Well, that was really something. Now all Christophe had to do was get online and do a search to see all the places that were six hours north of New York City.
A knock sounded on the door, and a woman walked in before Goodman could give her permission.
Thin and waif like, she had short blonde hair cut close to her head with her bangs swooped to the left giving them the look of feathers. She had a long neck and high cheekbones. Dressed in a smart black pants suit, she had her collar turned up so that it lay against her neck. Her white blouse, displayed under the jacket of the suit, was low cut, treating Christophe to a view of some rather large cleavage for a woman her size.
Immediately, his balls got tight and his groin hard and uncomfortable. Merde, he couldn't remember that ever happening before. While others in his classes growing up had found themselves embarrassed, Christophe never had. Often, he wondered if his strange condition of appearing and then disappearing had somehow altered his libido. He let his gaze travel quickly down her long legs to her feet where he was treated to the spectacular view of her open toed shoes displaying toenails painted the color of strawberry ice cream.
He groaned aloud before covering it with a cough. The woman was so hot she practically sizzled.
"Ah, yes, Dr. Brannon, I imagine you're here to remind me not to be late to the faculty finance meeting." Goodman gave her a tight smile. "I was just finishing up with Dr. Roux. I will be on time."
She arched an eyebrow. "That's great. I wouldn't want a repeat of last time where I was left standing at the front of the room holding my chalk with no one there to speak to."
"Just a little good natured hazing. You know, we have to give it to the new 'guy' so to speak."
Tapping her openly displayed foot, the woman who had just become Christophe's ultimate sexual fantasy didn't smile. "Funny, I'm not a guy, and I didn't find it amusing. If I'd wanted such antics, I would have joined a sorority when I was an undergraduate. As it is, I'm a PhD, and I don't have time for nonsense from my colleagues. I was assigned this role as Faculty Liaison to the board; I did not ask for it, but I will do it well nonetheless."
"Of course, you will." Goodman looked at him and raised his eyebrows as if he suddenly remembered Christophe was there. "Excuse my rudeness. Dr. Brannon this is Dr. Christophe Roux, head of the department of Natural Sciences at the Paris-Sorbonne University. Dr. Roux this is Dr. Ruby Brannon. She took over for Leonardo when he abruptly left. She was brought in from a rival school in California." Goodman looked back to Ruby Brannon. "Dr. Roux is here looking for Leonardo."
Christophe stood and shook her hand. As he stood, using the American system of measurement, at almost six-foot two-inches he towered over her. At best guess, she was maybe five-feet tall. Tiny, but gorgeous.
He smiled, holding her hand longer than he should, unable to stop himself from stroking her knuckle with the pads of his fingers. "I am a lover of rubies, Dr. Brannon. That is my field. While it is true I head up the Natural Sciences, as you call it 'Department', gemology is my specialty."
She pulled her hand out of his, but not before he noticed the redness that appeared on her cheeks. Despite her outside veneer of cool, calm, and collected, she was clearly not unaffected by him.
"If you find Leonardo, Dr. Roux, do tell him that I couldn't make heads nor tales of his notes, and that I'm doing my own syllabus because of it. If he doesn't like it, he can reappear and take back his job."
Nodding to both men, she turned on her heel and stalked from the room.
Interesting. Very interesting.
"Dr. Roux, if I can persuade you to give up your Leonardo-hunt, I have to tell you that due to a recent, shall we say, uncomfortable situation between a married faculty member and a freshman undergraduate, we find ourselves in need of a professor." Goodman laughed. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in teaching Earth Science 101 to students studying Arts and Humanities. I could introduce you to the Dean of the Science Department."
Christophe looked back at Goodman. "Can he see me right now?"
* * * *
Leonardo sat in the hallway, tapping his foot. He could feel Jason fast approaching. Even if he couldn't sense his energy, the man whistled when he was happy. It seemed to him that since Jason and Charma had found each other and were blissfully content Leonardo was going to be forced to listen to the noise all the time. No one but Leonardo seemed to obsess about the upcoming war.
Jason turned the corner, and Leonardo spoke.
"Will she live?"
Jason scowled at him. "Damn it, Leonardo, don't do that. At least make your presence known before you speak."
"I'm sitting in the hall. I didn't jump out at you. I don't see why I have to make a racket. Maybe if you paid attention to where you were going, you wouldn't get caught unawares."
His fellow Outsider had the gall to smile. "Sorry, you're right, I was just thinking about Gabe and Loraine."
"Really?" That was unusual. "I would have guessed you thought about Charma all the time."
"Nope." Jason shook his head. "Just ninety-eight percent of the time. The other two percent I can still think about other things."
"Okay. So tell me about her. Will she be okay?"
Jason nodded as he stepped forward to look over the edge of the balcony to the floor below. "She's been through an ordeal, and they're still pretty raw with each other. I would guess, though, that in a not too short period of time you will have another soul mated pair on your hands."
Leonardo supposed it was good news. That's what they needed. Only he'd felt in his dreams that his soul mate had given in to evil. Was maybe even in cahoots with the demon.
How on earth could he help to fulfill the prophecy when he knew he'd never get to live up to his own part of it? At the end of the day, there would only be eight joined pairs.
