GABRIEL
I stood against the wall, this time at the palace in Wyvernglade. Territory of King Xiou. Since the kidnapping of the princess, he had refused to leave Dragon Court and was even negotiating extra security for his children at Beaumond Academy.
I’d found them, didn’t I? None of them had a scratch on them either.
My mother’s face popped into my mind again. The way the corners of her eyes pulled when she saw me. That longing. She’d still fled. Left me when I was three. It was a huge fucking disappointment.
Ed stood opposite me again, close to the entrance. He looked bored.
The shadowed had been quiet lately. Something told me the fact that the Shield had almost caught them, discovered a few things too, had put some strain on their backbone.
They were careful, even if they had Max’s X-Gene.
The entire summer, everyone was on guard; knowing that they could be a simple street cat or a mockingbird was sort of alarming.
The robin on the branch caught my eye. It had chirped the entire morning.
Not knowing whether it was a normal little robin or part of the shadowed kept me on edge.
I tried to redirect my thoughts.
Today was Max’s birthday. I did not know what I was going to do about her. I clearly couldn’t escape her, or look the other way, and I clearly couldn’t pull her closer to my side.
But I had to do something as she was drowning in sorrow. Today was a good day, though. I could feel it. She was lighter, not suffocating in her sadness like the other days. It could be because it was her birthday or because it was Garner’s Day.
Her thoughts vibrated at the edge of mine. It was like a zing, and it would just overpower my own thoughts whenever I tuned in. It was such an easy transformation now. The change had come after I’d found her almost four months ago. Four months? It felt like years.
I looked at my watch.
The kings were finally bringing their meeting to an end.
Ed looked alive again when the yearly gathering adjourned.
I stayed close to my uncle as our paths split, trying to dodge the king of the lycans.
I teleported with Uncle Matthew through his ring just as Lucious said my name.
We were on solid ground in no time.
“He is trying, Gabe.”
“I don’t care,” I mumbled and walked with huge strides up the steps to my room.
As I entered, my phone buzzed. It was Ed.
“You up for a brewsky later on?”
“Where are you?”
“Hitch a ride with Alexis. Mom’s place. I really need to get my own crib.”
“You live at Beaumond. It would be a waste of your money.”
“I know.”
“I’ll come to you. There is a party at Westville Lake.”
“Kraken Lake? You sure you want to go?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a bunch of teenagers, Gabe.”
“So, I was one a few years back.”
“You were never a teenager. I don’t even think you were a child.”
“Fuck off.” I disconnected the call and chucked my phone on my bed. The corner of my lips curled up as I started taking off my cloak and vest. I sniffed myself and decided on a shower.
In less than fifteen minutes, I shone like a brand new blade.
I put on my beanie and grunted to myself. Who the fuck was I?
I wanted to pull the beanie off when golden sparks caught my attention. Alexis’ swirls got bigger and bigger.
“Keep it on, you look hot,” Alexis joked, and I flipped her off. “Kraken Lake, Gabe?”
“Yeah, Baldie told me it’s not the coolest place to hang out. Just thought—”
“No, if you want to go, we can go. I just don’t think that you are going to like it. It’s rowdy.”
“Give me a sec. Need to grab a jacket.” I rushed to my closet and grabbed one of my hoodies along with the present that I’d gotten for Max. Glad that I’d finally come up with a reason for getting her a present when she asked. One, I hoped, she would believe.
I stuffed the stone in my back pocket and grabbed my hoodie, rushing back to Alexis’ portal.
I stepped through.
“Finally; are you finished powder and puffing?” Ed’s voice came from the couch.
Alexis laughed as I just stared at him blankly. I was doing this all wrong. It was just Max. But a huge part of me had missed her this summer or missed seeing her this summer.
“Kraken Lake it is.” Ed pushed up from the couch.
“Where is your mom?”
“Went with a friend to Benson’s for the day. She’ll probably be back around eleven.” There was a snide tone in his voice when he said ‘a friend.’
“Friend?”
“That’s what she said.”
“You think it’s more than just a friend?”
“I’ll kill him, if that is what you’re implying.”
Alexis laughed. “She’s your mother, Ed. She is allowed to have another man other than you in her life.”
“No man is good enough for my mom.”
“At least you have a mom,” I muttered.
“Gabe?” Ed gaped.
“I’m just saying. Alexis is right. She needs some men in her life other than you.”
“She has you too.”
Alexis twirled her petite-looking hands in circular motions. Loud music crept through first, before the shadows of trees.
“Told you it was rowdy,” Alexis said.
Ed tapped me on the back. “After you, Princess.”
