Love Beyond Loyalty

by Rebecca Royce

  Kal stretched his hands over his head. "He's deeply gone. The more involved with the demon they are, the easier they are to toast." Evidently, Kal had anticipated his thoughts.

  He opened his mouth to respond to the other warrior when he heard Sebastian curse. "Finish him. I no longer want him in my dungeon. I want him dead."

  Gabriel heard a dog growl, and a large wolf leapt into the fray taking down the other man with a gun pointed at him. The man shrieked as he went down, trying to get out from underneath its paws.

  Jumping to his feet, he stared at the scene. "Was that a wolf?"

  So help him if it turned out there were werewolves running around New Orleans, Gabe's head was going to actually spin.

  The wolf stepped over the now bleeding man and set its sights on the demon.

  Strong hands lifted him up and Gabe was grateful for Leonardo's support as he realized who it was. Gabe cocked his head to the side as he looked at the scene unfolding. Sebastian took two steps back. Something about the animal actually frightened the demon.

  Leonardo pointed at the wolf. "Loraine."

  Raising an eyebrow, he looked at the animal. "Loraine told the wolf to come and attack the demon?"

  Maybe her little talent for speaking to animals would prove to be useful after all.

  "No," Leonardo's voice sounded rough. "The wolf is Loraine."

  "What?"

  Suddenly the wolf attacking the demon was hugely less palatable to Gabe. He moved forward, diving on top of Loraine as Sebastian raised his hand to attack. Taking to the air, this time with no thought in mind except escape, Gabriel flew high.

  The, wolf that he still had a hard time thinking of as Loraine, growled at him but there was no heat in it. Seconds later, he felt her gently rub her head against his shoulder as he held her in his arms.

  "I don't know what you thought you were doing or how you became an animal but I'm not exactly thrilled that you went at the demon. What happened to telling me you froze every time you got near Sebastian?"

  He didn't expect an answer. Loraine was, after all, an animal at the moment. Landing on top of a building, he looked down. In the distance, he could see flashes of lightening. Groaning, he realized it was Kal fighting Sebastian and his possessed minions. No way could he fucking leave him there with Leonardo and Isabelle to fight off Sebastian.

  Narrowing his eyes, even as he knew that moving all three of them would drain his power to the point that he might literally pass out, he concentrated on their images in his mind. Extending his hand, he pulled them forward until they moved toward him. Seconds later, they all popped into sight in front of him.

  Kal looked left and right as he grabbed onto Isabelle. "What the hell?"

  Gabe smiled as he sunk to the ground. Shit, he'd been right. Now he was officially wiped out.

  Leonardo crossed to him as Loraine whimpered, knocking her head up against him. He petted her head.

  "I couldn't leave all of you there with the demon."

  Kal shook his head. "I was frying the hell out of him."

  Leonardo nodded. "For the moment, until he regained control and fried the hell out of you. Gabriel was right. If the prophecy is to be believed, we can't beat him until we're all together. The best we can hope to do is survive."

  Kal sat down next to Gabriel but still addressed Leonardo. "I thought you weren't entirely certain what the prophecy said. That's why you need those books." Leonardo raised his hands above his head. "I'm doing the best I can here."

  Enough. "Someone want to tell me how my soul mate turned into an animal?"

  Isabelle smiled and sat down next to Kal. "She appeared before us. Did you send her to us?"

  Gabe nodded, wishing she would hurry the fuck up, but any sign of temper toward Isabelle would probably make Kal nuts since that's what someone yelling at Loraine would do to him.

  "She told us you were under attack, looked at the moon, and changed into the animal you see before you."

  He nodded. Okay, in a weird way it made sense. Loraine's two powers, speaking to animals and turning into one went hand-in-hand.

  Isabelle spoke. "I've seen Drew do it once."

  He'd met the man at the mental health institution in New Jersey, but he hadn't seen him do that. "How long did he stay an animal?"

