The Awakening (10 page)

"Yes, but you'll catch cold. My blood is ice,
dear one. We can't have you falling ill."

With a smile, she tugged on his hand. "Let me
show you something."

Regulus took her in his arms again and she placed
the flat of her palm against his hard chest. Calling on her power she let it trickle
slowly into the Roman, feeling his blood begin to heat. Just enough so he would
be warm and not have to go anywhere.

"Well," he said with a sigh, tightening
his grasp. "Thank you."

"Oh, so you do have some manners."

"A few."

Gabby took in his features, wondering about the
Roman's life. Two thousand years was a long time and she knew next to nothing
about where he came from, his family…everything was a mystery. The only thing
she was certain of was his intentions toward her.

"What's your full name?" she asked,
taking in his dark eyes.

"Marcellus Caelius," he whispered
almost resentfully. "Regulus is my family name."

"Why doesn't anyone call you Marcellus?"

"I was named for my father," he said
sharply, rolling onto his back.

"You weren't on good terms?"

He sighed, eyes firmly on the ceiling.

"I'll take that as a no."

"What's with the questioning? There are things
you'll never know about me. Things I've forgotten over the years…things that I
don't want to utter."

"I don't know who you are," she replied, running
her hand across his stomach. "You know me. Why can't I know a little more
about you?"

He regarded her for a moment before saying,
"What do you want to know? I can't promise that I will answer."

Gabby thought for a minute and could only come up
with the most dangerous questions of all. "You and Aya..." she
began, but he looked at her with such ferocity, her mouth snapped shut.

"
She's
told you the story."

"Regulus."

"We've a lot of history, Gabrielle. We've all
done horrible things to one another. Things that are unforgivable. We've all
reasons to hate one another."

"Perhaps you need to learn how to
forgive."

"You're going to be the end of me."

"Probably," she smiled. She knew she was
pressing her luck big time trying to get him to talk about things. If he cared
for her as he claimed, then trust was one of the ways he'd show her.

"Tell me about them. The other founders. What
were they like?"

"You don't need to hear about that." His
jaw stiffened.

"Tell me."

"Gabrielle. You ask things you do not want to hear
the answers to."

"
Regulus
," she breathed. "I
can argue with you forever if I have to."

"Why do you want to know?" he asked, his
brow furrowing.

"Because if you say you feel these things for
me, you should be able to tell me. That's what a relationship is."

He closed his eyes, groaning.

"You know I'm right." What good was
caring for someone if they didn't return the feeling? "I would answer any
question you asked me truthfully."

"Do you care for me, Gabrielle?" he asked,
calling her bluff. Good thing it wasn't one.

"Yes."

His breathing hitched and he rolled back to face
her, a hand caressing her cheek. "Why?"

"I don't know. That's what I'm trying to
figure out."

He seemed to accept her answer and pressed his lips
to her forehead. "It's not a pretty story. It doesn't have a happy
ending."

"I know, but I'd still like to hear it."

Regulus hesitated for a moment before he began.
"The founders…they were all evil in their own way. All save for
Arturius."

"I have a hard time believing that,"
Gabby sighed, remembering how the Roman had abducted her.

"You've met him," Regulus said.
"That's not who he always was."

"Who was he before? Did you know him?"

"I only knew him in passing before that night.
The night Katrin brought us together. Arturius was
good
. I was the one
who convinced him to turn. I showed him the truth of what the Empire was and he
agreed to Katrin's offer. If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have become the
monster he was."

"So, you didn't hate him?"

"No."

"He hated you."

"Rightfully so."

"Do you regret it?" she asked carefully,
her eyes searching his. "Turning?"

He traced her lips with his fingers and whispered,
"Arturius' fate is the only thing I regret."

Gabby couldn't help casting her eyes downward,
taking in the lines of his bare chest. Out of two thousand years of what could
only be described as carnage, that was the only thing he regretted?

"I can't change who I am," he said,
picking up on her thoughts. "Everything I ever did, everyone I
manipulated, tortured, killed…it was to stop the Coven awakening the Children
of Lir."

"Not all of it," she said sharply.

He knew she had him. "No. But can you fight
your true nature, Gabrielle?"

She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak.

"What does your heart tell you?" he
murmured, running his hand over her breast.

"You have a gift, Regulus," she said
wryly.

"For what?" His lips curved into a smile.

"Words."

"Is that all?"

"Cocky bastard." She shook her head.

"Don't dwell on the past, Gabrielle. It will do
neither of us any good. We can only focus on the path before us."

"Killing Aed."

"Killing Aed," he echoed. "And only
then can we think about what's next."

If there was any future past this, Gabby wondered
if Regulus would be in hers. It was a thought too farfetched to even
contemplate.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Aya stood in the shower of the small hotel room
Tristan had gotten for them, washing the dried blood from her skin. The wound
in her stomach had healed a while ago now, but she could still feel the pain, a
phantom splinter of wood slicing through her skin.