His other half was lost to him—to them—to everyone.
Chapter Seven
Gabriel could drown in the softness of her lips. Or, better yet, he could float away to heaven and never return. She tasted like cherries and apples. Maybe she used some kind of balm but she'd been unconscious for nearly a day so he doubted she'd have any of that left on her lips.
Anyway, he didn't care. All that mattered was that his redheaded goddess of a soul mate made the sweetest sound in her throat and kissed him back like she was as lost in him as he was in her. As she opened her mouth just a tad, he slipped his tongue inside and met hers.
Grabbing onto the front of her shirt, he pulled her closer. He was painfully hard, had been since he'd sat down next to her on the bed. The more he kissed her the more he wanted. Knowing it was important that he not screw things up by moving too quickly, he pulled away, feeling like he was wrenching away part of his soul by doing so.
When he could breathe, he stroked her forehead running his fingers through her soft red hair.
"Any thoughts? Want to answer my question? Who is my soul mate?"
Her cheeks turned pink. He tried not to grin. Clearly, he would always know when she was embarrassed.
Finally, she spoke. "I guess—I hope—that it's me."
He raised an eyebrow. Her uncertainty wasn't flying very well with him. "You think, and you hope? You don't know?"
She picked up a pillow from behind her and covered her face with it. It was endearing but he wasn't going to let her not answer him. He pulled the pillow out of her hands before he spoke.
"Well?"
She bit her lip before answering. "I'm your soul mate."
He moved closer, knowing he invaded her personal space but unable to stop himself. Until she was certain of their status, everything inside of him screamed to get closer to her. Hell, he didn't know why he should be surprised that she was uncertain about him. Other than taking care of Alexa, he'd been alone his whole life. Even she had rejected him and chosen Sebastian—a demon. It would be too much to assume his soul mate would want him unconditionally.
"Why do you say that like you're not sure? Didn't you feel what
I felt when we first met? Was I alone in my attraction to you when we were in the car? Did you not feel that way toward me?"
"Look." She looked down as she spoke.
Desperate for her to make eye contact with him, to show him those lavender depths that were so uniquely hers, he hated her not staring at him.
"I was—am—attracted to you. However, up until five minutes ago I thought you were with Alexa. I'd all but talked myself out of feeling that way toward you. You're going to have to give me a few minutes to catch up."
He stood and moved off the bed. He stalked quickly to the window where he deliberately turned his back to her. Maybe it was childish, very likely it was, but what she'd just said had him wanting to throw something. He'd always had a fast temper, not a violent one, but it was easy to get his back up.
Realistically, it had probably kept Alexa and him alive while on the streets of New Orleans. Now, however, he didn't want to lose it in front of his soul mate, a woman who had already managed to 'talk herself' out of being his to begin with.
He heard her soft footsteps come up to him. She placed a hand on his arm. Her fingers felt cool on his heated skin. Still, he couldn't look at her. Not while he was so unreasonably angry. Not while they were still brand new and it was unclear if they'd ever, actually, be anything.
"Did I say something wrong?"
Maybe it was the quiver in her voice or the sincere way she asked. Or maybe it was the gentle touch of her hand. Most likely it was all of those things and others he couldn't even identify but he was able to take a deep breath.
He kept his gaze focused out the window. "I guess I don't like the idea that you could talk yourself out of wanting me. Seems kind of unfair. Wish I had known you were going to do that. I could have tried to do the same thing instead of, you know, chasing after you down the street and following you to Maine. If I'd known it was the kind of thing I could just decide not to do."
He heard her sigh, but he didn't turn around. "We don't know each other yet so I'm going to be honest with you and tell you that I'm not sure what it is that I said that made you so upset. Maybe if you explain it to me instead of pouting by the window, I can do something to soothe your upset feelings."
That got his full attention. "Do something to soothe my upset feelings?"
"You're clearly upset."
He shook his head. "I'm not upset. I'm pissed off."
"No, I think you think you're pissed off, which, by the way, is a really charming phrase. What you really are is hurt by something I inadvertently said. Why don't you tell me what it was that bothered you?"
Gabriel thought his head might explode. "What is complicated about this? You talked yourself out of wanting me. That made me really fucking mad."
"No, that's not what I said. That's obviously what you heard, but it's not what I meant when I said what I did."
Deciding he needed a little space, he took two steps away. How had this situation gotten so rapidly out of hand?
He ran his hands through his hair. "Okay, explain yourself."
"When I said that I talked myself out of it, what I meant was that I thought you were with Alexa. It was so painful to me because, yes, I felt the same things you did, but I thought was imagining it since you were with Alexa. I was protecting myself."
Loraine's eyes filled with tears, and Gabe felt two-feet tall. God, he was such an asshole. He had just demonstrated exactly why he was a completely inappropriate person for her, despite what destiny might have decreed. Maybe if they'd been raised as Outsiders and known each other since birth it might have made a difference. He was the man he'd been forced to become, and he knew it. To survive his life he'd had to become hard, manipulative, unforgiving, and sneaky.
He had no idea what to do with someone who teared up because someone yelled at them.
