38. Gabriel
Chapter 38
Gabriel
F or more than two weeks, scouts had been searching around the small village where Gabriel found Brinley, as well as in Créll. So far, he hadn’t received word of them finding the High Sorceress. If she was still alive, as Brinley suspected, she hadn’t returned to the castle.
Gabriel let out a grunt as Daciana landed a blow to his side. Needing to get out some of his frustration, he’d asked her to spar with him, which led to hand-to-hand fighting. Brinley had gone to sit with Rose, and he hadn’t wanted to drag her away to help him let off steam. Not when Rose’s time and strength were dwindling. She was sleeping more than ever and could no longer walk downstairs on her own. It broke his heart seeing her suffer like this. He wanted to fix it, make everything better.
He dodged Daci’s next punch, pivoted, and elbowed her in the gut.
“Fuck, Gabe,” she hissed, doubling over.
Not stopping, he charged, tackling her to the ground. He’d fallen for that one before. She let out an oomph as they tumbled, and he pinned her down. Her sneaky grin told him he was right not to take it easy on her.
The next thing he knew, her knee came up between his legs. Hard.
With a groan, he rolled off her. “Seriously?”
She let out a soft chuckle. “You know better than to let your guard down the second you put someone on their back.”
He glared at her, still holding his groin. “You’re the worst.”
“No, I’m the best. That’s why we’re doing this.” She sat up. Around them, a dozen other sentries went through similar practice drills. A few had swords and daggers, but most fought with their claws extended. With their ability to heal, getting nicked here and there was painful, but not a big issue.
With a deep breath, Gabriel sat up, raising his knees and resting an arm over them. His head pounded from the stress and lack of sleep. He and Brinley were no longer holding any pretenses about being together and had been sharing his bed each night. But that meant he didn’t have any reason to keep his hands to himself, and Brinley seemed to crave him just as much. They’d taken turns waking each other up in the most delicious ways most mornings.
As his blood rushed south, he groaned again at the throbbing pain. “Remind me why I sent Darren out in the search party instead of you. He’s nicer.”
Daciana snorted. “You’d be bored without me.”
That was true, but he wasn’t going to admit as much. “Brinley is going to be pissed if you do real damage.”
“I’m sure she’ll survive without your dick for a day or two. Stop being dramatic.”
He glared at her. Daci had been mad that he’d kept the secret of Brinley being his mate from her, but in the end, he knew she was happy for them.
“Or are you not capable of using your fingers and mouth? Need a lesson on how to satisfy your mate?” she teased. “If she needs attention you can’t give her, I’m sure one of us could?—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” he growled at her.
She smirked with a shrug. “I’m just saying.”
He shook his head and rolled his eyes as he shoved against her shoulder. She laughed for a moment before trailing off. They sat in silence, watching the others. He was grateful for his friend. For all of them. He didn’t know how he would have made it this far without them. “Can you tell if Darren’s getting close? Will he be back soon?”
“You know it doesn’t work like that.” At an early age, the twins discovered they could sense each other and almost read each other’s minds. Not specifics but general feelings, especially when hurt or in danger—somewhat similar to a mate bond. It was like honed-in intuition but more powerful. They had tested it out a lot as children, seeing what all they could do with it. Gabriel often wondered if there was sorcière blood somewhere in their family’s past.
“I know.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. They lapsed back into silence.
After a few minutes of quietly watching the others train once more, Daci spoke without looking in his direction. “Do you think they’ll find her in time?”
He should reassure her, tell her everything would work out. As the alpha, he needed to be strong for his pack. But she had always seen right through him. “I hope so.”
“Gabe,” a voice called, and he turned to find Torin near one of the doorways. The man still made Gabriel’s blood boil, but he stood and went toward him. With his particular brand of violence and torture, he’d been put in charge of questioning their rogue prisoner. Gabriel approached, with Daciana on his heels. Torin dipped his head—he’d been much more obedient and respectful since Gabriel nearly killed him for laying a hand on Brinley. “Sir, he’s talking.”