  Isabelle shrugged. "I have no idea. How long does Loraine think she's going to stay like this?"

  Fuck this! Having to deal with the group was going to make him nuts. Or maybe he was really, really tired. "I'm sorry. I know she's my soul mate, but I don't speak wolf."

  "Can't you speak to her telepathically?"

  "What?"

  Isabelle smiled. "Soul mates can speak to each other telepathically. Kal and I talk all the time that way."

  "They do," Leonardo interrupted. "It's aggravating."

  Obviously determined to finish, Isabelle kept speaking. "Jason can communicate with the whole group that way. Marina can speak to Charma telepathically. Kal and Leonardo can communicate that way with each other."

  Well, hell. "Someone want to tell me how to even attempt such a thing?"

  "I can do it."

  Loraine's voice in his head made him smile, but man-oh-man, it had been a long couple of days. And they still had to fucking find those books.

  Chapter Eleven

  Loraine smiled. She could feel Gabriel trying to push his thoughts into her mind. Soon, she was sure he'd have the knack. He was over thinking it. She'd kind of thought something, and then decided she wanted only him to hear it. For her it had been as natural as breathing.

  She'd become a wolf without thinking much about it either. One second she'd wanted to help Gabriel, the next she was a wolf. Looking up at the sky, she wondered if she could be anything she wanted to be. Was it just a wolf? Just canines? Was that why she'd communicated so well with Futon?

  Just thinking of him made her heart ping, and she wished she could fly away. Leave all the pain of the past few days behind her and be free…

  Seconds later, she soared through the sky. Gasping, she realized she now had wings. How had that happened?

  She flapped her wings as she let herself move upward. What kind of bird was she?

  "Loraine!"

  Hearing Gabriel's voice in her head, she wanted to grin. He'd worked it out.

  "Oh, Gabriel, I wish you could be up here with me in the sky."

  "I can be. If you wait for one second, I'll join you."

  Seconds later, as she marveled at the sensation of having the ability to flap actual wings, Gabriel appeared before her. Floating in the air, he smiled, and she wished she could grin back at him.

  "I guess you can be any kind of animal you want."

  "Looks that way. Want to fly with me?"

  As an answer, Gabriel flew even higher, almost begging her with his swift movements to catch up. She did and internally shrieked with laughter at the joy of it. How had she not known she could do this? If she hit the ground and decided she wanted to be a panther, could she simply become a panther?

  Together they moved effortlessly through the sky. Gabriel might not have wings but he moved so gracefully he was like a creature designed for flight.

  A thought dawned on her. "Where are the others? Did you leave them on the building?"

  "I told them we would meet them at the hotel."

  "Gabriel how are you doing this? You were nearly dead on your feet."

  "I had Leonardo give me a power boost. It's one of his powers."

  That was pretty cool. "He's a powerful guy, isn't he?"

  "In my opinion, and I wouldn't say this to anyone else, the feeling I get is that he could take all of our powers and crush them in his hand if he wanted to."

  For Gabriel to say that, without profanity, meant he was really serious. Leonardo might be the one to take Sebastian down. It was definitely something to ponder. For her part, she'd nearly lost it when she'd seen those people pointing guns at Gabriel.

  She hadn't thought about what she was doing. She'd
just acted. And, the strangest part had been Sebastian had actually seemed scared.

  She turned to ask Gabriel why he thought that was, when she noticed he'd stopped moving and now hovered while looking at an object on the ground. After a second, he glanced up at her.

  "Let's set down here. I want to show you something."

  He dove for the ground, his hands out in front of him in what seemed like his best imitation of a superhero. She followed him and landed on a nearby tree.

  Gabriel walked toward her and glanced up. "While you make a very beautiful bald-eagle type of bird and an impressive she-wolf, do you think you could change back into the Loraine with the red hair and the body that gets me hard?"

