NEWBORN: Book One of the Newborn Trilogy (22 page)

“You’re asking for trouble,” he tells me,
unable to stow his smile. “But I’m serious, Nora. It’s risky what
we’re doing. The Puridites have no respect for Immags, and if I – a
representative of the Bureau of Beast Control – am caught
fraternizing with an Immag, they won’t be pleased. They
will
send Releasers. We have to be ready for it, Nora. We have to be
ready for the worst.”

Sighing, I look glumly over at him. He’s such
a buzz kill. I scoot over to his side of the couch and lay my head
against his cushion, my back resting on his legs. From this angle I
can see the fire reflecting in Gabriel’s turquoise eyes. The effect
is mesmerizing.

“Comfortable?”

I nod against the cushion. “Very.”

“You have pretty eyes,” Gabriel says, looking
down at me.

This surprises me. Nobody says that. “Thanks.
I’m wearing conta –”

“Look at the stars,” he interrupts, gazing
upward. “They are so bright tonight. It’s so bizarre how we got
here, Nora, isn’t it? But sometimes all you have to do is look up
and everything makes sense. You wouldn’t wish for anything else.
Not even with all those stars to make a wish on.”

“Totally,” I say airily, staring upward. They
are bright this evening. I wonder why. I look back at my wizard
friend, letting my eyes refocus. “Gabriel, why aren’t we ready to
have a real kiss?”

He says, “Real kiss? Oh, I didn’t feel the
right moment had arrived. No real reason.”

“Do you know Kiri?” I ask him. “My
roommate?”

“No. How would I?”

I shrug against him, an easy smile drifting
across my features. “Well, she – uh – she thinks you’re gay.”

Gabriel bursts out laughing, his guts ripping
to the sky.

“What?” I ask him desperately.

Oh shit!

Is he going to be mad at me?
Fuck!
I
shouldn’t have said that. Wasn’t thinking. I’m staring at Gabriel
as he calms back down, a smirk growing wild across his face.
“What?” I ask again. “So… are you?”

“I’m not gay, Nora,” is the response.

I seize my opportunity. “Prove it.”

“No,” he answers without missing a beat. “I
shouldn’t have to.”

Can’t disagree with him there. Still, why did
he find the idea so funny? Am I missing something here? Did I make
a huge fool out of myself? Both? My thoughts and feelings are
everywhere, strewn across my consciousness like the stars above. If
only I could read his wizard thoughts!

“Your roommate sounds amusing if not
intuitive,” Gabriel remarks. “I should like to meet her. That is,”
he adds slyly, looking down at me, “if she can quell the impulse to
introduce me to a guy.”

“We’ll see,” I respond, incensed. He can’t
get everything he wants – it sets a bad precedent. Looking around
the clearing, I try and distract myself. “Will your safety spells
keep the vampires away?”

With difficulty, Gabriel heaves the smile off
his face. “Yes,” he answers, “because they can’t see or find us.
Our position has been ‘unmarked’ as we say – meaning all landmarks
that may lead them here are void. A useful charm,” he says as an
afterthought, “especially when hunting vampires.”

“Your favorite pastime,” I say nastily,
trying to rile him up.

“Undeniably,” he agrees.

“When are you going to kill Amoretta?” I’m
trying to say something that will push his buttons. “Before or
after she has her way with me? Are you going to kill her at all?
Maybe you want to sit back and watch!”

“Enough, Nora,” Gabriel says, turquoise eyes
disapproving. “I understand. You’re mad with me for risking your
life with the Newborn. I’m sorry – my misjudgment. Will you let it
go?”

Startled by his apology, I nod. Too quickly.
“Of course,” I say, reddening. Geez, I’m so glad it’s dark out, I’m
turning into a tomato. “You’re forgiven,” I say, trying to catch my
cool again.

You never had it
to begin with
chimes my alter ego.

Die, you!
I tell her.

“I keep saying it and I’m going to keep
saying it,” Gabriel tells me. “You’re safe with me. The safest
place you can be in the world is wherever
I
happen to be. No
one can hurt you so long as I’m here. I promise.”

Reaching up, I touch his face. The skin of
his cheek is warm and inviting, cascading down from turquoise eyes
and messy blond hair. Instinctively, Gabriel swipes his hair to the
side of his forehead. Blushes. It’s a tinge, nothing tomato worthy,
but it’s there all the same. Makes me feel wonderful.

“You’re red,” I tell him.