I stepped through and held my head down. Nobody liked it when one of the Commander Lieutenants of the Shield entered a party. It was an instant buzzkill and believe me, I could clear a party in a few seconds.
Ed followed. Alexis immediately took off in the opposite direction when she stepped through and her portal disappeared. Not even Alexis liked to party with me.
A colossal bonfire on the right caught the corner of my eye. But it was hard to look through the bodies that either chatted in groups or danced to the music that boomed from the truck that had parked on the outskirts closer to the woods.
My gaze immediately searched for Max, but it was hard to find her through the sea of people.
The blue trail appeared, and it crept toward the bonfire. The trail never failed me whenever I searched for her.
I bent my back slightly and looked over some heads.
Logs and scattered boulders became seats around the bonfire, and the trail stopped on the other side of the giant flames. She sat next to Scarlet and Amy, wearing a tight green shirt with black tights.
If Amy was here, her brother was near. My gaze landed on him and Will when Cade threw his head back. His laughter overpowered the music for whatever Will had told them.
“Gabe?” Ed spoke louder.
“Sorry, what?”
“You want a beer?”
“Yeah, beer will be great.”
Ed left toward a guy with a sassy setup using the back of his truck and bought two beers from the dude. He didn’t look familiar, but the way Ed and he spoke told me that Ed knew him.
He walked back with huge strides and handed me the bottle. It was cold, and ice water dripped from the glass. It almost burned my hand. I uncapped the lid and took a few gulps. The ice cold bitter brew glided down my throat. It was a great beer, and I looked at the label as this brand wasn’t familiar.
“So, you decided anything yet from Lucious?”
“No.”
“He didn’t know, Gabe.”
“He is not my uncle, okay? I have nothing in common with them.”
“You have a lot more in common with them than you have with the witches.”
“Like what?”
Ed laughed. “The moon.”
I shook my head. “You know what I mean.”
“He’s reached out. He’s nothing like Heath and Rachel. Just give it a shot and hear what he has to say.”
“They are nothing of me, okay? Let it go.”
“You can’t choose blood. Be glad that yours comes from royalty, both sides.”
Ever since Ed had told me that I was like the prince of the hybrids, I’d tried to push away from the monarchies. My life was nothing like that. They did not see me as a prince among anyone. I didn’t grow up as a royal, either.
If monarchies had runts, I was it. The boy nobody talked about, and at the moment, I was that runt in two courts.
I stared at the ground, still trying to process this wave of shit that just kept hitting me. It was enough to hide the fact I was part of a primal bond. Dealing with both monarchies wasn’t part of anything. I didn’t ask to be born from a werewolf prince and a witch princess.
But I got that Lucious was trying to make amends. Lowell was his twin and would’ve been king if he didn’t fake his death. Lucious would do anything to see his brother again or be close to him, even if it meant making peace or accepting his bastard child.
Was I even a bastard?
I shook my head and pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind as I noticed Edward in a deep discussion with another vampire who didn’t look familiar. Max’s gift in my pocket pushed me back to the present. It was the only day that I had a valid reason to give it to her.
It was now or never.
MAX
I’d never known how amazing my freedom from Sierra truly was. Scar woke me up early this morning with a giant birthday cake, and then we met the guys at a nearby coffee shop for breakfast.
They’d all gotten me gifts, which I wasn’t used to, but the gesture brought tears to my eyes. Tonight they came with us to Kraken Lake. The ambience was more or less what I’d assumed a party at the lake would’ve been.
We had watched fireworks going off the past hour, just coloring the evening sky.
That it was spent with my friends made this birthday even more special. We laughed at how silly Will was. He seemed so free and couldn’t wait to get back to Beaumond, as he missed Debbie like crazy.
“You’d better hope and pray a stud in Cinderriver didn’t steal her attention.”
“I’ll suck them dry.”
The way Will had said it with no humor in his face made it a lot funnier than what it truly was, and we were his perfect audience.
They all took my mind off how much I missed Ben’s presence. Some days were better than others. Today was a good day.
“Oh no, party is over,” Cade yelled as he walked with an outstretched palm toward someone.
“Hide the booze,” Will playfully hissed at the others around.
“Cade,” Commander Charles’ deep voice reached my ears.
I looked up and saw him with a guy wearing a beanie, smoking a cigarette.
“Commander Charles,” Scar said. “I didn’t know you owned other clothes than your uniform.”
“Scarlet,” Commander Charles said with a smile.
“Holy crap. Commander Hendrix?” Scar laughed as Amy pulled her shirt from her body.
“Scarlet,” Commander Hendrix mumbled.
I looked at Amy, who kept staring at Commander Hendrix. Her gaze flickered to mine at the same time as someone who smelled extremely intoxicating plopped down next to me.
