Dark Promises (Dark #29) (2 page)

“Gabby,” Joie said. Her tone said it all. Compassionate. Sympathetic.

Gabrielle blinked back tears. “I know he has a sense of duty. I know that. I love that about him. When we're bound together as lifemates, my soul to his, that sense of absolute duty and honor and love will be for me. I'll be first. Traian puts you first. Even Gregori puts Savannah first. Lifemates are always first.”

“You're absolutely certain that Gary is the one for you, Gabrielle?” Joie asked.

Gabrielle had always chosen to think before she spoke, especially to her sister and brother. She loved them both fiercely. She turned what Joie said over and over in her mind. Was she fooling herself? Was her love for Gary real? Did she see him the way he saw her? Because she knew, without a doubt, Gary saw her. Inside of her. He knew her better than anyone else had ever known her.

She moistened her lips. She had never really used her abilities as a Carpathian to look into Gary's mind. That was true. She could. He would have allowed it, but she wanted that human aspect of finding out slowly about her partner. She even needed it. She was lost in the mountains, amid the wars going on, wars she didn't understand and wanted nothing to do with.

“I love Gary, Joie. I always have. His mind is so incredible. He starts working on something and it's breathtaking to watch him. He gets a scent and he's like a bloodhound. It's such a beautiful and mind-blowing thing to see. He's always going in the right direction. I love that about him. I love that I don't have to talk down to him. Or dumb it down. When I talk, he listens to me, and he believes I'm intelligent. Together we can accomplish so much.”

“You already have,” Joie said gently. “Give yourself credit. You and Shea were right there with Gary trying to find solutions and coming up with all sorts of things.”

“But it was really Gary who pointed us in the right directions. It could have taken years or longer to figure things out,” Gabrielle said. “I love his mind. I love how it works. I love how gentle he is and how kind. I love how sweet he is.”

“What about his sense of duty?” Joie said. “That's a
huge
part of him. His sense of honor. His integrity. Those things make up his character. He'll put others before his own life. He'll put himself in a dangerous situation in order to protect others. He, like Gregori, is a shield.”

Gabrielle felt her stomach settle. Her heart slowed to normal. The breath moved in and out of her body naturally. “Once we're lifemates, that shield is mine, Joie.” She knew that was the absolute truth. She'd known it practically since the moment she'd laid eyes on him. He was hers. After tonight, she would be forever grateful she was Carpathian. Tonight was her night. The wait was finally over.

Joie smiled at her. “I can see you're absolutely certain. I can tell Dad and Mom I had the ‘talk' with you and you passed with flying colors.”

“I'm so in love with him I can barely breathe sometimes when he's around,” Gabrielle admitted.

“You really are breathtaking,” Joie reiterated. “I've always thought you
were beautiful, but the way you look tonight, Gabrielle . . . Gary is a lucky man.”

Gabrielle smiled. Her heart leapt.
She
was the lucky one. She and Gary would exchange their vows and go away, far from the mountains where every single night Gary was asked by the prince or Gregori or someone to perform some monumental task that no one else could possibly do but him. Some terrible thing that put his life in jeopardy. She couldn't bear that, not ever again. Being proud of your partner was just fine until they died in your arms, then pride wasn't all that great anymore.

Gabrielle smoothed her hands down the line of her filmy gown and took a deep breath, pushing her fears away. Nothing was going to mar this special night. Nothing at all. Tonight was hers. Once more she glanced out the window up at the night sky where the stars glittered like a ceiling of diamonds. The rest of the tension coiled in her stomach slid away.

There wasn't a single cloud. Not one. Just a beautiful blanket of stars, and she knew why. Gary. That was the reason. Carpathians created storms easily. They could also bring beautiful, perfect weather when they needed it. Gary had brought her this night. She didn't feel the subtle pull of power, but she knew it was there.

“He's waiting for me.”

