Chameleon (Supernaturals) (31 page)

“Dad took me to the park while we waited to have the tire fixed and there in the sandbox was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. I was so beside myself that I kicked over her sand castle, for which she hit me in the face with her shovel. She gave me a fat lip and when I started to cry she felt so bad she offered to kiss it better. I let her. It was our first kiss. Her mother has the whole thing on video.

“After that, Dani held my hand and refused to let me leave the park. Our parents had to literally pry us apart and we both threw such fits that my dad decided just to stay. He bought a house two blocks away from that park and Dani and I have been inseparable ever since. How’s that for a story?

“Or, I know! How about the time she cut off a chunk of Megan Fischer’s hair in the second grade because Megan said she was going to marry me. Or how we used to spend the night at each other’s houses because sometimes having to be apart all night was just too hard for us. Of course her dad nipped that one in the bud when we were about ten because he knew there was nothing brother-sisterly about our relationship even then. Oh, and this one time—”

“I think you’ve made your point, Russ.” I glanced into the back seat. Gabriel looked much closer to throwing up than he had before.

“What point?” Russ asked innocently. “He asked for a story about you. He’s right, I have a million. I could go on for hours.”

I shut him up with just a look.

Russ had to carry me
out of the car. I’d already dropped the cloaking spell about ten minutes before that, but it didn’t matter. There was no one around for miles.

“Where are we?” I asked as he carried me up the steps. The cute little farmhouse looked vaguely familiar but I couldn’t place it. “I’ve been here before.”

Russ laughed at me. “No you haven’t. This is the house I lived in when I was born. We lived here until my mom left. Dad gave me the address yesterday, but I’ve never been here since—at least not that I remember. I didn’t know we still owned this place.”

“Oh.” That didn’t make sense but I was too tired to argue. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against Russ’s shoulder. “I must have just seen a picture of it somewhere. It’s pretty.”

“You’re pretty,” Russ said. When I smiled he finished his sentence with, “Pretty wasted. We need to get you in bed.”

Russ knocked on the door with his foot. After a minute the door swung open. When Alex saw me he gasped. “Dani? What’s wrong with her? What have they done to her?”

“I’m fine,” I said as Russ brought me inside and laid me down on a couch. “Just tired. It’s been a long day, and cloaking the three of us plus the car was harder than I thought it would be.”

“The three of you?” Alex asked.

I smiled and held my hand out to Gabriel who stood in the doorway. Gabriel shuffled awkwardly past Russ’s startled father and took my hand. It wasn’t enough. I pulled him down to the couch with me. After soaking in his energy for a moment, I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Alex. “Alex Devereaux, I’d like you to meet Gabriel. The Seer.”

Alex stumbled backward and gaped at Russ. “You kidnapped the Seer?”

“And stole a car to get us here,” I said.

“He also burned down a warehouse in Newark,” Gabriel added.

I laughed at that.

Alex had to sit down.

“I didn’t kidnap him,” Russ grumbled. “I didn’t even want to bring him. Dani wouldn’t come without him.”

Alex turned his astonishment on me, noticing again that I was cradled in Gabriel’s arms. He waited for an explanation, but I was so exhausted I fell asleep. “Danielle,” Gabriel whispered, shaking me a little. “Just a few more minutes.”

Alex sighed. “All right. You boys can explain everything after we get Dani taken care of. Russ, take her upstairs and get her in bed. Her room is the first door on the left.”

Russ reached for me and in my half delirious state I panicked. “No! I’m not leaving Gabriel!”

Russ groaned and Gabriel held me tighter. “Do not worry,” he said. “I will stay with you.”

“What is this?” Alex asked to no one in particular.

Russ was more than happy to explain it. “The Supreme High Councilor left her cut off from all supernatural presence for over two weeks.”

“He did
what
?” Alex cried, outraged. “With her aura? That’s not even possible. The cravings would kill her.”

“They nearly did,” Gabriel whispered. He smiled down at me. “I almost lost her.”

“But you saved me,” I assured him.

Alex stared at us like we were from another planet.

Russ sighed. “If Gabe here wasn’t a freaking pure she’d have been a goner. The Councilor starved her of all her supernatural energy in order to break her bonds with you and me. Then he locked her up with just him to help her recover. She’s been completely brainwashed. She panics at the thought of even being in a separate room than him. Duncan said their bond is unnatural.”

“If what you tell me is true, it most certainly is,” Alex said.

“Duncan thinks she physically can’t be without him now. He thinks she’ll get sick without his energy.”

“It is possible, I suppose. I’ve never heard of anyone attempting such a thing. To starve her during the cravings is…well it’s a cruelty I didn’t think the Councilor capable of.”

“He wasn’t being cruel!” Gabriel said. “He was trying to help her. She is the Chosen One. The Councilor was only trying to repair the damage
you
had already done.”

Alex was taken aback.

“Oh, yeah,” Russ added. “Did I mention the Councilor has been hijacking his brain since he was six? He’s more messed up than she is.”

“Shut up Russ! I’m sick of you being so mean!” I turned to Gabriel and said, “I know what the Councilor told you, but it’s not true. Alex is a good man. We can trust him.”

All of a sudden, Gabriel looked as tired as me. “Danielle, maybe we should go back to the consulate tomorrow.” He glanced nervously up at Russ and then Alex. “I do not think your friends want me here.”

