by Opal Carew
When they’d arrived here with the bodies, Serena had stepped out of the house, intense sorrow on her face, but she’d thanked him for trying to save their lives.
He’d fallen in love immediately, as he’d been meant to, he’d figured out later. What he hadn’t realized was that she’d known for years.
Quinn stopped, nose twitching at an unfamiliar scent.
It smelled like a car, but not one that burned fuel. He sniffed again. An electric car, small and nearly silent, idled at the bottom of the lane. Three men. He smelled magic on two of them. The one would be no threat at all. The other…magic leaked from his pores like cheap perfume. They stood on the edge of Serena’s sanctuary, undiscovered for nearly two-hundred years.
Quinn took off at a dead run back to the house.
Chapter Nineteen
The women were out cold, each stretched on a couch in the peristyle.
Serena had assured Gabriel she would be okay, she just needed a little rest. Then she’d closed her eyes and either passed out or sunk into a deep sleep. He’d wake her in a few hours, just to be sure.
Leo sat on the floor next to his sister, holding her hand. She’d opened her eyes a few minutes ago, long enough to smile at Leo, nod to Gabriel and close her eyes again.
He was feeling a little better. A stiff shot of Jack Daniels had helped the shakes and he’d eaten one of the two power bars he’d grabbed from the kitchen.
“Leo, come here, bud.”
The boy left Shea’s side reluctantly, looking as if he were about to get his butt smacked for misbehaving. Gabriel wasn’t sure how to make this better for him, didn’t know the right things to say, but he had to try. The kid couldn’t keep beating himself up over this.
Leo lifted himself onto the cushion next to Gabriel but kept his eyes glued to the floor. Allowing instinct to take over, Gabriel lifted the little boy onto his lap.
“I know you’re going to blame yourself for a while, Leo, but it wasn’t your fault. You’ve got to get over it, because I need you now.”
Leo lifted his tear-stained gaze, mouth quivering. “I didn’t mean it.”
Gabriel knew he should hug the kid, show some affection, but he was so damn rusty at it. He put his arm around Leo and gave him an awkward hug. Leo threw his arms around his waist and held on, silent sobs wracking his body.
“I know you didn’t mean to hurt Shea. It was our fault…my fault for not taking more precautions. You’ve got a lot of power, Leo. You just have to learn how to control it.”
“That’s what Daddy said.” Leo sniffled and wiped at his tears with the back of his hands. “When I did it at home. I hurt them, too.”
Well, shit. That was probably how Dario had found them. He hoped Leo never realized that.
“I’m sure they weren’t mad at you, either,” Gabriel said. “But that’s why your Uncle Matt’s coming.” He hoped. He still hadn’t heard from him. “He can teach you how to—”
“Gabe! We gotta get ’em out of here. Gabe, where the hell are you?”
His heart skipped a few beats as he stood, Leo in his arms. “Back here! What’s going on?”
Quinn barreled through the doorway, naked and panting. “Three men, one with a shitload of power, bottom of the hill. It can’t be coincidence. We gotta get ’em out now.”
Adrenaline dropped into his bloodstream with a fiery burn. “Get Serena. I’ll take Leo and Shea. Take her to the cave. Don’t wait for us, just get Serena up there.”
Vaffanculo. After all this time. Dario’s men must have been closer than he’d thought. Even though they’d planned for this, Gabriel had never thought it would actually happen. The place was too well-shielded.
He didn’t wait for Quinn. He shifted Leo to his back. “Hang on and don’t let go.” Then he picked up Shea, whose eyelids fluttered open for a second then closed.
Leo’s voice shook as he whispered in his ear, “They want me?”
Gabriel felt the boy’s fear like a punch low in his gut. “Yeah, well, they’re not going to get you. I won’t let that happen.”
Leo’s arms tightened around his neck, almost cutting off Gabriel’s air. The kid couldn’t weigh more than fifty pounds, but Gabriel still felt a little out of it from earlier, and he had to carry Shea. But he wouldn’t fail.
He couldn’t.
* * *
Shea’s body registered motion and a change in temperature as she fought back nausea and the headache grinding in her temples.
She drew in a deep breath and smelled Gabriel all around her. Forcing her eyes open the tiniest bit, she realized they were back in the forest.
And they were running. Actually, Gabriel was running, with her in his strong arms.
“Leo—”
“Shh.” Gabriel whispered in her ear. “He’s right here. Someone’s at the perimeter. Be quiet until we get to the cave.”
Fear hit her broadside, making her stomach roll. They’d been found.
Wrapped in Gabriel’s arms, she couldn’t tell how long it took them to get where they were going. She huddled in his arms the entire way—in pain, silent and terrified. When Gabriel stopped, she looked up to see a sheer rock wall. Did he mean to carry them up that?
“Either of you claustrophobic?”
Gabriel waited until she shook her head before he set her on her feet, one hand on her shoulder to steady her, and let Leo slide down his back.
“Careful, the opening’s not that big.
Actually, the opening was little more than a slit in the rock face that emptied into a cave, high enough to stand in and large enough to hold a small party.
Quinn had lit a small lantern on the far side, near a ledge hewn into the stone walls. He’d laid Serena there and stood, staring at her.