“He can wait. You need something borrowed,” Joie said. She pulled a necklace from around her neck. A small pendant hung from a thin chain. “I keep this with me most of the time.” Her fingers wrapped around the pendant. “Well,
all
of the time. I found Traian in that cave and when we were escaping, I found this embedded in the ice. I think it belonged to one of the mages. Maybe even Dad. I've never showed it to him because I love it and feel very drawn to it and I really don't want to lose it. It feels as if it should be mine.”

Gabrielle understood that her sister was giving her something that was important to her. She took the pendant and chain on her open palm, studying it from every angle. It was made of rock. It looked like quartz to her, but it was shaped into four circular corners with lines in the middle of each circle. It was highly polished, but still appeared crude. Gabrielle closed her fingers around it and felt warmth instantly. More, she felt her sister's presence—as if she held a small bit of her in her hand.

“I can't take this,” she whispered, her heart fluttering as love for her sister overwhelmed her. “This is meant for you. I feel you in it.” She could feel the way Joie loved her. Fiercely. Protectively. Unconditionally. She had that. Tears filled her eyes. Joie gave her that.

Joie reached out and gently put her hand over Gabrielle's. “Just for this night. For
your
night. I want to be there with you in some way. I can't go to the field of fertility with you, but I can give you something that matters to me so I can travel with you and know how happy you are. And you deserve to be happy, Gabby.”

“Thank you, Joie, I'll wear it, then.” Gabrielle carefully slipped the chain over her intricate hairdo and let the pendant rest between her breasts.

“Something blue,” Joie said, and grinning, fashioned a lacy garter to slip under the wedding gown and onto Gabrielle's thigh. “Gary will be happy to discover that.”

Gabrielle blushed. “Lovely. He will.”

“Something old,” Joie said, sobering a little. “Jubal gave me this for you. He said it was Dad's, an ancient bracelet from an ancestor we've never heard of.”

“Dad gave this to Jubal? It's for a woman,” Gabrielle said, her eyes on the delicate links, all fashioned by a brilliant ancient jeweler. The bracelet was made from a material she was unsure of, but the links were locked together and couldn't come apart. She couldn't see the clasp.

She wanted it instantly. It was beautiful. Primal. It held power. She felt it in the delicate links. “Why would Dad give this to Jubal?”

“He said Jubal would know who it belonged to and when to give it to her. Jubal says it belongs to you and now is the time,” Joie said.

Gabrielle bit her lip and took the links from Joie's palm. Instantly the bracelet felt alive. Warm, like Joie's pendant, but there was a surge of power, almost like an electrical current. The links moved, snakelike in her palm. She should have been afraid, but she wasn't. Her heart beat faster, but only in anticipation.

This was hers. Just as the pendant was Joie's and her brother had a bracelet that was really a weapon, this delicate piece from ancient times was meant to be part of her.

She closed her fingers around it, accepting it. Accepting that it held
power and would somehow become a part of her. She felt the ancient links move again, slipping out the side of her fist to curl around her wrist. For one moment the links blazed hot, changing color from that strange metallic to a glowing red. Her wrist felt hot, but not burning, just the sensation of heat—a
lot
of it. Then the bracelet was there. Closed. No clasp. No way to take it off. It was as if the links surrounding her wrist were a part of her.

Joie caught her hand. “It's beautiful, but, Gabby, it's some kind of weapon like Jubal's is. I think my pendant is for protection, but I think this is a weapon.”

“I don't know what this is or who it was made for,” Gabrielle said softly, stroking the links with the pads of her fingers. “But I know it belongs to me. It's
supposed
to be mine. I love this, Joie. It feels right on my wrist, almost as if it's part of my skin.” She lifted the bracelet to admire it in the moonlight.

As soon as the beams of light hit it, the bracelet lit up, moving of its own accord, a glittering warmth that surrounded her wrist, snug, but not at all tight. She loved it. More, she loved the fact that it had belonged to an ancestor before her and that Jubal had been the one to pass it on to her.

“You have something old. Something borrowed and something blue. You still need something new. You said you wanted to blend traditional with human so we need to cover all four bases,” Joie said.

“Everything is perfect, Joie. I couldn't ask for anything more.”

