by Jess Buffett
He had kept it safe, knowing one day he would find someone he wanted to give it to. The day he met Gabriella, he knew it would be her.
A large emerald stone sat in the middle, surround by an intricate display of sapphire and diamonds. Not one for jewelry, even Hunter was captivated by the stunning delicacy of the piece.
“Hunter.” Her eyes watered, and her lips trembled. Hunter really hoped that was a good sign. “It’s beautiful.”
“Marry me, Gabby. Be my wife.” Hunter would beg if she made him. “You’re mine, as I’m yours. Let me prove it to people.”
Gabriella stared at him with knowing eyes. “People or Brad?”
“Everyone.”
“Then yes, I’ll marry you.”
Elation shot through Hunter as he jumped up, taking her into his arms and spinning around. Gabriella yelped and smacked his shoulder, telling him to put her down, but at that moment he didn’t want to part from her.
“Eternity, Gabby. That’s you and me,” he murmured against her lips before he claimed them.
He eventually placed her back onto her feet, slipping the ring into place.
Damn, that looks good on her.
When his eyes lifted to hers, he noticed a peculiar expression on her face. “Gabby?”
“Eternity?” she whispered.
“Yes, honey. I told you that you’re immortal now.” Was she having second thoughts?
She frowned. “Oh, no. I know that. It was just funny you used that word.”
“Good funny, or bad?”
“Good.” Whatever memory that came to mind, brought a small smile to her lips. “Come with me, I have something for you.”
Tugging Hunter along, Gabriella’s smile widened when he obediently followed her back into the tower and the penthouse. Gabriella remained silent as they moved to the bedroom, and Hunter grew more curious. She dropped his hand, opening the top drawer of her chest. She retrieved a small red pouch, tugging at the string holding it closed, and allowing whatever was inside to fall out.
He shifted forward, his gaze fixed on the silver ring laying in her palm. His eyes met hers, asking silently for her to explain.
“I’ve had this for a very long time,” she said. “It was your eighteenth birthday present.”
Hunter’s breath caught in his throat, tears threatened to fall. She had held onto it all this time?
“Gabby…” He paused when he noticed the inscription written inside. He looked back at her, hope and love filling him. “Eternity?”
“Like you said, we were always meant to be.” Reaching for his hand, she slid the band onto his finger. “This is just more proof.”
“I love you, Gabby,” he whispered, bringing their lips together.
“I love you too.” Leaning back, she smiled at him. “One thing I’d like to know is, how did your father and uncles create a multi-million dollar company overnight?”
Hunter threw his head back and laughed, wrapping his arms around her. “They didn’t. Though they probably could if they wanted to.”
“If not them, then who?”
“Sebastian,” he said with a shrug. “He set the company up long before I was born.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And the police clearing you of you foster parents’ disappearance? How did the police discover that group of men and find evidence that those guys killed them? I mean, if it was really Ash and his men…”
“You don’t think my father wouldn’t have taken care of that?” he scoffed. “Those guys were responsible for the deaths of two teenage girls. Those bastards got away with it because the human system can be so flawed. I guess it was heaven’s way of making things right.”
“So, let me get this straight.” She ticked each point off with a finger. “Sebastian set up a company decades ago which he allowed you all to become partners in. Your father cleared up your name with the police, and then you and the others bought this tower so that you could settle in the one place. Did I miss anything?”
“Nope. That’s pretty much it.”
“It’s all rather convenient,” she said skeptically.
Hunter smirked. “My father is an archangel, Gabby. There has to be some perks, don’t you think?” He traced his tongue across the seam of her lips, caressing the butter soft flesh. “Besides, don’t we have better things to discuss? Like the fact that you just agreed to marry me.”
His phone rang before she could comment. Reluctantly answering the phone, he muttered, “This better be good. I just proposed, and I think I’m about to get lucky.”
“Congratulations. But it’s going to have to wait,” Sebastian stated bluntly. “We have a kid to find. If everything is okay with Gabriella, then we need you back.”
Hunter closed his eyes and groaned. How could he say no?
“I’ll meet you downstairs in a few minutes.” Hanging up, he grimaced. “That was Sebastian.”
“You have to go again.” She sighed.
“Yeah, but I—”
“Shhh.” She held a finger up to his lips. “I’ll be here when you get back. The sooner you find Landon, the better.”
Damn, he loved her.
“I’ll be back soon,” he promised, cupping the back of her head and sipping at her lips. Toying and seducing until she opened, his tongue plunged in, tangling and teasing. When it became paramount to breath, Hunter reluctantly leaned back. “Soon.”
* * * *
Gabriella watched Hunter leave, feeling frustrated that there was nothing she could do. She paced her apartment, occasionally sneaking peeks out of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Observing the tiny dots of people as they made their way through the city, she was again stunned at how large everything seemed down there, and yet how small it was from where she stood.
Her stomach growled, letting her know how long it had been since she had eaten. Her phone in hand, Gabriella pulled up a list of cafes and restaurants that delivered, knowing she couldn’t leave with Ash out there.
And then a thought hit her.
