Captivate Me (Book One: The Captivated Series) (19 page)

“Here’s mine,” he said,
ducking into the last tent before we got to the horses tethered to
trees. The faint smell of manure crinkled my nose.
Ugh.
I guess I’d have to
get used to that.

His tent looked larger on the inside.
A lantern hung from the frame, illuminating everything below. A
thin mattress with a neatly fold down blanket and pillows occupied
the very center. Books lined the left wall, and sheet music lay
scattered at the foot of his bed and on the case he placed the
guitar into. Stacked against the right wall were two more guitar
cases, and perched in the far right corner was an antique trunk; I
imagined it housed his clothes.

“So this is where I rest my head at
night,” he said as he locked the guitar case and laid it by the
others.

A brief thought of my easel in one of
the empty corners flitted through my mind. My lips curled into a
smile. “It’s lovely.”

He made his way back to my side and
grabbed my hand. “Want me to show you around?”

Intrigued, I hitched an
eyebrow.
There’s more?

Sweeping his other in front of us, he
said with amusement, “Here it is…”

I gave him a courtesy laugh. “Real
funny.”

“It’s not much, but its
home.”

Home.
Once upon a time
,
the idea of a tent as a ‘home’ would have seemed
sad, but nothing sounded more appealing in this moment. It wasn’t
so much the accommodations; it was who I would be sharing them
with. That’s what mattered. This mobile compound would be my
home.

He turned to face me, taking both my
hands in his, his lips inches from mine. In this light-filled tent,
I could see every speck of color in his eyes – the variations of
blue with silvery streaks and bursts of darker blue around the
edges. A shadow of whiskers ran along his jawline; it made him look
distinguished. Sexy.

“
I’m glad you’re going to
be living with us, Kat,” he said, low and breathy. His eyes trailed
down to my lips. Oh, God… this was it – our first kiss. My heart
raced like a steam engine, and desire ran hot and thick through my
veins – my body igniting. This boy did so many things to
me.

Footfalls tromped past the tent, and
Kai stuck his head inside. “You two will have plenty of time for
that in a few days. We need to get her back before they realize
she’s gone.”

I sighed internally as
Gabriel pulled away.
Damn.

“Sorry, Kai. On our way,” Gabe
said.

Begrudgingly, we left the tent, and
Gabriel pulled me toward the horses. We stopped by the tallest one
– white with grey speckles along his back – and he untied the rope
tethering the horse’s bridle to the trunk. Gabriel shot me a
gorgeously devious look. “I’ll take you back in style tonight. The
long way.”

I melted. Who was I to argue? He could
take me to the armpit of the skankiest city in the world for all I
cared.

He sweetly stoked the horse’s mane,
looking the magnificent beast in the eyes. A foreign language
rolled from his tongue. “Caute ambula nocte, veterem amicum. Cara
mihi quid egeris.”

The horse snorted as if he knew
exactly what he’d said, and I marveled.

“Now for you,” Gabe said, drawing his
attention to me, “have you ridden a horse before?”

When I was five.
“Sure,” I replied, my voice betraying my
uncertainty.

“Here,” he said, taking my hand and
pulling me to stand beside him. He placed my hand on the horse’s
mane, sweeping my fingers through the coarse hair. “His name is
Legolas.”

I cocked my head. “As in the elf from
the Lord of the Rings?”

“I’m a fan,” he shrugged with a rueful
smile.

“Well he’s beautiful,” I cooed. And he
was – brown eyes like drops of chocolate; splashes of grey in his
white mane to match the speckles on his back. Sculpted muscles ran
along the length of his lean, sturdy legs. He was a majestic
creature. “What did you say to him? What language was
that?”

“Latin,” he said, tucking my hair
behind my ear as I continued stroking and admiring Legolas, “We all
speak it here; it’s the language of our ancestors. And I told him
to walk carefully tonight. That he’s carrying something precious to
me.”

My hand paused mid-stroke, my doe-eyes
looking up to him. Before I could fully process what he’d said, he
braced his strong hands on my waist to help hoist me onto his
horse. “Let’s get going.”

Apparently he was just as anxious for
us to have some alone time as I was.

CHAPTER TWELVE

___________________

Lucky

Gabriel wound me and Legolas through
the pines while holding his bridle, and I noted the woods were more
enchanting in the early morning hours – the darkest part of night,
right before the sun came up. It helped that the dew had already
settled on the ground, sparkling in the fading moonlight and giving
the usual pine-scented smell of the woods a crisp, earthy aroma. I
was in heaven.

After a stint of silence, minus the
clomping of hooves, I decided to initiate the conversation on the
way back this time. “So have other hybrids refused your family’s
invitation?”

He looked up at me with an unreadable
expression. “Some have.”

Why?
I wondered. They offered everything – a life with protection,
lasting relationships and stability. “I guess others just wanted to
try this on their own?”

“Yes, and we all worry about them.
When they leave us, I see their faces before I sleep sometimes and
wonder if the witches ever found them. Or wonder how they’re faring
with their immortality.”

My stomach churned. I had definitely
made the right choice. For many reasons, including Gabriel. I then
understood their enthusiasm over my answer – I was one less they’d
have to worry about. I now had a new respect for Iris’ desire to
seek our kind out to save them and guide them through this
lifestyle.

“I’m sorry,” was all I could think to
say.

He nodded his thanks.

“So how old are you?” I
asked to change the subject, and I don’t know why, but I almost
dreaded his answer. Like the fact that he might be hundreds or
thousands of years old would make a difference to me somehow. I
knew I was being silly;
I
would be hundreds of years old one day. The idea
felt surreal.

“I’ve been with Iris and Kai for close
to ten years,” he replied, his voice trailing as he thought. “So
that makes me seventy-one, I guess.”

