that a normal life, free of the knowledge of the nightmares that walk this earth, was a better one than they had known.”

  “Well, that illusion is over. Here I am, smack-dab in the middle of the Otherworld.”

  “Yes,” said Michael, raising his glass. “Here you are.”

  The taste of the wine lingered on Gabby’s lips. It warmed her stomach and soothed some of her tension. “I’m sorry, Michael. I must seem self-obsessed. You just came out of a coma because I shot you, and here I am talking about myself. I should be the one apologizing. I nearly killed you.”

  Michael offered her a grin. “It was an honest mistake.”

  Gabby laughed at that. “You’re not angry with me at all?”

  “Victor was a very old, very conniving vampire. Not to be rude, but you stood no chance against his charms. And he made up a very plausible story.”

  “Why did he kill my mother? How did they know each other?”

  “Victor became a pet project of your mother’s. She met him when you were just a baby, and Maggy was around nineteen years old. She saw some good in him and thought she could bring it to the surface. You see, your mother was a very powerful, very empathetic witch. Her ability to feel for others so deeply was at the core of her power. She understood not only people, but the nature of spells as well. I personally believe that Victor was after you all along. Word had gotten around the Otherworld of a child charmed with the supposed ability to nullify magic. The fae came after you, as well as the goblin king and many others.”

  “Wait . . . the fae, as in fairies? And the goblin king? As in David Bowie in Labyrinth?”

  Michael chuckled. “Not as charming, but yes, something like that. As I was saying, you were sought by many undesirables. Victor befriended your family and helped them to fight off the would-be kidnappers. I believe in that time Victor genuinely fell in love with your mother. Vampires are, after all, hopeless romantics in a stalker sort of way. They want what they cannot have above all things and always seek to dominate and inevitably devour the objects of their desire. When your mother refused his advances, he killed her.”

  Gabby fought back her emotions. She finished her glass and poured herself another. “Where do you come into all of this?”

  “I was a friend of your mother and father. I still am, of course. The home that your father lives in is owned by one of my sister companies. It is also staffed with witches and weres—a kind of retirement home for warriors of the Otherworld.”

  Gabby gave a little laugh. After all that had happened in the last three months, this news was par for the course.

  “After your mother’s death, your father was bent on revenge. But he never found it. Victor defeated him in the end. But rather than kill him, he had a witch take his memories, which, to your father, was a fate worse than death. I have worked for years to try and find someone who might lift the curse, but to no avail.” He looked to her expectantly.

  The realization hit her like a truck, and she gasped. “I can lift the curse. I can restore his memories!”

  “Yes,” said Michael with a wonderful smile. “This is the silver lining. After all of this loss, you can now have your father back.”

  Gabby covered her mouth and turned from him, sobbing with tears of joy. A hand was suddenly on her shoulder. She turned and buried her face in Michael’s strong chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close as she cried and laughed at the same time.

  “Oh my God,” said Gabby, pulling away finally and sniffling. “You must think I’m a wreck.”

  “Not at all,” he said, smiling kindly. “You remind me so much of your mother.”

  Gabby got a tissue from the box on the counter and blotted her eyes. “I need to see him. I need to lift the curse. Your sister said that you would decide my fate once you woke up . . .”

  “She is melodramatic at times. You are of course free to do as you choose. I offer all of my resources to you, if you would like. I think that we could be great allies,” said Michael.

  “What about your . . . pack? They must hate me.”

  “Everything has been explained to them. I have claimed you as my own. None of them will dare touch you.”

  “You’ve claimed me?” Gabby asked, unsure of the insinuation.

  He saw her apprehension and offered a perfect smile. “It means that you are under my protection, and therefore that of the pack.”

  “Thank you, Michael.”

  He finished his glass and took her hand. “Come on. Let’s go see your father.”

  Chapter 49

  Michael and Gabby rode to the retirement home in a dark SUV. Gabby found herself so nervous that she could barely sit still. When they pulled up and parked near the main entrance, Jamya Phillips was waiting for them.

  She opened her arms wide when Gabby got out of the SUV and took her up in a big motherly hug. “Oh, child, you gave Jamya a good scare.”

  Gabby was touched by her concern. “I missed you too, Jamya.”

  The plump woman kissed her forehead and turned to give Michael a hug as well. “You must be dying to see your father. Come with me; he’s just finished his morning therapy session.”

  The three went to Gabby’s father’s room and found him standing next to the window like a statue.

  “General Cross, you’ve got company,” said Jamya.

  Gabby’s father turned and regarded them all with a suspicious glare. “Who are you? What do you want?”

