A Vampire's Soul (26 page)

Whatever comment I was about to make died on my lips when movement between the trees of the outer ring caught my eye. The words I had been about to say were immediately forgotten as something slinked sinuously between the forest sentinels. Orange eyes glowed back at me, and I felt a strength of purpose coupled with a power that was far older, far deeper, and more fiercely compelling than anything I could conjure up in my wildest dreams. And I saw, moving in and out of the shadows with a lithesome grace that took my breath away, the leopard that had guided me here.

“They came to me in this place, long before the Wraith ever set foot here, and asked me to be their champion. I promised myself to them, Rowan, agreeing to help ensure their continued existence, to make certain the balance between their kind and mankind did not swing too precariously in one direction. If I were to refuse them . . .” He didn't say anything else; he didn't need to.

I had been so wrapped up in my own wants and needs, I'd forgotten about the petitioners who had asked to be given the glorious predator that was a vampire. I had no idea what sacrifices they had been forced to make in fighting for their survival. How could I know what it had cost them to turn to the Dark Realm, seeking an answer to their prayers. What it might mean, even now, if they were abandoned. Shame flooded through me at my selfishness.

Placing my hand on Gabriel's arm, I stared up into his eyes. A ring of gold now circled each pupil, signifying his own hunger.

“I would never ask you to forsake them,” I told him, feeling the swell of emotion rising in me. “Never!” A chorus of snarls greeted my words, a chorus that, to my ear, rang with the sound of approval.

Taking me in his arms, Gabriel leaned down to kiss me, but I could still feel the lingering trace of another kiss recently bestowed on my lips. As much as I wanted Gabriel's sweet breath in my mouth, it was time for my confession. The kiss might not have been my idea, but I had done nothing to stop it.

“Y
ou're not the only one with truths to share,” I told him as I gently extricated myself from his embrace and put a small distance between us. If I was going to do this, then I needed some space.

“Rowan, love, what is it?”

“Don't!” I said, holding up a hand as he took a step toward me. “I need you to stay right there.” This was going to be hard enough without the distraction of his touch. “Please, Gabriel, let me tell this my way.”

“Very well.” He shrugged in bewilderment, but remained where he was.

In a halting voice, I gave him a full accounting of Sebastian's visit to my back porch. What he had told me was my true purpose as a Promise, the restoration of my last elusive memory of that time, and the angel's slant on why Gabriel was refusing to take back his soul.

“He wasn't entirely wrong,” Gabriel admitted. “He just didn't have all the facts.”

“Would it have made any difference?” I asked. “You said yourself he tells the truth as he thinks it should be.”

“Perhaps . . . perhaps not.”

I then went on to tell him about Laycee's unexpected arrival—“And you're sure she's all right?”—and seeing the terrible condition of the starving Oscar, and realizing Katja was to blame, and my brilliant plan to get Laycee inside the house, and then everything pretty much going to hell.

“Did you take Laycee to the hospital to get her wrist set?” I asked when I was finished.

“Aleksei is taking care of that,” Gabriel assured me. “He will stay with her until daylight if we do not return before then.”

“But isn't he already at the hospital with Anasztaizia?” Although he had mentioned earlier that the Russian vampire was at my house, it hadn't really registered. I was filled with guilt at not asking about the beautiful Magyar sooner, and confused to hear Aleksei was with my best friend.

Gabriel frowned. “Why would Anasztaizia be at the hospital?”

I told him what Katja had said about the accident in the restaurant kitchen.

“Ah, now I understand. It was a lie, Rowan. Anasztaizia is perfectly well.”

“And you're sure it's okay having Aleksei stay with Laycee?”

“I'll admit she seemed a little hesitant when I first told her who he was,” Gabriel said, his frown deepening as he recalled the moment, “but then she seemed quite taken when she found out he and Anasztaizia are engaged.”

“You told her that?”

“Was that wrong of me?” I shook my head, able to picture the relief on Laycee's face knowing Anasztaizia was spoken for. “When I left them,” Gabriel continued, “Laycee was trying to persuade Aleksei to get his tips frosted.” His forehead smoothed out as he grinned at me. “I probably don't want to know what that means, do I?”

“No,” I agreed, smiling with him and thinking the next time I saw the big guy he'd be sporting a new 'do. I didn't realize Gabriel had broken his word to stay where he was until I felt him take my hand.

“What did Katja do to you once Laycee was safe?”

I hesitated, unsure of how to tell him another vampire had wanted to put me out of the picture, permanently. I didn't think it was possible to describe the depth of the animosity the Goth Queen had felt for me.

