by Dawn Ibanez
“I’m here, Gabe.” Elijah lifted him into a sitting position and frowned as he took in the blood covered clothes he wore. “Gabe?”
“It hurts,” Gabriel moaned. He looked at Elijah with eyes that weren’t the correct color. “Why didn’t anyone tell me it hurts?”
Elijah looked around the room and cursed. Gabriel was the only one there. The vampires outside of the door would have been able to feed the boy, but they hadn’t wanted to help him. Elijah cursed as he wrapped his arms around Gabriel and brought his face to his throat. “This isn’t what I wanted for you,” he said softly.
Gabriel moaned softly before his teeth sank into Elijah’s throat. Elijah held his ward tight as Gabriel tried to struggle to get more blood into his mouth.
“Don’t try to gorge yourself,” Elijah said. He tangled his hand in Gabriel’s hair. When Gabriel clutched at Elijah’s suit, Elijah pulled him away from his throat. When Gabriel tried to go for Elijah’s throat again, Elijah pinned him to the ground. “Stop it,” he hissed.
Gabriel struggles lessened. After what seemed like an eternity, his body went limp. Elijah turned him over to see that he was unconscious. A slow clap from down the hall made him look up.
Lindo Cartigo stepped out of the shadows. “I was wondering what you would do with the boy.”
Elijah stood over Gabriel and drew his sword. “You did all of this, didn’t you?” he asked. “Whitechapel, here. This was all your doing.”
The Fae shrugged. “I am simply taking advantage of an opportunity.”
When Elijah came forward, a sword appeared in Lindo’s hand. Their weapons clashed as Elijah pushed Lindo back. “These women were not an opportunity.”
Lindo pointed his chin towards Gabriel. “Christine should have aborted him when I told her to. But no. She ran away and ended up on the doorstep of the little shit my Rachel went on and on about.”
“Your Rachel?” Elijah asked.
Lindo vanished from where he was pinned. He reappeared behind Elijah and swung. His lips curled into a snarl as he sat the cut appear across Elijah’s face. “She would have been. But you were already catching the attention of the Guard in London. When she wanted me to come to dinner because there was something she wanted to tell me, I knew we needed to get rid of her too.”
Elijah rubbed the blood from his face and blasted his magic at Lindo. When the Fae disappeared, he gripped his rapier tighter. “Lindo!” he bellowed.
“My time here is done. You are nothing to me and that piece of filth at your feet will be nothing as well.” Lindo reappeared at the stairwell. “Now, the fire mage. She might be worth a few burns.”
Elijah’s stomach dropped as he moved to go to the stairwell. He stopped and looked at Gabriel’s unconscious form. Augustina had no clue who was coming after her. He needed to get to her, but Elijah also knew that she would never forgive him if he left Gabriel behind.
He went to Gabriel’s side and lifted him over his shoulder. Elijah sheathed his sword and left the perfume store.
With Gabriel secure, he needed to make sure his consort would walk away from this mess as well.
*****
Gus tossed Lilliana over her shoulder and gasped when a thick arm wrapped around her throat. Her hands clutched at an invisible figure as she was pulled away from the bleeding brunette.
“Oh, you still got it, don’t you,” a hauntingly familiar voice said.
Gus’s body went rigid. The person holding her chuckled. “You missed me that much, Tina?” he asked.
She slammed her foot down on his instep. When his grip loosened, she dropped and threw her elbow back into his side. Gus backed away and shook her head. “You’re dead,” she said.
De Leon stood in front of her with his arms open and that same hated grin on his face. “You would like to think that, wouldn’t you?” he said before he rushed at her.
Gus backed up a step and slipped. As she fell back, Lilliana wrapped her whip around her throat. Gus grabbed the whip and pulled Lilliana close. She slammed her forehead into Lilliana’s nose and ripped the weapon off her neck when it went limp. Gus jumped on Lillian’s fallen body and placed her knee at her throat. When she looked up at De Leon, his form multiplied.
