by W. J. May
Rae twisted around to stare at him straight-on. Talk of his and Angel’s time spent below ground had always been scarce, and she found herself hanging on every word.
Gabriel rested the back of his head against the cushion of the couch. He shrugged. “There was one night, not long before Angie got there, that Cromfield took in an especially dangerous hybrid. This one had the ability to amplify sound to an extraordinary degree. The sound of your own breath would be enough to shatter your ears. For whatever reason, he was harder to restrain than the others, and it wasn’t long before the tunnels were echoing with noise.” His green eyes were far away as he remembered. “It was the loudest thing I’d ever heard. Louder than loud. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. I remember my hands were wet. It took me a second to realize my ears had started to bleed.” He pulled in a deep breath, continuing in a soft monotone. “Anyway, this guy—Jason, that was his name—he was there that night. I think Cromfield called him in to help subdue the hybrid. Jason was an unparalleled fighter, or so I was always told. He was often called in for such things. I remember seeing him come rushing down into the caves, sprinting through the tunnels to the holding area where Cromfield fazed in the new hybrids. He saw me standing there as he ran past, and a second later he paused and came back.”
Rae watched his face as he paused, lost in the memory of the past.
Something oddly sweet softened the hard line of Gabriel’s mouth. Something oddly grateful. “He lifted me up and carried me back to my room, then shut the door behind me. Covered my ears with his hands. By now, I was having a full-blown panic attack. Hyperventilating. Tunnel vision. The works. He set me down on the bed and knelt on the floor in front of me. A second later, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a syringe.”
Rae’s heart tightened in her chest. Burning tears pricked the corners of her eyes.
“We couldn’t hear each other,” Gabriel said softly, “and there wasn’t any paper to write anything down. Instead, he brought up his hands to mime sleeping. After that, he touched the corners of his lips, like a smile. I nodded and held out my arm…”
Just like that, the story was done. Gabriel stayed in the same position, silent for another second, like he was stuck in a trance, before he flashed Rae a sad smile and shifted so he was sitting a little taller. He leaned back against the couch so his shoulders rested against the edge. He shrugged again, this time acting like it wasn’t a big deal.
Rae, however, was shaken to the core by what she’d just heard.
“So…whatever happened to him?” she asked quietly. “Jason, I mean.”
A sharp glint flashed in Gabriel’s sea-green eyes. Like hardened steel. “Actually, Cromfield told me your dad killed him.” He flashed Rae a quick glance before returning his eyes to the floor… or closing his eyes. Rae couldn’t quite tell. “I never thought it could be true. To this day, I still don’t. From everything I’d heard, everything I’d seen… I don’t think there was a person on the planet who could best Jason Archer in a fight. He had a falcon tatù that gave him impossible speed, but the rest,” he lifted his chin slightly with pride, “that was just him.” His eyes lit up with a hollow glow, like where a smile should have been.
“How so?” Rae asked quietly.
“He taught me how to throw my first punch. I remember standing in the tunnels as he knelt in front of me, holding up his hands as I took turns hitting each one. Cromfield made him stop. I guess he didn’t want me picking up any skills I might try to use against him.”
Rae quietly absorbed this for a moment, replaying the horrific picture over and over again in her mind. Then she perked up with sudden recognition. “Wait a minute…Jason?” She instinctively gentled her inquisitive tone as Gabriel stiffened beside her. “As in, the Jason that Angel was talking about when she told you to…”
…kill my father?
Gabriel bowed his head to his chest. “I know I shouldn’t feel anything about it,” he said softly. “No matter the circumstances, he was an agent of Cromfield’s. But he took care of me, as best he could. So did Jen.” He lifted his head and looked Rae evenly in the eyes. Apologetic and not apologetic all at the same time. In truth, there wasn’t a single second that she blamed him.