“Max.”
I turned my head toward him. “Commander Hendrix.”
“It’s summer break. Just Gabriel is fine.”
“Okay, just Gabriel. What brings you to Kraken Lake?” Why did I ask that?
“What brings everyone to Kraken Lake?”
Commander Edwards laughed, stealing both our attention. Simon and Cade were in hysterics too over something Will had told them.
“Booze,” I said, and his lips curved.
“Is it booze for you?” he asked.
“No, I’d never been. Had to check it out.”
“Edward.”
“What?” Commander Charles said.
“I didn’t speak to you,” Gabriel answered.
“You mentioned my name.”
“Answering a question.”
Commander Charles’ gaze flickered to mine. “He is probably lying.”
Commander Hendrix stared at Commander Charles without a hint of humor. “You are so glad we are at Kraken Lake, my friend.”
Gabriel took a sip of his beer and made no effort to move from the seat next to me.
Heatwaves rolled off my body as sweat clammed my palms. That he smelled like heaven didn’t help at all. It actually did the opposite, not to mention the fact that we had this crazy telepathy thing. I knew he’d lied to me about the spell.
I looked at Amy, but she was in a pretty close discussion with Cade, who sat on the ground with his back leaning against the log she sat on.
The conversation that was happening between Simon and Gabriel only grabbed one of my ears. It had something to do with whatever had happened at Wyvernglade today. Gabriel didn’t seem too fazed about it. If only my body would react the same way and stop with whatever was happening at this moment.
What was it about this guy that made me so nervous? That put me on the edge, just making me want to run as far as I could from him.
He bumped me, and I looked at him, only to find out that he stared at me with a tight smile on his face.
“What?” I asked.
“Happy birthday,” he mouthed.
I closed my eyes and shook my head, then opening them, I leaned closer to him. “How did you know?”
“I have my contacts,” he whispered. He leaned forward and took something out of his pocket.
My gaze landed on an oval gray stone connected to a leather-strapped bracelet.
I leaned over to grab my bottle of cooler when a hand grabbed my wrist. I looked back and found him tying the leather straps around my wrist.
“What is this?”
“Something that will help me find you when you get lost again. I won’t have to rely on spells that drain the crap out of me.” His gaze fluttered to me for a second before falling back down to the task in front of him.
“I’m not planning to get lost again.”
“You’ve told that to the universe?”
My lips fanned into a smile. Why was he doing this?
He took out a small carving tool and chipped away at the stone.
“So how has your day been?” he asked as I kept staring at the fine chipping skills I didn’t even know he possessed.
“The friends made a huge fuss.”
He chuckled. “It’s what they usually do on birthdays.”
“Yeah, I’m not used to it.”
Bright blue light started to seep from the stone he’d chipped away. Goosebumps spread over my skin as I knew what he’d given me. My throat instantly dried. Where did he get this?
“Commander—”
“Gabriel.”
“I can’t accept this. It’s too much.”
“I’m giving it to you for this sole purpose, Max. I’m not taking any more chances with you.”
I didn’t like the way he said it.
“I’ve failed you enough, don’t you think?”
“You didn’t fail me. You’ve found me every single time.”
“But at what cost? Never take it off.” He let my hand go and placed the small carving tool back in his pocket.
I brought my hand to my lap and glanced down at the small bird he’d carved out on the stone. “Thank you. It’s really beautiful.” And probably the most expensive gift anyone had ever given me, but I didn’t say the last part out loud.
“You know what it is?”
“Yeah. It’s a Mildew Stone, also known as a Witch Tracker. I grew up with witches, remember?”
For a split second, the kiss I’d shared with him flashed through my head, and a wave of warmth flew up my spine as my cheeks glowed from the heat. Thank heavens the bonfire was right in front of us.
I looked away before I embarrassed myself more.
Gabe huffed. “Don’t get into trouble, okay? Enjoy whatever is left of your birthday.” He got up and motioned with his hands at Commander Charles toward the tree line.
Commander Charles nodded without interrupting the conversation he’d had with Will and Simon. Cade joined them as Amy shuffled closer to me as Scarlet also retreated from her discussion she’d had with Dawn, a vampire who was in the Selective program with us.
“What was that?” Scarlet asked, and I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“Present, something that will help him find me sooner next time.”
“Max, it’s a Mildew Stone,” Scar said.
“I know.” The words came out louder than I expected. “Sorry, I know.”
Amy giggled. It was something she did whenever she got nervous. I did not know why she was nervous. Maybe she was an empath and could feel me on the verge of freaking out.
I looked over my shoulder but couldn’t find Commander Hendrix anywhere.
Why would he give me something as exquisite as a Mildew Stone?