-Gabriel-I’m standing in a darkened alleyway, the blood of a bounty hunter slipping down my claws, while Katherine is on her knees in front of me, waiting for death. I can see her body stiffen and her heartbeat pick up… she knows I’m here.“Hello, little lamb,” I murmur, but she doesn’t turn around when she gets to her feet, so I move closer and lean my head towards her ear. “Found you.”I can hear her mournful whimper right over the storm and it takes everything in me not to take her in my arms and hold her close. I don’t want to force myself on her if it will make her run again. She turns around with a hand clasped tightly over her mouth and tears shimmer in her eyes when she sees me.“Gabriel?” she says, removing her hand to reveal a trembling bottom lip. The sound of her saying my name knocks the wind out of me and I ball my hands into fists to compose myself.I give her a smile and nod, hoping she can see the gesture, but what she does next pushes the thought of not forcing myse
-Katherine-I slid to the floor of my apartment with my hand covering my mouth and Gabriel’s overcoat clenched tightly in my arms. It’s like the last hour has been a dream, nearly getting killed, then saved by the man who has been haunting my thoughts for over four months. He came for me… he actually fucking came for me!“So I guess this means no potion?” My head snaps to where I hear Xenia’s voice and I jump to my feet to greet her. “Xen!”We embrace one another, then she pulls away and looks at me. “He couldn’t keep his hands off you, hmm?” she says, lifting her eyebrow at my torn shirt. “Big bad Vampire King wanted some lamb stew tonight.”“Hey, I didn’t tell you what he calls me so you can use it against me, you know!”“But it’s so, so easy to mock,” she chuckles, taking my arm and leading me to the kitchen. “Now, I’m about to pour us some wine while you explain why the fuck you have a bruised eye and blood on your face.”“I don’t have wine,” “Really! That’s the part you choose
-Katherine-My feet carried me before my mind could even register what I was doing and the next thing I know, I’m rushing to where Daniel is parked. “OPEN UP!” I cry out, knocking on the window. “OPEN THE FUCK UP!”The door swings open and Daniel steps out, looking confused. “Is something wrong, ma’am?”I scoff. “Is something wrong?! You’re seriously going to ask me that?!” I cry out, then feel Xenia’s hands on my shoulders.“Deep breaths, babe,” she says, stroking my hair. “Did you see anyone in front of her apartment a few minutes ago?”“No, ma’am; we just swapped shifts when I saw your front door closing.” his eyes narrow, then he does a flick with his wrist and when I look behind me, I see three wolves running behind my apartment. “What has happened?”Tears choke my throat, and I dig my nails into my palms to compose myself. “When was the last time you heard from Gabriel?” I ask, my voice laced thick with tears.Daniel thinks for a moment before he answers. “Last night, ma’am, wh
-Gabriel-When the arrow hit my chest, I knew that I had been cornered. The baobab smoke that followed rendered me unable to react and when I woke up, I found myself in what looked like a shipping container.They’ve kept me weak under a constant stream of baobab mist and I can do nothing but take the beatings, stabbings, removal of limbs, and streams of sunlight.A hot slice of pain shoots through my mouth, showing that the fang they extracted had grown back. I knew who took me before I even saw his face, and as he continued to torture me with baobab stakes and UV lamps, the only thing keeping me level-headed was her.He wants me to scream; he wants me to beg - but I’ll be fucking damned if I allow him to elicit those things from me.“You know the council will hunt you down after this, right?” I scoff. “Do what you want and get it over with, Décès.”The man who has been killing my kind for decades, the fucking bane of my existence, steps forward with a crossbow and shoots five arrows
-Katherine-“Your father really meant to hurt him,” Xenia says when she sees me pulling out the last baobab arrowhead from Gabriel’s arm. It clatters into the steel bowl, joining the rest of what I’ve pulled out.50 bullets in his torso, 28 arrows broken off in his right leg, staked through the arms so viciously that it left splinters… don’t get me started on the number of arrowheads in his stomach. All that plus scars from his limbs and fingers regrowing and the UV lamps.My father wanted Gabriel to suffer, and it fucking breaks my heart.“I know,” I say, tears clouding my vision and watching as a tear falls onto his bloodied chest and slips down his side. Xenia reaches for me and I shake my head. “No, I need to do this myself. It’s my fault they caught him.”“Kat-”“No!” I exclaim, throwing down the tweezers and glaring at her. “This is on me! I shouldn’t have sent him away that night, Xen, it nearly cost him his life!”She cringes away from me, sighing. “I’ll leave you, then,” she
-Gabriel-“Did you tell her this?”“I figured it wouldn’t be in her best interest.”I’m sitting across from Valentine and Church three days after my attack, reeling from the bombshell they’ve just put on me. Katherine and Xenia are out at the moment, so it’s finally given us time to speak about the events that nearly saw me killed.Sighing, I lean back and cross my arms. “She can’t know about it until I’m confident she’s ready. I knew Alexander would have a failsafe for when something happens to him, but I never fucking expected this.”“The element of surprise is a fucking bitch,” Church adds, shaking his head. “When are we heading out of this town? Something here doesn’t feel right.”“Funny you should say that,” I chuckle sadly, shaking my head. “I never told you two who turned Alexander, did I?”They both frown when I say this, and I swear that I still don’t fucking believe it myself. I keep wondering if the baobab was to blame for causing me to hallucinate, but Alexander has turned
-Xenia-Kat is going to owe me big time for this. While she’s at home getting her lady bits wrecked, I’m out here feeling awkward as hell with two of the hottest guys in this shady-ass biker bar. She can be lucky that I love her so much.I never would have expected this town to have a bar like this, seeing that it’s so nose-in-the-air, but I suppose every perfect thing has a hidden flaw. And I’m all for flaws. Dark corners, wooden exterior with matching barstools, tables, and chairs, and honest to God jukebox blasting Sabbath, leather, boots, and cigarette smoke.Yeah, flaws are my thing. I leave Valentine and Church and walk up to the bar, signaling for the bartender. “Jack and coke - heavy on the Jack,” I order when she approaches, eyeing my chest and smirking. No fucking idea what she’s eyeing since I’m only dressed in jeans, a black tank top showing no cleavage, and a leather jacket. She puts the tumbler down in front of me, nodding. “Running a tab?” “I think I might,” I grumbl
-Katherine-My entire body is on fire, but I find myself unable to move or call out. My mouth hurts, and my gums feel like I’ve chewed on too much Doritos and got shards stuck in them. With heavy eyelids, I drift off to sleep, but a few hours later something claws at my stomach and I wake up.Hunger - soul-splitting hunger.“What the fuck are you doing, little lamb?” Gabriel’s voice interrupts my chewing and I peer up at him while chewing at the leftover pizza in the fridge. I’ve had six slices, but nothing is stopping this fucking feeling.“I’m hungry,” I say, shaking my head. “I’ve eaten so much already but I’m still fucking hungry! My mouth hurts, my body aches as if I have hectic flu, and my head feels like it’s about to explode! What’s wrong with me?! And why the fuck am I so emotional?!”He sighs and walks over to me, taking the pizza from my finger and planting me on the counter top. Then he wipes my tears away and kisses my forehead. “Here,” he tilts his head to the side. “Dri