Fate's Revenge (Twisted Fate, Book 4)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"I'm sorry I thought Mike—"

He started laughing. "That made Raffy mad, you know. Mike's the eldest Brother—the First—and infallible to the rest of us. Personally, I loved seeing him knocked off his golden pedestal, though I wouldn't have minded if you hadn't been what made him lose his balance." He stopped laughing and looked at me, a slow smile forming. "But the others?" He shook his head. "Not so much."

"So Raffy doesn't hate me?"

"Not even a little."

"So then how come you're in charge? If Mike's the First, then you're... the Second?"

"Mike got sick in the Void when we came to Renalda for the potion that would allow me to come to the Mortal Realm until your birthday and remain undetected. Mike came to recover. Raffy came as a chaperone, I guess, to make sure Mike was recovering."

I smiled. Mike's illness wasn't funny, nor was the fact that it occurred in the Void. But Raffy? I was glad that the friend I'd made in the Mortal Realm wasn't an ass just because he'd reverted to his angel form again. My human status wasn't the cause. His protectiveness raised the level of respect I had for him, even though he'd made me feel bad so he could protect the Brother he cared so much about.

"This is nice," I said, closing my eyes to enjoy the feeling of his hands sifting in my hair. "Remind me to thank Renalda someday."

"For what? You think she showed you who I am?"

"Why else would she have me "Drink your blood?"" I asked, popping open my eyes and lisping as though compensating for fangs. "You know I heard what she said, too. That last cup of tea I had was dosed, right? So, when you touched me afterwards... You touched me, and my body went crazy, like a trigger or whatever. It led me to figuring out who you are, so I should thank Renalda. Or you, I guess, for giving it to her, that I would love an explanation on that when we aren't so crunched for time."

He burst out laughing and I soon followed, though not over the mockery of vampirism. I laughed until my gut throbbed because of everything we'd had to do to get here. Now that I knew, none of it mattered because we'd finally made it. Alyssa and David—or Gabe, if that's what he preferred. I did, but that was just because of Brenan and the fact that he was the real David—nobody needed to be reminded of that. Gabe's explanations, as brief as they had been, allowed me to understand so much. It was funny how much I still needed to learn, almost overwhelming.

My laughter turned to sobs. I buried my head into the curve of Gabe's neck to hide my face and cried, and not once did it feel wrong. With one of his arms circling my waist and the other still stroking the back of my hair, he spoke in soothing whispers that kept me secure. Safe. Loved.

The happiness of knowing he was here flowed inside me to merge with the sadness of the uncertainty yet to come as Gabe rocked me in his arms until long after I fell asleep.

*****

There was a loud bang and then another, one sounding right after the other. I moaned and tried to shut the sound out, turning my face back into Gabe's neck as though that would muffle the intrusion, but it continued. The knocking on the bedroom door blended into my dream, hidden within the pitter-patter of rain as I walked hand-in-hand with Gabe down abandoned streets in Hidden Springs. It was just a dream, though, and the real Gabe was still holding me in his arms at Renalda's. The make-believe world faded, jarring me back to reality and for once, I wished it was real.

The knocking escalated, louder and louder, until I opened my eyes. It still felt like a dream, but with Gabe's hands covering my ears to try to block the sound, it couldn't be anything but real. Sweet, but ineffective. He couldn't keep the vibration of speech from echoing through his chest and into my ear.