Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
GABE
Did I really just do that? I did, didn’t I? Tom was being nice and supportive, and I totally made it weird by kissing his neck.
I can only hope he didn’t notice.
Ignoring the pang of regret, I pull back from his hold and muster a smile. “Thank you. I really did need that.”
He smiles back at me, and for the first time I notice that it’s a little crooked.
Endearing. How did I miss that? Probably because since our first meeting, I’ve spent as little time looking at him and giving him reason to smile as possible.
It was so humiliating to sit in the car with him for over an hour while his grandmother called me evil, even if he didn’t hear most of it.
“We’re in this together,” he says, and I hang on to my smile. Yeah. Sure. End of the world. That’s the only reason he hugged me. “Anything else I can do? Have you eaten? I’m not a chef or anything, but you can’t grow up in a restaurant without learning the basics.”
“Thanks, but I’m not hungry.” There’s too much going on in my brain for me to eat.
“Uh, do you know if Marc’s still here?” Kieran said he and Connor would deal with the demon and then practically pushed me out the door.
I guess my face must have shown how I was feeling.
Connor, surprisingly, has processed everything a lot faster. Maybe expressing his anger helped.
Would it help if I yelled and attacked someone? I feel foolish and embarrassed just at the thought, so I’m gonna say no.
“He was talking to Connor and Kieran when I came out,” Tom confirms. “It’s so creepy to think he’s a demon and I drove him here. What was that all about?”
“He was playing games with us. Be careful of him—I know he seems charming sometimes, but he’s more dangerous than you know.”
Tom’s big brown eyes widen a little. “I figured, but… should I stay tonight? I was going to go home, but if you think you’ll need an extra set of eyes and hands…?”
I shake my head, trying not to think how sweet that is. “Go home, get your head around everything. Marc’s not staying here tonight”—not that we can stop him if he wants to—“but he’ll be around a lot, and we’re going to need you later.” I hesitate. “What’s your work schedule like?”
“Weekends are tough,” he says immediately. “But it’s busy here on weekends too. Let’s hope the bad guys prefer to have weekends off, huh? During the week is easier. I don’t usually have to work on-site at the restaurant during the week. I can do the books and ordering from here if I need to.”
“What about your rideshare job?”
He shrugs. “I can take a break from that while we’re dealing with this.”
Yeah, no. That’s not right. “Don’t you need the money?
” If I could rely on the Collective, there wouldn’t be a problem—I’d arrange a per diem for him.
But I can’t tell them why I’m bringing on a civilian with no paranormal skills to help without also telling them about the traitors…
and that would defeat the purpose of not just asking them to send more backup.
Which reminds me, Connor and I have to somehow get rid of the team that came out to help him find the hidden gateway. Or we need to find a way to be sure they’re on our side.
Fuck, I hate this.
Tom’s shaking his head. “The extra helps, but I can live without it for a while. It won’t do me any good if demons take over Earth, anyway.”
“Yeah, but—”
He holds up a hand. “Seriously. If it becomes a problem, I’ll let you know.”
I guess I have to accept that he’s able to run his own life. “Okay. Thanks. God, I seem to be saying that a lot to you tonight.”
He laughs. “Happy to help however I can.” Looking toward the house, he adds, “I should go in and let Skye know I’m leaving, but I’m kind of scared to.”
I snort. “Yeah, he was pretty set on you staying. It might be easier to just go and send him a text later. He can’t give you the big sad eyes via text.”
“Wanna bet? I’ve known Skye a long time. He can give the big sad eyes with his voice, and I know exactly how ridiculous that sounds.”
It’s my turn to laugh, because it does sound ridiculous, but at the same time, I know what he means. Skye’s really good at conveying emotion. Mostly it’s cheerful stuff, but I’ve seen him displeased a time or two, and everyone knows it when that happens.
“Hey, before I forget, we need to arrange time for you to spar with me and Con.” I’m very keen to see how adept he is with a bladed weapon. It won’t be exactly the same as what he’s used to practicing with, but hopefully we can get him up to speed fast.
“Spar? Do you guys… oh, duh. Of course you have training. Demon hunters.” He smacks his forehead.
“Our training’s a bit different from yours, I’ll bet, but it’s a good idea to see how we can work with each other’s strengths and weaknesses.” I hesitate. “Ever hit anyone with a blade?”
“Not an actual blade,” he says dryly. “But I’m guessing the demons won’t concede a victory based on point strikes.”
“I wish. We might get you practicing with a sharp sword, then. Get used to the weight.”
He takes a deep breath. “Wow, this suddenly feels surreal. But okay. I’ll be back here at eight tomorrow morning, and we can work out a practice time and whatever else then.”
I make a mental note. “Sounds good. And I’ll run interference with Skye for you. Hey, stop at the bakery on the way in, will you? I’ll tell him I asked you to pick up breakfast.”
He gives me a mock salute. “Consider it done.”
Standing back, I wait while he gets into the car, drives around the forecourt, and heads back down the driveway toward the gates. Part of me wants to call him back, keep him here. There’s no reason for it—nothing he can do. But his calm, competent demeanor is soothing, and I like having him near.
The gates open as he gets close—there’s a sensor on the inside. It’s only people wanting to enter after hours who need to buzz. Thank god, because my remote is in my car and I have no idea how to open them otherwise.
