Ignited (28 page)

What could my future with Gabe hold? He said we fit, and he was right. We were alike in so many ways. Fierce protectors of our families. Survivors.

Gabe’s voice dropped off, and I looked up expecting him to be asleep. Instead I found him staring down at me. “Where are you tonight?” he asked.

“Do you know when my feelings for you changed?”

Gabe shifted, rolling onto his side so that we faced each other. He tugged a blanket over us and reached for my hand. “I suspect it was when we bonded, but I could be off about that.”

I shoved him and he gave a quiet laugh. “Smart-ass. But do you know why my feelings shifted?”

He was quiet for a moment and then he said, “In the beginning, I worried it was because you had mistaken me for Asher.”

I reeled away from him, though our joined hands didn’t let me go far. “You’re not interchangeable, you know.”

“I know,” he said. “But you love us both.”

Sometimes the truth hurt, but I wouldn’t lie to Gabe. “You’re right. It shredded me to feel something for both of you, so I pretended that I could never care about you. But you wouldn’t stay in the box where I’d put you.”

He didn’t judge me, but then he’d known how I felt. “The one marked enemy?”

“No. The one marked friend, idiot.”

“I’m stubborn that way.” He kissed my nose, and then gave me an expectant look. “So tell me about how great I am and how you couldn’t resist me.”

I laughed. “It wasn’t like that. Do you remember the night you rescued me in San Francisco? We thought Asher had died, and I wanted to die, too. You wouldn’t let me.”

“I yelled at you when you wouldn’t heal yourself,” he said with a grimace.

I laid a hand over his heart. “You also sang to me and helped me heal myself and nursed me and held me while I cried for your brother. You were there for me before I even knew I needed you. You always have been.”

His heart jumped under my fingertips, skipping a beat.

“I didn’t want to care about you then, Gabe, but you’re pushy. Every time I turned around you were there, and now I can’t imagine it any other way. You make me happy. I’ve laughed more with you than I ever have.”

There hadn’t been a lot of joy in my life. I hadn’t played or laughed freely, but Gabe gave that to me. It felt like I betrayed Asher to admit that.

His features softened. “You love him, Remy. I know that. I’m not asking you to stop.” He tugged me closer, his lips touching mine. And then he pulled back to say, “But if you could maybe arrange to not kiss him and promise to love me a little more, I would be okay with that.”

I suppressed another laugh, shaking my head. “I do love you, Gabe.”

“I know, Remington. I’ve just been waiting for you to figure it out.”

The certainty in his voice bound me to him a little more. He’d been so sure of me, and it warmed me to my toes to know someone had that much faith in me. That he’d loved me enough to wait for me to come around to my feelings only made it sweeter.

Gabe rolled to his back, taking me with him. “Is it too soon to ask for a favor?”

I lifted my head to give him a suspicious look.

He tugged the neck of his T-shirt slightly askew so I could see the edge of Lottie’s latest artwork. “She used permanent marker. It’s not washing off.”

He looked sheepish, and I grinned. I laid my hand over his heart and “healed” the latest marker tattoo. Then I pointed at my lips and said, “I expect payment in kisses. At least seven or eig—”

Later, much, much later, he held me while I tilted into sleep. I was almost disappearing into a dream when he whispered, “Psst. Read the marker.”

I blinked and pulled away enough to peek inside my shirt. The writing wasn’t Lottie’s. It was Gabe’s. He’d penned a heart, and inside the heart it said GABRIELA LOVES REMINGTON.

I dissolved into giggles that grew louder when Gabe insisted that he should probably check his artwork.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-
FOUR

I
n the morning, Gabe and Asher set out together. It had been Gabe’s idea. The two of them had been avoiding each other, but it would be difficult to continue that in a house with so many people. Gabe had given up his room to Asher to stay on the couch in the family room, but I don’t think anyone was fooled when he could never be found there. He had convinced Asher that they should get away from all the girls and go do manly stuff. Gabe had mentioned the gym, but I suspected they’d probably sneaked off to a pub for a Guinness.

Lottie had griped about not getting to go with them, but she’d given up when Gabe produced a Sharpie and brandished it in her direction with a scowl. After lunch, Lucy, Erin, and I decided to spend the time training. Apparently, Asher had been working with Lucy for a while.