The city, and even the state she lived in, seemed huge to her if she walked the streets, but when it came to searching for things on the internet, everything became smaller, easier to find.
That was it!
She dialed her brother’s number, grateful when Nolan answered fairly quickly.
“’ello?”
“Nolan. Where are you? I need you to bring your techy stuff over to my place. I think I have an idea on how to help find Landon. If you can hurry I think we can find him before the day is through, but I’m not exactly sure how to search for what I want so that’s where you come in,” she rambled out, not stopping for breath until she was done.
“Whoa. Hold up there.” He chuckled through the phone. “First off, ‘techy stuff’? And second, I’m in your guest room so I really don’t need to hurry.”
Gabriella frowned. “You’re where?”
“Your guest room.” He laughed before hanging up.
She walked out of her room, her eyebrows raising at her brother who stood in her hallway. “Not that I mind, but why were you in the guest room?”
Nolan snorted. “Because I wasn’t about to leave after everything that happened. Now follow me while I get us coffee, then you can tell me all about this great epiphany of yours and how it will help the Diablo Three barbarians.”
“Diab-what?” she asked as she followed him.
“It’s a gaming reference,” he snickered. “Barbarian characters in Diablo Three have angel wings.” Seeing her confusion, Nolan rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. Come on. Coffee awaits.”
Gabriella followed her brother, anxious to get started. Landon and his mother were in trouble and needed their help.
* * * *
Hunter growled in frustration as he and Sebastian roamed the streets of Richmond, just outside of the city. Having to travel on foot, or even on the ground, was making things go too slowly. If they had been airborne, Landon would already have been found and secure. However, since they wer
e using their senses to detect any angelic activity, Hunter wasn’t able to fly, conceal, and sense all at the same time. He would have to wait until that night and make sure to stay above the clouds.
Sebastian let out a sigh beside him. If it weren’t for the fact that they needed to stay in pairs, Sebastian would have been able to take flight.
“Maybe you should pair up with Dominic, or Julian. At least they could fly with you, cover more ground,” he suggested.
Sebastian shook his head. “I won’t risk it. If a pair of you younger ones were to come across Ash and the rest of his men, things could end badly.”
“I’m sure we could fend them off long enough to get away,” he scoffed.
“It’s always the same.” The older angel chuckled. “A Nephilim becomes an angel, and then he suddenly thinks he can take on the world. You have only been an angel for a few months, Hunter. Even as a pure born angel, it took a long time for me to be ready to take on more than one or two Fallen by myself.”
Hunter grunted. It irked him when Sebastian brought up how young he was. He knew the other man didn’t mean any harm, but it chafed regardless. Sebastian and Dominic could never really understand how frustrating it could be to be caught between two worlds. They belonged to the angelic world, and no one had ever challenged that.
“It’s already getting dark, won’t be long until we can head up and cover more ground,” Sebastian told him.
When they were passing what Hunter was sure was the fortieth dress store on this damn street alone, his phone rang. Glancing down he saw Nolan’s number and frowned. He had given Gabriella’s brother his number in case something happened while he was gone.
Answering quickly, he cut to the chase. “What happened?”
“Well, hello to you too, sunshine,” Gabriella drawled.
“Gabby? Is everything okay?”
She laughed. “Everything is fine. In fact, it’s more than fine.”
“Um. That’s great, babe?” He knew it sounded more like a question, but he was trying to work out why she had called him when they had only spoken an hour ago.
“I have some great news, Hunter. I found him,” she said.
Hunter frowned. “Found who?”
“Landon, of course.” She sighed, sounding exasperated with him.
“You what?” Grabbing Sebastian’s attention, he said, “Gabby said she’s found Landon.”
Sebastian looked at him skeptically. “How?”
“How? Where is he?” he asked her.
“You guys are so busy thinking like angels and even Fallen, but you forgot to think human,” she replied. “I figured they wouldn’t know that they were unguarded, would they? His mother wouldn’t think to hide, especially when no one should know who or where they are. So I got Nolan to do a search for boys aged sixteen named Landon in the state of Victoria. And then we cross-referenced them with mothers named Rebecca after I remembered your father mentioning her name. There ended up being two, but since I knew they were on their own, and one Rebecca was married, I knew I had found them.”
Hunter gaped at the phone. Fuck. They hadn’t even thought of that. “That’s amazing, you’re amazing.”
“Yep,” she snickered. “Well, Nolan did it all, but it was my idea.”
“Damn,” he whispered in awe. The woman was bloody amazing. “Where are they, honey?”
“Nolan tracked them to a fairly new housing estate area about half an hour out of the city.” Gabriella rattled off the address. “Be careful, Hunter.”
“I will. Promise,” he said before hanging up.
Hunter turned to Sebastian to see the man shaking his head with a smile on his face. “That is one hell of a woman you have there, man.”
“Yeah, she really is.”
Not wasting any more time, Hunter hailed a taxi. They still couldn’t risk flying during the day, not yet, so traveling by car would be the quickest way. They were so close. Now they just had to get to Landon before Renatus did.