He averts his eyes to the fire. “I’m
not.”

“You are,” I correct. “That’s okay. Bet you
can’t see from that angle but I’m blushing too.”

“I
can
see, actually.”

The next thing I know his lips are soaking
into mine. I didn’t notice his hand winding around the back of my
head. Now it’s there, holding me, brushing me with his thumb as he
fills me with bliss. Delicious, wet bliss. And it’s a real kiss.
With
tongue. I feel the world fall away around me.

It’s over and we’re apart.

He grins down at me, flushing brilliantly.
“See,” he says, “not gay!”

“See,” I say, reaching up to his cheek,
“bright red!”

He bats my hand away, blushing still further.
“Easy does it. Don’t make me curse you,” he threatens, grinning
down. “There are spells I’ve been wanting to try out but the right
person never came along. Now I have –”

“What kind of spells?” I ask, interrupting
him as I pick myself up and scoot back to my end of the couch.

“Oh – you know,” Gabriel says deviously.
“Spells to enhance certain areas during certain activities. The
possibilities are endless, Nora.” He’s gazing over my body as he
twirls his wand expertly. “Endless…”

I shudder. But it’s a shudder of delight.

“Dinnertime!” Gabriel announces randomly,
twirling his wand still faster. “What would you like?”

Startled, I say, “What – anything?”

“Basically,” he answers, hitching back his
self satisfied smile. “I’m best at conjuring Italian, Chinese, and
Mexican. So pick one of those if you don’t want it to taste like
charcoal.”

I’m thinking when my stomach interrupts. “I’m
not hungry.”

“What?” His voice is astonished. “I’ve been
with you for hours and hours! You haven’t eaten. You have to be
hungry!”

I shrug. “I’m not, Gabriel. Take it or leave
it.”

“You must eat, Nora,” is the short reply. His
tone is sharp. “I have no patience for people who won’t eat. It’s a
bad joke that in places of plenty people still go hungry. It’s a
disgrace is what it is!”

I play with my hair absentmindedly. Does
anybody listen anymore? “It’s not like that,” I explain to him.
“I’m just not hungry, Gabriel. It’s not that I’m anorexic or
bulimic or whatever. I’m
just
not hungry!”

Turquoise eyes are calculating as they watch
me. “Fine, then,” he says, annoyed. “But I
am
hungry. Feel
free to sit there and watch me eat. Maybe then you will want
something to chew on.”

“Maybe,” I say hospitably. I doubt it.

Spinning his wand artfully, Gabriel says,
“Cuisiarti parmigiana!” A full plate appears on his lap. “Eggplant
parmesan!” he explains happily, setting his wand on the arm of the
couch and raising a fork and knife. “One of my favorite dishes! Too
bad you don’t want any,” he tells me sourly.

Though I’m enjoying his gentle bating,
Gabriel doesn’t get it. I physically can’t eat. Delicious as it
looks, I know if I take one bite of eggplant parmesan I will throw
up. My body can’t take that kind of food anymore. I say nothing in
hope that the subject will pass. It does, thankfully.

“You never told me what class you’re
taking.”

Gabriel gulps down a mouthful. “My bad,” he
says, then continues eating. I stare at him as he chews. Is that
all he’s going to say? How about an actual fucking answer? I can
feel my blood temperature rising. Geez, I fly into tantrums so
easily these days. Maybe it’s because I’m in –

“To be honest,” he begins, “I’m not taking a
class.”

I gasp, “What!”

“I
was
,” he explains hastily, “when I
first arrived on campus. I realized I didn’t want to do the work.
My sole reason for being here is to search for the Newborn. But I
also have to blend in with you Immags. The idea was I’d become a
student and take a class while spending most of my time hunting
vampires. Now I’ve dropped the class, I can spend
all
my
time hunting the Newborn!”

“You slacker,” I tell him mockingly. “First
one class. Then none. I know somebody else who’s only taking one
class. You’re even lazier than he is because at least he hasn’t
dropped out.”

“Who’s that?”

“My friend Wolf,” I say without thinking.

Gabriel’s expression hardens. “His name is
Wolf?”

Oh fucking shitballs!

How could I be so stupid? Did I give him
away?

“It’s Wolfgang,” I correct, trying
desperately to repair the damage. “His mother thought it would be
funny because it’s such an odd name. How do you like your eggplant
parmesan?” I’m trying to distract him.