She had long ago learned to separate the sins of the father from the sins of the son. The agents of Cromfield and Cromfield himself were not the same thing. Whatever this Jason had done to get on the man’s radar, she was certain it derived from circumstances just as wretched as Gabriel and Angel’s. Just as wretched as Jen’s.
“I’m glad he did,” she said softly, giving his hand a sudden squeeze.
Lest Gabriel forget he, too, was an agent of Cromfield’s. And look how he turned out.
The two of them sat in awkward silence for a moment before she abruptly changed track.
“So Alicia’s very pretty…”
Gabriel’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he tilted his head back in laughter. “You’re really subtle today, you know that?”
Rae shrugged innocently. “What? I’m just saying…” She studied his deliberate poker face out of the corner of her eye for a moment, then continued with a rather mischievous smile. “I have her number, you know. Just sitting in my phone.” She stretched up her arms in an ostentatious yawn. “My phone that’s just sitting on top of my dresser at home—”
“You trying to set me up?”
She blinked innocently. “No! I just—”
“You show up, all wolf, and all over me—”
She straightened. “I wasn’t all over you!”
He grinned. “Oh, come on. Yes, you were.”
“No! I just thought…”
He tilted his head to the side. “You just thought, what?”
She stared down at her hand. “I knew you’d be able to fix it. I don’t know why. I just did.”
He chuckled and patted her hand. “I’m glad you did.”
“So, about Alicia…”
“Alright, alright, you’ve had your fun.”
The two of them linked arms and fell silent, grinning out the wide bay window as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky. By the time it started hovering on the edge of the horizon, Rae pushed silently to her feet. “We should start heading back. If he got a call, Devon’s going to be worried.” She glanced at the half-packed suitcase in the corner, and realized that’s exactly what Gabriel had been planning to do when she burst through his front door. A front door that was still lying in shattered planks and pieces in the front hallway. She quickly conjured a new one and re-fitted it, returning a moment later to find him slumped over against the couch.
“I can’t drive right now,” he admitted, head tilting sleepily to the side as his eyelids grew heavy enough to close.
She knelt and squeezed his hand with a tender smile. “I’ll drive your car.”
At first, it seemed all fine and good. Gabriel accepted her hand up, and leaned against her for support as the two of them shuffled slowly to the door. It wasn’t until she lifted his keys off the ring that he had a dozen horrifying flashbacks of Rae driving his car before.
“Wait.” He slapped them out of her hand. “I’ll call us a cab.”
* * *
In a lot of ways, it was easier to navigate the streets of London as a dog. Gabriel was trying his best, but it was like trying to handle a small child. His head kept dropping periodically onto Rae’s shoulder, and if she let go of him for even an instant it was likely he’d sit down right where he stood on the sidewalk and fall asleep.
“Sorry,” he mumbled as they headed to the street corner where they were supposed to meet their taxi. “It’s been a long time since I’ve taken this. Guess I’m not really used to it anymore.”
“Hey,” Rae squeezed his arm with a grin, yanking him out of the path of a quick-moving hot chocolate stand, “I’m just happy I no longer have a tail. You just hang on for a couple more minutes, then you can have all night to sleep it off. In the meantime, I…” She trailed off suddenl
y, staring in front of her in shock.
There was a young girl standing directly in front of them.
A young girl who Rae had seen just a short while before—standing amid an angry mob on her front lawn.
“Samantha?” Her body stiffened and she took a step back. “What are you doing here?”
Gabriel followed her gaze, clearly trying to keep the girl in focus.
The girl lifted her hands peaceably, and was refreshingly blunt. “I followed you. Sorry.” She really did look it. “I was just wondering if you had a second to talk. For an article I’m writing.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a pen and paper. “I work for the student press, remember?”
Rae’s eyes flashed, but she reminded herself that the kid could be no older than sixteen.
“I remember quite a bit,” she said pointedly. “In fact, I remember that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you not once, but twice now, Samantha. Once at the compound. Once on my front lawn.”
