Demon Soul (37 page)

He laughed at himself, short and bitter. Yeah. As if it would be that easy. With a thought he bounded away, leaped the treetops, shifting into his demonic form as he jumped. The strength that flooded him also filled him with despair, and he roared his unhappiness to the sky.

Dogs for miles around began to howl in sympathy.

* * *

Rose watched him from the upstairs bedroom window. He flowed from human to demon, one step to the other without a pause.

She could probably do that. The few times she'd played with fire it had come so naturally. But practicing in the house just didn't feel like a good idea. The last thing the Caine family needed was a house fire.

Rose put her palm up to the window, covering Gabriel's distant human form. Anything, any sacrifice, she vowed. She would do anything to keep him safe.

Anything.

Her cell phone rang, disturbing her train of thought. Maggie. Huh.

"Hello."

"Rose. We've just talked to Kellan, and I understand he just talked to Gabriel."

"Okay."

"We're meeting at the site at midnight. You'll need more rest, more fluids, and some protein for dinner, so have some leftover strata."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Yes, mom."

"Come on," Maggie chided. "I'm doing my best to keep you alive here."

"I know. I'm sorry. What else?"

"Well, I've got a sort of safety net I can toss around you, but I can't be positive it'll protect you from Vlad."

"The rock."

Maggie sighed. "Yeah. I don't have any strategy for dealing with him. There are too many unknown variables."

"Okay." Rose stared out the window where Gabriel continued to flash between human and demon.

"Are you okay with this? We can back off, you know. Do something else at a different time."

Rose shook her head. "No. I don't think we should put this off."

"If you say so," Maggie said doubtfully. "I'm still looking up ways for you to deal with the demon inside you. An exorcism won't work—too basic for what we're dealing with."

"I see." She sat on the edge of the bed before her legs gave out.

"It might come down to strength and trickery. I just don't know. I'm sorry."

The defeat in her friend's voice galvanized Rose. She injected a cheeriness into her voice that she didn't feel. "Don't worry. Everything will turn out fine. But I need you to promise me something."

"Sure."

"If, on the off-chance that I don't make it, you have to make sure Gabriel stays alive. Don't let anything happen to him, okay?" Urgency thrummed through her. “It’s important.”

"Sure." Maggie hesitated. "You sound demented, you know that?"

"Please." Rose closed her eyes and lay back on the bed as a tiny pain worked its way through her forehead.

"Okay then, you got it. Protection for Gabriel. I can rig a type of safety net for him, as well. I've been able to practice on Justin, and it seems to work okay." Maggie's voice chilled slightly at the end.

"Hmmm. I sense tension in the air. How's it going with Justin, anyway?" Rose rolled over to her side.

"You mean the irritating, arrogant, know-it-all ass that is Justin? Fine."

Rose's lips twitched. "Yeah. Okay, subject closed. Stay cool, right?"

"Right. We'll see you in a few hours now. Get some sleep," Maggie ordered.

"Don't forget to rest your brain," Rose said. "Bye." She turned her phone off and rolled to her back again to stare up at the ceiling. After the morning she'd had, and the night she was anticipating, the sleep would do her good.

She studied the spiral, content to let herself get drowsy. A character in the spiral caught at her. Before she could examine it, the pull of sleep caught her and she succumbed, her eyes closing at last.

* * *

Resting after bounding around the orchard for a couple of hours, Gabriel lay flat on the ground under an old grapefruit tree, the sun dappling his face, and looked deep at his reluctance to use his Fae powers. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t want to use them. It was more that he wasn’t sure he could fully believe in them.

A low chuckle brought him to a sitting position. There, cross-legged in jeans and a faded green tee shirt sat his mother, Maria Therese. Her dark hair, so like his own, had been pulled back into a ponytail.

“Mom.” Shock strangled the word in his throat.

She smiled. “I’ve waited so long to hear you call me that.”

“What are you doing here?” He looked around, scrubbed his face. “Am I dreaming?”

“Nope. It’s really me. You are ready for what I can teach you.”

“Wait. I’m sorry,” he said, and reached for her hand. He didn’t think he’d ever held anything quite so precious. “I’m so sorry I killed you.” Finally able to say the words lifted a burden off his heart.

Surprise lit her face. “Gabriel. You didn’t kill me. None of us knew what would happen if I brought you to term, but I loved you. I wanted you, so much that I persuaded Gideon to let me try.” 
You were the only one to speak to me, mind to mind, while you were still in the womb. How could I not love you?

“Really?”

“Really. The Fae bloodline is strong within you. There is much for you to learn and not much time.”

Gabriel flushed. “Whenever Gideon gave us lessons, I didn’t listen. I made him so mad.”

