Chameleon (Supernaturals) (44 page)

“Excuse me?”

“You’re the Chosen One, aren’t you? You choose.”

“Russ that is the stupidest—”

“No, he is right,” Gabriel interrupted. “You are the Chosen One. This task was appointed to you, Danielle. It should be your decision.”

“But I don’t know what the right answer is. Yeah the council sucks, but Gabriel’s right. They would have no problem stopping Robert. And they aren’t
all
bad.”

“Dani!” Russ was frustrated with me now.

“But,” I added quickly. “If there is any chance that we could persuade the resistance that war is not the way to find balance, and that I’m willing to help them if they can find a peaceful solution, then they would be greater allies to us than the council. Both ways could be right. Or, both ways could get us captured and tortured until we agree to help them.”

“The council would never do that,” Gabriel said.

“They already have once,” I reminded him. “What’s to say they won’t do it again?”

Gabriel’s face filled with frustration. “They wouldn’t.”

“You can’t know that Gabriel. I’m sure you thought they would never have done what they did to me. Didn’t you?”

Gabriel sighed. “No,” he admitted hesitantly. “I did not believe the Councilor capable of such actions. I was shocked when I learned of your treatment.”

“So you don’t know the Councilor as well as you think you do,” Russ said smugly. “Do you?”

A dangerous look flashed across Gabriel’s face and he growled, “Better than you know your own father.”

I had to tackle Russ to the ground to keep him from killing Gabriel. “Enough!” I shouted. “Both of you!”

“You’d better hurry and pick a plan,” Russ spat. “Or I swear I’m going to kick your husband’s ass.”

“No. We’ll decide together.”

“No. We won’t. I picked a plan. He picked a plan. You’re the tie breaker.”

“BUT I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO!”

“Danielle,” Gabriel said, having calmed himself down. “The prophecy says true love is the only thing that will help you decide.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. “Oh, no!” I started backing away from them both. “No, no, no. That is not fair!”

Russ stared me down with conviction and Gabriel looked nearly as determined.

“Come on you guys,” I said desperately. “Don’t make me do this.”

“Why not?” Russ asked. “It is your
destiny
after all. Isn’t it? You can’t keep stringing us both along forever.”

“I am not—” I was so angry I could hardly form words. “—stringing you along!”

“The hell you’re not!”

“How many times have I told you I have accepted Gabriel! I
choose
Gabriel! How is that stringing you along? You and Alex are my family. Gabriel is my husband. You want me to find you a dictionary so you can look up the difference?”

Russ stood toe to toe with me, furiously shaking with anger, but I stood my ground. “If you’re so hell bent on me making this call based on
destiny
then it looks like we’re going to the consulate.”

“That is so much bull and you know it! The prophecy says true love is what will help you. You’re only choosing him because you feel obligated.”

When I shook my head, Russ rolled his eyes. “Don’t deny it.”

“I’m not denying it, Russ. Gabriel and I have a connection. I can feel it.”

Russ laughed an angry laugh. “Of course you can! That was the point of your torture! The Councilor broke you and then let the Seer fix you specifically so that you would feel that connection. What you feel for him isn’t real. Physically yeah—any moron can see that you’re attracted to him—but love? Do you
love
him Dani?”

I was startled by the question. I shifted my gaze to Gabriel and when our eyes met I didn’t need a vision to see into his soul. I felt
something
in my heart stir, but love? Could I possibly love him?

“You can’t say it,” Russ said, breaking into the stare Gabriel and I had locked down. “You don’t love him.”

“How would I know if I did?” I argued. “How can I trust anything I feel when my relationships with both of you were severely manipulated?”

“We’re more than some stupid supernatural bond and you know it.”

“No, I don’t know that Russ! I’m so messed up I don’t understand any of my feelings about anything anymore. The only thing I know for sure is that when I look into his future, I don’t just see lovey-dovey moments. I see important moments. Decisions being made. It’s like the Creator is showing me the path to take. She is telling me I can trust Gabriel, and that I need him. I can’t ignore that.”

Russ shook his head. “You love me,” he insisted. “I know you do and I can prove it.”

“Nobody can prove that.”

“Kiss me.”

“What?”

“The Councilor broke your bonds right? That means whatever you feel for me right now is all you. So kiss me.
Really
kiss me. If you can honestly tell me you don’t love me like that—that I’m really no more than a best friend to you—then I’ll give up. I’ll let Gabriel have his stupid destiny.”

I gasped. Middle of the night? Random parking lot? Tension so thick it could choke a person? Suddenly this scene was all too familiar.

“I swear it, Dani. I will leave you alone. I’ll give you my freaking blessing if you want it. But you have to be absolutely positive.”

“Russ.” I felt like I might actually vomit. “I.…”

I turned my eyes to Gabriel. He looked as sick as I did, and I’d seen this look on his face before. This was it. The moment I looked back at Russ I knew he was going to kiss me, and then Gabriel was going to walk out of my life. I started to panic. I hadn’t seen this coming. I wasn’t ready to lose Gabriel. I
couldn’t
lose him.

You can change it.

The thought did not come from me, but I seized it the moment it entered my mind. “I can change it,” I whispered to myself.

“Danielle?” Gabriel asked while Russ demanded, “Change
what
?”

“You look very upset Danielle. What have you seen?” Gabriel asked. “Tell us and we can help you.”

But they couldn’t help me. This was a decision no one could help me with. I backed out of Russ’s reach expecting to need a minute to think, but the moment I took that step I knew. In fact I’d already made this decision when I didn’t change my vision of accepting Gabriel. And I’d made it again tonight when I’d agreed to leave with him.

