Chapter Four

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 soldier; a fighter. He couldn’t let what had been done to him take that away. It was his duty to find out what was going on, to determine the risk, and take action. It was the only way he could stay true to himself. To not let the monster inside win.

He decided he would head back to the farmhouse but play it safe this time. He would stay out of sight, out of earshot, and see what he could find out. Then he would come back to the cabin and figure out what to do next. It was as good a plan as any.

Confident in his mission, Gabriel set off through the forest determined that whatever happened next, this time he would not lose his nerve. No matter what.

At the perimeter of the farm, he found a sheltered space beneath a tree and crouched down. The Army had taught him not to be hasty about approaching hostile territory. Last time determination had got the better of him, but he wouldn’t be making the same mistake twice. He knew what he was up against. Five female vampires and a wolf. Coming back to the farmhouse was risky, but he had so many questions and Aurora might be the only one with the answers.

All the lights were on inside the house, and as he snuck closer, it was easy for Gabriel to see into the rooms. Downstairs four females sat around a table and upstairs was Aurora. She was standing alone by the window looking up at the night sky.

He peered at her, willing his eyes to see closer, to notice the tiny details of her face, but she was too far away. Maybe if he crept forward, just a little…

Down on his stomach, Gabriel inched his way toward the house. There was every chance she would catch sight of him, but there was something about the way her shoulders hunched and the angle of her jaw that made him wonder if she was crying.

Despite his plan not to get too close, Gabriel moved in until he was only meters away from the house. Any sign of weakness would provide an inside edge, proof she was not as strong as she pretended to be. He told himself that was as good a reason as any to be this close, but the truth was that the sight of Aurora crying just made him want to be near her.

Mud and slush clung to his clothes, and snowflakes littered his hair. When he neared a tangle of trees just below the window, he stopped and looked up. He could see her as clearly as if she was standing right beside him, and she was crying. For some reason the sight of it made his chest hurt.

“She’s a vampire,” he reminded himself. “The only reason I’m here is to find out what the hell is going on. Do not let yourself be fooled.”

Hearing something move below, she glanced down.

“Shit.” He inched back and tried to fold himself in further beneath the branches. “This was a really stupid idea.”

When she turned away, he slid out from under the tree and hurried back toward the fence line. His wet clothes clung to his body, and even though he couldn’t feel the cold, he still did his best to brush away the excess snow.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you might be at risk of catching a cold.”

At the sound of a man’s voice, Gabriel spun around his hands up in a fighting stance. But all he could see was his own shadow stretched out across the snow.  “Who’s there? Show yourself!”

An unmistakable scent quickly wrapped itself around him. A vampire. His heart raced as he grabbed for his blade and spun around in every direction. “Where are you? Show yourself damn it!”

“Quiet child,” the voice whispered. “You don’t want everyone to hear you. They are quite angry with you. Especially that wolf.”

“Don’t play games with me,” Gabriel shouted. “Show yourself.”

“Calm yourself,” the voice whispered again. “No need to get so excited. I mean you no harm.”

“I swear to God…” Gabriel warned.

“Come now, there’s no need to bring Him into this.”

Before Gabriel could respond, a male vampire stepped out from the shadows. His pale skin shone in the moonlight and long black robes flowed out across the snow like an oil slick.

“Who are you?” Gabriel demanded. “Tell me your name.”

“There’s no need to fear me, child. Our kind gave up violence a long time ago.”

The vampire had the grace and charm of an old-world gentleman, yet his face had not aged beyond forty human years. His golden hair was spun into an intricate braid that twisted down to the small of his back and his skin was smooth like porcelain. He stepped closer and Gabriel felt himself being pulled into his eyes. Just for a moment, he thought he saw images of himself as a child reflected back.

“I don’t know who you are, but I swear I’ll stake you,” he warned.

“There will be no staking child. Not here and not anywhere. You are no threat to me.”

“Screw you. And stop calling me child,” Gabriel warned. “I’m no child, believe me. And you can’t tell me what to do.”

The vampire chuckled and circled him slowly. “And yet you sound just like a child Gabriel. You do see the irony?”

Gabriel had no idea how the vampire knew his name, but the game was wearing thin. “Now listen -”

“What you’re doing is wrong Gabriel. These descendants pose no threat to you or to humans. Quite the contrary in fact.”

It was that word again. Descendant. Descendant of what, he wondered.

“The way you think of yourself is also wrong, but it is not your fault. You should have been educated in our ways. You should have been mentored, although your hunting is quite unique. I’ve never come across a vampire that tries to kill, what he thinks, are his own kind. Not in all these years.”

Gabriel willed himself to fight back, to tell this stranger to shut the hell up, but something was stopping him. He felt calm inside, peaceful like when his mother had held him after a fall. “What are you doing to me?”

“Just helping you to listen child. You are far too rebellious for your own good.”

“You put a spell on me?”

“Not a spell, just a temporary adjustment of your emotions.”

“That’s a spell any way I see it,” he mumbled with all the fight he could muster. “Who are you?”

The vampire smiled and bowed his head. “Of course, forgive me. I am Lucius.”

“Lucius,” Gabriel repeated.

The vampire reached out and touched Gabriel lightly on the shoulder. “You are in need of my help child. You have a mighty task ahead of you, and you will not succeed if you do not understand who you are.”

Gabriel’s head was swimming. “What are you talking about?”

Lucius grinned and glanced back toward the window. “Aurora.”

Gabriel wasn’t sure if the spell was wearing off or his frustration was growing, but anger coiled in his chest. “You need to start talking in plain English,” he hissed. “I’m getting mighty tired of this. Just tell me what you want.”

“Interesting.” Lucius looked Gabriel up and down like some kind of experiment. “Your feelings for her override my powers.”

“What feelings?” Gabriel snapped. “What powers?”

“Your feelings for Aurora. They’re stronger than we realized.”

“First of all, Lucius, I have no feelings for that woman, and second, who the hell is we?”

Gabriel was so worked up he couldn’t even think straight. Inside a floodgate opened and all the anger and frustration the vampire had blocked came rushing out like a wild tide.

“Tell me what the hell is going on, or I swear I’ll tear your head from your body with my bare hands”

Lucius sighed. “Such violence.”

“Are you the one who changed me?” Gabriel demanded as he stepped in closer, no longer caring what happened to him. “Did you murder all those people in the cave?”

“And so demanding.”

“Tell me Godamn it. Why was I changed?”

“All in good time. Now, back to the problem at hand - ”

Gabriel’s mind exploded. He lunged at Lucius determined to cut his throat, but quickly found himself down on the ground. “How did you…?”

“Now please listen to me, child. Aurora needs your help.”

Dusting off his pride, and the snow on his pants, Gabriel got to his feet. “Why would I help you? Or her?”

“Because if you walk away, she’ll die.”

Gabriel stopped brushing at his pants and stared at Lucius. “What did you just say to me?”

“She’ll die,” Lucius repeated. “And you’ll never get the answer to your questions. The choice is yours. But you must decide now.”