While she watched him, he still seemed like her Lucas. His face and body appeared the same. His infrequent breathing and heartbeat had remained unchanged. So far, the only difference she noted was that his skin seemed smoother. She thought it was her imagination, but his lips appeared more red, too.
Emma had held it together after her initial meltdown. Since then, she’d devoted herself to tending to Lucas and Gabrielle. The two of them spent many hours talking, sometimes even laughing, because of something Emma told Gabrielle about Lucas as a child. If she felt animosity toward Gabrielle for what had happened to Lucas, she was doing a good job of hiding it. It might have something to do with the long conversation Emma had with Amaziah after he comforted Gabrielle two nights earlier. She never asked Emma what they’d talked about, but when she returned from the conversation, she seemed to be more focused and smiled at her as if she understood something.
Gabrielle walked to the window. Outside the light was growing dim as the sun relinquished its hold on the day, turning control over to the moon and shadows. It had been a sunny day, and now the stars were beginning to speckle the cloudless sky. She’d been standing there for some time when she suddenly felt an energy right behind her. She spun quickly and found herself staring into Lucas’s eyes.
Only they were different.
They were still blue, but more brilliant, and had taken on violet strands that constantly mingled with the blue. They were mesmerizing.
She wanted to throw her arms around him, but she felt the need to be cautious. His expression and body language were unreadable, and more than his eyes were different; he’d been able to move out of the bed and across the room without a sound. Even a full Qalal couldn’t move quietly enough for Gabrielle not to hear them coming. His stealth unnerved her.
“Lucas … how are you feeling?” Gabrielle didn’t move, but she readied herself in case she had to switch forms. Lucas looked at her with the same lack of expression. After several moments, Gabrielle reached out to touch his face.
He stopped her hand with a movement that was so fast she barely saw it. She continued to look in his eyes. Something was clearly wrong, and it wasn’t just that he was something that had never existed. It was in his eyes, something she felt was directed at her. After a few more seconds, Lucas let go of her hand, turned around, and began to make his way down the hall.
“Leave, Gabrielle.” It was his voice but silkier, deeper, like he’d grown from a teenager into a man in the two days that had passed.
“Why? Lucas, wait!” Gabrielle manifested in front of him. They were in the hall that led to the rest of the house, facing each other. Lucas didn’t stop moving. When he reached her, he just moved her to the side without making eye contact.
Why is he treating me this way?
She expected he might be different, but she got better treatment from Qalal she’d never met, much less one that was still part human or at least part angel—someone she loved and she thought loved her, too.
Lucas stopped at the kitchen sink and bent over to drink straight from the tap like it was a water fountain. Gabrielle waited for him to finish, knowing water wouldn’t quench his thirst. When he did, he fluidly moved the three steps to the refrigerator and opened it, taking out a can of soda. He popped the tab and tilted his head back to drink, then tossed the empty can into the sink.
“I told you to leave,” he said, bitterness spiking his tone.
“I asked you why.” Gabrielle wasn’t going to just leave even if that really was what he wanted. There was too much he needed to know and too much she still didn’t know about him and his condition. He was going to have to deal with her whether he liked it or not.
“After what you did, I don’t think I owe you an explanation. What happened? Did Javan let you down again?” Lucas shut the door to the fridge and turned his exquisite, pooling eyes on her. “Did you decide you still wanted to play with the human?”
“Lucas, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Javan won’t ever have the opportunity to let me down again. I told you I could never be with him again after his betrayal. Why are we discussing him, anyway?”
Lucas smirked, then let out a sarcastic laugh that sent a chill through Gabrielle. There was definitely a more malicious side to Lucas, now.
“Were you the one who had the life sucked out of you, Gabrielle? You’re not really going to act like you didn’t betray me with Javan the other night, are you? Are you going to deny you pretended to be on the brink of death, helping Javan sucker me into getting him that book by saying it was the only way he would release you?”
“The Book of Barabbadon?”
“Yes. The fucking Book of Barabbadon.”
Lucas started toward Gabrielle aggressively. She transformed before he reached her, stopping him temporarily, but then he closed the rest of the distance in two more quick steps.
He didn’t touch her. Just glared.
“What was worse,” he continued, “you stood and watched as that bitch made a snack out of me.” Lucas narrowed his eyes. “You smiled. Are you going to try and deny that, too? Or were you hoping, since she didn’t kill me, I would somehow forget?”
Gabrielle felt like she was going to break into pieces. She manifested her human form again.
“I deny all of that, Lucas.”
He sneered and turned. She turned him back, and he shoved her hand off his arm.
“Lucas, what you think you saw wasn’t real. It wasn’t me.”
“What? Are you going to tell me he had you under a spell or something?”
“It wasn’t me!”
How was she going to convince Lucas it wasn’t her he saw? She frantically searched her mind to try and figure out a way to make him believe her. Whatever happened to him, whatever he thought he saw her doing, was embedded in his mind. And she didn’t know what to do about it.