“You have a lot of explaining to do, Tina,” they all said in unison.
Memoires assaulted her as she held Lilliana down. Times of her in his bed. Being ordered to kill. Being told that if she didn’t do exactly what he said, Mel would suffer. Answering to the moniker of ‘Tina the deadly Ballerina.’
She rolled off Lilliana as the scythe came flying across the ground. Gus came to her feet and looked at Lilliana as she stood and faced off with the man that seemed to be her partner.
“You were going to let that bitch kill me!” she screamed.
One of the multiple De Leons reached out and easily disarmed her. “You have outlived your usefulness,” he said before using her own scythe to behead her. He then looked at Gus. “Do you want to dance, my beautiful ballerina?”
Gus’s eyes narrowed as Lilliana’s head landed on the pavement. Her lips turned up into a smile. “I don’t know who you are, but you really don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I’ve lived lifetimes before your whore mother was ever born.” The De Leon’s continued to multiply. “I am an architect of anarchy, and it’s time to disrupt the status quo!”
Gus took a glance around her. She would not become the terrified girl he was trying to make her. He wanted to use her damage against her. The more figures of De Leon appeared, the more her temper rose. “What you are is full of shit. And it’s time you got what’s coming to you.”
The contempt on his face was almost comical. “What is that?”
Her hands ignited. “Take a guess.” She launched herself at the nearest De Leon. As soon as her fist collided into his jaw, he fell over and caught fire. She moved to the next one and slammed her fist into his chest. As he fell over, Gus allowed her rage and fear to combine. The flames that surrounded her hands spread and covered her completely.
She continued to fight against any figure that came at her. Some of the De Leons raced at her with weapons. They all melted before they touched her skin. Gus moved through the street. One by one she took down the multiple copies of her personal demon. She reached the one that had spoken the most and grabbed him by the collar. Her eyes widened as his form stayed humanoid, but his skin took on a translucent blue hue and his eyes glowed violet. Before she could say anything, he turned into Elijah.
Gus stumbled back and looked at her blood covered hands. The man in front of her fell to his knees with blood pouring from a knife wound to his neck. She fell to her knees too but felt something pass by her face. She looked up and in time to see De Leon/Elijah with three of her throwing knives embedded in his cheeks. As he fell reaching for her, Gus screamed.
*****
Elijah cursed as he carried Gabriel into the nearest building. He pressed the boy against the wall as fires raged around them. Elijah sat Gabriel on the ground and checked his breathing once more. Gabriel was still unconscious as Elijah stepped back looked out onto the street. Augustina was leaning over the man that wore his face. He could see her desperately trying to put her fires out.
“Augustina,” Elijah called as he left the sanctuary of the building. When she raised her head to look at him, he frowned.
Her face was a mask of grief and rage. Flames floated around her shortened hair as she moved to protect their downed enemy. “Change back,” she ordered.
He stopped moving. His frown deepened when he looked at the man’s body. “What would that accomplish?”
She snarled and ran towards him. He leaned back and dodged every swing she threw at him. “Show me your real face!” she demanded. “Not Elijah’s, not De Leon’s. Yours!”
Elijah grabbed her wrists and pointed them up. He leaned close to her as fire rained down around them. “Look at me, Augustina. Do you really think I’m some shape shifter?” he asked.
Sh
e kicked him in his knee and then drove her own into his side. “You’re trying to confuse me!” she accused.
He summoned his magic and used the air to push her back. She flew back and landed against a car. “No, I’m not. Stop this, Augustina.”
The man who wore his face coughed. Elijah kept his gaze focused on Augustina. “Kill him,” the man murmured. He struggled to sit up and coughed up a mouthful of blood. “He needs to die.”
Augustina’s eyes darted from one to the other. Her eyebrow twitched as she looked between them. Elijah clenched his fist and used his magic to bring her to him. As her body collided with his, he placed a throwing knife into her palm.
“Do I need to die?” Elijah asked.
She trembled in his arms and looked into his eyes. “I….”
