Love Beyond Loyalty (14 page)

Well, he'd be damned if he let down whoever was doing this.

He pushed the air in front of him. Unlike most people, Gabe could see it move. Like ripples of waves, it thrust forward until it hit Sebastian square in the stomach, sending him backwards.

Sebastian hit the ground on his back. Raising just his head, his glare alone infused Gabe's body with a malicious-feeling heat, enough that he started to sweat. Clearly, Sebastian had become more powerful if he was capable of that amount of magic with just an intense glare.

Gabe rushed forward. Using his right hand, he pushed the air in Sebastian's direction as he took to the sky at the same time. With his feet off the ground, he aimed his assault to the air directly below Sebastian's feet.

This time Sebastian blocked him. Using his hand, the demon pushed the air back at Gabriel, nearly knocking him down. Sebastian got to his feet.

Gabe's hearing started to clear. He could make out the distinct sound of sirens in the background. Someone must have called the police about the fire blazing in the parking lot. That was a nice change.

Most of the time Sebastian's antics went unnoticed. It was one of those magical things Gabriel never really understood.

If they were supposed to win this war, it might be a little bit helpful to have the human authorities work with them instead of against them.

"You're not the only one who can grab the air,
Gabe
."

Sebastian pulled on the air, not something Gabriel had known he could do, and started to tug him down to the ground. It hurt, and Gabe had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming. If he was going down, he wasn't going to give Sebastian the satisfaction of knowing he'd caused him pain. He'd die in silence if he had to.

"Fuck this."

Using his left foot, he swung forward, striking Sebastian in the face with a sharp kick. Sebastian seemed dazed as he grabbed his now bleeding nose.

"Didn't expect that, did you, you piece of shit?"

"You were always so low brow, Gabriel. I'm going to enjoy taking you down."

The power Sebastian used on him made his skin heat. God, it was so hot. He closed his eyes. Truthfully, he wasn't going to get through this if he didn't come up with a better solution.

Rather than fighting, he let Sebastian pull him to the ground as he opened his eyes. Let Sebastian use up his energy on him. Hitting the ground, he rolled as soon as the hard pavement touched his back.

Damn, he didn't want to die. He wanted to get to know Loraine better. He wanted to know what she liked and what she didn't. He wanted to know what she looked like naked and how many different ways he could touch her to bring her pleasure. Fuck, he would admit he was bound by the prophecy if it would mean he got to live through this to see Loraine and fight Sebastian again on more even ground.

"You know it's over, yes?" Sebastian sounded like he spoke with a French accent.

"What the hell happened to your accent, man?"

Sebastian looked confused for a second. It was just enough time. Gabriel leapt into the air, and instead of taking off, he grabbed onto Sebastian's back, finally getting his arms around Sebastian's neck.

The son-of-a-bitch had to breathe in his stolen human body. That meant the fucking thing could die from lack of oxygen. It wasn't pretty but Gabriel had no problem with the concept of choking him to death.

Sebastian bucked like a wild animal, trying to get him off his back. Seconds later, they were airborne. Flying around like a disoriented bumblebee, Sebastian managed to loosen Gabriel's grip on him only to have Gabriel grab him again. It was an awkward dance for dominance.

Gabe heard the sirens arrive at the fire below him. Sebastian dove to the ground. As his nemeses threatened to smash him like a bug beneath him during impact, Gabriel was forced to let go. Once again, he rolled as he made contact with the ground hoping to avoid serious injury.

As soon as he stopped moving, he jumped to his feet. He was out of breath but still determined. This had to end. There couldn't be a life with Loraine if he was under constant attack by this demon. Unless he completely gave in and accepted the idea that his life was going to have to be all about the prophecy there would be no future.

He turned around, flagging down the first police officer he saw. The man, standing shorter than Gabe at what he would guess was around five-foot five-inches, drew his gun.

What the fuck?

Gabe raised his hands in the air. "I'm not the one who blew up that car, Officer."