  “This is Gabriella, your daughter,” said Jamya.

  Gabby’s father eyed her up and down. As was most often the case, there was no light of recognition in his face. “Who’s the werewolf?” he asked, which didn’t seem to surprise Michael.

  “Father,” said Gabby, walking to join him by the window. “I know
that you don’t recognize me, but that’s only because you were cursed by a witch. I can lift the curse if you will let me.”

  His scowl deepened, and his eyes traced across the floor in thought. “Witch?”

  Now that she knew what to look for, Gabby saw the signs of the spell that afflicted her father. The shimmering phantom of swirling light sat upon his head like a crown, its snaking tendrils burrowing into his skull.

  She lifted her hand cautiously, and her father tensed, head bowed, eyes darting around the floor. He did not move to stop her, however, and Gabby placed her hand on the top of his head and gently nullified the spell. It shattered into a thousand points of light and drifted toward the ceiling like rising steam.

  Then it was gone.

  Nicholas blinked. His eyes became alert and clear. He looked up at Gabby and smiled wide, his eyes dancing with light. “My Gabs. Is that you?”

  Gabby was strangled by emotion. “Hello, Daddy.”

  Her father pulled her in and hugged her tight. “I missed you so much, Gabriella.”

  “I missed you too.”

  Nicholas Cross held his daughter at arm’s length so that he could take in the sight of her. “You’ve grown into such a strong woman. Your mother would be so proud.”

  “Thank you,” said Gabby, overwhelmed with warmth and love and joy.

  Her father looked to Michael and Jamya, as if just noticing them. “Michael,” he said with a nod.

  “It is good to have you back, sir,” said Michael.

  “Father, do you remember . . . about Maggy?”

  He nodded solemnly. “I remember everything before and since the witch’s curse.”

  “I killed him,” she said. “I killed the vampire who took Gabby and Mother. It’s all over now.”

  “You killed Victor?” said Nicholas, astonished. He looked to her with a newfound respect and admiration. “If that is the case, it is not over. On the contrary, my brave girl, it has just begun.”

  Chapter 50

  Nicholas Cross checked out of the retirement home for good that day. Michael brought him and Gabby back to Maggy’s and took his leave.

  “I’m sorry for everything that happened,” she said at the door.

  A stretch limo pulled up behind him, and he offered her a warm smile. “So am I. But you have avenged your kin, and one of my greatest foes has been eliminated. It is good to have you with us, Gabriella Cross.”

  “Thank you, Michael.”

  “I will see you soon,” he said, walking away. “We have much to discuss.”

  Gabby returned to the house and found her father standing in the living room, holding a photo of Maggy and Gabby from when they had gone hiking two years before.

  “She was one of a kind,” he said without looking up.

  “Yes, she was.”

  General Cross put the photo down and walked into the kitchen to stand beside Gabby at the island. He stroked her hair and face with his hand. “Aw, Gabby, but we didn’t want you to have to endure this life.”

  “What life? Do you think that knowing that monsters lurk in the dark is worse than growing up without your parents?”

  “Gabby . . .”

  “I’m not done,” she said, straightening. “I don’t know why you all thought me too weak to deal with all of this, but I’m not! I can handle myself. I was given a gift by my mother, and I plan on using it. Neither you nor Michael is going to stop me.”

  Her father smiled at her with shimmering tears welling in his eyes. “That’s my girl.”

  ***

  Gabby and her father spent the day catching up over good food and wine. They laughed, they cried, and they shared stories of the past and plans for the future.

  That night Gabby fell asleep with a smile on her face, feeling more content and safe than she ever had.

  In the morning after breakfast, Gabby told her father that she had some things to attend to. She got into the Nova and headed to her old house to confront Derek. When she pulled in, she found an unfamiliar car in the driveway. Derek’s truck was parked beside it. She got out and knocked on the door. To her surprise, she wasn’t at all nervous, but rather, she found herself eager to see the look on his face.

  The door opened, and a skinny blonde dressed in nothing but one of Derek’s T-shirts answered the door. A light of recognition crossed the woman’s face, and her jaw dropped. “Derek!” she screeched over her shoulder.

  “What a shocker,” said Gabby cheerfully. “I have to thank you, Jolene. If you hadn’t fucked my husband and left your panties in his truck, it would have taken me longer to realize what a douche bag Derek really is.”

  “Derek!” Jolene yelled, louder this time.

  The sound of stomping feet came from inside the house.

  “What?”

  Jolene moved to the side, and when Derek saw Gabby, he froze. She savored the dumbfounded dipshit look he gave her.