“Shea, Savannah and Raven had something made for you. Something brand-new. Byron made it. Do you remember him at all? He lives in Italy with his lifemate, but he's a gem caller, and they asked him to make you something special for your wedding.”

Tears clogged Gabrielle's throat. She knew she'd become bitter toward the Carpathians ever since Gary had nearly died—ever since Gregori had brought him fully into their world. She felt like she'd lost him twice. First in death, and then to the prince and his second-in-command. Gary was fully a Daratrazanoff, and with that name came the power and responsibilities given—and those were huge. Still, she'd pushed aside the friendships she'd forged with some of the women, and that had been wrong. Very wrong.

“I don't deserve anything from them, Joie,” she admitted in a low voice. “I've been standoffish.”

More than that, she'd been restless and irritable, as if something deep inside her called to her. Wanted. No, even needed and recognized that time was growing short. She'd pushed for the marriage because she knew if she didn't do this now, something terrible was going to happen.

She pressed both hands to her churning stomach. She'd woken up from her sleep—the terrible paralysis of the Carpathian people—deep beneath the earth. She could hear her heart thudding dangerously loud. She felt the echo of the nightmare, the vicious stabbing as the knife blade penetrated her body, slicing deep over and over. She relived it, but the moment she woke, there was an echo of something else. Something she couldn't quite catch. So elusive, but so important. The feeling of dread built in her until every rising she wanted to run away and hide.

She still couldn't tell Joie, as much as she wanted to. She could only tell Gary. He didn't look at her as if she wasn't quite up to the standards of the Sanders family. Joie and Jubal could kick serious butt. Gabrielle stood over Gary's broken, wounded body and cried her eyes out. She had nightmares when other Carpathians said they didn't dream—as in ever. She was growing afraid as each rising passed. She had to be somewhere, and the need in her was so strong, she feared she would take off on her own soon. She didn't make sense. The Carpathian way of life was definitely not good for her and she had to find a balance before she went crazy. Gary was her balance.

“Shea, Raven and Savannah love you, Gabrielle. All of us noticed you've been withdrawn, but it's entirely permissible and even understandable, after what happened to Gary. Everyone knows you love him. How could that not affect you? Of course you've been moody and withdrawn.”

“Don't make excuses for me,” Gabrielle said. “They're my friends, you're my sister, and I shut all of you out.”

Joie hugged her tight. “I'm the queen of shutting people out, Gabby. You're a Sanders. When we have problems, we tend to keep them to ourselves until we figure out a solution. It isn't possible with your lifemate. I'm warning you right now. He'll know when you're upset and he won't mind in the least getting into your head and reading what the problem is. Males want to fix everything.”

Gabrielle smiled. She couldn't help it. It was the truth. The good thing was, Gary knew her. He knew how to fix her. He didn't have to invade her personal space, and she liked it like that. Although, since he'd risen as a Daratrazanoff, she'd noticed he was far quieter—and he'd always been quiet. Much more serious, and he'd always been serious. He had the same look that Gregori sometimes got, or Darius, Gregori's younger brother—one bordering on command, as if everyone had better do as he said when he said it. Still, he never looked at
her
that way.

Joie showed her the ring. It was beautiful. Elegant. Breathtaking even. It was to be worn on her right hand, the ring finger, and the moment Joie slipped it on, Gabrielle knew there was more to the ring than platinum and gemstones. She loved it just like she loved the bracelet, the pendant, and her blue garter. Perfection for her wedding. She knew each of the gems set in her ring were power gems and each would have a purpose. She'd learn about them later. For now, she could enjoy the fact that her sister and her three best friends were sharing this monumental event with her.

She stood there for a moment, feeling radiant and lucky. She actually felt beautiful, like a princess about to meet her prince. She'd never been happier than that moment, knowing he was waiting right outside for her. She felt him. She always knew when he was close to her.

“He's here,” she said softly to Joie. “He's waiting for me.”

Joie hugged her again and kissed her cheek. “You've never been more beautiful than you are at this moment, Gabrielle. I hope you always stay this happy.”

“I'll be with Gary. How can I not be happy?” Gabrielle asked, and hugged Joie back.