Gabriel glanced over, putting two and two together before returning his eyes to the girl. “Cab’s waiting, Rae,” he said shortly. “Let’s go.”
“Please.” Samantha stepped quickly into their path, correctly assuming that, no matter how angry they might be, they wouldn’t trample an eighty-pound girl. “I wanted to apologize. This article is my way of doing it. I was only at your house that night because I wanted to see what was going on. I knew those people had questions. I wanted to hear what you would say.”
“Yeah?” Rae replied stiffly. “And?”
Samantha continued carefully. “And I think while you might have made some points in your favor, people remain unconvinced.”
Gabriel’s eyes swept her coldly up and down. “A little ray of sunshine, isn’t she?”
He tapped his watch, and Rae started moving once again. But for the second time, the girl jumped into their path. This time, she looked even more frazzled than before. Her scarf blew precariously from her neck in the heavy winter winds as her boots slipped a little on the ice.
Rae softened infinitesimally. Gabriel rolled his eyes.
“Please,” she begged again, “at least let me buy you guys a cup of coffee. You can hear out my proposal, and if you like it that’s great. If not, I’ll totally leave you alone forever. I swear.”
The offer was sweet, and the cab wasn’t supposed to be there for another fifteen minutes. A bright sign for an espresso bar flashed brightly just behind her, beckoning them all in.
Rae hesitated, and even Gabriel lifted his eyes the second he heard mention of caffeine.
“Please,” Samantha said a third time, a note of persistence coloring her voice. “Let me try to make this right. It’s just a coffee.” She smiled hopefully. “Even better than ink, right?”
Chapter 10
By the time Rae and Gabriel got home that night, it was coming up on eleven. Sure enough, Devon opened the door before they even had a chance to knock—pulling her in for a quick, yet crushing hug as he kissed the top of her head. “You okay? I’ve been worried about you. I tried calling.” He shot Gabriel an annoyed and thankful look at the same time.
Behind him Julian sat at the base of the stairs, wearing that bored, long-suffering expression he got whenever Devon pestered him to keep checking a future that was already set in stone. “See? She lives. I told you, she was just getting a cup of coffee.” He had obviously tuned in after Rae was no longer a dog, and for that she was eternally grateful. “Can I go now?”
“Yeah, thanks, Jules.” Devon kept his eyes on Rae. “I’ll call you if I need anything else.”
Julian flipped him off and headed up the stairs.
Devon didn’t notice. “So, you went to see your dad, huh?” He threaded his arm around her waist in concern. “How did that go? I know the press showed up at the end, but before that.”
“It was…” She paused. “…interesting.”
Behind his back Gabriel flashed her a wink and headed up the stairs as well, dragging his suitcase up behind him. Simon Kerrigan might have no longer been living in the house, but a certain blond doctor had recently decided to move in. Giving Gabriel a sudden reason to move in himself.
“Actually,” Rae took Devon by the hand, pulling him in for a sudden kiss, “it’s kind of a long story. Do you want to maybe take a bath?”
* * *
“So you were standing right outside the window?” Devon asked in dismay, pulling her closer into his chest as they reclined in the sudsy tub. “You could have howled and I would have heard it?”
Rae dropped her head back on his shoulder with a grin, feeling her muscles relax one by one in the warm steam. “And that’s exactly why I didn’t come in. There are a couple of things you need to hide from your significant other if you want to keep the romance alive. Four legs and a tail are pretty high up on that list.”
Devon considered this for a moment. “You were probably worried about Molly’s flea phobia, too, right?”
She shot him a sideways look, but gave away nothing. “We’ve all got to stop spending so much time together…”
He chuckled and wrapped his arms snugly around her waist, inclining his head to kiss the base of her neck. “I think I would have quite liked to see you as a wolf. I bet you were adorable.”
“We’re really not going to talk about it anymore.”
“I could have gotten you a little collar with diamond studs. Played some fetch—”
“Do you really think I won’t kill you, just because we’re supposed to be getting married?”