“I need to know, Rowan, but if it makes the retelling any easier, her maker, Ryiel, has also requested a detailed account.”

That did make it easier. I had no personal connection to Ryiel, so I was able to picture Katja in my mind and pretend I was speaking to him and not Gabriel. In a matter of moments, I had described her plan to have Oscar feed from me, knowing that in his condition he would kill me. The retelling was very cathartic.

“You have no idea how close I was to peeing-my-pants happy when you and Ryiel showed up,” I told him.

“We should have got there sooner.”

“Gabriel, don't!” I couldn't let him carry the blame for Katja's attack on me. “If Ryiel couldn't stop her from coming after me, then who could? You do realize she's a total whack job, don't you?” I paused and waited until he looked at me. “I'm just grateful you showed up when you did.”

He turned my hand over and bent down to press his lips against the inside of my wrist. The gesture was wonderfully intimate, but as I looked down at his head, I thought of a different vampire.

“Did Oscar really have to be killed?” I asked, still shuddering over the almost casual way Ryiel had decapitated the vampire from the prairie state.

“It was for the best, love,” Gabriel said, straightening up. “He was too far gone to be brought back. Even draining you would not have been enough, and being denied blood for so long meant he was in constant agony.”

“Would Katja have known that?”

“Any vampire would have known.”

Which made her action all the more heinous.

“So what did Ryiel do with her?” It was disappointing to hear the other Original Vampire had not been in favor of removing the exotic beauty's head. That was a treat reserved for starving vampires. Instead, he had decided a more hands-on approach was required for his wayward scion, an approach that brooked no interference from the outside world. “What did he do? Send her to some super strict religious order?”

“I think she would almost prefer that. Ryiel,” Gabriel went on to explain, “lives in an abandoned monastery in the foothills of the Himalayas. That's why my return was longer than expected—”

“Stop it!” I could already see dealing with his guilt was going to be an uphill battle.

“Anyway, he lives in seclusion, cut off from the outside world.”

“What does he do with his time?”

“He adds to his knowledge. He has the best archives of both human and vampire texts in existence. Have you ever heard of the Library of Alexandria?”

My brain took a trip down memory lane to high school. “Didn't it contain all the knowledge of the known world at the time? And wasn't there a fire or something that burned all the scrolls?”

“Fire yes, burned scrolls, not so many.”

I stared at him with my mouth open. “Are you saying Ryiel has them?” I could only imagine what historians would give to be able to look at them.

“As I said, he adds to his knowledge.”

“So what does he expect Katja to do there? Sort and catalog?” I know I wouldn't trust her around something as precious as ancient texts.

“He will expect her to reflect on her actions while she makes herself useful. Ryiel is a great believer in purging the mind with physical activity. I understand there are a great many rooms that need cleaning.”

“What's to stop her from just leaving?” I couldn't imagine the psychotic vampire with a broom in her hands. Not with those nails.

“She cannot. Ryiel is her maker. It is impossible for her to leave without his permission, and after what he saw her do to you, I doubt he will ever grant it.”

I still felt worse for Oscar. “Can he be buried, or does his body have to be burned?”

“He was a vampire, Rowan. It must be burned, but we could bury his ashes if you wish. Do you have somewhere particular in mind?”

“I think he would like it if we took him home and buried him beneath a Kansas wheat field. He was very kind to me . . . that first time we met.”

I hadn't realized I was crying until Gabriel reached out and wiped a tear from my cheek. I could see the muscle in his jaw popping, and I realized he was doing his best to keep the possessive side of his nature under control. Not knowing where I'd been or what had happened to me hadn't been easy for him. And it was about to get considerably harder when I made my confession.

Keeping his voice low and as calm as possible, he asked, “What happened after Sebastian took you away?”

“He didn't tell you?”

He shook his head. “All he said was you had lost your temper and kicked him.”

“And you didn't ask why?” Especially considering where I'd kicked him.

“Why would I? You would have had good reason.” Gabriel's complete acceptance of my action was strangely gratifying, and I wondered if Sebastian realized what a lucky escape he'd had. Perhaps he did, which would explain his reluctance to share details. “So what did happen, Rowan?”

It took a few hesitant starts before I was able to get my narrative flowing, but once I did, I couldn't stop, and I told him everything. Including the
good reason
Sebastian's testicles got rearranged with my foot. However, he stiffened noticeably when I described the English garden and taking tea with my demon host. Not wanting him to think I was hiding anything, I left nothing out of my description. I even included the tiepin and cufflinks.