  Turn back? She tried to picture herself like she had earlier with the bird and the wolf. Nothing happened. It wasn't that she couldn't picture herself clearly. Hell, she could be blind, and she'd still remember the frizzy red hair that drove her crazy and her freckled skin. Couple that with her always bordering on chubby figure and maybe she should stay permanently a bird with feathers.

  "Well?"

  "I'm trying, but I can't seem to shift back. I'm imagining myself and nothing is happening."

  Gabriel seemed to consider this for a second. She watched as he ran his hand through his thick, dark, long hair. Each strand was more beautiful than the one before as it fell back to his scalp.

  "Maybe you're not picturing it correctly." He stepped closer to the tree. "Tell me how you see yourself."

  Red hair and freckles, round. You've seen me. Why do I have to describe myself?

  Gabriel shook his head. "That doesn't sound like you at all. You have so much more than 'red hair'."

  For a second she wanted to fly away. If she had cheeks, they'd be heated. Still, she forced herself to ask what would probably leave her embarrassed and wondering if her soul mate was even attracted to her.

  "How do you see me?"

  "Your hair is every shade of the red I've ever seen. In some places, it is strawberry, in some places, it's sunset. All in all, I can't believe it's even possible for one person's hair to be so diverse from strand to strand."

  She could believe it. She'd thought the same thing herself about his dark locks.

  "And then there is the way it falls down your back, not so much in curls but in waves. Then there is your skin…"

  She interrupted. "Please Gabriel, stop."

  He shook his head. "Why?"

  "It makes me uncomfortable."

  "I wish you could see yourself as you really are. I wish you could see yourself as I see you."

  Just like that, as easily as they'd been communicating telepathically in the air, she saw an image of herself presented before her eyes. However, it wasn't the way she saw herself when she looked in the mirror. No, this was a different person all together. Sure, the hair was long and red but that was where the similarities ended.

  She never imagined that this version of herself existed. Her eyes weren't odd looking or strange in their violet color. No, he saw them as sexy, he saw them as unique. They even looked playful.

  Her hair, as he saw it, really did hold all the shades of red she'd ever seen and none of them were too bright or horrifyingly frizzy.

  She blinked and found that she sat on a tree branch in her human body, thankfully dressed. Whatever had happened during her magical shift hadn't destroy her clothing.

  Gabriel grinned and arched an eyebrow as he looked at her. The moonlight was so bright she could see him perfectly.

  "Need a little help getting down?"

  "Yes, unless you want me to become a bird again."

  He shook his head. "No. Stay right there."

  Lifting himself off the ground, he moved skyward until he was level to where she sat clutching the branch for dear life.

  After giving her a mock bow, he opened his arms and lowered himself a bit. "Jump. I'll catch you."

  She swallowed. Now that she was back in her regular body, she remembered how much she hated heights. "I don't want to let go."

  "Okay, let me help you. I suppose you don't have any reason to trust me considering I've almost gotten you killed ten-times already."

  That wasn't true at all. He blamed himself for all the things with the demon? It's not like he could control any of it. She let go of the branch and jumped at him, desperately relieved when he caught her with no trouble.

  "Look who got off the branch."

  Realizing she'd been played, she smacked him on the shoulder. "That was a dirty move, Gabriel."

  "When you grow up on the streets, you learn how to manipulate to get what you need."

  She raised an eyebrow at him. "And you needed me to jump to you?"

  Hovering in the air, he grinned from ear to ear before his eyes became heated. "Like I've never needed anything before."

  His mouth met hers and she gasped in delight. Gabriel was all hard edges and sarcastic remarks, but his mouth was tender and his breath sweet as he pulled her so their faces were even, and her legs were wrapped around his waist. They kissed again and again.

  Her nipples grew hard, and she squirmed, wishing she could be closer to him. At the same time, she also wanted her clothes off. Her skin felt hot and uncomfortable. The sound of angelic chanting filled her ears. She wasn't sure what it was, but she'd heard it when she shifted into the wolf. And if it happened again, then she would take it to mean she was accessing her Outsider powers. If kissing Gabriel was one of them, then even better.