Aed. A Tuatha Prince.

She thought back over the history her parents had
taught her as a child. The Tuatha had appeared four thousand years ago and had
wasted no time in claiming what was not theirs. The human population had no
chance against the fae and at first they had fought back despite the odds.
Soon, they realized that they would lose and submission was the best course of
action to save their children and themselves from certain death and slavery.
They still got the slavery part.

The Celestines had stepped in when they could take
the suffering of the earth and its people no more. The Tuatha had scarred what
was sacred to them and it was enough to compel the peaceful race to war. There
had been a lot of atrocities committed on either side, but one of the worst was
Aoife's betrayal. So much hope had been placed upon the alliance and she was
the last chance for an end to the fighting. If the two races didn't stop, it
would result in extinction for all…and that had happened anyway. If things had
gone differently, then the world today would be a very different place.

Stepping from the shower, Aya glanced at herself in
the mirror. She looked as she always did, there was no mark on her from their
encounter with Aed, but a lot of things had changed underneath the
surface. Throwing her ruined clothes into a plastic bag, she changed into
her only set of clean ones and went back out into the room, a waft of steam
following her.

"Feel better?" Tristan asked, looking up
from the newspaper he'd gotten at the front desk.

"Much. A hot shower does wonders for aching
stomach muscles."
And not so much for rambling thoughts
, she
declined to add.

"You're still hurt?" he asked in alarm,
sitting up straight.

"No, nothing like that. Sometimes the memory
lingers awhile."

"I know you're tough and all, but maybe you
should get some sleep."

"I'm not tired." She could go a few days
without if she needed, longer than any ordinary vampire. "I doubt I could
sleep anyway."

Aya sat on the bed next to Tristan, stretching her
legs out across the mattress. Staring out the window into the darkness beyond,
her thoughts went straight to her family. Their memory had lived on in her
mind, but that had nothing on seeing them again…even as apparitions. It seemed
like the universe was playing a cruel trick on her. She could look, but not
touch.

"What did you see?" Tristan asked.
"You've been quieter than usual."

She sighed, glancing at him before closing her
eyes. "I saw them. I saw my family."

"What?" he exclaimed.

"They were an afterimage. Lingering energy,
but they were there and they knew I was, too."

"Did you speak to them?"

"I don't know how real it was, but it seemed
as if they heard me."

Tristan shifted so he sat next to her. "You got
a chance to see them again. A chance to say goodbye. Properly."

"I always seem to get more than I
deserve."

"Arrow, we all do things we're not proud of.
Sometimes we don't get a choice. I know you're good."

"What about the horrible things I did because
I wanted to?"

"We're all human."

"That's where you're wrong," she said.
"I was never human."

"Perhaps not," he said, narrowing his
eyes. "But Arturius was human once and it was his blood that made you.
Who's to say that didn't change you in other ways? How do you know?"

Aya sighed, taking his hand. "You're ever the
chivalrous and loyal knight, aren't you?"

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You've
done a lot of selfless things in the name of the Celestines."

"It's been nothing but selfish revenge."

"It may have started out that way, but what
about all those witches you've helped? It was meant to be your callin', yes?
I've seen it, Arrow. I've seen you do these things with my own eyes."

Looking back out the window, Aya said, "We
have more pressing matters to attend to than arguing about the things I may or
may not deserve."

"Do you have any ideas?" Tristan asked
thinly, and she didn't have to look at him to know he was annoyed that she'd
changed the subject so bluntly.

"We can't do anything on our own. My power
can't stop him, so we need to find another way."

"You mean to find the witch Gabby?"

"Yes. She is one of the most powerful witches
I've ever come across. Together we were able to banish Katrin. Perhaps together
we might have a chance at finding a way to bind Aed."

"Or kill him for good."

"Or that."

"Do you have a way of contacting her?"

Aya shifted uncomfortably. Gabby had been in London
and in contact with Zac. It had been less than a week since he'd left her to
find the Three. Did she dare seek him out so soon?

"Arrow?" Tristan prodded.

"She was in London."

"So, we go back. Then what?"

Instead of asking the obvious, she asked, "Do
you think the Three would've remained in London?"

"They all came from there in their human
lives. I doubt they would've gone far. I heard Nye mention that they would've
gone home."

"Then we go back to London and look for
them."

"But, Zac left you behind..." Tristan
began, realizing that she meant to seek out Zac, not the Three.

"I know. I gather he hoped he would come back when
he found whatever it is he's looking for, but our predicament with Aed is a
little more pressing, no?" When she finally came face to face with Zac
again, she hoped it wouldn't be awkward. She wanted to give him his space and
not put any pressure on, but…there was always a but. His arms was the only
place she wanted to be, but he wasn't ready for it yet.

