Dark Legend (32 page)

She quieted her thoughts, centered herself.
"Skyler? Can you hear me?"
The teenager was asleep.
"Do not open your eyes. You are in danger."

There was a slight stirring and the young girl was aware. Francesca was so familiar with her mind, she could actually feel the child scanning her surroundings much as the Carpathian people did. Her pulse rate stayed the same; her heart didn't jump in the least.
"I cannot be. He is here with me and I am perfectly safe."

"Has he taken your blood?"

There was a long silence while Skyler puzzled over the question.
"He isn't a lab tech. I know he isn't. Why would you be afraid he would want my blood?"

Francesca thought for a moment. Skyler had obeyed her: she remained still, breathing easily, feigning sleep. Yet for some reason she felt safe despite the threat of terrible evil. Skyler was gifted with a sense of danger. Lucian must not mean her any real harm. That was the only answer. He was baiting a trap to draw Gabriel to him.

She knew Gabriel could read her thoughts, was sharing her mind. She should have realized Lucian was sharing Gabriel's mind as well. His laughter came again, that soft musical symphony of beauty.
"Now you see the futility of struggling against one such as I. This human child, though she is rare in this world, cannot fool one such as I by pretending to sleep. You cannot protect her from me, not with your safeguards, and not by trying to hide her from me. What Gabriel knows, then so do I. When I wish to make her my slave, I will do so. Right now it is tedious to think of such a burden."

"Lucian."
Gabriel said the name softly, gently.
"You grow tired of your existence. There is nothing to hold you to this world. You chose to lose your soul and follow the path of darkness, yet you gained no emotions, no power you had not already wielded. Allow me to aid you in leaving this madness behind. You want me to aid you. You have always wished such a thing."

"That was your vow to me, brother, and you can do no other than honor it. Yet I find this world different, much changed since last I arose. It is true it is tedious to continue when I have no one to match wits with, yet you remain. Do you then also seek the dawn?"
He laughed softly, as if to himself.
"I think we should continue our game for a time in this strange world."
He was fading; Francesca felt it through her link with Gabriel. He had lured Gabriel to the hospital with the intention of battle, yet he seemed to have lost interest quickly, fading from Skyler's room, from the very air itself, leaving no trace of power behind.

Gabriel sighed with frustration. Lucian knew about both women. How could he not? The power, unmistakably female, was there for any to read. Already the undead were being drawn to the city, looking for the one thing that might save them. Lucian could not have failed to read the signs, would know that Skyler as well as Francesca existed. And he would know Gabriel had claimed Francesca, that she was an ancient Carpathian. He probably knew she was with child. What Gabriel knew, so did Lucian. Skyler was no longer safe in the hospital, away from his protection.

Gabriel shape-shifted as he landed, already striding across the hospital parking lot to the entrance. He blurred his image, not wanting to deal with humans while he checked to see for himself that Lucian had not touched Skyler. They had to move her as soon as possible. Lucian could use human minions to harm her during the day when Gabriel was unable to protect her. Skyler needed to be in their home where he could use safeguards. Where he could supply human bodyguards that could be trusted to watch over her when he was deep within the ground. In all the centuries they had battled, Gabriel had never known Lucian to use a servant in an attempt to destroy him during the day, but with Skyler to protect, he could take no chances. And there were others in the city, vampires of lesser power, but still evil and vicious. Any might attempt to acquire Skyler. He could not allow such a thing. Her mind could not take one more battering.

Skyler was lying quietly, staring up at the ceiling, when he entered her room. His shadow reached her first. Someone with fewer powers of observation would never have noticed the tiny shiver that ran through her small body. "Do you fear me?" Gabriel asked softly, giving her the courtesy of staying out of her mind. He knew he would have to "read" her to be sure Lucian had not taken her blood, but he was determined to respect her privacy whenever possible.

Skyler's fingers curled nervously in the sheet. "Not really." Beneath the thin covering, the outline of the stuffed wolf was visible close to her side.

There was honesty in her voice but her tone was a mere thread of sound. "Do you know why I am here?"