Gabriel isn’t listening. “His name is Wolf,”
he repeats, more to himself than to me. “His mother named him so
because she thought it would be funny. He goes to Evergreen State
College but is only taking one class. He lives on the Olympic
Peninsula… interesting, Nora –
very
interesting.”

My blood is freezing in my veins. This is bad
news.

“I’d like to meet your friend Wolf,” Gabriel
tells me, the turquoise of his eyes deadly. “Would you mind?”

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
What do I say?

“No,” I lie through my teeth, “I wouldn’t
mind.”

“Excellent!” Gabriel says, looking satisfied.
He finishes his dinner without another word on the subject.

I feel depressed. How could I have done that?
How could I have been so stupid? The words tumbled out of me so
carelessly. So thoughtlessly. Now there’s going to be trouble, for
how can a wizard and a wolf get along? What was it Wolf said he
would do if he met a wizard? “Kill it.”

“This Wolf fellow,” Gabriel starts.

Fuck!
Not again!

A loud screech sounds nearby and Merri comes
soaring into the clearing with a dead mouse in her beak. Landing on
the back of the couch, she proceeds to gobble up her dinner. Geez,
if I didn’t have an appetite before I definitely don’t have one
now! I pat her feathers when she finishes.

“You’re all full, aren’t you?” Gabriel says
adoringly to the owl. “Full of yummy mouse! How was your hunt?” She
hoots.

“You said she doesn’t like to hunt at night,”
I say in confusion, petting Merri’s glossy white plumage.

He swipes his blond hair to the side of his
forehead. “If you get hungry enough,” he begins tersely, “the idea
of breaking habits becomes more appealing. You wouldn’t
understand.” His gaze falls over my thin stomach.

Geez, why can’t he let it go?

Amber eyes are staring at me. Is Merrifeather
judging me, too? Probably.

I yawn, stretching my arms wide. It’s been an
exhausting day. Hard to believe it started with a hangover from The
Mousetrap – was filled with class and more drinking – and ended
with me in the woods being tormented by a painted, lesbian vampire.
Who says you have to go far to find adventure?

“It’s time we sleep,” Gabriel says. Getting
up, he sits on the arm of the couch, gesturing for me to stretch
out. “All yours. You won’t sleep curled up like that and you won’t
thank me tomorrow if you do.”

“What about you? Where will you sleep?”

Gabriel winks over at me. “I’m not going to
sleep yet. I may take a look around – see what’s in the area,” he
remarks suggestively, his gaze eating the tree line around our
clearing. “I’m fairly certain Amoretta is far away by now. But I
may be able to find some clues so I can track –”

“Wait!” I say loudly, comprehending his
words. “You’re leaving me here? Alone?” I can hardly keep the
anguish from my voice. I only recently settled on the idea I’m safe
so long as he’s around. Now he’s leaving! “I can’t believe you!” I
storm at him, sitting up. “You just said –!”

“Nora!” Gabriel interrupts. “Listen to me!
You are safe
here
. So long as you stay in this clearing
nothing can attack! That’s why I performed those safety spells.
This clearing is unmarked, remember?”

I’m breathing hard. I forgot, actually.

“Oh,” I say lamely, my heart rate returning
to normal. “Oh, right – I still want you to stay with me, just in
case,” I add wildly, gesturing around the clearing, “in case they
find a way to get in.”

He scowls at me. “That’s why Merri’s here.
She’s staying,” he insists. “She’s taking first watch.”

I scowl back. He’s right and I’m wrong, it
seems. Looks like I’m safe. How come I can’t explain my now
irrational desire to have him here for protection? Seems like the
magic should be enough. Am I that helpless?

“How am I supposed to sleep now?” I ask him.
“I was tired but now I’m all riled up. Thanks a lot!”

Gabriel’s not concerned. “You will calm
down.”

“That’s not an answer!” I retort. “So I’ll
give you one. I’m coming with you!”

A fire to hunt vampires is in my veins. I had
been a pacifist before a vampire attempted to rape and kill me.

“You can’t be serious,” Gabriel says in
exasperation. “First you tell me you’re frightened and you want me
to stay with you. Then I tell you it’s safe here because of my
spells. Now you say you’d rather come with me to face possible
danger! I can’t begin to understand you, Nora Saynt-Rae!”

“You
also
said,” I begin haughtily,
“the safest place in the world for me is at your side. So there!”
Geez, that sounded childish.

Yeah, it did
, my alter ego agrees.
Where’s your lollipop?