Leo’s gasp echoed through the chamber. “Oh wow.”
She didn’t have a chance to see what made Leo sound so fascinated because Gabriel stepped into her line of vision, his gaze burning even in the dark shadows of the cave. “Don’t leave. Not for anything. Serena might be out for a while yet. I blasted her pretty hard to break the circle.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw, the only outward sign that he was worried. And fear bit into her chest a little harder.
“Keep Leo quiet and turn the light off when we leave, unless Leo needs it. I’ll replace the wards and they’ll hold. But if Quinn or I aren’t back by daybreak, assume we’re not coming.”
His matter-of-fact tone felt like a blow to her head. His stoic expression never changed.
“If we don’t make it back, after the sun goes down tonight, go to your buddy, James Riley. He’ll take care of you until Matt gets here.”
“Gabriel, don’t—”
“Make sure Serena doesn’t try anything stupid. Don’t you do anything stupid. For Leo’s sake.”
“Gabriel—”
“And if I do come back…”
He dragged her against him and kissed her. Hard. She hadn’t been expecting it, but it didn’t take long for her to return his passion with her own.
His kiss was an all-out assault on her senses. His scent nearly suffocated her, and when he swept his tongue past her lips, his taste exploded in her mouth. Throwing her arms around his neck, she clung and gave back as hard as she could.
All her fear, all her pain, all the emotions she’d bottled up inside threatened to sink her into a dark place. Instead, she kissed the living daylight out of him and held tight to the fact that he kissed her just as ruthlessly.
When he released her, his eyes remained closed, and his chest heaved like he’d just run a marathon. She liked knowing she had that power over him.
When he opened his eyes to stare into hers, she knew what he was going to say before he spoke.
“When I come back, we’ll finish that.”
She took a deep breath and nodded. He didn’t move right away, staring into her eyes for a few brief seconds before brushing past her. But he didn’t go for the door.
She watched as he squatted down beside
Leo and looked him dead in the eyes.
“While I’m gone, you listen to Shea. But you’re a grigorio, Leo, and we don’t scare easily. We fight and we win. The women need you to be strong for them, just like they’re going to protect you however they can.”
Then Gabriel leaned close and whispered in Leo’s ear. And when Gabriel pulled back and his mouth quirked into a full-blown smile, Leo’s face split in a weak grin.
“No problem.” Leo held out his hand, and Gabriel shook it.
Gabriel nodded one more time then stood. “Quinn, let’s move.”
Quinn pulled his gaze away from Serena and shook his head like a man coming out of a daze. Moving to stand next to Gabriel, he nodded to Shea and mustered a smile for Leo.
“See you in a few.” Then he turned to Gabriel and his smile seemed almost normal. “Let us hunt some Orc.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes as they turned to leave. “You watch too many damn movies, you know that?”
Quinn grabbed at his chest, mimicking a heart attack. “Holy hell, did you actually see ‘Lord of the Rings?’ I thought you were above frivolous things like movies.”
Shea couldn’t hear anything more as they passed through the rock.
Leaving her alone with a six-year-old and an injured strega.
“Don’t worry, Shea.” Leo tugged on her hand, drawing her toward the small light next to Serena. “It’ll be okay.”
* * *
Gabriel and Quinn doubled back to the house, but the intruders hadn’t reached it yet. They were making progress up the hill, though.
Gabriel kneeled and dug his hands into the soil. Closing his eyes, he released his senses into the dirt, let them blend with the energy in the earth and extend outward.
He sensed the animals in the forest and the living trees in the ground. Beyond that, he felt the definite signature of men. He honed in on their location. It took several seconds, but he finally got a bead on them.
They’d passed through the confusion spells ringing the outer reaches of the property, which meant they had a pretty damn powerful stregone with them. Or they were just damn lucky.
Gabriel didn’t believe in that kind of luck.
He tried to focus on the one with the most power, but they were shielding. They knew what they were up against, and they’d come prepared. Well, he’d make sure they weren’t prepared enough.
Beside him, Quinn drew out his wolf in silence.
It didn’t take them long to find the men. Three of them, keeping to the shadows. Two had strong glamours. The other one held a Ruger, which should be no problem. Automatic weapons usually couldn’t shoot iron bullets with any accuracy. And iron was the only metal the grigori had no defenses against.
Gabriel motioned for Quinn to get behind the trio. Between the two of them, these three clowns didn’t stand a chance. He recognized one of the men from the strip club. The other two were new. That meant there were probably more of them somewhere, maybe down at the car. Still, not bad odds. Finish these three then deal with the others before they realized these were gone.
He never considered defeat. He’d do whatever it took to make sure his mother’s sanctuary wasn’t breached.
Because they knew each other so well, Quinn knew exactly what Gabriel wanted him to do. He attacked first from the rear, grabbing one man’s leg and disorienting them so Gabriel could come at them from the front when they turned to see what was biting them in the ass.
The fight was short and vicious and the invaders barely had time to defend themselves before Gabriel had slashed the throats of two and Quinn had torn out the throat of the other.
“Too easy,” he muttered. “Too fucking easy.”
