Gideon's Promise (Sons of Judgment Book 2) (11 page)

It didn’t happen that night. No one dared touch the topic again when Reggie looked so close to tearing the head off a kitten.

They finished supper in silence, helped clean the dishes, and gathered in the parlor over tea and brandy to discuss that night’s patrol.

“We should call another Keeper meeting,” his father decided. The firelight sparked off the crystal rim of his tumbler as he raised his brandy for a sip. “I think we can cover more ground if all Casters joined forces.”

Valkyrie shook her head. She wasn’t drinking anything and sat on the lip of the sofa with one leg stretched out in front of her like she was ready to pounce up at a moment’s notice and attack.

“You’ll get no help from the south,” she declared. “Since the murder of her granddaughter, Tiana has her forces hunting demons around the clock.”

His mother clicked her tongue. “That was such a tragedy. I can’t imagine the sort of suffering that family must go through daily, not knowing what became of her.”

“It was their own fault,” Valkyrie stated evenly. “They got cocky.”

“Even then—”

She cut his mother off with a brisk shake of her head. “You can’t go taunting demons and not expect a retaliation.”

“But we don’t know it was demons,” his mother argued. “It could have been anything.”

“It was demons,” Magnus muttered. “Everyone knows it. Only problem is no one knows which demon.” He waved a hand absently. “And I have to agree with Valkyrie, they brought it on themselves.”

“What do you mean?” Riley asked.

“There’s this non-spoken bet between Casters,” Octavian explained. “Where each clan earns a point for every demon they hunt. It’s ridiculous, but there are some who take the gamble very seriously.”

“Is there a trophy at the end of the year, or something?” she asked.

Octavian chuckled. “No. Most do it for the glory of being the fiercest of the four houses.”

“Up until thirteen years ago, the south held the record,” Valkyrie chimed in. “And they were drunk with the triumph, gloating about being unstoppable and stronger than any demon, or Caster. It was only a matter of time before they pissed off the wrong demon.”

“That’s still horrible,” Riley murmured. “I hope they find them.”

“Well, they haven’t in thirteen years.” Magnus shifted higher in his seat. “Neither will we by sitting around wasting time talking about it. We should decide what we’re going to do tonight.”

“Father says he will send troops to the east and south if we take the west and north,” Valkyrie said.

His father nodded slowly. “That sounds fine. Reggie, you and Magnus take the northern quadrant. Gideon, you and Valkyrie—”

“What?” Gideon nearly tumbled out of his seat. “Why can’t—”

“Because I said!” his father said sharply. “You will take the west.”

“Perhaps I should go with—”

Their father cut Magnus off with a single glance that warned not to push the subject. “I have already made my decision. Gideon will take the west with Valkyrie. I won’t hear any more about it.”

“If that is the decision then I must prepare.”

Without another word, Valkyrie got to her feet and left the room. Gideon waited until the crack of her boots had faded down the hall before turning to his father.

“You’re making a mistake!” he said through clenched teeth.

“No.” His father rose to his feet. “I haven’t. I may not make many of the decisions you boys do when it comes to hunting because I know it’s you out there doing the work. But I am your leader, as I am your father, and it is my final word.”

“But why?” Gideon leapt to his own feet. Anger curled his fingers at his sides. “Why can’t Magnus, or Reg—”

“Because I want it to be you.” Features softening, his father moved to stand in front of Gideon. He rested his hands lightly on his shoulders and squeezed. “We must always fight for peace. Whether it is between us, between our fellow Keepers or the world. Valkyrie is our ally. We are not blessed with many of those. Alienating one would be a dire mistake.” he released Gideon and took a step back. “There is nothing stronger than the bond forged when two people have fought side by side.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell his father who Valkyrie was and why it was so important this bonding experience never happens. But he didn’t. His parents wouldn’t understand. They believed imprinting was one of the most important things in life and to deny it was practically a sin. They would encourage him to find a way to make Valkyrie his rather than push her away. And normally he would agree, but not when he’d spent the better part of a century searching for a way and finding none.

“I need to get my gear,” he muttered instead.

