The Awakening (15 page)

"It's a shame that I can't spend more time
with you, Gabrielle. It's a shame that I have to leave you with this burden. If
I could change it I would."

They sat together for what felt like an age,
looking over the valley. Whatever memories the Roman was reliving, he didn't
share. He didn't have to, this was his time she'd given to him. His time to say
goodbye to whatever he wanted.

"I promised I'd protect you and your
family," he said, breaking the silence. "When I'm gone, look inside
my bag. You'll find what you need."

"What do you mean?"

"Everything that is mine is yours, dear one.
My houses, my money. If I can't be there, then at least this will help you and
your family in the future."

"I can't."

"You can, Gabrielle."

"I'm not ready to let you go yet," she
said, curling her fingers around his arms.

"Neither am I, but the world stops for no one.
Not even the supernatural."

"Are you afraid?"

"How could I be afraid with you by my
side?" He cupped her face in a warm hand, brushing away her tears
with a thumb. "I never thought anyone would miss me when I inevitably
died."

"I will."

"I know." He pressed his lips to
hers, his kiss slow and full of all the things he couldn't say. Drawing back,
he leaned his forehead against hers, and let out a long shaky breath.

"Thank you," he whispered. "For
taking it away."

"You're welcome," Gabby replied, running
her hand along his jaw.

With a sigh, he tore away and laid back in the
grass, eyes on the sky. "I'm so tired..."

She curled up against him, her head on his chest as
his eyes began to droop. "It's okay. I'm here. I won't go anywhere."

"I could have fallen in love with a woman like
you, Gabrielle. I think I already was."

"And I, you."

He let out a contented sigh and stilled beside her.
As the vision began to dissolve, she knew he was gone.

Her tears began to flow freely as she found herself
lying on his bed again, curled into his side. It was too soon. It couldn't end
this way. It just couldn't. Regulus was gone and with him any hope for the
future. Aed would wreak havoc on the world and that would be that.

They'd lost before it'd even begun and she'd just
lost the man she'd fallen in love with. If there had been any hope at all…it
was just gone.

There was nothing.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Gabby didn't know how long she'd been lying there,
curled up next to Regulus' lifeless body. Not until Zac pulled her away and
into his arms.

"Don't," she cried, pushing against his
chest.

"Gabby, you can't stay here forever. Please,
come away."

"No, I don't want to leave him."

"He's gone. Please."

He was, wasn't he? She crumbled into Zac as he held
her tightly and didn't try to protest as he took her from the room. A moment
later, he set her down on the sofa. Looking up, she saw Aya staring at her with
a confused expression. Like she couldn't understand how she felt. The hybrid
had lost her entire family, surely she could understand? Even just a little?
Her heart had just been ripped out of her chest, not in the literal sense, but
it was gone nonetheless.

Zac sat beside Gabby and went to put an arm around
her, but Aya was still staring like she was some kind of puzzle and it made her
want to snap her in two. "He was a good man," she cried, standing up.
"He was a good man who was driven to do evil things."

"You loved him." Aya said it like it was
the craziest thing she'd ever heard. Maybe it was.

"Yes. I fucking loved him. So what?"

"Gabby." Zac stood and went to take her
arm, but she stepped away.

"You've lied, killed and tortured just as much
as he did," she said through gritted teeth. "You do not get to judge
me for this, Aya. You don't have the right."

Zac stepped into her, circling his arms around her
small frame and she didn't have it in her to fight anymore. She couldn't
justify Regulus' actions, she couldn't understand. She didn't have the time to
even try. Her tears came hard and fast, staining the front of Zac's shirt.

"We have to bury him," she said,
desperately. "We have to…"

"Of course," he murmured into her hair.

"Where…"

"He has a house in Hampstead," Zac said.
"We can take him there. There's a large garden out the back and if you
ward it, no one will find him there. No one you don't want to."

She nodded, her entire body feeling numb.

"I'll get Nye to take you and we'll meet you
in an hour. I know it's soon, but we can't wait."

"I know."

"Don't worry about anything. I'll take care of
it."