He heard another click and looked to his left, leaving his hands raised in a 'please don't shoot me' gesture. Gabe wasn't sure, but he was fairly convinced he would die if he got shot point blank in the chest or head. Not to mention the fucking pain.

Standing directly next to him was another police officer with another gun raised. Shit, the first one still hadn't answered him.
What the fuck is going on?

It might have been a falsehood presented by the low light and the fire, not to mention the adrenaline pumping through his system thanks to Sebastian, but Gabe would swear the two police officer's had dead eyes.

He swallowed as he heard the choked laughter coming from Sebastian. The demon started clapping his hands.

"Gabriel. Gabriel. It was
almost
so easy that it's
almost
not worth my while. You need, or maybe I should say need
ed,
since you are now about to die, to brush up on your history. I have been taking control of human beings since I was an infant."

Spitting out blood that had seeped into his mouth from an unknown cut somewhere on his face, Gabe might have laughed if the whole thing weren't so fucking sad.

What were they all wasting so much time saving the humans for? They were so easily manipulated that Sebastian could control them any time he wanted to?
Shit.

A voice behind him startled him. "I've brushed up on my Outsider stories. In fact, I remember when you murdered my family that way and tried to kill Kal and me this way, too."

Isabelle
. Gabe whirled around. If his moving made them shoot him faster, then so be it. They were going to shoot him anyway.

"Get out of here, Isabelle."

He narrowed his eyes as he looked back at Sebastian. His 'must protect the women' mentality reared its ugly head, and all he could see was Isabelle standing in a dangerous situation. Hell, even if he took a bullet to the chest, he was getting her out of there.

Kal had a lot of explaining to do.

As if on cue, Kal appeared behind Isabelle. "It's okay, Gabe. I'm going to remind Sebastian what happened the last time he shot at an Outsider."

A bolt of lightning hit the ground turning the first man who held a gun on Gabe to ash. Gabriel gasped, shocked by the suddenness of it but not the violence. He'd seen Kal's work before at the mental health institution in New Jersey. What shocked him was how fast the other man had literally… fried.

Kal stretched his hands over his head. "He's deeply gone. The more involved with the demon they are, the easier they are to toast." Evidently, Kal had anticipated his thoughts.

He opened his mouth to respond to the other warrior when he heard Sebastian curse. "Finish him. I no longer want him in my dungeon. I want him dead."

Gabriel heard a dog growl, and a large wolf leapt into the fray taking down the other man with a gun pointed at him. The man shrieked as he went down, trying to get out from underneath its paws.

Jumping to his feet, he stared at the scene. "Was that a wolf?"

So help him if it turned out there were werewolves running around New Orleans, Gabe's head was going to actually spin.

The wolf stepped over the now bleeding man and set its sights on the demon.

Strong hands lifted him up and Gabe was grateful for Leonardo's support as he realized who it was. Gabe cocked his head to the side as he looked at the scene unfolding. Sebastian took two steps back. Something about the animal actually frightened the demon.

Leonardo pointed at the wolf. "Loraine."

Raising an eyebrow, he looked at the animal. "Loraine told the wolf to come and attack the demon?"

Maybe her little talent for speaking to animals would prove to be useful after all.

"No," Leonardo's voice sounded rough. "The wolf
is
Loraine."

"What?"

Suddenly the wolf attacking the demon was hugely less palatable to Gabe. He moved forward, diving on top of Loraine as Sebastian raised his hand to attack. Taking to the air, this time with no thought in mind except escape, Gabriel flew high.

The, wolf that he still had a hard time thinking of as Loraine, growled at him but there was no heat in it. Seconds later, he felt her gently rub her head against his shoulder as he held her in his arms.

"I don't know what you thought you were doing or how you became an animal but I'm not exactly thrilled that you went at the demon. What happened to telling me you froze every time you got near Sebastian?"

He didn't expect an answer. Loraine was, after all, an animal at the moment. Landing on top of a building, he looked down. In the distance, he could see flashes of lightening. Groaning, he realized it was Kal fighting Sebastian and his possessed minions. No way could he fucking leave him there with Leonardo and Isabelle to fight off Sebastian.

