Gabriel coughed and it was the sweetest sound Aurora had ever heard. She leaned in close and tucked another pillow in behind his head. On the floor, Aurel rested quietly beside them.“Aurora,” he sighed. “I'm not an invalid.”“I know, but you're not as strong as you used to be. You're a mere mortal now and lucky to be alive.”He returned her smile and took hold of her wrist, gently pulling her down onto the bed.“Careful,” she told him. “My scar is still healing.”Gabriel traced his finger over the tiny ridges of the symbol that had saved his life, probably more than once. “It's incredible,” he whispered. “What we've been through.”“Gabriel when I thought I lost you, I mean really lost you, I…"“Ssh,” he soothed. “I'm not going anywhere, okay? Not ever.”She nodded and gently kissed his forehead. “You have your human life back just like you always wanted. Tell me, what will you do with it?”He smiled and shook his head. “You know what? I have no absolutely no idea.”Aurora nodded and
Hell was home to thousands of demons; tens of thousands. A cauldron of sin, the realms were stacked one upon the other, each darker and more sinister than the one above. It was everything humans feared and more. Oppressive and dirty, the halls twisted in an eternity of circles, trapping souls in an endless search for light. There was no time to mark, and no end to crave. And there was the screaming. So much screaming. The primal sound of a soul in agony was something humans would never comprehend. If they knew what awaited them in hell they would wish for eternal nothingness. The fear
The trees were bare, their leaves long gone and snow on the ground would make hiding his tracks almost impossible. He should turn back. There was every chance a blizzard could set in. Not that the cold would have any effect on his body.For Gabriel every day was like a winter’s morning; cold and dark. For years he had felt nothing and, how could he? He was dead.Taking shelter behind the only thing he could find, a decaying wooden fence that had seen better days, Gabriel crouched down and took one la
Back in his cabin, Gabriel swore out loud. He was supposed to be a hunter, a vigilante, but that woman, whatever she was, had completely thrown him off his game.“Damn, it,” he cursed. “Damn her. What the hell was I thinking?”He pace
Aurora fell onto the bed. She would never dare to cry in front of the others, but in the privacy of her bedroom she let out her grief. The loss of Stefan had shattered her heart into a thousand pieces. Her only brother was dead. She had been warned. Her visions had shown Stefan’s death at the hands of a vampire, but it had seemed impossible. No new vampires had walked the earth for hundreds of years. Yet still, she prepared and planned, and hoped maybe there would be a way to save Stefan’s life. Wh
Gabriel crouched down and scooped a pile of snow into his hand. In his palm, the shards shone like diamonds in the moonlight. Every year the snow came earlier. Just by a week or two, but he noticed. Change was all around. He could sense it in the earth and feel it on the wind. It was more than just Aurora and the farmhouse. There was a certain vibration in the air, a shift of some kind. Something was coming.In his former life, Gabriel led missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He fought the enemy head-on. He was a
Aurora was speechless. She wiped at her tears and turned away from the window. “I don’t believe you Jasmyne. Why are you making up such lies?”But instead of apologizing, her sister got to her feet and repeated the words that had sent her mind reeling.
Back in his cabin, Gabriel’s head was spinning. He had so many questions and that Lucius creature had not provided any answers. Vampires were killers, that much he knew, and yet back in the field, he had not been in any danger. All Lucius seemed to care about was Aurora and some stupid quest. He stomped over to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. There had to be a way to find out what was going on.