She couldn’t imagine what he must have gone through—thinking she was doing those things to him or that she stood by and watched him being killed with a smile on her face. How was she ever going to get him to see the truth when he saw it with his own eyes? Gabrielle didn’t think she was going to be able to get through to him, but she had to try to help him work through what had happened.
“Do you remember the attack?”
“It’s a little hard to forget something like that.” Lucas’s tone seemed to have softened but only a little. He turned to face her, then took a seat at the table. Gabrielle sat across from him. He didn’t look at her as he continued. “Even if I didn’t remember, I heard enough about what happened from you, Amaziah, and Gran to put it together.”
“I didn’t realize you could hear us. I’m sorry. If I’d known, I would’ve made everyone talk about it somewhere else.”
“It’s not a problem. Besides, I think you would’ve had to go a couple of blocks away—at least. My improved hearing is annoying, but I’m starting to figure out how to tune in to only what I want to hear. At least, I think I am.”
Gabrielle raised a brow and wondered what other abilities he now had. ‘Lucas, can you hear me?’
She waited several seconds and tried again.
‘Lucas, can you hear me?’
Lucas turned his head toward her slowly. She heard his voice, but not with her ears.
‘Are you kidding me? Am I hearing your thoughts?’
Gabrielle smiled. Whatever he held locked away in his angelic DNA had apparently been awakened.
‘Not my thoughts, exactly. Just the communication I want you to hear. It’s selective, for not only what I want to be transmitted to someone else, but also who I want to hear that information.’
‘Wow—can I do the same thing?’
‘You already are. You just have to learn how to perfect it.’
“Cool,” Lucas said aloud and smiled. Gabrielle smi
led at his reaction. But she couldn’t help noticing how white his teeth were. There was definitely some Qalal in him.
“How do you feel, Lucas?”
Gabrielle was surprised by how quickly he seemed to calm down after being in almost a rage a few minutes ago.
“I feel kinda great, actually. I thought I’d feel all empty and emotionless. You know—dead. Instead, all my emotions seem to be enhanced. Like with you I feel angrier than I ever have in my life. So much so, I can feel it twisting inside me. Like it’s got a life of its own. I’m having a really hard time not physically throwing you out right now, to be honest. The only reason I haven’t is because I’ve heard you all talking over the last couple of days.” Lucas studied her for a moment. “Maybe there’s some truth to what you’re claiming. I have to find out what really happened. If it wasn’t you, then you aren’t the one I need to go after—Javan is … and whoever impersonated you. And Mara …” he said, then seemed to go somewhere deep within his thoughts.
While he was far away in his mind, she thought she saw black playing around the edges of his eyes. A grave tone accompanied his next words.
“I’ll go after them … all of them. I’ll make them pay.”
Chapter Eighty
Gabrielle ~ Bittersweet
Gabrielle watched Lucas from her solitude high above him. It hadn’t been easy between them over the last couple of weeks. Lucas still didn’t know what to believe about Halloween night. His only contact with anyone since then had been with Gabrielle, Emma, and Amaziah. But now that she felt he was safe for Nonie and Nate to be around, she’d agreed to let them see Lucas. She left after the initial reunion, and the long hugs had ended without Lucas gnawing on his best friends’ necks. She still wasn’t comfortable not being close by, though, so she thought she’d stay and keep an eye on things without him knowing she was around.
The way Lucas had dealt with the changes in his body, in his life, had been amazing, to say the least. What was more remarkable were the changes themselves. He was stronger and faster than any Qalal she’d ever seen. He’d even almost beaten her in an all-out sprint. Almost. His vision and hearing were far beyond human capability and even pushed very close to the abilities of an angel.
He’d also gotten quite good at telepathy, purposely making idle conversation with Gabrielle when he knew she was working, even communicating with Amaziah about his new body and abilities. She’d wondered if he’d tried to communicate with Javan, but it wasn’t likely he’d be able to. Javan’s ability to use telepathy would’ve been weakened, maybe eliminated, after he’d fallen.
Gabrielle was still disturbed, and sometimes unnerved, by some of Lucas’s actions and demeanor. He was more imposing than she would have ever thought he could be, and he seemed to enjoy using his new-found ability to persuade others. She caught him trying to use it on Emma one day, but as soon as he realized Gabrielle was in the room, he stopped. She never said anything, hoping he was just trying to fine-tune a new gift, not meaning any harm.
The gift of Persuasion was very rare. One that even Gabrielle didn’t have. It worried her, and she hoped he would never do anything negative with the ability. Now that he was probably more Qalal than anything, he was going to be far more prone to Darkness and its ways. The only thing that could help keep it at bay was his Divine side that had awakened within him. But they didn’t have any idea how strong that side was.
Emma seemed to be adjusting to her grandson’s change. Lucas still wasn’t showing a strong urge for blood. The steaks and burgers he ate, cooked rare, seemed to be enough to stave off any intense desires. Emma even joked that Lucas was going to have to get a job to help her rising grocery bill. It was good to see everyone becoming so light-hearted in a way, but it was also troubling. As much as Gabrielle wanted to think this transformation was going to be easier than anyone hoped for, she still believed it was far from complete. She sensed a struggle within Lucas, something she wasn’t sure he was aware of.