Finally, he spoke. "I wonder if there is a way to undo this so you can find a different soul mate since I'm not cut out for the job."
To his utter horror, the tears that had threatened to spill from her eyes fell down her cheeks.
"Ah… damn it… Loraine, don't cry."
"You get to be angry because I said I tried to talk myself out of my feelings for you?" She sniffed loudly and wiped her right cheek with her hand. "But I can't cry when you say that you want to undo this thing because you're not cut out for it?"
"Obviously, this isn't going to work. How could it work? You're a teacher for fuck's sake. I'm nothing. Nobody. I didn't graduate from high school."
Loraine threw her hands in the air. "Gabriel, I'd really like to participate in this conversation, but I'm afraid I can't follow all of the shifts you're taking. First, you're angry because you thought I didn't want you. Then you don't want me and get angry that I got upset over that. Now you're screaming about high school diplomas."
She was right. It didn't make a huge amount of sense. He breathed hard like he'd just run a marathon instead of standing in a room. The poor girl had just been through an ordeal, and he hollered at her. What the hell was wrong with him?
A knock sounded on the door before it opened. Whoever the fuck it was had horrible timing.
"What?"
Gabriel whirled around to see Marina standing in the doorway.
"This is a very bad time." He growled more than spoke as he felt his adrenaline spike to another level. In another few seconds, he might start pounding on the wall with his fist.
Marina regarded him for a second silently before she looked at Loraine. "I'm Marina." She smiled, and Gabriel's heart clenched as he watched Loraine wipe away her tears to shake the other woman's hand.
"I said it was a very bad time. Can you not understand basic information?"
Marina raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I can. Can you understand if I tell you that you are under attack?"
"What?"
The woman wasn't making any sense. Obviously, he wasn't under attack. He stood in a room with Loraine, perfectly fine except for the fact that no one understood him and he couldn't seem to stop yelling at the woman who was supposed to be his soul mate even if she didn't want to be.
"I'm a spell caster. I can sense all magical energy moving on and off the island. You are being targeted with negative magic."
He wanted to speak but he was so angry that Marina was spitting out all this nonsense that he could hardly make the words form in his mouth. Finally, when he'd garnered enough control to make his tongue function he spoke. "I am specifically being targeted?"
"Yes, you." Marina stepped forward tentatively. "Kal and Leonardo wanted to come up here with me. They're worried you might be dangerous right now. I told them I'd be okay. Loraine looks okay to me, so even though you've obviously made her cry, she doesn't seem physically damaged."
"I would never strike her." He'd kill himself first.
Loraine moved toward him, placing her hand on his arm. Either she was freezing cold or he was burning up because her fingers felt like ice. He hissed and she let go. "We're muddling through a misunderstanding."
Marina nodded. "That may be, and it's none of my business."
Marina took another step forward. She acted as if he were a wild animal that might pounce on her, which only made him madder.
"I'm not going to strike you, Marina. I've never hit a woman in my life, and I'm not going to start now."
She nodded. "How angry are you feeling?"
"As you just said, 'it's not your business.'"
Clearing her throat, she put her hands on her hips. "Here's where it becomes my business. I warded this island. The demon isn't able to use any of his crap to get to us except somehow he is getting to you. He has targeted you specifically, filling your soul with negative energy. Even though you're acting like a real idiot, since you're making Loraine cry, you must have massive amounts of control to not be physically thrashing around right now."
His head was a cloud of confusion. On one hand, what Marina said made sense. He was unreasonably angry with Loraine. What had she really done? Nothing to warrant the amo
unt of screaming he lashed at her. The other part of him, the part that made his hands shake and his head pound, swore that he just needed to get Marina out of the room and all would be well. The interfering bitch was making everything worse.
He grabbed his head and fell to his knees. The asshole was in his head. "Get it out."
Loraine gasped and grabbed his back. He felt her press her head against his shoulder blades.
"Loraine, I don't know if you should be touching him right now. The demon just amped up his attack tenfold. If you could see what I see, the room would look red right now."
"Gabriel is not going to hurt me." Loraine's voice sounded fierce. "You said you could help him, so help him."
That was the last coherent thing he could make out as the women spoke above him. Images, things he'd long forced himself to forget, flashed before his eyes. Angry, horrible portions of his childhood he'd endured became as real to him as though he lived them again.
Six years old, he'd run down Bourbon Street as fast as his bare feet could take him. Even at that age, he'd known some adult should have noticed that it was midnight and that he was barefoot and alone. He would think that again and again in his childhood. But it was two days until Mardi Gras. All the grownups that were awake and roaming the streets were drunk.
In his hand, he held a brown bag. It was an innocuous looking possession. Probably, someone would think he had stolen liquor. Instead, inside of it were two slices of bread, a little cheese and two bottles filled with water. The stealing part was right, he'd snatched the items out of the hands of a woman coming out of a grocery store and stuffed them in his brown bag.
Alexa was starving. She had to be fed, and she was too shaken up after having a really bad experience with the man who ran her foster home to come out with him this night. She wouldn't tell Gabriel what happened. No, she'd just appeared at his window and he'd known it was time to run again.
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