Page 66 of Incubus
Jim and Alex shared equally worried looks, but it was Alex who finally spoke.
“Gabriel.”
Chapter 25
AllthewarmthinNathan drained away. He feltchilledat the mention of that name—Gabriel—especially now, after everything that had happened, and so many months without any seals knowing their whereabouts other than Sasha.
And then, foolishly, they had ended up at the Gatehouse.
Nathan stared at his brother, noticing the sharp glances Jim was tossing between him and Sasha. The gears were spinning in Jim’s head, and they had to be clicking together practically screaming:Sasha. Without a shirt. Sasha and Nathan. On Sasha’s bed. Together.
That couldn’t be good.
“Wait, did you sayGabriel?” Sasha asked, coming around from the other side of the bed. “Are you talking about a seal?”
“He’s the one who killed their parents,” Alex said somberly, taking on the burden of explanation. She looked frazzled since her midnight expedition to the library. “He almost never comes here. Never. He must have been tracking you.”
Nathan pushed thoughts of what had been happening with Sasha aside, his stomach twisted in knots for another reason now. Somehow, Gabriel always found them. It must have been the car. They had kept it for too long instead of taking doorways.
“Alex stalled him downstairs,” Jim said. “She told him she wasn’t sure what rooms she had available this late and was going to check, but he’s going to start wondering what’s going on. What should we do?”
The first suggestion that sprung to mind was that they should stay, gear up, and take Gabriel head on, especially now that they had a professional with them who actually knew how to fight. Sasha’s super-strength was a nice bonus too. But Nathan thought better of the idea before opening his mouth.
They couldn’t risk Alex getting caught up in all of this, and they couldn’t risk a fight inside the Gatehouse. If they started shooting at each other, the wards could blow them right through the walls.
“The seal that’s been hunting you is named Gabriel?” Sasha asked, walking up to Nathan and grabbing him suddenly by the arm. “Is he older? Maybe fifty? Curly black hair dusted with grey?”
Nathan blinked back at Sasha in surprise. “Uh…yeah. Just like that.”
“Shit.”
“What is it? You know him?”
Sasha looked at Nathan with tightly knit brows, then to Jim and Alex, pursing his lips. “If it’s who I’m thinking…then yes. He’s an old friend of my dad’s. Well…acquaintance. He’s always scared me a little. He has this…drive. I had no idea he was the seal who killed your parents. I haven’t seen him in years.”
The coincidences were starting to add up a little too much for Nathan to ignore. “First Schu and Alex, and now Gabriel too? I guess Wade’s whole prophecy thing isn’t as bogus as I thought,”Nathan said. Sasha had been tied up in every part of their lives from even before they met.
“Look, there’s a simple solution here,” Alex spoke up. “Just because I stick to the code about letting anyone through those doors, doesn’t mean I have to let him stay. I’ll tell him we’re full up and ask him to leave.”
“No,” Jim said. “He’ll know something’s up. There aren’t enough cars out there for him to believe you. We have to get out of here.”
“Then I’ll go down and keep stalling him,” Alex countered. “I’ll say I have to put him up in the side lounge because I’m not sure which rooms are empty and I don’t want to risk waking anyone. Once I have him clear of the bar, you can take off out the front door.”
“And just let him stay here for the night? Withyou?” Jim exclaimed.
Alex softened at his concern. “It’s my job, Jimmy. I’ll be fine and you’ll be safe. You can’t fight him here anyway, and you can’t risk him following you. Give me two minutes alone with him and then be ready to sneak downstairs.”
She turned to leave without hesitation, no sense of fear in her at all other than worry for their sakes.
Nathan would have stopped Alex on principle if they had any other option. As it was, Jimtried, but Alex was gone before he could really do anything.
“Gather your stuff, Sasha, and we’ll do the same,” Nathan said. “It’s time to leave.Now.”
Theymetinthehallway laden with their bags moments later, thankful that they always mostly kept their belongingspacked. The hallway was as quiet as it had been when Nathan was out before, making every creek of movement sound deafening. The murmur of Alex and Gabriel’s voices was barely audible below them, but loud enough that they would be able to tell when the bar was empty.
Even Gabriel’s voice, just a whisper of noise, chilled Nathan to the bone. He had never spoken to the man, but he remembered that voice too well from when he had overheard Gabriel with his mother. He caught his brother’s eye and tried to put on a brave face.
A dozen other close calls flashed through Nathan's mind as they waited for their chance to escape downstairs. Narrowly diving through a doorway in some tiny village in England when they were fifteen. Running through a crowded shopping mall in Vancouver at eighteen. Stealing a car outside a bar right when they had been about to enjoy their first legal drinks, trying for just a brief moment to be normal. And so many other incidents in between.