  “Hello, honey,” she said with a smile, and pushed the door—and Jolene—to the side.

  He blinked back to reality and stumbled over his words. “Gabs . . . I thought . . . but you . . . where the hell have you been?”

  “I was kidnapped by a vampire,” she said as she strode through the threshold and walked up to him between the kitchen and living room.

  She got right up in his face and put her hands on her hips, grinning at him.

  Derek looked her up and down. She had plans to jog later in the day and now wore tight-fitting pink Under Armour pants and a matching short-sleeve shirt with a white zip-up hoodie. He looked confused and turned on all at the same time. The last time he had seen Gabby, she had been forty pounds heavier.

  “I’m here for my shit. Where is it?”

  “Huh?” he said, looking as though he didn’t understand English. Then he shook his head and threw up his hands. “Wait, Gabby. What the hell happened to you? I’ve been worried sick.”

  “Excuse me?” said Jolene from the door.

  “I bet,” said Gabby with a laugh.

  Derek looked over her shoulder at Jolene apprehensively and whispered to Gabby, “This isn’t what it looks like.”

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Jolene insisted, and started across the room like a skanky meth head on The Jerry Springer Show, all flailing arms and running mouth.

  Gabby turned around as she approached and punched Jolene in the face while the woman was in midcurse.

  Jolene was snoring before she hit the floor. The big T-shirt that she was wearing hiked up her back when she landed, revealing a bony bare ass and a tramp stamp of a bull’s-eye.

  “Wow,” said Gabby. “Now that is classy.”

  “Jesus Christ, Gabs!” Derek bent to check on Jolene, but the woman was out for the count.

  “She needed a time-out. Let her sleep it off and show me where you put my shit.”

  Derek let out a frustrated breath and shot up straight, looming over Gabby. He grabbed her arms and gave her a little shake. “I don’t know what the fuck has gotten into—”

  What would Maggy do?

  Before he could finish his sentence, Gabby brought both hands up between his arms and broke his contact as she grabbed his meaty shoulders and quickly head-butted him in the nose.

  Derek cried out with surprise and backpedaled five feet before hitting the back of the sofa and flipping ass over tea kettle.

  Gabby smiled to herself and walked to the living room to stand over a swearing and sputtering Derek.

  “Where. Is. My. Stuff?” she asked again.

  He held his nose tight to stop the bleeding, but it wasn’t working all too well.

  “You crazy fucking bitch!” Derek screamed, and lunged to grab her.

  Gabby dodged to the side gracefully and kicked him in the side of the head as he fumbled to compensate for her speed. The big man took the blow like a champ. He was thoroughly infuriated now and seething with rage. He had abandoned trying to stop the bleeding and now whirled on her, mouth and beard covered in blood, eyes wide with rag
e.

  A big, meaty fist came at her from the right, and she blocked it with her left arm and punched him in the throat with her right. Derek made a strangled sound, and Gabby leaped straight up and kicked him square in the jaw. He hit the floor hard and stayed there.

  Gabby wiped her hands against each other and checked to be sure no blood had gotten on her clothes. Finding none, she took a moment to redo her ponytail.

  “You two relax. I’ll find my shit myself.”

  Eventually Gabby found a stack of boxes with her name on them in the garage and started loading up the car. As she returned for the last box, her cat Mitzy leapt down from the rafters, startling her.

  “Mitzy!” said Gabby, picking her up and giving her a hug.

  The cat purred happily, offering no protest when Gabby put her in the car.

  Inside the house, she could hear the sounds of Jolene and Derek arguing heatedly. When she moved to the driver side to get in the car, the front door burst open. A bloody-nosed Jolene stormed out of the house and glared at Gabby before marching like a queen bitch to her car and peeling out.

  Derek ran out of the house and chased after her across the lawn, screaming his apologies.

  Gabby could only shake her head and laugh. She got in the Nova and put on her sunglasses. “Oh, by the way. I’m divorcing you. Good-bye, Derek!” she yelled out the open passenger window.

  She left him standing stunned and bleeding on the grass and peeled out across the lawn, kicking up clumps of grass and gravel that forced him to duck and cover.

  As Derek faded in the rearview, Gabby popped in a CD and sang at the top of her lungs along with Aretha Franklin.

  Chapter 51

  Gabby returned home feeling on top of the world. However, when she pulled up, she found Quip and her father talking in the driveway. Worse yet, they appeared to have been sharing a laugh.

  She got out and slammed the door. “I see that you’ve met Quip.”

  Her father nodded. “Yes, I’ve invited him to dinner. We’ve much to catch up on.”