Narrowing his eyes, even as he knew that moving all three of them would drain his power to the point that he might literally pass out, he concentrated on their images in his mind. Extending his hand, he pulled them forward until they moved toward him. Seconds later, they all popped into sight in front of him.

Kal looked left and right as he grabbed onto Isabelle. "What the hell?"

Gabe smiled as he sunk to the ground. Shit, he'd been right. Now he was officially wiped out.

Leonardo crossed to him as Loraine whimpered, knocking her head up against him. He petted her head.

"I couldn't leave all of you there with the demon."

Kal shook his head. "I was frying the hell out of him."

Leonardo nodded. "For the moment, until he regained control and fried the hell out of you. Gabriel was right. If the prophecy is to be believed, we can't beat him until we're all together. The best we can hope to do is survive."

Kal sat down next to Gabriel but still addressed Leonardo. "I thought you weren't entirely certain what the prophecy said. That's why you need those books." Leonardo raised his hands above his head. "I'm doing the best I can here."

Enough
. "Someone want to tell me how my soul mate turned into an animal?"

Isabelle smiled and sat down next to Kal. "She appeared before us. Did you send her to us?"

Gabe nodded, wishing she would hurry the fuck up, but any sign of temper toward Isabelle would probably make Kal nuts since that's what someone yelling at Loraine would do to him.

"She told us you were under attack, looked at the moon, and changed into the animal you see before you."

He nodded. Okay, in a weird way it made sense. Loraine's two powers, speaking to animals and turning into one went hand-in-hand.

Isabelle spoke. "I've seen Drew do it once."

He'd met the man at the mental health institution in New Jersey, but he hadn't seen him do that. "How long did he stay an animal?"

Isabelle shrugged. "I have no idea. How long does Loraine think she's going to stay like this?"

Fuck this!
Having to deal with the group was going to make him nuts. Or maybe he was really,
really
tired. "I'm sorry. I know she's my soul mate, but I don't speak wolf."

"Can't you speak to her telepathically?"

"What?"

Isabelle smiled. "Soul mates can speak to each other telepathically. Kal and I talk all the time that way."

"They do," Leonardo interrupted. "It's aggravating."

Obviously determined to finish, Isabelle kept speaking. "Jason can communicate with the whole group that way. Marina can speak to Charma telepathically. Kal and Leonardo can communicate that way with each other."

Well, hell. "Someone want to tell me how to even attempt such a thing?"

"I can do it
."

Loraine's voice in his head made him smile, but man-oh-man, it had been a long couple of days. And they still had to fucking find those books.

Chapter Eleven

Loraine smiled. She could feel Gabriel trying to push his thoughts into her mind. Soon, she was sure he'd have the knack. He was over thinking it. She'd kind of thought something, and then decided she wanted only him to hear it. For her it had been as natural as breathing.

She'd become a wolf without thinking much about it either. One second she'd wanted to help Gabriel, the next she was a wolf. Looking up at the sky, she wondered if she could be anything she wanted to be. Was it just a wolf? Just canines? Was that why she'd communicated so well with Futon?

Just thinking of him made her heart ping, and she wished she could fly away. Leave all the pain of the past few days behind her and be free…

Seconds later, she soared through the sky. Gasping, she realized she now had wings. How had that happened?

She flapped her wings as she let herself move upward. What kind of bird was she?

"Loraine!"

Hearing Gabriel's voice in her head, she wanted to grin. He'd worked it out.

"Oh, Gabriel, I wish you could be up here with me in the sky."

"I can be. If you wait for one second, I'll join you
.
"

Seconds later, as she marveled at the sensation of having the ability to flap actual wings, Gabriel appeared before her. Floating in the air, he smiled, and she wished she could grin back at him.

"I guess you can be any kind of animal you want."

"Looks that way. Want to fly with me?"

As an answer, Gabriel flew even higher, almost begging her with his swift movements to catch up. She did and internally shrieked with laughter at the joy of it. How had she not known she could do this? If she hit the ground and decided she wanted to be a panther, could she simply become a panther?