Chapter Fourteen

 

 

 

For the last couple of days, since the big revelation by Lara, Tagh had taken to studying his mate. Eric was changing. Some of it had to do with the possibility of being a regent, while, on the other hand, the anger flowing through him had more to do with figuring out if Jory really existed or not. With everything that had been thrown at them lately, Tagh thought that was a given. Somewhere out there Jory waited for Eric, and Tagh wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about that situation.

Also, if he wasn’t mistaken, the demons in their family were seeking Eric out more often and including him in things. Eric had also seemed to become their mediator for minor in-house squabbles. Eric took it all in his stride, though. Tagh saw that Remi and Orion were keeping an eye on everything to make sure the demons kept the situation under control. In essence, Eric still held many of his human elements and would be nowhere near as strong as a demon.

Today appeared to be no different. Tagh sat at the bar drinking coffee while Eric sat in on a meeting with Orion and Remi. They were discussing whether or not the demons should get involved with the kidnapped-warrior mess. Everyone already knew neither of the clans would want to stay at home—apparently, demons liked a good fight. In this case, Remi voted for and Orion against. Right now, they were trying to see how Eric would deal with something more than a minor squabble and Tagh was there to make sure no harm came to Eric.

“Eric is a lot stronger than people gave him credit for.”

Tagh turned and stared at Gabriel, who stood on the opposite side of the bar making coffee. “Yes, he is.”

“He has a very good head on his shoulders, with a high moral standard. He leads with his head, not his heart,” Gabriel mused out loud.

“Yes, he does.” Tagh wondered what, if anything, Gabriel planned to do. The man had come back to them a completely changed person. One second, he’d been all hate-filled and wanting everyone dead and now he seemed like he only wanted to belong. “How are things going with Daven?”

Gabriel sighed. “He’s a stubborn ass who doesn’t like change, or so it seems. Maybe he doesn’t like me. Whatever his problem is, he’s fighting me the whole way. Keeps going on about how Eric would have done or handled something. Until I end up screaming I’m not bloody Eric, and do it my way.”

“Have you ever thought he might be testing you? To see if you’re going to stick around and do what’s required?” Tagh asked. He didn’t add that he thought Daven kept trying to see how far he could push his new warden before he completely snapped. There was something going on there that Tagh was still trying to figure out.

Gabriel glared at his cup of coffee. “I’m not leaving. I need to rebuild some of the bridges I destroyed in life. Make amends to those people I let down.”

“The boys will forgive you for what you did to them. It’s what you tried to do to Mitch that has them pissed off and out of sorts,” Tagh said. He didn’t see the sense in pussyfooting around when everyone knew the reason why Claude, and especially Isiah, had a hard time re-bonding with Gabriel.

“I just wanted it to end. To be over. I hated always being alone. Being on the outside and looking in. It took me a long time to figure out what happened wasn’t either of their faults, but by that time it would be too late. I kind of snapped when Mitch came into their lives because they got to be happy while I’m no longer capable of happiness,” Gabriel admitted. He took a sip of his coffee before adding, “It wasn’t my finest hour in life.”

What an understatement. “No, it wasn’t, but it was needed. If you hadn’t tried to kill the boys by changing Mitch, we’d more than likely still be none the wiser to what’s been going on. I think you were intended to be the catalyst to bring us all together,” Tagh said. He wanted to be as honest as he could, because secrets had a way of coming out and biting them all in the ass.

Gabriel seemed to think about that for a while. “Do you think maybe my actions weren’t my own? In the beginning, I loved being their warden. Then one day I woke up and I couldn’t wait to be rid of them. I know my change hurt them badly and, even though I didn’t want to do the things I did, I couldn’t seem to stop myself. It’s like I needed to blame someone for what had happened.”

“Maybe. I guess we’ll never really know for sure. All you can do is be a better person from here on out.”

“If I’m going to be a better person, I suppose I should go and disassemble the prank I set up for Dav. Let everyone see I’m at least trying to fit in.”

Mirth bubbled up inside Tagh and his curiosity got the better of him. “What kind of practical joke?”

“I rigged it so when Dav wakes up, he’s going to get doused in a very thick bubble mixture.” Gabriel shrugged, “What can I say? He pissed me off before he fell asleep.” He added with a smirk, “I mean really pissed me off, and at the time, I felt more than a little vindictive.”

A chuckle slipped from Tagh. “No, I think that surprise should be left in place. After all, Daven has been acting so bloody uppity where you’re concerned. Besides, he should be waking up any minute now.”

Seeing Daven angry and covered in suds might be hilarious and would probably break the tension in the household. Everyone seemed to be on edge of late. What better way to break the ice—so to speak?

“He’s going to need roping when he wakes up,” Gabriel warned.

A deep roar echoing through the house had everyone stopping in place so they resembled living, breathing statues.

