Celtic Rose (33 page)

“You look like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland, what’s up?” Williams said and that comment only made Gabriel smile more.

“I’ve got the perfect idea for a tattoo. We always have something up our sleeves, right?” Gabriel asked excitedly. William nodded.

“What if we got some aces up our sleeves but instead of the ace in the middle we have the Cheshire cat with the mad hatter’s hat and holding the stick like a joker?” Gabriel grabbed a piece of paper from the tattooist and started to draw the design.

William started laughing. “That’s perfect Gabe! It sounds just like us and the matching tattoos will be a symbol of our new found camaraderie.”

“I don’t know why we didn’t think of it before,” Gabriel said as he finished the drawing and the tattoo artist set to work. He did Gabriel’s first and then proceeded with William’s. He squirmed and squealed like a little girl; Gabriel found it funny. He and William both laughed. Gabriel thought for a moment that he was going to go with only part of it done, but after a short break and some more laughing he got it done. They left the parlor and went back to the hotel. Everyone was done puking and in bed by the time they got back. Kalan and Talus had stayed with Ramina and Kallisto.
Oh well, comfort at its best,
Gabriel thought. They hit the sack and that was it.

The next morning Gabriel didn’t want to get up. He couldn’t even remember getting into bed. The last thing he remembered was drinking at the pub. He wondered what he’d done that night. Gabriel saw William still in bed through the open door. He was half tempted to go in there and turn the bed over, since he was the one who’d kept pouring drinks down all of them, and now Gabriel had a bad hangover. He changed his mind about throwing William out of bed and decided to check on the girls. Kalan and Talus were nowhere to be found so he thought they must’ve been with the girls. He got up slowly and worked his way to the girl’s room. The doors between their rooms had been left open so he didn’t have to wake anyone up unnecessarily just to check on them. As he stepped through the door he saw that everyone was already awake.

“What time is it?” he said, looking around, but there wasn’t a clock in sight.

“It’s 2 o’ clock in the afternoon,” Ephiny said happily as she fed Lady some strips of raw meat. She wasn’t the worse for wear after last night, so Gabriel wondered why he was. As he looked around he noticed Ramina and Kallisto were looking a little green. Talus and Kalan looked fine.

“Ramina and Kallisto look about how I feel, but you three look just fine. How did that happen?” Gabriel asked groaning.

“We didn’t go on drinking with the rest of you. We only had a few drinks. The four of you could have drowned the pub with as much as you drank,” Ephiny said sarcastically.

“Well, it looks like we all have hangovers, so are you happy now?” Gabriel asked scratching his arm. He kept feeling an itchy-twinge on his right upper arm and no amount of scratching was making it go away. He lifted the sleeve to look as he heard William coming from the other room.

“Man, my arm hurts like needles were jabbed through it repeatedly,” William said.
Whiny as usual
, Gabriel thought. As the itch on his arm continued, he finally checked it and found that there was a brand new tattoo on his arm. He wondered where on earth it came from. He noticed everyone looking from him to William with shocked expressions, so he turned toward William and saw the exact same tattoo on William’s arm. He dropped his shirtsleeve so William wouldn’t see it, but it was too late.

“What? Wait...you have the same tattoo, I saw it! What’s going on?” William said and tried to grab for Gabriel’s arm, but he walked to the other side of the table and sat down. He nonchalantly started petting Lady, ignoring William’s shocked gaze. Ephiny started giggling.

“Well now, it looks as though you too were so ‘buddy buddy’ last night that you decided to get matching tattoos.” Ephiny went into full blown guffawing and the others joined in. William looked at Gabriel with his mouth open. Gabriel just sat there wondering how in the world they ever got along long enough to do something like that. They hated each other, or at least William hated Gabriel. All Gabriel felt for William was annoyance. Ephiny passed out food to everyone–kind of a late brunch–and sat down to eat and pick some more.

When everyone was done picking at the raw wound of the crazy night with William, Gabriel got up from the table. One thing he did remember clearly from last night was the fight they had about the girl in the pub. He was positive that she was the one, but everyone else was skeptical. She was pure and beautiful; the witch, Serena, would never work with such beauty; it would give her a complex.

