46. Gabriel
Chapter 46
Gabriel
T he full harvest moon soared into the sky, illuminating the dark grounds beyond the village walls. Gabriel stepped up to the opening gate. The witches had remained outside, as if waiting for the DeLoup to be able to approach without shifting. As if also wanting to speak before the battle fully broke out.
Gabriel took a deep breath and walked away from his people. Only Darren went with him. Joel stayed behind with the others, preparing to fight if it came down to it.
Nearing the woman who had quite literally taken everything from him made his pulse quicken. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say or do. If he were honest, despite his promise to Brinley, he just wanted to attack the queen and end this once and for all.
He and Darren stopped a short distance from the line of witches. Queen Mildred had dismounted and stood at the center, right in front. Her graying brown hair sat twisted atop her head; her deep purple cloak draped down to the grass. She was every bit the regal sorceress he remembered, even after traveling a few days. It didn’t appear to have affected her at all.
“My, you’ve grown, boy,” she said across the clearing. “I remember when you were just a tyke.”
If Gabriel didn’t know better, he might have considered her greeting to be genuine. But he did know better. She wasn’t this caring ruler or grandmother. Steeling his spine, Gabriel raised his chin. “Where is she?”
“Who?” The curl of her lips made him sick.
“Brinley. I escorted her to where you were in that little village,” he seethed. “Why isn’t she with you?”
The queen took a casual step forward. “Oh, she’s safe. After escaping and making her way back to me, we had a beautiful reunion. She told me everything. I’m here on her behalf.”
His brow furrowed. Beside him, Darren shifted on his feet. Though a tiny bit of hope sparked in Gabriel’s chest, he didn’t believe the witch for a second. “Why didn’t she return with you?”
Something in her gaze changed, the mask of false sincerity starting to slip. “She couldn’t bear the thought of coming back here and facing her captors. So, I left her in good hands to come enact her revenge myself.”
Gabriel clenched his jaw. His claws extended, appearing at his sides. She glanced down at them but didn’t show a bit of concern. Instead, she smirked. She’d wanted him to react. She needed him to be the first to make a move so that her actions were justified. Darren stepped forward with a low growl, and Gabriel shot out an arm to stop him.
“You and I both know I didn’t keep her captive.” He pushed his friend back behind him. “And if I had to guess, it’s you who’s keeping her prisoner somewhere, just as you have her whole life.”
“How dare you accuse your queen of such things?” she spat. “She is my granddaughter and heiress.”
“And she’s my mate,” he all but shouted. “My future Luna.”
She glared at him, pursing her lips. “Your people have sullied my line enough. I was kind enough to let you live last time with a warning, and this is how you repay me? By filling her head with this nonsense?”
“It’s not nonsense?—”
“You will never see her again, Alpha,” she said, cutting him off. “I’ll do a better job next time of erasing you from her memories, but you? You’ll live the rest of your days trapped in this village, knowing you will never be able to reach her again, knowing you will never save your precious sister. How is little Rose, by the way? Her time is just about up.”
Gabriel’s chest heaved. It took every bit of will power he possessed to say quietly to Darren, “Get back to the village.”
He hesitated before walking away. Gabriel moved toward the gate.
“Do you really think those walls will protect you?” the witch asked with a sardonic laugh. “It will be a pleasure destroying your people again before cursing you to a miserable existence.”
Gabriel was done. He turned and managed steady steps toward the gates. Once inside, two sentries pulled it shut and bolted it behind him. But he knew it wouldn’t keep the High Sorceress out forever.
“Get into your positions,” he whispered as his men and women waited for orders in silence. His eyes were trained on the village beyond them. There were hundreds of innocent lives here.
When he didn’t say more, Darren shouted, “Positions, now!”
The crowd dispersed.
“Where do you want me?” he asked.
Clearing his throat, Gabriel nodded to himself. He had to focus. “Right, I need you down here. Try to keep them out as long as possible. If they get into the streets, your priority is to keep them away from the tunnels.”