“I know.”  She patted the hand that held hers. “The most important thing you need is the healing abilities. Yours are just as strong as Justin’s. You tried as a newborn to save me, to heal me. I believe it was such a traumatic event for you that you blocked all memory of it, all knowledge.”

Her gray eyes, so like his own, softened at the memory. “I loved you so much, and then I had to leave you.”

“Mom. Please.” Gabriel blinked at the moisture in his eyes. “Tell me what I need to know.”

She released his hand and picked up a stick. “The Fae channel healing powers from every living and growing thing. Feel the earth beneath you, feel the life teeming there.” In the dirt between them, she drew a spiral. “When you need to, use that life-force to heal. Lay it gently over burns, for instance, or use it like thread to sew up gaping wounds. The force you pull from the earth is grounded within your own life force, though. If you use it too freely, you could die.”

“I’ve seen a bit of what Justin does. I know how it wears him out.” 

“It’s there, Gabriel, inside you. You are just as much Fae as you are demon and human.” Humor lit her face. “It wouldn’t surprise me if all that ability isn’t just waiting to be tapped.”

“Healing. Okay, got it. What else?”

Maria Therese sighed. “Too much. Let’s see. You’ll always be able to find your mate by using the bonding threads. You can travel them if you don’t let yourself think too much, but only as a last resort, and only when all else fails. Food will help ground you, just as it does when you change in and out of demon-form.”

Gabriel watched her as she spoke, her hands moving gracefully in the air, punctuating her words. He tried to memorize how she looked with the sun dancing in her dark hair and her face so alive.

“You’re beautiful.”

Maria Therese stopped in mid-sentence to give him a brilliant smile. “You are special, Gabriel, and not just because you are my son. I know you are already bonded, had hoped the two of you would find each other. Rose needs you as much as you need her. And now,” she said, rising to her feet and dusting off her jeans, “I must go.”

“What about Gregor? Justin? Kellan, too. What should I tell them?” Gabriel hastily stood, surprised at how small his mother was.

“Tell them what’s in your heart. You have been alone for too long, Gabriel. They have needed you.” Her hand reached up and stroked his cheek. “You have needed them.”

“I love you. I have always loved you.” Gabriel’s vision blurred as tears gathered and fell.

“Dear boy.”  Smiling, she rose up on tiptoe, put her hands on his shoulders and kissed each cheek then backed away.

“Wait.” Gabriel swung her up in a desperate hug. He could feel her delighted chuckle. "Don't leave. Please."

Her words whispered in his ear. “I must. Now live the life you were meant to live.” The form in his arms faded into nothingness.

Gabriel sat back down with a thump, the pain a reassurance that yes, he was awake, and he’d really had a conversation with his mother.

His mother. Astonishment filled him.
Would anyone believe him if he told them?

* * *

“Hold still.” Maggie scowled at Justin who fidgeted in front of her.

“This is ridiculous. It’s not going to work.” He shifted from foot to foot and wrinkled his nose.  “Whatever you’re using smells terrible.”

“That’s asafoetida,” she said absently. “Look, you’ve got to stop breaking my concentration. If I mess this up and you, or anyone else on our team, dies, I am so gonna kill you.”

Justin held himself still and watched as she went through her ritual of mumbling words and sketching designs in the air. A shower of herbal dust filtered down over his head and shoulders and she clapped three times.

He didn’t move, just met her expectant gaze with one eyebrow raised.

“How do you feel?”

“Fine. How should I feel?”

Maggie sighed. “It’ll work. It has to. I just was hoping for some, I don’t know, physical or mental manifestation for the person being protected.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”  She turned away and bagged the rest of the smelly powder. “I’ll keep working, see if there’s something better out there.”

Justin looked around her tiny kitchen. All clean lines and cool greens, it made a nice contrast to the floral abundance in the living room. “I like this place.”

“Thanks.” Her voice was stiff.

Justin mentally shrugged. It was past time he took off for awhile. “Hey, if you don’t need me as guinea pig any more, I’m heading out. I’ve got some work to do and I want to get some supplies of my own.”

He caught the anxious glance she shot him. “Don’t worry. I’ll pick you up in time.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Maggie.”

She looked at him, really looked at him for the first time since they’d gotten to her house hours ago. Justin felt that look down to his bones.

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t worry. We’re going to knock those vampires on their ass.” He gave her a grin. “Our might plus your protection? We’ve got it in the bag.”

She sniffed.  "What kind of supplies are you getting?"

"I'm dropping by Sol's place, Alexandria Books." Justin shrugged. "I just thought maybe he'd have some words of wisdom for us. Maybe some weapons."

Chagrin crossed Maggie's face. "Damn it. I should have thought of Sol."

"Yeah, well. Being all the way out in Pasadena, it's not like he's within walking distance. So, I'll be back around eleven tonight. Unless you want to have dinner with me?"