“We need to find that girl from last night and follow the path to our next artifact,” Gabriel pushed again.

“Gabriel, unless we are positive she’s the one...” Kallisto paused, thinking for a moment. She looked concerned at first, but then her face changed to determination and she continued. “I won’t take risks with the time we have left. I don’t care what you feel for her Gabriel. You aren’t thinking with your head, at least not with the one that can reason,” she said soberly.

That was it for Gabriel. He’d find the girl, find out if she was the one, and bring her there to prove it to all of them. Gabriel turned and stormed out. Kallisto called after him but he ignored her and kept going. As soon as he got outside he ran as far and as fast as he could. The adrenaline seemed to be a pretty good hangover cure since the headache had dulled considerably since he woke up. He slowed down as he reached the pub from last night. It was closed, but there was a man inside. It looked as though he was cleaning up and preparing for the night. In a couple of hours there would be people filing in and he didn’t want to be there then, just in case Maulro decided to come back.

“Sorry to bother you, sir, but I need to ask you some questions,” Gabriel said, leaning on the counter. The man looked at Gabriel suspiciously. Gabriel was sure his attire, which he still wore from last night, made him look a little worse for wear, but the man nodded like he made the decision to answer.

“Alright, what do you need?” he said, never hesitating as he wiped out the glass.

“The dancer with the blonde hair, does she work here every night?” Gabriel asked hopefully. The man smiled and nodded like it was what he expected.

“No, she doesn’t. But she comes sometimes. She says she’s looking for a certain group of people and that they would come here looking for her. Are you possibly a part of this group?” He said, looking at Gabriel questioningly.

“I am. The others are waiting for me to come back. It’s too dangerous for all of us to be out in the day.” Gabriel stopped, shocked, wondering why he was telling him that.

“She said you would say that. She usually comes about once a week. We won’t see her again until next week,” he said and then went back to his glasses. Gabriel was disheartened. The man cocked his head and looked at Gabriel. He didn’t know what look was on his face but the man looked concerned. He leaned over the counter and look around before speaking. “She lives somewhere around here–I see her walking in the square sometimes. I’d bet that if you were to go there you’d find her before next week,” he whispered, and leaned back looking intently at the glass he was cleaning.

“Thank you, sir. You don’t know what this means to us,” Gabriel said gratefully. The man just nodded and never looked at him again. Gabriel took that as a sign they were finished and walked out. He went straight to the square and sat on a bench hidden under an awning. The girls could see the square from their window and he didn’t want them catching a glimpse of him. At least the front of the hotel was on the other side of the building and not in the square. They wouldn’t see him if they decided to go out looking, at least not right away.

It was getting dark. Gabriel wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there but it seemed like forever. He was just about to give up when he finally saw her walking down the opposite side. He jumped up and ran over. She stopped when she saw him coming, then smiled and looked as though she’d been waiting for him to pop up.

“Do you know who I am?” he asked when he reached her. She grabbed his hand gently and pulled up his sleeve. She traced the tattoo that was revealed.

“You’re Gabriel, protector of the princess Kallisto and her brother Kalan, stuck in a curse for centuries by an evil witch named Serena and an evil warlock named Merrick. The others in your group include William, the Scottish noble, betrothed to the princess but now only a vessel for her life and power; Ramina, the love of the prince, Kalan; Talus the true love of the princess; and now the lovely Ephiny, who is a werewolf like yourself.” She’d been tracing the tattoo while she spoke and then looked at Gabriel, smiling as she continued. “I’m clairvoyant. I see things that haven’t happened yet, and things that have happened in the past. Reading you, I see several lives. I knew you were coming for me. I’ve been waiting since I was young. My parents knew also, that’s why they came here before I was born and raised me as an Egyptian. They had me taught in the old ways of fighting by some priests in a temple not far from here. I’ve lived my life learning all I can to be a benefit to the cursed ones.” She released his arm still smiling. His breath caught; he could barely say a word. After a few tries he was finally able to speak.