“I’m tired of being the powerless one,” she said as we moved furniture in the family room. “Whenever the fighting breaks out, everyone scrambles to cover me because I’m so freaking helpless. After what happened in Muir Woods, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I asked Asher to teach me a few things, and we’ve been working together when we can.”

It surprised me, but I was glad. Maybe a little hurt that Lucy hadn’t included me, but then she’d hardly been speaking to me then. “I should have suggested it sooner, Lucy. I know how it sucks to feel like you can’t fight back. I’m sorry I made you feel that way.”

She shrugged off my apology. “You didn’t make me feel anything. I let you take care of me because I was scared. I want to pull my own weight now. I don’t want you to have to risk your life to save me. I want to save myself.” She turned around and saw the look on my face. “What?” she asked.

I shook my head with a smile. “Nothing. It seems we’ve both been doing a lot of growing up.”

Erin shoved a table to the side. She straightened and her eyes latched on to my chest. “Lottie strike again?” she asked.

I glanced down and saw the edge of Gabe’s drawing showing above my tank top. The blush started at my chest and worked its way up to my ears. That was like waving a red flag at Erin and Lucy. They tackled me at once, tugging the neck of my shirt aside. They shared knowing glances.

“Ahem. That doesn’t look like Lottie’s handwriting,” Lucy said.

Erin suggested, “Need a hand healing that?”

No way.
I stuck my tongue out at them and zipped up my hoodie. “Shut up. Let’s get to work.”

Since Erin and Lucy had begun working around the same time—and both lacked Protector blood—they were fairly matched in a fight. I stood to the side, instructing them as Asher or Gabe would. Lucy turned out to be a pretty great fighter. She had good instincts and could guess what her opponent would do next. When she’d thrown Erin for the third time, I stepped in.

I took Erin’s place and dropped into a crouch. “Come on, Lucy. Try that with me. I want you to see what it will be like against someone bigger and stronger. You wouldn’t be able to throw a man off balance in the same way.”

Lucy’s eyes took on a speculative glint. She gave too much away, and I guessed she planned to come at me with everything she had. I readied myself and waited. A second later, she swung out with her arm. She tipped forward too far, losing her center of balance. I used her weight against her, grabbing her arm and tugging her toward me. Instead of meeting resistance, she fell forward and I used her arm to flip her through the air. Too late, I realized that I’d put too much force into the move and I cursed. What might have tipped her over before sent her flying with the help of my newfound strength. I sped forward to keep her from hitting the wall, but her chin smacked into my head. We collapsed in a heap on the ground, both of us moaning.

“Sorry, Lucy. I didn’t mean to throw you like that.”

“I guessed that when you yelled ‘shit’ in my ear.” She touched her bloody mouth. “Ow. I bit my tongue when I headbutted you.”

I scowled at the ceiling from where I sprawled. “I think I’m about to have the mother of all headaches.”

Erin stepped forward, and I waved her over to Lucy. “Can you help her, Erin?”

She nodded and knelt on the ground by my sister. I winced, rubbing my eyes. How was I going to know the limits of my abilities if the line kept moving? A week ago I couldn’t have thrown Lucy like that, but I hadn’t been so strong. My head throbbed, and I squinted, letting my energy unwind through me to see if I could heal the goose egg already forming on my scalp. I sensed Erin’s energy in the air, even though I wasn’t touching her. The monster perked up, and I thought,
Quiet, beast. Nothing for you here.

“Damn,” Erin said.

I rolled my head toward her. She had a hand on Lucy’s arm, and she frowned at the blood seeping from my sister’s cut lip. “What’s wrong?”

“My powers don’t seem to be working.”

“What happened here?” Asher said, coming down the stairs. He walked over to Lucy, tipping her head up so he could examine the cut.

Gabe entered the room behind him and crouched over me. “What’s up, Buttercup?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Call me Buttercup again, and I break a finger.”

He tapped my nose. “Violent today, aren’t we?”

I stuck my tongue out at him, and his gaze dropped to my mouth. I snapped my mental wall in place so he wouldn’t hear what that did to me, while we were surrounded by others. His mouth curved in a promise that we’d talk about it later.