  Finally, Gabriel pulled back, letting them sink gently to the ground. They both breathed heavily. She was glad to see he was just as affected as she was by their spontaneous airborne make out session.

  Gabriel let her go and walked to the tree. Pressing his back against the tree, he stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face. She had no idea what he thought about.

  Not able to stand the silence any further, she looked at their surroundings. "Why did you want us to stop here?"

  "We're several miles outside of town here. If we'd been driving, it would have taken hours to get here. It's plantation country, very old stuff. I've always loved it, and I very rarely get the chance to come."

  "So you just wanted to visit your favorite tourist location?"

  "No," his tone was remote. "I wanted to know if you'd ever heard the story of the Spanish moss."

  She watched as he tapped the tree behind him before pulling off some of the moss that was attached to the lower branches.

  "No, we don't have the stuff in Arizona." She walked forward until she stood directly in front of him. "Is that what it's called?"

  "That's right, Spanish moss." He rubbed it through his fingers before letting it fall to the ground. "You do know the story. I've actually told it to you before. Or maybe it would be more accurate that you don't know it… yet."

  "You're making my head hurt." Not to mention she had no idea what he talked about.

  "Do you remember a few days ago when I told you I'd met Futon before?"

  She did. "And I remember telling you it was impossible. Futon always stayed with me."

  Except for now, of course, since he was either dead or missing. Tears filled her eyes. She'd gone out of her way not to think about him. It was too hard. Her constant companion had been hurt or sent somewhere by the demon. She fisted her hands at her side. It was better not to cry. Anger turned out to be a preferable emotion.

  "You were right. Futon always stays with you."

  "Are we having a conversation, or are you just saying things I should understand but don't?"

  His smile surprised her. "Yes, this uneducated ignoramus you have the unfortunate luck to be soul mated to is trying to have a conversation."

  She rolled her eyes. "I'm not going there, Gabriel. You're the one who says that, not me. I'll use your line: I wish you could see yourself as I see you."

  Shrugging, he stepped forward. "About three-months ago I was working for a man who I suspected to be in league with Sebastian. Turned out I was right. He had
strung up two sixteen-year-old virgins and was bleeding them in the back of his lingerie store on Magazine Street to make some sort of power concoction for the demon."

  She gasped. That was too horrible for words. "Did you stop him?"

  "Of course."

  "Thank God you were there."

  "Right before I discovered what was going on, I was approached on the street by an old woman. She had the most striking violet eyes I'd ever seen, and she had a Border Collie with her named Futon."

  Loraine's heart rate sped up. That sounded like her. An old woman?

  "I felt compelled to tell her the story I'm going to tell you. She said she'd heard it before. Maybe she heard it for the first time right now. Maybe."

  He grabbed her shoulders and squeezed gently.

  "Are you saying that in the future, when I'm old, I'm going to come back and speak to you on the street?"

  "That's right." His voice was a caress of velvet on her senses. "You told me that I had to get to New Jersey, that everything depended on my doing what needed to be done. You seemed to feel there are multiple futures possible, and if I didn't get myself to the Garden State, I would doom all of us to something you can't tolerate. Being a good Southern boy who does what he's told, I, of course, saved the virgins and caught the next flight."

  "This was the mental institution where you met everyone? Where Charma and Jason connected?"

  "Exactly." Letting go of her shoulder, he brushed a strand of her hair out of her face and she shivered. "But you're missing a key point here."

  "What would that be?"

  "Futon was with you. I went to New Jersey. I did as you said. I'd like to think I got us to the future you wanted and that means that at some point, Futon will come back to you."

  The tears she'd held off flowed from her eyes. He brushed away one with his thumb. "Sometime in the seventeen-hundreds, a settler came to Charleston, South Carolina. When he came, he brought with him his Spanish fiancée, quite beautiful as the story goes."

  She smiled. "Of course she would be. These things are never told about ugly women, unless they're hags or witches."