Quinn growled low in his throat and shook his head, fur bristling at his nape.
“Decoys. Sonovabitch, they were decoys.”
The words were no sooner out of Gabriel’s mouth than Quinn shot off in the direction of the house, Gabriel close on his heels. They didn’t pass a soul, which meant there were no more…or whoever was in front of them was more powerful than he was.
The teen from the other day. It had to be him. Gabriel muttered a seeking spell as he ran, fitting an image of the boy into it. And damn if he didn’t find him. Close to the house. Not there yet and heading away at the moment.
Gabriel slowed and Quinn, attuned to his every move, dropped back to his side. He could see blood lust in Quinn’s eyes. He felt the same way, but they needed a plan before they could take this kid out.
Adrenaline pumping, Gabriel forced himself to stop and motioned for Quinn to do the same. He had to think, had to get around this kid, who probably already knew they were looking for him. Surprise wasn’t an option.
Gabriel bared his teeth at Quinn, who returned the grin. They’d give the guy what he was expecting. And let him screw up.
* * *
Serena woke minutes after the men left.
Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and gasped. “Gabriel! What’s going on?”
“Serena.” Shea hurried to her side as Leo flicked on the lantern. “We’re okay. Quinn found someone at the bottom of the hill. He and Gabriel went to check it out.”
It took the other woman a few seconds to register the information, pain still blurring her eyes. Then her lids descended and she raised a hand to rub at her temples.
“I should have known.” She shifted her legs over the edge of the rough bed, her green dress shimmering in the lamplight. “How could I not have known? I’ve got to get out there—”
Shea clamped a hand on Serena’s arm. “You have to stay right here. Gabriel left specific instructions. You go nowhere.”
Serena shot her a look designed to make her cower in fear. “Do not presume to tell me—”
“If you go out there, you could get them killed. I won’t let you do that.”
Her eyes widening, Serena looked ready to blast her and Shea hoped Leo wasn’t listening too closely. But then the other woman took a deep breath, as if she’d read her mind. Maybe she had.
“When did they leave?” Serena asked.
“I think about twenty minutes ago.”
“Where’s Leo?”
“Here,” he called from the other side of the room.
Serena smiled in Leo’s general direction, but when she looked at Shea, her expression turned serious and she spoke barely above a whisper. “I need to see what’s going on. Don’t worry,” Serena added when Shea opened her mouth to protest. “I can do it from here. I just need some water and a bowl. Leo, come here, dear.”
She didn’t raise her voice much above a whisper, but Leo padded over with the lantern.
“I’m going to turn off the light and, when our eyes are accustomed to the dark again, I’m going to show you a pretty cool trick, okay?”
Leo nodded and didn’t even flinch when Serena plunged the cave into darkness again. It didn’t take long to regain their night vision, helped along by a faint glow from above, probably an opening to the outside. Serena led them deeper into the cave, to what appeared to be a storeroom. Bottled water, packaged food and a few boxes of herbs and magical supplies. From one of the boxes, Serena withdrew a jug of water and a large bowl lined with abalone.
“Have you ever seen a magic mirror, Leo?”
Leo’s teeth flashed in the dark. “My mom showed me hers once. She said she was checking on Shea.”
Shea gasped. Her mother had kept tabs on her.
“Your mom was much better at using hers than I am, but I think I can make this work.”
Pushing thoughts of her mom to the back of her brain, Shea watched Serena pour the liquid into the bowl and set the bowl on the floor. Then Serena knelt, holding her hands over the bowl as she intoned, “Blessed Goddess, I entreat thee to show us those who would harm an innocent.”
At first, the water showed nothing but the darkness of the cave. Then slowly, shapes began to coalesce. Or rather, one shape, someone climbing the hill toward the house. Then the water clouded again and another shape formed in
the glassy surface. This one was practically at the cave and headed straight for them. Shea recognized him as the teenager from the rest stop.
Shea heard Serena draw in a shaky breath.
Spinning on her heel, Shea headed for the stockroom again. She’d seen exactly what she needed there. When she returned, Serena stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed over her chest.
“What are you planning?”
Shea buckled the pugio’s sheath around her waist and positioned it on her hip. She liked the feel of the small blade in her hand, better for close fighting. “Take him out before he gets me.” She strapped a matching weapon on her left upper arm. “If it’s a physical fight, I should win. I’m hoping I can surprise him enough to get the upper hand and incapacitate him.”
“And if you can’t?”
Shea felt her lips curl back in a snarl. “Then I’ll kill him.”
She went to move past Serena, but the other woman stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
“Are you sure you can do that? Teens have a lot of raw power and earlier tonight…”
She didn’t have to finish. Shea knew what she meant. But Shea knew something about herself.
“My father trained me, just as he would any grigorio. I can take him. I know I can. Don’t let anything happen to Leo.”
Serena nodded, but Shea wasn’t sure what she was agreeing to. Didn’t matter, because she wasn’t waiting for the other woman’s permission. She wasn’t Serena’s child or her underling or her anything.
Except…possibly her savior.
No, don’t think about that now. Don’t think about anything but what you have to do.
She turned to Leo, who gave her a steady look.