“What the hell?” Eric turned and glared at Gabriel. “What did you do?”

Gabriel didn’t have time to answer as a sopping-wet Daven stood in the doorway. The man locked his gaze onto Gabriel before he stomped across the room until they were toe to toe. Tagh wasn’t the only one present to laugh at the sight the pair made. Daven stood there all furious, while Gabriel acted like he didn’t know how the hell Daven had gotten that way.

“Don’t, love,” Tagh whispered. He stopped Eric from interfering. He knew his mate wanted to help his friend, but Daven had to work through this on his own. Tagh pulled Eric into his arms. “They need to sort this out for themselves, or it’ll never work for Gabe to be Daven’s warden.”

Eric growled. “Why does Gabe always have to push Dav’s buttons? Why can’t he learn to play nice?”

“Because he’s not you and Daven is very put out about that fact. I think Gabe is doing a great job at restraining himself. You’re still slightly blinded by your loyalty to Daven to see how he’s been acting. Some days, he’s made poor Gabe’s life a living hell.”

“That’s the way Dav is. He doesn’t mean anything by it,” Eric defended.

Tagh sighed. “Frankly, Daven has been an asshole and needs to be put in his place. Even Lara has wanted to smack him a few times. He needs to grow up and accept the changes in life. Gabriel is his day warden and no amount of bitching the guy out is going to change that fact and bring you back. And you need to stop jumping in to save Daven. He has to learn the world does not revolve around Daven Banks.”

Even though their conversation had been quietly spoken, Tagh knew both Daven and Gabriel heard every single word. Part of him hoped that Daven realized how much of a petty ass he’d been of late. The man didn’t like change—so what? He needed to figure out that Eric wasn’t going to be around forever, picking up after him and catering to his every need. Mitch didn’t run around after the boys. Hell, no day warden did that.

Daven turned baleful eyes on him. “You stole what belonged to me.”

“You’re wrong. Eric had only been on loan to you until he came into my life. He’s always been predestined to be mine from birth. It was only ever a matter of time before we met,” Tagh answered. There was no way he’d give up his mate just to make one vampire happy. “Eric is mine—just as I am, and always will be, his.”

“Dav…” Eric began.

He didn’t get to say more as Daven turned and stormed from the room. Gabriel followed more sedately after his charge, and Tagh knew without a doubt the argument continued behind closed doors. At least it’d be away from the rest of the people who resided with them.

“Do you think Daven will ever get it?” Remi asked.

“Get what?” Eric asked in return.

“That the way he’s been treating Gabriel isn’t acceptable. Lara told me Simon planned on stepping in and taking Gabriel from Daven. Vampires have day wardens for a reason. They’re to be treated with respect and not be lectured every day about how much of a screw-up they are because they aren’t someone else.” Remi pointed straight at Eric. “I’m almost afraid to say this, but you spoiled Daven. Made his home life too easy. He’s now measuring Gabriel up against you and finding faults that aren’t even there. You broke him, and I think you need to be the one to fix him before he finds himself without a day warden at all.”

By the strained look on his mate’s face, Eric didn’t like hearing he’d had a hand in turning Daven into an overbearing dick. Hugging Eric closer, he said, “What Remi not so delicately put—Daven needs to start taking care of himself, and not leaving everything up to Gabe.”

“So because, as you say, Dav is acting like a dickhead, you think it’s okay for Gabriel to be pulling idiotic pranks on the man?” Eric didn’t seem to be getting it.

Remi snorted. “If it were me, I would have beaten the crap out of Daven by now. I think Gabriel is showing great restraint.”

“Talk to Daven and try to get him to see he needs to dial his criticism of Gabriel down a notch or two,” Tagh said. He raised his hands and massaged Eric’s shoulders. “With as much as we have going on around here, we need everybody to be working together as a coherent unit and have no in-house bickering.”

Eric nodded. “I know. It’s hard not being able to make sure Dav is doing okay. I hated having to give up his care.”

“Dav is doing just fine,” Remi stated.

Orion joined them. “We going to have to forget about Daven’s petty complaints for a moment. Word has come in—they’ve discovered the location of one of the zoos. I don’t think it’s the one where Malaya came from, but we need to go in and rescue whoever’s there. If the source of the information is to be believed, we may have found Jory. They deserve to be free to live their lives. Cheyenne thinks we may need to set up some kind of rehabilitation place so these beings can be integrated back into society with minimal stress.”

“Talk to Lara and Simon about it. I’m sure they’re already thinking along the same lines.” Tagh was glad someone had planned ahead. He knew the captives were more than likely going to have a hard time trusting anyone once they were set free.

Tagh could somewhat understand if they came out being standoffish, not knowing who would help or who would cause them more harm. He’d kind of felt the same way after his warrior secret had become public knowledge. He also assumed some of the captives might become very clingy to whoever freed them. Tagh hoped everyone prepared for either situation to happen.