“Yes, sir.” Darren took off, ordering a few men to go to the tunnels now just in case.
Daci was still up on the battlements, and Gabriel headed in that direction. The archers were their best chance at staving off some of the sorcières before they made it inside. An arm hooked around his when he reached the stairwell, and he whirled around to come face to face with Joel. He quickly wrapped his friend in a hug, holding him tightly.
“Stay safe,” Gabriel whispered against his cheek.
“You too.”
Gabriel didn’t bother telling him that the queen wasn’t going to kill him. She was going to kill everyone else and make him watch if she had the chance. He just needed to ensure that didn’t happen. But he wasn’t foolish enough to think there wouldn’t be deaths, so he held on to Joel for an extra moment.
“Thank you for always staying by my side,” he said, leaning away.
Joel gave him a sad, understanding smile. “It’s been fun.”
With a short huff of laughter, Gabriel kissed him once on the cheek. Regardless of what happened tonight, he knew it would be the last time he ever did so. Either they wouldn’t make it through, or they would and he would make Brinley his forevermore.
Visibly swallowing, Joel nodded toward the opening at the top of the stairs where people rushed around getting ready for battle. “Do you want me up there or on the streets?”
“I want you safe away from all of it.” He wanted that for each of his friends—his whole pack. Sighing, he said, “The streets. Make sure no one goes near my house.”
“Of course.”
They stared at each other for one more second, and then Joel was turning around and walking back downstairs. Gabriel swallowed, thinking about all of his close friends facing the witches. Clearing the emotions from his face, he continued up to the battlements. The commotion was almost overwhelming, but the archers were in place and the rest of the soldiers were waiting as backup.
He found Daci still on the south wall overlooking the clearing, where the witches stood.
“What are they waiting for?” she asked when he reached her side.
“I don’t know.” He took up the extra bow propped against the parapet, which he assumed Daci set there for him. Grabbing an arrow from one of the canisters, he continued watching them. “My guess is they want us to start this fight so it looks like we instigated it.”
“Even though they came to our village?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “She’s a manipulative bitch. I’m sure she has a plan on how to spin it to make us appear like the villains—make it look like we kidnapped Brinley. She’s had years of practice.”
Thunder rumbled overhead, and clouds drifted by, causing the moonlight to come and go. When the first tinkling sound reached his ears, Gabriel stilled. That sound… he hadn’t heard it in Zareia in far too long. It was why the town was struggling so much. Whispers of disbelief traveled along the wall. But sure enough, a raindrop landed on his cheek. He turned his head toward the heavens just as they opened up.
There was no fighting the smile curving his lips. It would make fighting trickier for both sides, but something about the long-awaited rain gave him a surge of hope and optimism.
And then, just like that, it was ripped away.
A loud bang echoed through the air. He looked down in horror. At some point during his preparation and distraction, the witches had pulled a fallen tree over from the forest to the gates, and now, three of them had their hands raised to magically use it as a battering ram against the iron barrier.
More witches approached. One looked up at them, and his heart stopped for a beat. Gabriel could’ve sworn she winked before twitching her head to the side.
One of his men tumbled over the wall, shouting as fell to the ground with a thud. Gabriel winced at the abrupt silence of the soldier. They didn’t have time to mourn though. “Fire!”
Arrows sailed through the air toward the line of sorcières. A couple made it, but most were thrown off course with mere thought from the target. Another sentry was pulled from her position down the wall.
“Keep shooting!” he yelled as the ram hit the gate again. It shook the stone beneath his feet. “The more arrows there are, the harder it is for them to shield!”
He nocked and fired one after another. Until one final blow to the gate bent it in. The witches and wizards didn’t hesitate to use that weakness to their advantage. Shouts went up from below.
“They’re inside.” Daci sent an arrow into the neck of an unsuspecting witch.
“Fuck,” he hissed, tossing his bow aside. “Stay here. Keep fighting from up here. I’m going to help them in the streets.”
Not waiting for a response, he threw himself down the nearest stairs and raced toward the havoc and bloodshed.