Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted) (56 page)

No, not at Matt, at Leo, kneeling by his side in the grass under a huge old oak.

“Gabriel. Don’t.” Shea turned to him. He could see fear in her eyes, but it wasn’t fear for herself. It was for him and Leo and Matt. “This is for the best. Don’t follow. Please.”

“No! Damn it, Shea, this isn’t the way.” It couldn’t be.

She only shook her head, removed her attonitum from the holster on her back and trained it on him. He heard the blast of power a millisecond before the pain in his leg nearly blinded him, it was so intense. He heard Serena cry out and then nothing.

He struggled out of unconsciousness through sheer force of will, long enough to see Dario and his men pull Shea into the sedan and toss Quinn out the back of the van as it pulled away.

“It’s going to be okay, sweetheart.” Serena was at his side, talking through her tears and tying a tourniquet around his thigh. “It’s going to be okay. Just let me check Quinn then we’ll follow Shea.”

Serena moved away as Matt walked unsteadily to his side and flopped onto the ground next to him. “I didn’t have a clue. Shit, I should’ve known she’d pull something like this.”

Gabriel grabbed Matt’s shirt and pulled him closer. “He’s gonna kill her. We’ve got to find her.”

“Gabriel.” Quinn appeared at his side and dropped to his knees beside him. “She shot you. She fucking shot you.”

“Quinn.”

“Goddamn, Gabe, there’s a lot of blood.”

Quinn pressed his hands against the wound, shooting agony up his spine. But Gabriel knew it would take more than pressure. She’d hit the artery. She hadn’t meant to. It’d been a lucky shot. Or unlucky, in his case. He was going to bleed out if he didn’t get help soon.

“Quinn.”

“Shut up, Gabe. I’ve gotta do something about this. We gotta get you to a—”

“Quinn, don’t lose her.”

Quinn’s startled blue eyes met his, and his mouth dropped open.

“No way—”

“Quinn, if you don’t follow, we won’t know where he’s taking her.”

“No.” Quinn’s emphatic denial made him push harder on the wound and Gabriel groaned. “You can’t ask me to leave you. Serena can’t take care of both of you. You’ll die and there’s no way—”

“Quinn. Please.”

“Fuck!” The profanity sounded close to a growl. Then Quinn pulled the belt off his jeans and threw it at Gabriel. “If you die, I’ll follow you to Aitás and kill you again myself.”

Serena knelt by his side, placing a hand on Quinn’s arm. “Go. We’ll be okay.”

Wrapping the belt around the upper part of his thigh, Gabriel cinched it as tight as he could. And could still feel the blood seeping out of him.

Quinn stood in jerky motions. “You better fucking be alive when I fucking get back.”

Gabriel glanced up, saw Leo looking down at him from the car window. “I’ll be fine.”

Quinn followed his gaze and shook his head, breathing heavily through his mouth. He sighed then shifted so fast it had to be worse agony than Gabriel’s bullet wound.

The wolf took off without a glance back.

“Leo.” Darkness had started to seep around the outer limits of his vision, but he knew he couldn’t lose consciousness. He’d die if he did. “I need you down here, buddy.”

He heard the car door open, and Leo fell on his knees by his side. “Shea shot you.”

“Yeah, but she had a good reason.” At least, she’d thought she had. “Listen. You’re gonna have to help me now. You’re all I’ve got. Then we’re gonna go get Shea.”

The boy’s eyes began to fill. “What if I can’t do it? What if I can’t help myself like before.”

Serena placed her arm around the boy’s shoulders and squeezed him tight to her side. “I’ll be here to help you, Leo. I’m not a healer, but I can guide you. Everything will be fine.”

“You can do this. Leo, look at me.” He compelled the boy to stare into his eyes. “I trust you, buddy. And Shea knew you could do this. That’s why she left you with me. I need you.”

Leo looked at the wound in his leg, then back into his eyes.

And with the trust of a six-year-old for his unworthy hero, Leo smiled and placed both hands on Gabriel’s leg.

Chapter Twenty-T
hree

It wasn’t long before the Mercedes pulled into the entrance to an industrial complex near Reading Regional Airport.

Shea felt every nerve in her body jumping. Her stomach knotted, her head pounding with tension. Only the voices were silent as she sat in the back seat next to Dario.