She looked at him then, her large gray eyes soft and wide, long lashes throwing thick crescent shadows across her cheek. She looked beautiful to him. Skyler swallowed hard and brought up her hand to cover the scar running along the curve of her face. Very gently Gabriel caught her wrist, preventing her from covering the thin, jagged white line. Tenderly he turned her hand over, ran his thumb over the myriad of scars crisscrossing her forearm, wrist, and hand. "We are family, child,
real
family. There is no place for embarrassment. I am proud of you, proud of the way you defended yourself and kept yourself true to your own soul. Do not hide your badges of courage, Skyler, not from me and not from Francesca."

Her large eyes moved over his face a little moodily. "I have always been alone, as far back as I can remember. Ever since my mother died, I have been alone. I'm not certain I know how to be with others."

Gabriel had a breathtaking smile and he used it shamelessly. "Welcome to the family then, Skyler. I have been alone far too long and so has Francesca. We will learn together." He stroked back her hair with gentle fingers. "We may be amateurs at it, but in the end we will be successful."

The smallest ghost of a smile flickered across her face. "You think so?"

"I know it absolutely. I do not fail in my tasks, not even those abhorrent to me. This is the first time I am undertaking something for myself. Believe me, child, I will not fail."

She studied him, more adult than child. "What tasks are abhorrent to you?"

His white teeth flashed at her, a small tribute to her insight, to her special gifts. "There are times I have no choice but to order the women in my family to do as I bid them," he answered mischievously.

Her soft gray eyes lit up briefly, a small victory for him. "And that is abhorrent to you? I doubt it, Gabriel." She felt very brave teasing him back.

He sat down so he wouldn't tower over her. It was important to him that he didn't intimidate her. Francesca's influence had helped Skyler to accept him, to see him as someone good, not an enemy, but his position with her was tenuous. He made certain his movements were flowing and graceful so he would not startle her.

"If I take your hand as Francesca does, I can read your thoughts," he explained softly, "much in the way you receive information about those around you. I do not want to frighten you with my touch, but it is necessary that I'read' your memories of the other one who visits you so often."

Her long lashes fluttered, veiled her large eyes. "Will I be able to read yours?" There was a hesitation in her voice, as if she feared angering him.

"Would you like to?"

"I usually can." When he continued to look at her, Skyler twisted the sheet between her fingers. "I've always been able to read people if I touch them." She glanced at him, a quick surreptitious look. "I don't think it's the same way you and Francesca read minds though. I just seem to know things. I can hear and feel her talking to me. I know she's there with me." Her fingers continued to pluck nervously at the sheet. "Just like the other one is there when I'm afraid."

"Skyler," Gabriel said very gently, "if you do not wish to read my emotions or my thoughts, then you will be shielded from them. If it would reassure you to do so, then, by all means, let us begin."

Her large dove-gray eyes were very expressive as they moved over his face. He waited quietly, allowing her to make up her own mind. Eventually she nodded. Gabriel took her hand with extraordinary gentleness, leaned close so that his black eyes could trap Skyler's gaze in the dark depths of his. She didn't even blink. When the young woman made up her mind to do something, she threw her heart and soul into it and did it 100 percent. He would have to keep that in mind when he was trying out his nonexistent parenting skills.

She startled him with her laughter, not aloud, but in her mind.
"I'm reading your mind, too,"
she reminded him.

"Great, you are going to be a pain in the neck, just like Francesca,"
he groused, teasing her gently while flooding his mind with the extent of his love for Francesca, with his warmth and feelings of protectiveness toward Skyler. She felt his presence in her mind occasionally, but she didn't realize he had already shared her memories of her childhood. That would have humiliated her. He knew it instinctively and had no intention of allowing her to be embarrassed. She read what he wanted her to read. His desire to welcome Skyler into his family, his hope he would be a good parent, someone who would protect her and guide her and always make her feel safe. He shared his feelings of inadequacy as a husband, his fears he would somehow let Francesca down. He loved Francesca more than life itself and he allowed Skyler to know he would grow to love her the same way.