Gabriel nearly tripped in surprise. “What have you found out?”
“You’re going to want to go to him yourself, I think.” Torin lowered his voice. “He’s claiming he was sent by the High Sorceress.”
The world seemed to still around them. Gabriel let out a low growl and stomped past him, marching back out into the sunshine toward their small prison. His pulse rushed in his ears. Distantly, he heard Torin and Daci speaking behind him as they followed, but he couldn’t distinguish their words. All of his focus went into storming to the cell where the DeLoup was chained to a chair.
“Open the door,” Gabriel shouted.
Torin ran around him, pulling out his keys as he moved. He unlocked the barred door and swung it open, allowing access to the wolf beyond. “Tell him what you told me.”
The rogue gave them a bloody grin. “You kidnapped the wrong witch. She’s coming for you.”
“Who?” Gabriel moved closer, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.
“The queen.”
“She paid you to bring her granddaughter back?” It didn’t make sense. The rogues hated the witches; that was their entire purpose. Why would they agree to this?
The man shook his head, his smile turning somehow more malicious. “Oh no. That’s not what she hired us for.”
Gabriel scrubbed the blood from his hands. By the time he’d given up on questioning the rogue, he hadn’t known what was true and what were lies. In his rage, he’d ripped the man’s heart from his chest with only a shred of remorse. It wasn’t the first life he’d taken, far from it. But it never got easier.
He swallowed, trying to keep his breathing steady. The water running from his fingers was still tinged red.
When the door opened behind him, he didn’t turn. He knew it was her without needing to look. He could sense her very being, and the bond between them pulled taut. Her concern for him trickled along it.
She stayed quiet as she came to his side and put a hand on his back. Rubbing it in slow circles, she pressed a kiss to his bare shoulder. A shuddering breath escaped him, and his head hung low.
Brinley turned him around, pulling him into a tight hug. He wrapped his own arms around her, breathing her in. She didn’t seem to notice his wet hands—or she didn’t care. She just held him.
“What do you need?” she asked, breaking the silence a few moments later.
He thought about it. The truth was, he needed many things. His sister’s curse to be broken. His people freed. His village not to be suffering. But as he buried his face against the curve of her neck, all he said was, “This. Just this for right now.”
She tightened her arms around him, and he loved that despite everything, despite her past uncertainty and fear, she wanted to comfort him. He tilted his head to kiss behind her ear.
“Whose blood is it?”
“The rogue prisoner,” he whispered. He didn’t want to talk about it, to tell her what happened. But he wouldn’t keep things a secret from her ever again, not if he had the chance to speak and explain. “I was summoned because he’d started talking, and I… took over the questioning.”
Brinley tensed beneath his touch, and he knew she was remembering her own torture in those cells. She leaned back to meet his gaze. “What did he say?”
Gabriel swallowed, trying to find the right way to tell her. But there really was no right way. He released her long enough to turn and dry his hands before brushing his fingers through her hair, which she’d been leaving down since he commented on it. Cupping the side of her face, he said, “I don’t know how much is true—if any of it is. Please keep that in mind.”
He hadn’t even figured out how the rogues had made it through the gates. That failure to his mate and pack weighed on him.
“All right…”
A knock startled them apart. Gabriel went to the door and yanked it open, only to come face to face with Paxton and Darren. The latter looked out of breath, as if he’d run straight here after returning.
“What?” He reached a hand behind him blindly, and Brinley immediately slipped hers into it, standing next to him. “What did you find?”
“It’s true.” Pax looked about ready to jump out of his skin. “They found her.”
Gabriel’s eyes widened. If that was true, what about the rest of the things the rogue spewed?
“What?” Brinley breathed, squeezing his fingers. Tears brimmed her eyes as she stepped forward.
“There’s a small village down by Brira River, where we found guards on patrol. We staked it out for a few days and finally caught sight of her,” Darren said, nodding. “The queen is still alive.”