Not waiting for anyone to stop him, Gideon charged out of the room. He felt her hurry after him even before she spoke.

“I read somewhere once that the only time a guy wants to stay away from a girl as hot as Valkyrie is because he bats for the opposite team.”

Besides the coils of anger still gripping him, Gideon laughed. “Darling, believe me, I am an expert batter for the very straight team.”

Riley fell into step with him. “Okay, so what’s the deal with you two?”

He looked at her. “Why does everyone think there’s a deal?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I don’t know. Call it a hunch and the fact that you pop a blood vessel every time she walks into the room.”

“Maybe I just don’t like her,” he argued.

Riley actually rolled her eyes. “Oh please! She’s gorgeous, an amazing fighter, loyal, and—”

“We’re just different,” he interrupted. “But enough about me.” He stopped and faced her. “What the hell were you thinking, leaping on a Daitya like that?”

Riley just frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” he stressed. “You could have been hurt.”

“Possibly,” she agreed very slowly. “But I wasn’t going to let that thing hurt you, either.”

Gideon pulled her to him and crushed her in his arms. He planted a kiss to the top of her head.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily,
deirfiúr bheag
,” he murmured into the silky strands, speaking the
Gaelic
words for little sister. He pulled back and grinned down at her. “You’re not that lucky.”

He
oomphed
when she stabbed him in the gut with a finger. 

“Don’t talk like that,” she scolded him. “Aside from Octavian and Daphne, you’re my best friend, Gideon, and I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you.” Taking his face between her cool palms, she went up on her toes and brushed a kiss to his cheek. She drew back and grinned at him. “Besides, think of Magnus. You’re the only one he doesn’t glare at.”

Laughing, he snaked an arm around her shoulders and drew her into his side as he propelled them deeper along the corridor. “Well, in that case, I guess I better keep living. Can you imagine a world with a perpetually grumpy Magnus?”

Riley chuckled, laying her head on his shoulder. “Maybe it’s hard for you to imagine, but for the rest of us, that’s a normal day.”

“What’s a normal day?” Reggie ambled over to them.

“We were deliberating the mystery that is Magnus,” Gideon said. “And how he got all that sunny disposition.”

Reggie glanced from one to the other, eyes narrowed warily. “Are we talking about the same Magnus?”

Riley burst out laughing. “See?”

Reggie, looking baffled, continued to look from her to Gideon and back, before shaking his head.

“Can I talk to you before you head out?” He said to Gideon.

“I’ll catch you guys later.”

Riley ducked out from beneath Gideon’s arm and walked away.

Gideon faced his brother. “What’s up?”

Reggie paused and glanced over his shoulder. “I need you to make a run with me. It’ll be really quick.”

Gideon frowned. “What? Why?”

The other man hesitated. He scooped a hand back through his hair and did another survey of the corridor before speaking.

“I just ... I have this feeling...” He rubbed a hand over his chest. “Something’s wrong with Daphne. I want to go, but I can’t...” His jaw tensed. The muscles there flexed. “I don’t trust myself...”

He rested a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“What about the—”

Gideon grinned. “Do you think the fun will start without me?”

Reggie frowned. “No, but Valkyrie—”

“Will continue to hate me by the time we come back.” He gave Reggie’s shoulder a pat. “Come on. Your girl needs you.”

Despite the tight purse of his lips, Reggie’s eyes lit up. “She’s not my girl.”

Physically twisting Reggie around, Gideon frog-marched him back towards the front of the house. At the stairs, Reggie untangled himself and followed Gideon down.

They took Gideon’s
Rolls-Royce
and headed up to the split level tucked behind a halo of trees and flowers that were virtually invisible in the dark. Gideon parked a block away via Reggie’s request and followed his brother to the front door.

“What?” he asked when Reggie froze at the top landing and grimaced.

Reggie shook his head. His hand rubbed at the center of his chest like there was an ache there that wouldn’t abate. “I just...” he trailed off and said nothing else.

Gideon didn’t push. He raised his hand and pushed the doorbell.

“Who is it?” came a soft, small voice.

“Special delivery!” Gideon called back and earned an elbow in the side from Reggie.