Chapter 10
Darkness had fallen just as they reached the street Landon and his mother, Rebecca, lived on. It was a quiet suburban area, not too unlike the one Hunter had eventually grown up in with Gabriella. With brand new homes and more parks in walking distance than he could count, Hunter could see why the boy’s mother had chosen to live there. It was truly beautiful.
Hunter felt bad that they were about to rip all of this away from them.
Telling the driver to pull over at the end of the street, Hunter and Sebastian exited the vehicle after paying. They waited for the others to arrive, Dominic and Brock turning up in the car they would use to transport mother and son.
Reaching the edge of the driveway, Sebastian ordered the others to stay behind as Hunter followed him to the front door. The sight of them would likely frighten the woman enough, there was no need to make things worse by having six huge men on her doorstep.
The house was on the small side, but Hunter assumed they wouldn’t need much room with it being just the two of them. Cute and quaint were the words that came to mind as he inspected the pale gray structure with its white trimming and neatly manicured lawn out front. Garden beds trailed up either side of the path, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth when he noticed the door knocker hanging in front of him was actually a pair of angel wings.
Not too long after they rang the bell, the door was answered by a small woman with fiery hair similar to his Gabby’s. When she looked at them he could tell she already knew who they were.
“It’s too soon,” she whispered, tears in her eyes. “He’s only sixteen.”
“You misunderstand, ma’am. We aren’t here to take him from you. Some extremely bad people have discovered your son’s existence and are looking for him as we speak. We’re here to get the both of you to safety,” Sebastian explained. “But we have to go now.”
Her eyes widened, and she trembled slightly. “Renatus?”
“Yes,” Hunter answered, a little surprised. “I take it you know who they are?”
Nodding, Rebecca left the door open for them to follow as she moved further into the house. “Raphael warned me about them. I knew that one day they would come for Landon, but it wasn’t supposed to be now. We’re supposed to have more time before you come.”
“I have to ask, how do you know we aren’t Renatus?” Hunter asked curiously.
Rebecca chuckled. “Because I have met your fathers, the two of you could not look more like Gabriel and Michael if you tried.”
Having finally met his father, Hunter couldn’t argue with that logic.
She led them into a lounge room toward the back of the house. A young boy was sitting on the floor in front of a coffee table. His head was down, and he looked to be pouring over notes of some sort.
“Landon, sweetheart. There are some men I’d like you to meet,” Rebecca said, her voice wavering.
Landon’s head shot up, a scowl forming when he noticed them. “Who are you?” he asked curiously, cocking his head to the side in a move that reminded Hunter of a small puppy.
Rebecca moved to the lounge, taking a seat near Landon’s position on the floor. “You know who they are, honey.”
Hunter saw the look of resignation on the boy’s face, even as he shook his head. “No. It’s too soon.”
Hunter chuckled. “Funny. That’s what your mother said when she answered the door. So let me tell you what Sebastian here told her. We aren’t separating you. Some bad people are looking for you, so we need both of you to come with us. We can keep you safe, but we need to go now.”
Landon looked to his mother and sighed when she nodded.
“Go get the pack from your room, and then mine. Grab anything else you might want, but make it quick,” she told him. Seeing their looks, she explained, “I always knew there was a chance the wrong people would come for us. I’m not an idiot. I made sure we had everything we needed in case we had to make a quick escape.”
Hunter nodded in approval. “That’s extre
mely wise.”
“I knew what could happen when I agreed to have Landon. Raphael never kept anything from me.” She smiled fondly as she mentioned the archangel. “I’m sorry he missed so much of Landon’s life. I made sure our son knew that his father was a good man and that he would have made an even better father. Maybe now they can get to know one another before Landon goes through his transition.”
Hunter heard the wistful tone, her words ringing of affection for the archangel of healing.
“I wish my mum had been around to tell me,” Hunter admitted. “I’ve always wondered how different things would have been if she hadn’t been in an accident. In the end I found Gabriella, but before then, and for a while after I had to leave her, I wasn’t a very happy person.”
He hoped Landon realized how lucky he was. His mother had prepared him and given him a loving home to grow in.
“Got it all,” Landon announced as he came out holding two large hiking bags and a laptop bag. “Grab my laptop and your ereader too, Mum.”
“Such a good son.” Rebecca laughed. Landon beamed at her, clearly enjoying his mother’s praise. “Well, let’s go. No point in waiting.”
Hunter was impressed with their attitudes. He remembered his reaction when he had been told he had to leave everything and everyone, including Gabby, behind. Saying he hadn’t taken it well would have been an understatement.
When he said this out loud, Rebecca nodded. “I can understand that. You said your mother wasn’t around to explain, and by the sounds of it, it took you a while to form attachments. Then all of a sudden when you do, it’s all ripped away from you again. No one can be expected to take that well. However, I’m assuming from the smile on your face when you say her name, you have reconnected?”
Hunter knew his grin was ridiculously huge. “Yeah. Gabriella’s my bonded.”
Rebecca gasped. “Oh my. Congratulations,” she said happily. “Have any of the other boys found their bonded? I know Landon is the youngest of you.”
“No. Not yet,” Sebastian answered. “If you know that Landon is the youngest, I don’t suppose my uncle shared this whole prophecy thing with you, did he?”