I watch—somewhat regretfully—until he’s out of sight, then head back inside and track down my best friend. He and Kieran are still in the library, looking at something in Kieran’s ever-present notebook. There’s nobody else there.
“Hey,” I say, and they look up. “Where’d everyone go?”
“Josh and Ewan went up to his apartment, Daniel and Skye to the foreman’s cottage,” Kieran replies. “The ghosts have gone up to the Garden Suite to plot. And Marc went… somewhere. We didn’t ask. He said he’d be back in the morning.”
“I don’t know how the fuck I’m going to sleep knowing he can just come and go as he pleases,” Connor mutters.
“He’s always been able to do that,” I point out. “Any higher demon who’s mindfucking a human can.” Such a lovely thought. I spare a moment to wonder about the person who Marc’s “connected” to. Do they know they’ve given up their chance of reincarnation?
“Mindfucking. That image makes me want to hurl.” Kieran sighs. “You okay?”
Connor elbows him. “How come you didn’t ask me that? I’m your boyfriend.”
“Stop whining. I already know you’re not okay, and I have plans to help you through it. Gabe needs our support right now.”
“I’m fine,” I cut in before Con can go all diva. “Not all the way fine, but I’m processing. It’s… a lot.” I swallow hard.
Connor reaches out and drags me down to sit beside him.
“This fucking sucks. How could they? Like… we’ve seen a lot of how stupid and selfish humans are.
I can almost understand how people separate their lives into ‘us’ and ‘faceless other people,’ and they do what they think is best for themselves even if it might hurt people they don’t know.
It happens. But this… we exist. You and me and the boys, we’re their kids.
How could they do this knowing they’d be handing us and everyone over to die?
” He heaves a huge sigh and rests his head on my shoulder. “I don’t get it, Gabe.”
I lean my head against his. “Me either. But… Con, I had a thought. And I don’t think you’re going to like it.” In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s going to hate it.
“This might be my cue to leave.” Kieran stands.
“You can stay.” I lift my head. “It’s not private.”
“Thanks, but if Connor’s going to have another hissy fit, I’d rather give it a miss. Send him up when he’s done yelling.”
“I don’t have hissy fits,” Connor exclaims indignantly, sitting up straight.
“Sure you don’t.” Kieran blows him a kiss and saunters out.
“I don’t,” he grumbles, then looks at me. “Fine, what is it?”
“It’s going to get back to our parents sooner or later that you and I are trying to stop Cato. If it hasn’t already. We’ve been actively asking the Collective for help with that.”
“I’m okay with them knowing I’m trying to fuck up their plans, Gabe. Part of me wants to call them and tell them exactly what I think of them.”
“Yeah, but what about the boys?” My question hangs between us, and Connor pales.
“Fuck.”
“I don’t want to think that our parents would use Matt and Ian against us, but—”
“But we didn’t think they’d sign on to help a higher demon take over the world, either.
Fuck. Okay. We need to tell them about this.
It’s going to hurt them, but they can take it.
” He pauses. “Probably not over the phone, though. We need to go out there, and shit… this isn’t the best time to leave here.
” He shakes his head. “I’ll go. You need to think about how you’re going to rebuild the barrier between worlds. ”
I swallow down bile. I’m trying not to think about that. The theory checks out, but in practice it’s going to be different.
“Con… I think we need to bring the boys here.”
He blinks at me, trying to process. Then he explodes.
“Abso-fucking-lutely not! There’s no way I’m letting Ian anywhere near Marc!
I can’t believe you’d even suggest this…
you want Matt hanging around with a higher demon?
” He leaps to his feet and begins pacing agitatedly.
I’m glad I took his knife away before. Not that I think he’d ever use it on me, but he might wave it around for emphasis.
“I don’t want Matt—or Ian,” I add pointedly, reminding him that his little brother is just as special to me as my own, “on the same planet as a higher demon, never mind in the same house. But you’re not thinking this through, Con.
We can tell the boys what’s happened and that they can’t trust anyone, but what happens if our parents—and the other conspirators—go to the college and grab them?
They’re good, but they’re not experienced.
They won’t be able to stand against longtime hunters. ”
He shakes his head, mouth set in a firm line, but I can see in his eyes that he knows I’m right.
“What if they bring a demon with them? And what about the rest of the school? Franklin U is packed with people. Can we risk putting all those kids in danger?”
“So instead you want to put just our brothers in danger?” he snaps.
“Connor.”
“No!”
“Con, you know they’d be in less danger here with us than they would there. Even with Marc coming and going as he pleases. He’s on our side.” The words taste bitter in my mouth.
“What if he’s not? What if he’s setting us up?”
“Didn’t we get past this already? And you know what, if he is setting us up, we’ll die.
But if Cato succeeds, we all die anyway.
The only way we live is if Marc’s on our side and this all works.
We gotta take that chance, and I don’t know if I can focus on what needs to be done if I’m worried about the boys all the time.
” My voice cracks on the last sentence, and I take a deep breath. “Just think about it.”
He looks away, runs his hands through his hair, and makes a sound of sheer frustration. “I hate when you’re right.”
The part of my gut that’s been in knots since I first realized how endangered our brothers are begins to loosen. “Thank you.”
“For the record, I hate this.”
The sound that escapes me is half laugh, half sob. “For the record, I do too.”