“What?”

A lock clicked. A chain rattled. The knob turned and the door opened a sliver, stopped by the chain. One big, blue eye peeked through the crack. It widened when it caught sight of them. The door slammed shut. The chain dropped with a clatter and the door was yanked open. 

Daphne Caldwel stood before them, a tiny thing with a riot of curly orange hair and enough freckles to make any Irish proud. She was clad in jeans and a white shirt with blue strips. Her toes were bare and painted a soft pink. She stared at them, small, pink lips parted in surprise. But it was what wasn’t evident that Gideon saw, like how there was a faint, red rim around her eyes and how her cheeks were just a little pale beneath all those freckles and how she seemed just slightly unsteady.

“What’s wrong?” Reggie asked before Gideon could.

Daphne blinked. She dropped her gaze quickly and sucked her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Nothing.” She took a deep breath and let her gaze drift back up to their faces. “Why are you here?”

“We were in the neighborhood.” Gideon said casually. “Do I smell brownies?”

Without waiting to be invited, he slipped past her and hurried in the direction of the smell.

There was something uniquely disgusting about brownies. It wasn’t something he openly shared with people, but he really hated them. Nevertheless, something was bothering Daphne and she may be more inclined to share if she didn’t have an audience. Leaving the two alone just seemed like a good idea. Until he reached the kitchen and was overwhelmed with enough pastries, cakes and breads to keep a bakery in business for a month.

Gideon whistled under his breath and shuffled another step deeper into the room.

“Someone needs a new hobby...”

He walked to the table and snatched up a banana muffin and took a bite. Damn but the girl could bake. He tucked another into his pocket for later.

He was eyeing a plate of walnut cookies when raised voices filled the silence.

“Three months!” Daphne was shouting.

“I told you it wasn’t safe,” Reggie tried to reason.

Gideon crept to the door way and peered out. The two were still standing in the doorway, the night glistening behind Reggie. Daphne had her arms folded. She looked so small and hurt.

“When can I see Riley?”

Reggie shook his head. “That’s not—”

“I don’t care!” Her voice hitched. She shifted. The knuckles on the hands cupping her elbows tightened. “It’s not up to you. You have absolutely no say in anything I do.”

“Why can’t you see I’m only trying to protect you?” Reggie pleaded.

“Maybe because I don’t want your protection. I want my friend back. I want...” she trailed off. “Why are you here, Reg?”

Something like pain crossed his brother’s face. A muscle coiled in his cheek. He stared at Daphne, visibly torn as he fought between telling her the truth and backing away.

“He was worried about you.” Gideon stepped into the hall and joined the pair. “He wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Daphne never looked away from Reggie. “Why? Why do you care? I haven’t seen you in three months and then you suddenly just show up...?”

“I told you—”

“Yeah, I know.” She took a step away from him and, although Reggie didn’t show it, Gideon knew that single gesture speared through his brother like a lance. “You should go.”

Reggie opened his mouth. Gideon willed him to say something, to tell the girl he was crazy about her. But he shut it, spun on his heels, and disappeared into the night.

Gideon sighed inwardly. He hung his head and wondered just how royally fucked up this whole situation was. He had never hated the angels more than he did in that moment for every second of pain they had caused Octavian and Reggie and even Gideon. It was their fault something beautiful and natural like love was stamped with misery.

A soft sniffle had him glancing up to where Daphne stood, huddled in on herself, shoulders trembling with every quiet sob. Gideon cursed and went to her. He drew her into his arms and held her to his chest as she clung to him and wept.

There was very little that bothered him, not because he was so above it all, but because he was naturally too lazy to let himself be bothered. When it came to a woman and their tears, he was hopeless. It was a weakness Magnus had ragged on him about countless of times. But there was just something about seeing a woman sad that broke his heart.

“Don’t cry,
leannán
,” he murmured into the top of her head.

Somewhere, at the back of his mind, he was vaguely aware that she smelled like strawberries and grief.

“You guys shouldn’t have come tonight,” she murmured into the material of his shirt.

“What happened?” he asked. “Something was bothering you before we arrived. It’s why Reggie had to see you.”