“There!” Erin said. “Finally!”

Purple sparks lit the air between Lucy and Erin and the cut on Lucy’s lip disappeared. Asher helped them both up. His gaze slid to his brother and me for a second, and his mouth compressed into a tight line. He saw me looking at him, and he forced a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. A pain in my chest throbbed, and I stared after him as he climbed the stairs with the girls.

Fingers snapped in front of my face. Gabe gave me an understanding look, and I shrugged off the ache. It was what it was. Everyone had made their choices, and we would have to live with them.

“Up with you!” Gabe said, pulling me to my feet. “Obviously you need training. If you’re on your back, you’re not doing it right.”

I snickered at his unintentional innuendo.

He shook his head. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Remington. We have work to do.” He stripped off his T-shirt and kicked off his shoes. His jeans rode low on his hips, and my mouth watered like I’d discovered a dessert buffet. He smirked, and I guessed he’d done it on purpose.

I smiled and unzipped my hoodie, throwing it toward the couch. His eyes latched on to the edge of his artwork on my chest above the tank top and his breath caught. I used his inattention to knock his feet out from under him. He landed on the floor staring up at the ceiling.

“If you’re on your back, you’re not doing it right,” I observed.

I danced out of his reach when he made a grab for me, and the game was on.

“How did things go with Asher today?” I asked Gabe.

We were in the kitchen. The two of us had been volunteered for kitchen duty for the night, which meant Gabe did the cooking and I would do the cleanup so that everyone would survive the meal without food poisoning. While he buzzed about the kitchen, pulling together something he’d called shepherd’s pie (which looked like Hamburger Helper topped with mashed potatoes), I sat on the kitchen counter to keep him company.

“Awkward and painful,” he said, stirring vegetables into the ground beef and gravy. He shrugged. “So basically what I expected.”

I felt for him. I wasn’t sure how to behave around Asher yet. While I wasn’t ashamed of Gabe, I didn’t want to flaunt things in front of Asher. We were stuck together and that meant we had to figure out a way to get past this.

Gabe touched my hand. “We’re going to be okay. Give it time.”

I smiled. “Did you put lima beans in that?” I asked, changing the subject.

He set aside his spoon and walked over to cage me in between his arms. “Why? Have you got a beef with lima beans?”

I smacked a kiss on his nose. “No. I like the way they pop in my mouth. They don’t taste great, but they have an awesome texture so they pass inspection.”

He grinned. “You have a rating system for food?”

“Of course.”

“And which foods pass both the texture and taste inspection ?”

“There’s really only one. Pop Rocks,” I lied, imagining the candy that exploded on your tongue.

He shook his head. “That’s not a food. I’m realizing that most of your favorite meals can be classified as Fair Food.”

I pondered that. “What do you mean?”

“Fair Food. Foods that one would eat at a fair. I bet you love funnel cake.”

A laugh burst out of me. “It’s like you can see into my soul.”

His attention caught on my mouth, and I gripped the front of his T-shirt to tug him closer. We both groaned when my cell phone sounded off in my pocket. He took a step back so I could retrieve the phone.

My heart stopped when I saw which number was on the screen. “It’s Seamus.”

I answered and he wasted no time replying, “We have located your father.”

My breath heaved on an involuntary sob, and Gabe rested a hand on my thigh to offer strength. “Please tell me he’s okay.”

“He’s alive,” Seamus said in his thick Irish brogue.

That could mean that my dad was really hurt. I couldn’t think about that, though. I had to focus on the fact that he was alive. “What now, Seamus?”

I expected him to tell me the location and demand that I live up to my end of the bargain. After all, he’d found my father as promised. Retrieving him hadn’t been part of the deal.

“The Morriseys are keeping him at their home just outside of the city. Tomorrow half the Morrissey family is going to be in London for a meeting with your grandfather. We go in then.”

“We?” I asked.

“Is your father not my kin, too?” he asked in a defensive tone. “We should plan to meet in the morning to make a plan.”

“Gabe will come, too,” I said.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “But your human friends stay behind. They’re a liability we can’t afford. Sean will be around to pick you up at nine.”