Chapter 42
Valarie
At first, I thought I was imagining him.
But then I saw the marks on his neck and stumbled to my feet at the same time that the door shut behind him.
He caught me by the shoulders and steadied me, eyes worried as he took in the gouge to my shin that one of Morgan’s pack had managed to get in right before they took me out of that cell. The skin was swelling but no longer bleeding. It’d be more of a sore sight than an actual wound to worry about.
“Are you okay?” I asked hurriedly, hands on his forearms.
He stared down at me. “I think I should be asking you that. The guards—”
I shook my head.
“I’m fine. Is your mother okay? Is Sophia?”
“Yeah. They didn’t even get to Sophia—barely got to me. For how intimidating Morgan is, it wasn’t a well thought through attack.”
I sighed, stepping back slowly, and leaning against the wall. The shadows hid me a bit more and Gabriel shifted to let more light in. His face was dark, scrunched with worry, his hair looked greasy. And the marks on his neck. I ached at the sight of them—already turning a deep purple.
“Did she do that?” I asked, reaching out to let my fingers brush his Adam’s apple. He swallowed and nodded.
“Almost had me, too. I’m more out of shape than I thought.”
I rolled my eyes. “That doesn’t surprise me. The sparring you guys do here in the Kingdom seems more like sport than actual defense.”
Gabriel grinned then and for a brief moment, I waited for his laugh.
But then I remembered where we were—standing in a cell beneath the palace—and the mood darkened.
He stepped forward and gathered the hair around my face, pushing it back over my shoulders.
“As soon as I heard you were here, I wanted to come find you,” he murmured. “Even knowing you might… be a part of it.”
A sound of disgust left me.
“Are you serious? Gabriel, you think I could ever—”
He stepped back, arms dropping to his sides.
“Well how was I supposed to know, Valarie? You left so abruptly. You were mad the last time I saw you.”
“Yeah, I was mad. Can you blame me? But I’d never want to hurt you, Gabriel.
Not ever. I went with them to try and find a way to stop them.
Morgan—I ran into her on the side of the road, and she invited me to join them.
I knew she wouldn’t just let me turn back around and go to the Kingdom to warn everyone, so. ”
“So, you joined them,” he said quietly, thoughtfully.
“Yes. And I tried to... lead them astray a bit. They had a whole plan. They wanted to know where the ceremony was going to take place and I told them it’d be out at the lake.”
His eyebrows rose and I rolled my eyes.
“Of course I know that’s not where it would be. You’d have it at the oak tree, obviously—”
“You knew that?” he cut me off. “But we didn’t even tell any of the alphas or packs until this morning.”
I looked down at the floor, examining my slowly swelling shin.
“I know that,” I muttered. “But I didn’t need to hear an announcement to know. If you were going to do things traditionally, of course you’d do it under that tree.”
When I looked up again, he was staring intently at me.
“What?”
Gabriel stepped forward, his blonde hair seeming to soak up the light. His eyes were a different kind of blue, tinged with grey, and I realized for the first time since he’d stepped into this cell just how tired he looked.
“You have to know,” he said quietly, taking both of my hands in his. I looked down and tried not to wince at the smudge of blood that got on his inner wrist. “You have to know how I feel about you. That I only wanted it to be you.”
I tried to meet his eyes, but I could feel the pressure just under my own that warned of tears. My chest felt hot and tight, breaths came deep and fast.
“I know. But we’ve been over this, Gabriel. It doesn’t matter how much we want it—”
“So you want me?” he asked in a rushed voice, sounding young again.
I looked up and smiled to see his face so open and hopeful.
“Of course I want you, you idiot. Do you really think I would’ve spent all this time hanging out with those maniacs if I didn’t care about you?”
He crowded in close, head bent so that the tip of his nose brushed the bridge of mine. It was too dark now to see his features, but I closed my eyes anyway, wanting to savor this feeling.
Without another word, his lips caught mine and the dull ache in my leg, as well as the annoyance of other cuts and bruises, went away.
His mouth taunted mine, looking for a response, and I gave it eagerly. On the balls of my feet, I pressed into him and let my hands travel up his forearms, to his biceps, and then around his neck.
He grunted and I stepped back.
“I’m sorry. I forgot—”
But then he secured an arm under my thighs, ignoring me, and lifted me up enough to start devouring my mouth again.
I lost myself completely in the sensation of his tongue stroking mine languidly. The sounds of the guards talking and other prisoners pacing faded away. Completely wrapped up in each other, the kiss turned softer, just lips now grazing lips, noses grazing too.
I still felt the urge to cry, but it was out of relief now.
He was here, he was alive. And he was with me.