Nye drove Gabby over to Regulus' house in Hampstead
in silence. It didn't bother her, talking seemed to be too much effort right
now. When the spy pulled the car into a driveway, she looked up at the house
and it didn't surprise her in the least. It was a small mansion, Roman columns
held up a small verandah over the front door, landscaped gardens stretched around
the grounds and probably out back as well. It was two stories of red bricked,
ivy covered, extravagance.

Nye was around to her side of the car in a flash,
opening the door for her. He held out a hand and she took it, grateful for the
help. Their footsteps crunched up the gravel drive and they stood outside.
Looking at the door, she still couldn't fathom the selfless thing Regulus had
done.

"I don't suppose you have a key?" she
asked.

"It's my home away from home." Nye stuck
his hand in his pocket and produced a key with a flourish. Unlocking the door,
he went to step inside, but he smacked into thin air. "
Hey
.
What gives? What happened to Happy the Butler?"

"Butler?" she asked, then understood.
"Oh, vampire safeguard."

"Only in the houses Regulus lived in,"
the spy said. "He had a lot of enemies, but it wasn't often that someone
thought they were the bee's knees and acted on it."

"I guess he split after Zac..." She
couldn't say the rest, what with everything still hours fresh in her mind.

"Then what's the deal?" He kicked empty
air and his boot connected with the invisible barrier around the house.

"I guess it's mine now."

To her surprise, Nye flung an arm over her
shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "As long as you invite me in, we're
sweet."

"If Zac trusts you, then so do I."

"Just like that?"

"I'm a witch. I know things."

"What kind of things?" he asked, looking
worried. "Because…"

"No, nothing like that."

The spy watched her for a moment and
said, "Everyone believes they're doing the right thing. Even if the
majority is against them. Regulus was doing what he believed was right. He
brought order to the seedy vampire underworld. He may have been king of the
thugs, but without him, shit would have been chaos."

"And what now? Who's going to take over?"

Nye shrugged. "It's still up for
contention."

Gabby glanced his way. She knew Zac wouldn't be
interested. That wasn't his game anymore, but Nye…he seemed to be the kind of
vampire who'd be up for the job. He was two parts honorable to one part
diabolical.

"Don't look at me, lovely," he said.
"I don't think I have the stamina for that."

She smiled thinly. "It's in there."

"Bloody witches," the spy said with a
laugh, "always causin' trouble."

"Always trying to restore balance," she
retorted. The spy hovered at the door, waiting for an invitation, but she
wasn't done yet. "Consider it, Nye. You'd have my blessing."

"The blessing of a witch?" he asked,
letting out a slow whistle. "You know I couldn't do it without being at
least a little bad, right?"

"I understand. That's why there's a balance
between light and dark. There can't be one without the other."

"I still don't like it."

"You're a good guy, but you have the right
amount of fear. I've heard stories on the grapevine about Zac's short stint,
but they also talk about you."

"There's talk about me?"

"Don't be modest, Nye. You know there
is."

"You going to invite me in, lovely?" he
asked with a wink.

"Come inside," she said with a small
smile and the spy guided her into the foyer.

Nye stopped by the door and let her wander the
house as they waited for Zac. She flipped on light switches as she walked
through room after room, running her fingers over the kitchen counter, over the
dining table. Walking up the stairs she found his bedroom, still full of his
things and her heart leapt to her throat again. Finally, she found the study
and closed herself inside. It smelt of leather and scotch and ash from the cold
fireplace. Books lined most of the walls, old leather-bound volumes, and
knowing how old Regulus had been, she wondered the age of some of them.

She couldn't believe he'd left it all to her. The
wealth he'd amassed over his lifetime, he'd given it to her. All of this, his
memories, his life, whatever his houses contained…it was all hers to do with
what she wished.

Nye found her sitting behind Regulus' desk, leafing
through a book that had been left facedown on the antique mahogany. He rapped
lightly on the door to get her attention. "They're here."

Glancing up, she sighed. "Okay."

Following him down the stairs and into the garden
out the back, she found everyone had assembled on the grass, the Three to one
side and everyone else on the other. Aya was standing behind Tristan, her gaze
cast away and Gabby could only shake her head and keep moving forward. Zac was
the only one who stood between the groups of vampires like some kind of symbol
of friendship. When he saw her, he came forward.