At times, she could see it in his eyes when the blue and violet swirling would briefly change into a violet and black duet. Gabrielle wondered if the sporadic color shift ever pushed out the blue altogether, if the Lucas she loved would be pushed out, too. She noticed the change most when she and Lucas talked about the night he was attacked or about Javan. She knew his hatred for her former Reyah was deep, and she felt if those negative feelings increased, he would slip further toward Darkness.
Even with some of the more disturbing new traits, though, he still seemed to be very Lucas to her most of the time. At least for now. She did wonder if his battling sides would keep shifting at all times, causing him to be in a constant state of instability. And if he would have days he didn’t seem to be at all the Lucas she’d fallen in love with. The most disturbing thing was not knowing if those bad days came, would they increase to the point that his more menacing side would be the only one she could find anymore.
That was what Ramai hoped for so Lucas could try to bring about the end of Light’s rule over Darkness. She’d do everything in her power to make sure that didn’t happen. The first step was to get him to trust her again. To trust the love she had for him, and she hoped he still had for her. They hadn’t touched in more than a friendly gesture since he’d changed. Not because she didn’t want to. It was everything she could do to not fling her arms around him, show him how much she loved and missed him. Her heart became an ever-tightening knot in her chest when she allowed herself to think about it—like it was at that moment.
She closed her eyes, trying to block the thought. She wasn’t keen on letting her mind dwell in that gloom, preferring to just keep trying to help Lucas adjust in hopes he would be the one to pull her into his arms. Then, she would know he still loved her.
Then … maybe I could breathe again.
Gabrielle shifted her thoughts to the Book of Barabbadon. Javan had it. But Amaziah assured her they had time to get it back. Even knowing the date, knowing exactly how much time they had to try to get the Book back, she still had moments when she felt defeated.
When she opened her eyes, her focus targeted a familiar energy in the distance. Her anger surged.
Javan.
She hadn’t seen him since Halloween night, and now that he was close, she wouldn’t lose the opportunity to confront him. She made her way toward him, but he swiftly shifted direction away from her. She should have known he’d see her coming, but he wouldn’t be able to outrun her. She’d been faster than him even when he still held Yahuwah’s favor, so he had no chance now.
She closed the distance so quickly he must have pulled up on his attempt to flee, stopping completely. Gabrielle changed into her human form as she reached the ground in front of him, facing the fallen angel who was once her Reyah.
“Hello, dear,” Javan said, smiling innocently. “How have you been?”
Gabrielle calmed herself. She couldn’t strike out at any living thing without direct orders or just cause. Javan knew the rules, too. He wouldn’t be concerned right now as long as he gave her no reason to fear for her safety.
Her desire for revenge warred against her restraint, ebbing and flowing through her, testing for a weak spot in her resolve—trying to break free. Though it didn’t manifest physically, it latched onto her words, lacing her tone with venom.
“I’ve been better than you might expect.”
“Really? I thought you might be in mourning.”
“Why’s that, Javan?”
“I heard your little boy toy’s ability to breathe had ceased.” Javan’s smile turned sinister.
He doesn’t know Lucas survived.
She weighed whether or not it would be better for Javan to know the truth at this point. He was going to find out soon, though, and Gabrielle wanted to see the look on his face when he learned the truth.
She smiled back at Javan. “I think you’ve be
en misinformed—dear. Lucas didn’t die. All you did was make him stronger.”
Javan’s upper lip pulled into a sneer. Knowing he’d failed to kill Lucas would be a terrible blow to his ego. Gabrielle seized the moment to dig into the open wound a little deeper.
“You failed, Javan. You did not kill Lucas.”
“You’re lying! A human can’t survive the bite of a Qalal unless they’re turned themselves.” Javan’s smile returned again. “So. He’s one of the Damned, then.” He laughed, the sound vicious in its intent.
“No … no.” Gabrielle shook her head slowly, and Javan’s smile slipped away. “You’re right about one thing, though. A human can’t survive a Qalal attack without being turned. But there’s one tiny, tiny but crucial, fact that you didn’t take into consideration.”
“What’s that?” Javan asked, his words sounding more like a growl.
“Lucas was not completely human. Apparently, Nephilim can live through a Qalal attack.”
Javan’s face flushed with anger, and Gabrielle realized she was enjoying this far more than she should.
“It also turns out a Nephilim who’s bitten doesn’t turn all blood-sucker, either. As a matter of fact, what it did do to Lucas was give him all the really cool stuff. You know … like immortality. By the way, thanks for that one. I wasn’t sure how we would ever get past him being mortal. We don’t have to worry about that anymore, thanks to you. He has incredible strength, vision, speed, hearing, and even more incredible good looks—like he needed that.
“His angelic DNA seems to have been enhanced. So now, he can do things you can’t do anymore. Telepathy … he’s really great at that. And we’re sure there’s going to be more. He’s a phenomenon, you know. The first of his kind. There’s no telling what he’ll be able to do once everything he’s capable of is known.”
Inception (The Reaping Chronicles, 1) Page 52