I glanced between Gabriel and Russ several times. I knew that right now I would be saying goodbye to one of them. As much as it surprised me, and as much as I loved Russ, when it came down to it, it was Gabriel I couldn’t part with. That would be a devastation I wouldn’t recover from. That’s why the Creator chose to show me this particular moment. Without already knowing its outcome I wouldn’t have been able to make the decision.

I looked at Russ expecting my eyes to fill with tears. Instead I felt a wave of calm relief wash over me. “I don’t need to kiss you to know that we’re more than a supernatural bond Russ. Of course I know that. But Gabriel and I are more than that too. I don’t know how I know that, I just do. I can
feel
it.”

Russ’s face turned an angry red while Gabriel’s seemed to turn pale. I smiled at Gabriel and took hold of his hand. He seemed too scared to breathe as he waited for me to continue speaking. “I am not choosing you out of obligation,” I told him. “What I feel for you doesn’t feel the same as what I feel for Russ, but I
do
love you.”

Gabriel’s eyes glossed over and he finally managed a tiny smile. “And I love you Danielle. From the instant I first saw you, I was in love with you.”

Our moment was shattered by the sound of glass breaking. Russ had put his fist through the driver’s side window of his father’s car. He was bleeding all over but didn’t seem to care.

I tried to see if he was all right, but he wrenched himself away when I reached out to him.

“I’m so sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” he repeated incredulous. “You’re
sorry
? After an entire life together that’s all I get from you?”

I shrugged helplessly. “You’re still my best friend,” I said quietly. “I still love you Russ. Always. I promise.”

My hand went to the necklace around my throat. When I touched it Russ looked away, hurt. Without words he opened the door, brushed aside the broken glass and climbed behind the wheel of the car.

“Where are you going?” I asked through the missing window after he’d slammed the door shut. “What are you going to do?”

“What do you care?”

“Russ.”

“You were never just a best friend to me, Dani. Ever. I can’t stick around and watch you make the biggest mistake of your life.”

My eyes and nose started to burn and I sniffled before I spoke. “You’re right. Splitting up probably is the best thing for us.”

Russ had still been hoping I’d change my mind and choose him up until that very moment. I could see it in his eyes as he finally gave up. Instead of watching his heart break, the way Gabriel’s had in my vision, I watched him turn to ice. I swear the warmth literally drained from his entire body.

He grabbed our quilt that I’d left on the back seat and threw it at me through the broken window. “Take this stupid thing with you.”

That’s the moment I went numb. All of this was too much. I pulled the quilt to my chest and just stopped feeling. “I’ll miss you,” I admitted to both of us.

Russ revved the engine and then smiled a cold, cruel smile at me. “See you around,
Danielle
.”

I had to jump back when he gunned it and went speeding off. I stood there staring at him until long after he was out of sight. I was in shock. I couldn’t believe he was really gone. Forever.

I didn’t move until I felt Gabriel’s hand come down on my shoulder. “I’m sorry Danielle. I’m sure you need a moment, but I fear we must leave now. Mr. Devereaux is sure to wake soon.”

The mention of Alex snapped me out of it. Gabriel was right. There was too much going on at the moment to let myself fall apart.

I stumbled over to Alex and stared down at his sleeping form. “My whole life,” I said to no one in particular. “He treated me like a daughter. I thought he really loved me.”

Gabriel came to stand next to me and weaved our fingers together. “I believe he really does. He may have wanted to use your power, but his affection for you was real.
Is
real. Russ’s too. I believe they will both always love you.”

I let go a long heavy sigh. “I know. I know that. Alex may have kept things from Russ and me, but he’s still a good man. In his own way he really was doing what he thought was best for us. That’s all he’s ever done. I can’t even blame him for what he did to his wife. He did it to save Russ’s life. I’ve killed a werewolf and a vampire now for the same reason and I’d do it again.”

I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I knelt down next to Alex. “He’s a good man,” I said again as I found his wallet.

“Are you
robbing
him, Danielle?”

I chuckled a little at Gabriel’s horror. “You’re too pure for your own good. We’re going to need the cash and he’d insist on giving it to me anyway if he was awake.”

Gabriel didn’t argue. I put Alex’s wallet back in his pocket and got a little choked up knowing it was time to leave him. With Russ gone it was that much harder to say goodbye to Alex. He was the last of my family. Once I walked away from him I would officially have lost everyone I’ve ever cared about in my whole former life.

One tear became many as I bent over and pressed my lips to Alex’s cheek. “Love you, Alex.”

I stood up and reached out for Gabriel but he stepped back. “Don’t you need to remain a warlock?” he asked.

I hadn’t even realized I was one, but when I’d kissed Alex I’d changed. I thought about it for a moment and then shook my head. “There’s no point. I’m too exhausted to hold a spell right now. We just need to find a place to rest for a while and then we can figure out what we’re going to do in the morning.

“Very well.”

Gabriel was relieved that he was allowed to pull me to him and I happily sank into his embrace. He hugged me for a moment, and then tucked me into his side as he walked me away from Alex.

We found a park about a mile or so away, and, too tired to go any further, we climbed into the big plastic tube of a slide hoping it might do something to hide our auras as well as block the chill of the night. My quilt wasn’t very big, but it was way better than nothing and coupled with the shelter of the tube and Gabriel’s warm body I was actually quite comfortable.

It wasn’t until we were settled and things got quiet that I really started to feel the consequence of my decision. When I closed my eyes my mind wandered and I couldn’t stop it from thinking about Russ. The moment I thought about the kiss we’d shared in my vision, the vision itself began to play again in my mind.