Dario hadn’t spoken to her since they’d gotten into the car. He’d spared one look out the back window as they’d pulled away then had stared out the side window, ignoring her completely.

She hadn’t been able to look back.

Goddess, please let Gabriel be okay.

Just the thought of what she’d done made her eyes burn and her stomach shrivel into a ball. A few days ago, Gabriel had asked her if she could shoot him if he told her to. She’d given him her answer a few minutes ago.

Now she had to be strong for a little while longer and finish this.

“So, are you ready to tell me how to break the curse or are you going to keep me in suspense?” Dario asked.

They were the first words he’d spoken since they’d gotten in the car but there was no way she was answering his question.

Instead she countered, “Your men killed my parents.”

He didn’t flinch. “And your parents were…?”

“Kyle and Celeste Tedaldi.”

He nodded, and his gaze ran over her face, examining her features. “Your mother was a beautiful woman. They were all beautiful women. But they’ve been released now.”

“No, unfortunately, they haven’t. They’re in here.” She tapped her temple. “You butchered them. Now they’re in limbo.”

He nodded and something resembling pain crossed his expression. “That was never my intention. But their lives were an abomination, as is mine. The curse must end. My brother Remo enjoys this existence. He does not want to end the curse. I do.”

His brothers? There were more? Goddess, help her. “Did you know about me?”

“No.” He laughed, as if they weren’t mortal enemies. “I’m still amazed at your presence. How exactly did you come about?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I only know that I’m here, and I’m supposed to break the curse.”

“And you are going to do that…how?”

Blood for blood. She didn’t say it out loud, but she knew what would have to happen.

She couldn’t let her parents’ deaths be in vain.

* * *

Gabriel got a call from Quinn twenty minutes after he’d left to follow Dario and Shea.

When he hung up, he turned to Matt and Leo. Matt had tossed his blood-soaked shirt into the back seat so Serena could wrap his wound. The blast had smashed through his shoulder with enough force to knock him to the ground, but the wound wasn’t Fatal.

He held Leo in his arms. The boy was tired but he was starting to come around.  He’d maintained a control Gabriel couldn’t have managed under the stress and didn’t seem to be suffering any adverse affects.

“Where is she?” Serena asked.

“At the airport.”

“If he gets her on a plane, we’re screwed,” Matt said. “Let’s get a move on.”

Fuck, no. Gabriel was going nowhere with his mother and Matt, who probably had a concussion in addition to the attonitum blast wound but wouldn’t let Leo heal him. Said the boy had already expended too much energy. And he probably had.

Matt and Serena would be staying here. And Leo was coming with him.

As if she’d read his mind, Serena helped Matt up and back to the front seat of his Chrysler.

We’ll be fine, dear.” She reached up to kiss his cheek. “I’ll take Matt back to the compound. Come back to us.”

“I will. Stay safe, Mom. I love you.”

Her eyes filled with tears but she smiled. “I love you, too, sweetheart.”

His gut burned as if he’d swallowed a vat of acid as he and Leo drove away in the Jeep. Their destination turned out to be a deserted-looking warehouse in an industrial park near the airport.

Quinn, dressed only in a pair of baggy work pants he must have stolen, emerged from the shadows along the side of the building. Gabriel pulled up next to him and got out of the car, signaling Leo to follow.

“They’re in there.” Quinn pointed the building behind them. “What do you want to do?”

He wanted Shea back, however he could get her. He wanted to be rid of the constant fear that ate at his guts for his loved ones. He wanted the damn curse broken.

“Hell if I know.”

Quinn’s jaw dropped a second before he emitted a short harsh bark of laughter. “Well, then I say we just walk in the front door and take back your woman.”

Gabriel shot him a look. “You know, you’re not that funny.”

Quinn smiled at him. “Yeah, but your girl thinks I’m cute.”

Gabriel snorted as he felt the weight on his chest lighten just a little at Quinn’s banter. It helped pull him back from the brink of…what? Despair? No, there was no reason to despair. Not yet.

“Leo.” He glanced down and saw resolve in Leo’s dark eyes. “Your knives are under the seat. Don’t leave my side unless I tell you to run, and you use those blades if you have to.”

He waited until the little boy nodded. Christ, he hoped he didn’t need the kid, but he couldn’t take any chances. Not with Shea.