He ignored her, lifting his head with sudden interest. “What color were you?”
Rae splashed him with a begrudging grin. “What are you—ten?”
He shrugged with a grin to match, discreetly restraining her arms to prevent further attack. “I’m just curious.”
Rae jutted up her chin, trying her best to save face. “I was a bright gold. With tints of silver. As magnificent as the sun.” Her eyes grew almost misty as she imagined it. “In certain lights, some might say there was a hint of lavender—”
“I bet you were black. The same color as your hair. That’s how it is for Andy.”
She shot him a backwards glare. “You know, it’s really a miracle that no one took the time to strangle you as a child.”
He laughed again, flinching back as she sent a punishing spray of sparks behind her. Then he grew suddenly quiet once more. “So, what’s on your mind?” He leaned down to kiss her again, on the shoulder. “You know how I love doing this with you, but it’s your most transparent way of buttering me up.”
Rae bit her lip, thankful that she was leaning back against his chest so he couldn’t see her face. Why did he always have to be so insightful? Maybe Gabriel has a drug to remove that, too. “Gabriel and I were going to take a cab straight home. If it wasn’t for—”
“Smart of him not to let you drive his car,” Devon inserted.
Rae stiffened self-righteously. Just because she’d had a few accidents, gotten her friends’ vehicles towed a few times, did not make her some sort of liability.
Come to think of it, this morning I left Julian’s sports car in the middle of the fishing district…
“Do you want me to finish or not?”
“Always.” Devon grinned against the top of her head. “Please continue.”
Rae splashed him again before picking up with the story. “Anyway, we were going to head straight home, when we ran into this girl I met at the compound. Her name is Samantha. She’s a reporter for the school paper. I saw her again the night of Thanksgiving, standing with the mob.”
“Well, she sounds delightful,” he said sarcastically.
“She’s really not that bad,” Rae remarked. “A little over-eager maybe, but…” She shifted around so she was lying on her stomach, looking at him face on. “She wants to write an article about us for the school paper.”
At first, Devon looked surprised. Then uncharacteristically grim. “Well, she can get in line.” His face hard
ened resentfully. “She’s certainly not the first person to have had that idea.”
“This is going to be different,” Rae insisted. “She wants to do the whole thing from our perspective. Get the other side of the story.”
Devon just stared, the corners of his eyes tightening with a frown. “Rae, there is only one side of the story. Why the hell would we go and feed into this notion that we somehow need to defend ourselves?”
“Because, like it or not, we do.”
He looked away impatiently but she lifted her hand to his cheek, gently turning him back.
“Dev, no one in the world has done more for the tatù community than we have. No one. And no one should be disputing that. But,” she continued cautiously, “since they are, I think we’re owed the right to explain ourselves.”
He clearly wasn’t convinced. “What? As some kind of presidential press release—”
“No,” she interrupted firmly, “not as President Kerrigan. But as Rae. Not as the girl they elected after the battle, but as the one who convinced them to fight in the first place.”
She was recycling now, using quotes directly from Samantha’s own mouth. But she didn’t care. The more she thought about it, the more she firmly believed the girl was right.
“And not just me,” she continued, “but all of you. You, Jules, Luke, Molly, Gabriel—the whole nine yards.”
“Gabriel?” Devon sounded surprised. “Gabriel went along with this?”
Rae hesitated. “He’s not crazy about it.” A bit of an understatement. “I doubt he’ll end up contributing anything himself. But he thinks it might do some good for the rest of us. Remind people of that good old-fashioned charm that made people fall in love with us in the first place.”
Devon considered this for a moment, weighing every word. Then the corners of his lips turned up in a faint smile. “Good old-fashioned charm, huh? His words?”
Rae blushed, her American roots shining through.
“I may have added that last part, but the premise remains. We need people to start looking at us the way they did before. Relatable. Logical. Determined. Willing to sacrifice whatever it takes for the greater good.”