Zac couldn't think of anything worse than sitting
around the apartment in Camden waiting for the Three to arrive, so he slipped out,
bound for the pub, or whatever watering hole he could find open at this time of
night. It was well past midnight and most were already shut or had put out
their last calls. He didn't much like the idea of hanging around people
anyway, so he walked instead.

They had to work out their next move as soon as
possible. His thoughts went to Gabby and he actually missed the witch. Since
they'd first met, they'd never gotten along that well. In fact, he'd gone out
of his way to annoy the hell out of her. When he thought that Aya had died her
true death, she'd been there to help and something between them had changed. A
mutual respect had sprung up out of nowhere. They had both changed so much in
the past year it was incredible.

As he wandered the streets and lanes of the city,
the more his thoughts kept circling around to Gabby. Once they had the Three
back together, he would seek out the witch. He didn't want to think about it,
but it would be highly likely that they'd need Aya and Tristan. He'd walked out
on her a week ago and what was a week in the grand scheme of things? A piss in
the ocean. They might have to put their feelings aside in order to fight a
common enemy. Could he do it? Did he have to?

Rounding the corner into a small lane, he wondered
what had happened to Coraline and Maximis. He assumed that's whom Gabby might
be with. The last he'd heard from them was the single word text message that
said
Awake.
What was it with witches and single word text messages?

Listening to the city around him, he slowed, a
weird tingle spreading across his skin. It was like the sensation he got when
he knew someone was watching...only this time it felt different.

Zac stopped, casting his hearing out into the
night. Something was definitely there, but he couldn't tell what. Glancing over
his shoulder, the lane was empty. Before he could turn back, he was shoved hard
against the brick wall beside him, his head cracking against the masonry.

"Who are you?" a male voice snarled.

Shaking his head, Zac looked up at his assailant
and his eyes widened. Unnatural eyes stared back at him and they were
red
.
Even in the darkness he could make them out and usually weird stuff like this
meant trouble. There was only one person this man could be.

The hybrid didn't look that bad for having been
stuck in a magical tomb for three thousand years. He wore a stylish looking
suit, well cut, sans-tie. He had short cropped blonde hair and sickly pale skin
completed the picture...and bat shit crazy red eyes. Zac was on his own and
there was no prizes for guessing the winner if this came to blows.

"Who am I?" Zac asked, his back flat
against the wall, eying the man. "Who are
you
?"

"I am a prince of the Tuatha De Danann and the
lack of respect you human vampire scum show me is insulting to my heritage."

"And your name is?"

"I'm offended you don't already know."

"You've been locked in a box for a couple of
thousand years. Obviously nobody gave a shit. That's probably why I don't know
your name."

The hybrid's jaw stiffened as he tried to reign in
his anger. "I am Aed and
who are you
? I will not ask so politely
again. If I have to draw it from your blood, I will."

Draw it from his blood? Zac wasn't quite sure what
that meant, but the first time he'd tasted Aya's blood, it had given him dreams
of her past. Maybe this Aed could read his blood the same way. He couldn't
chance that. Who knew where the fucker had been or what he'd give away?

"Zac Degaud. Puny vampire weakling. You
have a nice way of introducing yourself to people." He pointed to his
head. "Very nice."

Aed just stared at him and Zac thought he
understood how insane people worked, but this was something else.

"Did she make you a vampire?"

"Who are you talking about?"

"The Celestine with the dark hair. I assume
she did, because you stink like her."

Zac pushed off the wall, his anger boiling.
"Be careful what you say to me."

"Oh, on the contrary, you should be careful
what you say to me."

"She didn't make me," he snapped. "A
defector from your precious Coven did."

Aed's eyes darkened. "They are not precious to
me. Isolde did this to me against my will. Do you think I want to be like this?
The Celestines will pay for their crimes. The Celestines and their witches.
They're using us all, don't you see?"

The only Celestine left was Aya. That meant...
"Whatever war you think you're fighting, it's long over."

"The war for revenge is never over."

"Give up, Aed. You and her are the only ones
left of your kinds. You're not pure anymore and neither is she. Your war is
over."

"It is not over," the hybrid roared, pushing
Zac back into the wall again. "They attacked my people. They were so
worried about their precious earth they started their war on
us
. Instead
of letting us conquer the humans, they destroyed us all. If it weren't for the
Celestines, I wouldn't be this…
thing
."

This shit was getting crazier by the minute.
"And if you get your revenge, what then?"

Aed cocked his head to the side, confusion flashing
across his face.

"How do you kill the un-killable?"

With a snarl that sounded almost like some kind of
animal, Aed's eyes began to change. Not into the black of an ordinary vampire,
but they looked like they were filling with crimson blood. Red, glowing eyes
like some kind of demon from hell. Zac was in the shit now.

Aed was tearing at the collar of his shirt and
there was nothing he could do. As the hybrid's fangs tore into the flesh of his
neck, Zac grunted in pain. He tried to shove him off, but it was like he was
swatting at thin air. He'd never felt so weak in his entire life.