“You’re even more indecisive than I remember,” Lindo said from behind Augustina.
Elijah loosened his grip on her and stepped back as she turned. His eyes widened when he felt the sword at his waist leave its scabbard.
She turned to the fake with both blades ready. The throwing knife in her hand cut across Lindo’s throat as the rapier stabbed him in the heart.
Elijah caught her body against his as she stumbled back. He held her arms in front of her. “I have you,” he whispered into her ear.
She shook her head as he fell back. “Who was that?” she asked.
He heard the panic in her voice and pressed his lips to her collar. “It’s a long story.”
Augustina removed his arms and left his embrace. “Where’s Gabriel?” She looked at his suit and gasped. She grabbed the collar of his jacket and looked at it. “Where is he?”
Elijah stilled her hands with his own. “Gabriel is safe. He’s in that building over there.”
Augustina nodded as she touched the side of his neck. Elijah closed his eyes as her fingers brushed against the wound there. “Let’s get you both to the hospital,” she said lowly.
There was something that was off in her voice. Elijah took her hand and made her look at him. “Stay with me.”
She touched his face again. “Whoever that was, he knew De Leon,” she said looking at where Lindo’s body had fallen.
Elijah tightened his hold on Augustina’s waist when they both realized the body had vanished. His eyes scanned the area. There was no one around. He moved with her to the building where he left Gabriel. “We can discuss it when we get home.”
A high-pitched noise behind them made Elijah tense. He cursed when he turned and saw Tati dressed in royal armor standing beside a woman that looked too much like Mel.
Augustina looked at the women in front of them with narrowed eyes. “Should I be surprised that you’re here now?” she asked.
Tati shook her head. “I told you before. I can’t raise a hand against another member of the royal house.” She turned around and took in the damage done to the area. She then looked at Elijah. “Lord Elijah, please forgive any transgressions I made. I wanted to find a pair of lost members of my court.”
He kept his hand at the small of Augustina’s back. “Augustina and Esmeralda are citizens of the North Sector. I did what was necessary to protect them.” He would continue to do so.
“Was that you?” Augustina asked. She gestured to where Lindo’s body had been. “Did you take his body?”
Mel’s mirror image stepped forward. “We will deal with his remains. And Lilliana’s.” She looked at where the Fae woman’s scythe was stuck in a wall. “You did good.”
Augustina shook her head. “If you say so,” she said sarcastically. She rubbed the back of her neck. “What are you two doing here? I mean really. Checking in on the new girl? Or hoping I’ll change my mind and go Beyond the Veil with you.”
Tati looked down at the ground and sighed. “I’m doing something I really don’t enjoy.”
The thought occurred to Elijah just as she raised her hand up. He ran to where Gabriel was still unconscious and checked his pulse. There was a strong, steady beat. He was about to lift the boy into his arms when he felt a blade at his throat.
The woman who looked like Mel held the sword. “Don’t make this any harder,” she said with a shake of her head.
Augustina looked from Tati to where he was and back again. She then pushed her hair out of her face as a hysterical laughter escaped her.
Elijah adjusted his hold on Gabriel and slowly backed away from the sword. “I don’t think you want to carry through with that threat,” he warned.
Dark green eyes narrowed at him. “Do you think you can beat me?”
“No. But the one daughter that will tolerate looking at you will never forgive you.” He stood straight and saw Augustina pacing around Tati. He motioned to the exit with his head. “She’s already high strung and ready to attack. Do you think if you do whatever it is to me or this boy, she’ll let it go?”
Augustina rubbed her face with both hands and kept her attention on Tati. “I will give you to the count of three, and you’re going to call Rhiannon off.”
Tati’s hand curled into a fist. “You do not dictate to me. I am a Queen.”
“Not my queen,” Augustina snapped. Her eyes widened as she started to cough up blood.
Elijah took a step toward the exit, only to be stopped by her mother. “What’s happening to her?”
The Fae warrior was stoic as Augustina collapsed to the ground. “She’s Fae. She can’t pledge her life to someone and take it back a day later. There are consequences to lying.”