“You found him handsome then?” Gabriel asked, his fingers tightening around mine. I noticed he made a point of looking down at the ground.

“Yes, I did.” Even though I knew it hurt him to hear me say it, I wasn't about to lie. Not here. The muscle in Gabriel's jaw popped furiously as he dealt with my admission, and when he had moved past it, I told him about the wager I had made.

Raising his head, he stared at me. “But . . . why would you do such a thing?”

His face had the same look the demon had worn when he had asked me why I was prepared to sacrifice myself for Gabriel. It was eerily uncanny.

“Gabriel, I had no choice—he wasn't going to let me leave unless I agreed to
something,
” I said in my own defense.

“No, I don't suppose he would have.” His manner turned grave. “You had best tell me all of it.”

Now it was my turn to stare at the ground. Taking a deep breath, I recounted the terms, but when I came to the hardest part, how the deal had been sealed, my voice shook. Gabriel's lack of response seemed to confirm that my behavior was tantamount to adultery.

He placed a hand beneath my chin and raised my head until I had no choice but to look at him. “You did not betray me, Rowan.”

“Then why does it feel like I did?” I retorted miserably.

“It was just a kiss. One you didn't ask for and one you certainly didn't initiate.”

“But I didn't try to stop it either!” I confessed, jerking my chin from his grasp. “The truth is—I didn't want to stop him!”

“I know.”

I flounced away in a swirl of torn tulle and began my own stomp around the clearing. It was difficult trying to figure out whether my anger was due to my own behavior or Gabriel's understanding support. Part of me wished he would get in my face and yell about how disloyal I'd been, and the other part wanted nothing more than to feel his arms around me and have him tell me everything was going to be okay. What was done was done, but it was fixable.
We
were fixable. It was only a kiss, and it was not going to come between us.

Except it wasn't
only
a kiss.

It was a kiss that I had wanted to last forever the minute the demon's lips touched mine. Sharing the passion and desire, I had allowed myself to become so wrapped up in those feelings, I never realized he was stealing a piece of me . . . until it was too late. And now guilt was tearing me apart. Guilt at not fighting hard enough to keep that piece from being stolen, and I had betrayed Gabriel. As well as myself.

“He took a piece of me!” I sobbed, falling to my knees. “He took a piece of me . . . and I didn't stop him!”

“Then we'll take it back!” Gabriel declared, pulling me into his arms.

I opened my mouth to ask how, but Gabriel pressed his lips against my forehead, my temple, my tear-soaked lashes, and dirt-streaked cheeks. He kissed my nose and my jaw, and seared a trail of fiery kisses down my throat. And then he took possession of my mouth, invading me with his tongue and cleansing away every remnant of that other kiss. He invited me into the velvet warmth of his own mouth, and hungry for him, I followed, sliding my tongue between his fangs.

“Do you want to keep this dress?”

“I . . . what?”

“This dress.” Taking a piece of the dirty torn fabric, Gabriel held it up in his fingers. “Do you want to keep it?”

I shook my head and watched as he slipped his hands inside the bodice and tore it down the front. He pulled open the two halves, and I heard the breath catch in his throat as he stared at me. Gabriel had seen me naked plenty of times, so I knew my body held no secrets for him, but the way he looked at me now, it was as if he was seeing me for the first time. My heat rose beneath the intensity of his gaze, and, inexplicably, I felt shy and awkward. I lifted a hand to cover myself.

“Don't,” he rasped, stopping my effort easily and taking me down to the ground.

He dropped his head to my breast, running his tongue across my nipple before pulling the stiff peak gently into his mouth and scraping it between his teeth. I moaned and arched my back, wanting more. His hand cupped my other breast, rolling and pinching that nipple between his finger and thumb until it was swollen and aching. He licked a path down to my stomach and then used his fangs to scrape over the sensitive place just below my hipbones. I shuddered and trembled as a different heat roared through me. My entire existence was concentrated on his touch, and when he pushed apart my legs and used his tongue to stroke the center of me, I exploded.

Gabriel continued to worship me with his mouth, his silken hair sliding over my skin. Trailing a path along the inside of each thigh, he kissed and nipped his way to my core, where he suckled and licked, his tongue dipping inside my body while bringing me to the edge of ecstasy before pulling back. The third time he did this, I reached for a handful of his hair and snarled at him. Eyes glowing, he kissed me with a mouth that was glossy and slick and used his fingers to take me over the edge.