All the time, he was delving deeper into her mind in an attempt to find a trace of power, a hint that his twin intended to use her to strike against Francesca. He saw Francesca's work and it was flawless. He saw their combined safeguards, the strong protection they had wrought together, yet he could find no trace of Lucian, no hint of tainted power, no dark hidden agenda. Gabriel was careful, searching everywhere for the slightest anomaly, finding many, examining them all meticulously. She seemed to be free of all outside forces.

He sighed softly, releasing her before his sudden, unexpected surge of anger transmitted itself to Skyler. She had been hideously abused and the raw wounds in her mind would forever leave scars. She was an extraordinary young woman with rare insight and gifts beyond measure. But the man who should have loved and protected her had been the very one to initiate and perpetuate the abuse.

Gabriel was careful to breathe deeply, wanting to appear completely calm and in control. He knew that Skyler would be terrified by any masculine displays of temper. Lucian had already destroyed Skyler's abusers one by one. He had taken the girl's enemies as part of his little chess game with Gabriel, to show he knew what Gabriel knew.

"Did you see anything in there that changes your mind about wanting to take me home with you and Francesca?" There was a challenge in Skyler's soft voice but her gaze had slid away from his the instant he released her.

Gabriel caught her chin in two fingers and tipped it up so she had to look at him. "You have an astonishing mind. I stand in awe of you and the things you have accomplished and the things you are capable of doing. I am honored you would want me to serve as your guardian along with Francesca. Did you not see yourself through my eyes?" He asked it very gently.

A faint flush of color crept up her face. "I'm not like that. Not like you think of me—courageous and brave and beautiful. No one else thinks that." When he continued to look at her the color deepened. "Well, only Francesca, but she doesn't have a mean bone in her body. She would find something nice to say about a monster."

A small smile tugged at Gabriel's mouth. "You are very likely correct, Skyler, in your assessment of Francesca. She would think the best of a monster, but she also is very astute. In you she sees what I see. You need to begin to see yourself as we do. We are your guardians, and you must learn to trust and rely on us. If ever you wish, you may examine my mind and I will share my thoughts with you openly."

"I wish to get out of this horrible place and go home with you and Francesca."

"She was securing the doctor's permission when we were interrupted."

Skyler bit her lip, started to speak, and then dragged the stuffed animal to her face.

"Tell me, little one," he encouraged softly. "In our home I will expect truth and respect to be given on both sides. If you wish to say something, I will listen and value what you have to say."

"You won't believe me, but I know I'm right." She dug her fingers into the plush wolf in her nervousness.

Gabriel gently placed his hand over hers and sent her a small wave of warmth and reassurance. "If you know you are right, Skyler, I will believe you."

She loved the sound of his voice, the accent she couldn't place, the funny way he twisted his words. Mostly she loved the conviction in him, the way he made her believe him. "I don't think the doctor is really good. Something's wrong with him."

Gabriel nodded. "He was very much in love with Francesca and he was not happy when I returned. You see, Francesca thought I was dead. I think the doctor is having difficulty overcoming his jealousy."

Skyler stared at him a long while, then shook her head. "It is more than that. I feel it when he touches me."

For a moment, the red flame of the monster danced in Gabriel's eyes and inside him, claws unsheathed. He took a moment to breathe before he responded. "What do you mean, little one?" His voice was quieter and more beautiful than ever.

Skyler felt the air in the room grow still, as if the earth itself were waiting for her answer. Her long lashes swept down, concealing her expressive eyes. "When he comes in to examine me, he tries to hide it, but I know something's wrong with him. He's twisted. It's more than jealousy, Gabriel."

"I am going to secure your release for tomorrow evening. Francesca and I will need to set things up at home so we can give you adequate care while you recover. In the meantime, Francesca has hired a bodyguard for you. He is
your
guard, not a hospital employee, and he will ensure you are safe in our absence. If you feel threatened, you tell him to get you out of this place and take you to our home." He pulled the key to the front door of Francesca's house from his pocket. Taking a thin chain of gold from around his neck, he secured it. "This is the house key, little one." He placed the chain around her neck. "If you need to come home, you have the key."