“Of course you are welcome here, son,” Alex said calmly. He sat down next to us and smiled with the fatherly affection I’d always known him to have. “I’m only concerned for what has happened to you—both of you.” His eyes glossed over and his voice became uneven. “Dani if I’d had any idea they would torture you like that I never would have let them have you. I’m so sorry. Forgive me.”

My eyes filled with tears and I threw myself into his arms. I’d missed Alex almost as much as I missed my own parents.

After a minute Alex pulled me out of his chest and wiped my tears away. “It sounds like you’ve had a very rough day. Get some rest and I’ll help you get everything sorted out tomorrow.”

“Okay, but Gabriel stays with me.”

“Dani,” Alex said ruefully. “You know your father would kill me if I let the two of you share a room.”

“Oh, no it’s okay, we’re already married.” I held my left hand up so he could see the ring. “See? The council gave me to Gabriel as a mate.”

Alex nearly fell off the couch. “The council sanctioned your union?” he asked in disbelief.

Gabriel and I nodded.

“The vote was unanimous,” Gabriel said with redness creeping into his cheeks.

“It’s not real, right Dad?” Russ asked. “Please tell them they aren’t really married. They won’t believe me. Supernaturals don’t have arranged marriages. They can’t force her—”

Alex grimaced. “The council has the right to intervene in certain instances. If they have sanctioned it, then the binding is legal.”

Russ’s jaw dropped but he quickly recovered himself. “So they get a divorce.”

“Divorce is a human custom. Only the council could overturn the order, and they would never have forced the union in the first place if they didn’t see it absolutely necessary. I’m sorry, Dani.”

“It’s okay,” I said, avoiding Russ’s eyes. “I was really mad at first, but Gabriel is a good person. He’s helping me to deal with it.”

The front door slammed so violently then that the walls shook. I looked up startled and wasn’t that surprised to find Russ gone.

Alex sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. He seemed to have sprouted a few grey hairs over the course of this conversation. “All right. You kids go get some rest. We’ll worry about everything else tomorrow.”

. . . . .

The next day when I woke up, Gabriel was gone. I wandered downstairs where Russ and his dad were eating what looked like lunch. Russ snorted in disgust when he saw me. “Figures.”

“What?”

“You pass out for twelve hours, sleep through us holding an entire powwow in your room because Gabe refuses to leave your side, and the minute Romeo gets out of bed to take a shower suddenly you can’t sleep anymore.”

“Russell,” Alex warned.

“What? Doesn’t anybody else see how messed up this is? Even if we can’t get them unmarried, we need to fix Dani.”

“Oh! You are already up,” Gabriel walked into the kitchen with wet hair and in fresh clothes. He sat down next to me and took my hand. “I am glad to see you awake. Are you feeling better?”

“Much,” I said. “But I think we should probably lay low here for a few days. Yesterday really wiped me out.”

“Of course. Whatever you need.”

Russ snorted again and I was happy to see Alex whack him in the back of the head.

“Maybe we should try to fix him too,” Russ grumbled, rubbing his head. “He’s completely whipped.”

“No worse than you are,” I spat at Russ.

“Excuse me, you do not have me whipped. I am totally the boss in our relationship.”

“Yeah right. That’s just what I want you to think.”

Alex pushed the two of us into chairs at the table with a sigh. “I see there are some things even brainwashing could never change.”

He set a bowl and a box of Lucky Charms in front of me. I smiled because I know he bought that box of cereal just for me since neither him nor Russ will eat it. He saw my smile and kissed the top of my head. “We missed you Dani.” He went to the fridge for the milk and said, “I have to go up to Princeton’s library to research those items you brought me today. We need to figure out what kind of ritual they might be used in. I was thinking Gabriel could come with me and the two of you could stay here. We’d be back by this evening, of course. We need to know if your separation anxiety is really physical, or just an emotional result of being cared for by Gabriel before we can even think about fixing you.”

“Awesome,” Russ chirped. “When are you guys leaving?”

Gabriel had taken the seat next to me and was eyeing the bowl of marshmallowy goodness as if he’d never seen cold cereal before. I clutched his hand, my chest seizing up in that familiar anxious way when Alex mentioned spending the day apart. “I don’t know about this.”

“Brainwashees don’t get a say in this, Dani,” Russ said. “That’s like letting a mental patient choose whether or not they need therapy.”

“I’m not crazy!”

“No one who’s crazy ever thinks they are. It’s when you know you’re losing your mind that you’re really sane.”

“You’re the one who needs therapy!”

“Dani, Russ, knock it off.”

Russ and I stopped bickering, giving Gabriel the chance to speak. “What if I do not want Danielle to be fixed?” he asked Alex.

Russ laughed. “Of course
you
don’t.”

“That is not what I mean.” Gabriel finally sounded angry. “What if she is not supposed to be fixed? The council believes we are meant to be together. What if this connection we have is not because of the bond? What if it really is our destiny? The council thinks I am the one spoken of by the Oracle. What if you change this and we can no longer fulfill the prophecy?”

My heart sunk even lower. “I hadn’t thought about that. Do you really think that could happen?”

“Dani, he’s just trying to scare you.”

“The prophecy says that only the truest love will keep you an agent for good,” Gabriel reminded me.

“And you honestly think that’s you?” Russ asked. “I got news for you dude, Dani doesn’t—”

“Danielle, tell them what you see when you look into my future.”