Not as old as I thought. And nope, it
didn’t make a difference to me. He was still hot. “Who’s the oldest
of the group? Iris?”

“Iris is actually younger than me.
She’s in her fifties. Kai is fairly young too. He’s in his
thirties.”

Huh.
I debated this next question as I picked the frayed stitching
on the saddle, but asked anyway. “So if they’re younger than you,
why do they look a little… older?”

He hesitated. “For some reason, some
hybrids quit aging past eighteen. I think Iris and Kai quit aging
in their thirties. At least that’s what Iris says.” He cut his eyes
up to me. “But I wouldn’t say anything to them about it. Especially
Iris. Sometimes she gets touchy about it.”

“I won’t. So who was the first one
they’d found?”

“Me. And I’m glad they did. I was
getting tired of moving from town to town, pretending to be a
graduate and working little-to-no-pay jobs until it was time to
move on again. Crappy apartments, no real friends because I knew
I’d have to move on eventually. Sucked.”

I cringed. Had they not found me, that
could have been my fate one day once my family had… I released the
thought before it had a chance to depress me. “Did you ever figure
out why you never aged?”

“Like my gift with flowers, I figured
it had something to do with my heritage. I knew my father was an
angel.”

“What’s he like?”

“Not sure.”

Not sure?
“You’ve… never met?”

“Only twice – the day I was born, but
of course I don’t remember that, and the day my mother died. She
passed my junior year in high school.”

My heart sank. “I’m so sorry,
Gabe.”

He didn’t reply, and my
heart sank further.
Is he fighting
tears?
I contemplated sliding off the
horse to hug him when he finally spoke. “But I guess that’s the way
it goes when you’re the offspring of an angel,” he said, and
although he attempted to say it bravely, I picked up shades of
grief beneath his words. “When the mortal parent dies, you’re on
your own.”

The idea mortified me; how could any
parent – angel or not – leave their kid to fend for
themselves?

“I don’t let it bother me, though,” he
added, even braver. “I know he’s busy. He’s a messenger angel, and
the Creator has him running all over the world.”

Still, though. The idea seemed
repugnant. I was then infinitely grateful for my situation. My mom
had chosen to give up her status as an angel to dedicate herself to
her husband and family. My love for her swelled.

“So who was the next hybrid you guys
found?” I asked to change the subject… again. I was sucking at this
conversation thing.

“Raymond, and then Brad. Next was
Aubrey, Piper and then Colton.”

“How have they dealt with their
immortality?”

“Raymond seems to do pretty well, and
Piper and Colton are kind of new at it. They’re technically in
their twenties – the youngest of us. Aubrey, however, has had it
kind of rough.”

“Really?” I asked, hoping he would
give me more.

“
Yeah, she lived with us
for a few years, and then broke away for a year to try it on her
own.”

The idea unsettled me. If she didn’t
like this lifestyle, was there a possibility I wouldn’t? “She
didn’t like living with you guys?”

He shrugged. “Not sure it was that.
She got restless always being with the same people, I think. She’s
like a bird - doesn’t want to be caged.”

I could relate, unfortunately. I
needed my space, and I got restless easy if I felt confined. “But
she came back,” I noted.

“Yeah, she and Brad came back right
before we found you. Being immortal in a mortal world is
hard.”

“But they were only gone a
year.”

“Just enough time to build a life and
relationships you know you’ll have to break in a
decade.”

Oh… Brad must have not
wanted to let her do it alone,
so they
left together and came back together
.
Living as a nomad was the lesser
of the two evils.
My memory jogged back to
two nights ago when Kai had said he considered immortality a gift,
and someone snorted. Must have been Aubrey. This explained a lot
with her – her reluctance to become insta-friends with me, her
struggle with enthusiasm. I ardently hoped that wasn’t my fate.
Would Gabriel be so supportive of me if
I
ever
wanted to leave? And could I even ask him to? This was his
family.

“Besides, you feel like you have to
constantly look over your shoulder, in continual fear of witches.
None had found me before Iris did, but that doesn’t mean anything.
It could be only a matter of time – days, years… hours.”

“So are these our two options? Nomad
life or blending in with mortals for ten to fifteen years at a
time?” I asked.

“Pretty much. Aubrey and Brad could
have been nomads on their own, I guess. We feel safer with Iris.
But there might be one other option… ” his voice trailed as he
contemplated. “Or so we hear. Don’t repeat this either. Iris
doesn’t like us to talk about it. She says it gives us false
hope.”

“Okay…”

“Raymond is older than me – the oldest
of our group. And he said he’d once heard about a colony of
half-breeds somewhere.”

The idea of this secret colony excited
me. “Really? You think it’s true?”

“Iris says it’s not. Says she’s never
heard of it.”

“What do
you
think?”

He paused. “I try not to think of it.
What’s the point if it’s probably not real?”

Good point. But a part of
me wanted to believe that it
was
real - a colony where we didn’t have to
constantly be on the move and live in tents. It might be the
closest thing to a normal life us hybrids could have. Why would
Iris want to crush that? It had to have been part selfishness – she
liked having her makeshift family all to herself. I wanted to press
the subject further, but I could tell Gabriel wasn’t up for it.
Next subject. “So when we get to Ireland to visit my family, we’ll
need to let Kai see my brother Sam and test his blood,
right?”

“Yes. The way Kai explains it, is it’s
not enough to go by the aura. There’s a reason he has to test
blood. Some humans might have a trace of angel – an angel way back
in their bloodline – and they’ll have silvery threads in their
aura. So sometimes it’s hard to tell if they’re an actual immortal
going by that alone. The blood never lies, though.”