“I cannot allow that boy to live. He was forced to become an Unseelie. He will be an outcast for the rest of his eternal life.” Tati explained.
Augustina looked at her with bright red eyes. “Why him?” she asked. “There are others that were turned into vampires. There has to be.” She spat out a mouthful of blood. “Why is Gabriel special?”
Tati knelt next to Augustina and whispered something into her ear. Elijah turned his attention back to Rhiannon. “Do you know? What harm could this boy possibly do?”
She shook her head. “It’s his bloodline. He’s going to become a prince, and if he decides to fight for his status, he can end the world.”
Elijah shook his head. “That’s not good enough,” he said.
“Why do you care about this boy? You’re not his sire.”
Elijah tightened his grip on Gabriel. “He’s my son.”
Rhiannon’s eyebrows rose in surprise. She stepped back and sheathed her sword. “Did you know who his father is? His real, biological father?”
“Not until today.”
“You didn’t tell my daughter to protect him because he’s royalty?”
Elijah shook his head. “You don’t know, Augustina,” he snapped. “She protected Gabriel because he’s a good kid. She has thrown herself in front of anyone she deemed hers. If you need to hear the words, she protected him of her own free will.”
Tati appeared at Rhiannon’s side. She looked at Gabriel with tears in her eyes. “Gus has your temperament,” she said. The Queen wiped her eyes and reached out to brush Gabriel’s hair away from his face. “Do you know who his sire is?”
Elijah shook his head. “It looks like they turned him and let him starve. I gave him some of my blood, so I don’t know what will happen.”
“You gave him your blood, and considering you’re still awake, and it’s dawn, you have had some of Gus’s blood.”
Elijah blinked at her. Augustina’s blood was fresh in his veins. And there was no research done on any of the affects her blood would have on other vampires. “I helped raise this boy from when he was in diapers. If you had been in my place, would you have let him starve?”
Tati looked out to where she left Augustina. His consort wasn’t coughing as she was before, but she was struggling to get to her feet. “She wants him to be under her care. She said if he becomes a danger, she’ll put him down herself. Do you think I should trust that?”
Elijah closed his eyes and lowered his head. “Do not bind her to that.” He lo
wered Gabriel to the ground and looked at the two women. “Release her from any vows. Take off whatever chains you placed on her. She doesn’t deserve them.”
Tati looked at him. “Would you give me the boy for that oath?” she asked.
Elijah shook his head. “Gabriel is a loved child here. You saw that while you were here, didn’t you?” When her head tilted to the side, he went on. “My people will go to war for this boy. That is not a fight you want. It isn’t a fight you can win.”
“You are holding all of the cards Elijah. Why should I agree to any of this? If I do what you want, I lose a Sanguis, and I lose face with my people for letting a prince survive.”
Elijah looked around and an idea came to him. “All of your people live Beyond the Veil. I’m sure there are some that want to come to this side.”
“Can you guarantee my people’s safety?”
Rhiannon nodded as she stepped back and out of the building.
Elijah watched as she went to Augustina’s side and helped her to her feet. “I won’t promise that you’ll be safe in all of Dominic’s territory. That you would have to work out with him. But here in the North Sector, you will all be treated like citizens.”
Tati looked at Gabriel with narrowed eyes. “The boy doesn’t leave your territory. Not until we know all of the effects of drinking from you will be.” She then folded her arms. “And Gus is still on retainer as a Sanguis.”
Elijah nodded. “You and your people can help rebuild the warehouse district. I’m going to push through some sales so humans can gain traction and start lives here.”
Tati folded her arms over her chest and looked around. “We aren’t getting the better end of the deal. Just keep the boy hidden until he’s old enough to defend himself. And teach him to be fair Elijah. I don’t want another war on my hands.”
Elijah nodded and closed his eyes when she vanished in a flash of light. He looked towards the exit and saw Augustina leaning against the entrance. She wiped away the traces of blood from her mouth and smirked.