“How can I be sure you’re the one? The witch could have taught you and could be using you for a distraction.” Gabriel couldn’t believe he was saying it but the others’ words were stuck in his head. The girl laughed.

“Never fear Gabriel, I know what they feel and what they think about me. That’s why I didn’t confront them last night at the pub. I need them to realize who I am on their own. I’ll have a chance to prove myself to them very soon. I must leave you right now Gabriel, but we’ll see each other again very soon.” She started to walk off. Gabriel grasped for words to make her stop but nothing would come. Finally when she was a few yards away he thought of something.

“Wait! What’s your name?” he yelled. She stopped at his words and turned around smiling.

“My name is Keira, strong one. Remember it well.” She grinned knowingly, and was gone.

Chapter 14

It was after dark and Gabriel still hadn’t come back; the others were getting worried, so they decided to go look for him. They didn’t want to draw attention to themselves so they changed into more conservative clothing. The guys stayed in the same clothes but the girls changed into pants and tops they found in the bags. The pants were almost like the guys but more billowy. The tops covered everything and went down to their knees. They had some thicker veils to cover their heads and faces. They were as disguised as they were going to get, with the least amount of attention.

“Is everyone ready?” Kallisto asked. They all nodded and they went out the door. They trailed out the front of the building and traveled around to get to the square. Kallisto thought at one moment that she’d seen Gabriel running across the square to the other side when she looked out the window about thirty minutes before. There was no telling where he’d be, but she hoped they could find him there.

As they went around the corner they ran straight into Maulro and his crew. They pretended not to be strangers of Egypt and bowed as an apology while they walked around them. Talus, Kalan, and William kept their faces down hoping to avoid recognition. They kept walking and Maulro never said a word–he just looked at them. Kallisto stole a look here and there as they traveled down the road. The men stood there staring for longer than she liked. They made it around the corner before any of the group spoke.

“That was so close. Do you think they realized who we were?” William said quietly.

“I don’t know, but they were staring rather hard. I suggest we keep moving and get as far away as possible,” Ephiny said hurriedly. They kept walking, slightly faster than before, not wanting to draw attention to themselves by running. Kallisto chanced another look back and noticed a head disappear as soon as she turned.

“We need to get out of this area quickly. I just saw someone looking around the corner and they didn’t want to be seen,” Kallisto said in a harsh whisper. They picked up the pace to a jog and got through an alley and around the corner. They eased up the pace back to a walk, hoping they had lost them and they could find Gabriel before Maulro’s men found them again. Kallisto tried to speak to him mind to mind, but he was blocking so hard she couldn’t get through. She sent visions out continuously of Maulro and where they were, hoping that he’d release long enough to see.

They went around another corner and were stunned to see Maulro and his men at the end of the street. To avoid looking suspicious, all they could do was keep walking and pretend not to see them, hoping if they didn’t show fear then Maulro would think it wasn’t them and leave them be. Kallisto thought they were going to get past them, but at the last second Maulro reached out and grabbed her arm. She tried to pull away and keep walking but he was too strong and wouldn’t let go. Talus tried to grab Maulro but he was grabbed by one of the other men.

“Hello, Princess. How’s life?” Maulro said, and started laughing as he pulled Kallisto into his arms. She struggled to no avail.

“How can you do this Maulro? I thought you were a part of our family,” Kallisto said, trying to reason and possibly confuse him to buy them some time. He froze for a moment. She thought she hit the right cord but she was wrong.

“I was a servant, not a member of the family. Besides, my choices were, die with the rest of you and become a part of this stupid curse, or side with Serena and Merrick and live for all eternity. Hmm...I choose to live one long life rather than die horribly several times. Thanks but no thanks.”

He picked Kallisto up and started carrying her off. The others ran for her and were grabbed themselves. The guys were dragged along by two men each, one on each arm. Ephiny was carried as well, thrown over one of the men’s shoulder, and Ramina was dragged along by four men because she kept kicking and hitting at them all, and they each had to grab a limb. Kallisto remembered what Gabriel said about them being prepared for an electrical attack but she couldn’t just let them be taken. She had to try.