"There's a grove towards the rear," he
said, taking her hand. "Full of all kinds of roses and daises. It isn't
much to look at right now, but come spring it will be something else. I've put
him there…"

"No, it's fine," she said, picking up on
his hesitation. "It's perfect."

He led her down a path paved with grey pavers to
the spot he'd described and to her relief, he'd already buried Regulus' body.
If she saw his withered, desiccated features, she just might've snapped. She
couldn't handle that.

Standing there, oblivious to the group behind her,
she thought about the past few days. They were all she had and it would never
be enough.  Gazing at the disturbed earth she thought she should probably
say something, but there weren't any words that could do Regulus justice. She'd
only known the smallest past of him, but the part he had given was the most
sacred. Nobody came forward as she stood there amongst the miss-matched group
of vampires, so she stepped forward, crouching by the upturned earth where Zac
had buried the founder.

Calling on her earth sense, Gabby held out a
shaking hand over the fresh earth. She'd seen her grandmother, Sofia, do it, so
there was no reason why she couldn't as well. Remembering where Regulus wanted
to spend his last hour on earth, she thought about the olive grove by his
childhood home.

It was like planting a seed with her mind and she
felt a tiny spark as it struck. The earth began to shift beneath her hand and
the tiniest hint of green sprouted from the soil, curling upwards and finding
its way towards the light of the moon.

As the sapling grew taller, she rose with it,
standing to her full height as the trunk grew thicker, branches multiplied, and
a canopy arched overhead. When she was finally done, the tree was fully grown,
laden with olives ripe for the picking. It was out of season, but somehow the
notion fit with what Regulus' and her relationship had been. Out of place, but
right
.

Without a word to the assembled vampires, she
walked back inside, just utterly tired of missing him already.

Zac sat on the roof of Gabby's house in Hampstead, Aya
beside him. It felt strange calling it that.
Gabby's
house. He still
couldn't understand how the Roman could have been so selfless after all the
terrible things he'd done. He must have really cared for her. The clear night
sky stretched out above them, dotted with thousands and thousands of tiny
stars, some with slight imperfections in color and he wondered if they were
planets or satellites he was staring at.

Glancing at Aya, he saw that she was staring at the
newly grown olive tree in the backyard. He couldn't read her expression, but he
didn't have to. None of them had seen this coming, least of all her and he knew
that her pride would have one hell of a dent right about now.

As he slid an arm around her, she looked up at him
and said, "Aren't you angry?"

"No." Because he wasn't. "I
have every right to be angry with Gabby, but I'm not. I don't want to be. I
know she did what she had to for the greater good and if that meant making me
believe I was going to die, then so be it."

"I can't believe you're not in the least bit
annoyed."

"If someone as pig-headed and selfish as me
can decide to sacrifice myself for the ones I love…." He shrugged.

"Regulus used you too, Zac. Don't you hate him
for that?"

"Maybe I should. But maybe I just need to get
past it and go on living."

"You don't want to do anything about it?"

"Maybe
you
need to learn how to
forgive." He felt her stiffen beside him, her hand clamping down on his.
"Two thousand years of revenge and hate. Aren't you exhausted?"

"Zac, I'm not above hurting you."

"And that's your answer for everything."

"I can see you've learnt a thing or two about
life."

"I know that you can't see clearly where the
Romans are concerned."

"Perhaps not, but I cannot overlook the fact
that he sucked Gabby in. He made her..."

"Stop it, Aya." He gave her a look.

"He was a master at manipulation. Victoria was
a prime example."

Zac let out a long sigh, allowing his eyes to
search Aya's icy blue. Who knew what he was trying to find, but something
inside him wanted to make her understand. Gabby's feelings weren't wrong. Not
by a long shot. "There have been so many times that I thought I'd never
get to kiss you again," he said. "When I thought you'd died was the
worst pain I'd ever felt. The thought of never touching or arguing with you again
was too much to bare. So, I more than anyone understands what Gabby is going
through. Completely."