Michael got red, and Gabe could tell he was getting pissed. Big brother did not like being wrong, but Gabe was not backing down on this one.
“You were consorting with a lust demon. You were not acting like yourself,” Michael defended.
“Yeah? Because you know what Gabe-in-love acts like? Because I’m sure you came down here and used some juju to see if I was being affected, and youknewI was beyond Az’s powers. Nevermind that I’msureyou also talked to Grams, who told younot to worry,” Gabe retorted.
Michael turned even more red at this, confirming that he had indeed spoken to Grams, who had indeed told him not to worry.
“But no,” Gabe continued, “big brotheralwaysknows best, so despite a centuries old immortal telling him thateverything was fine,my brother, the person who is supposed to be most loyal to ME, called out theONE PERSONwho heKNEWcould take away Az. ISPECIFICALLYasked you to justGIVE ME TIME. TWO FUCKING DAYS! I ASKED FOR TWO FUCKING DAYS!” Gabe was halfway out of his chair and yelling by the time he was done, and Az carefully pulled him back down, gently patting him like you would a dog who had their hackles up.
Damn right Gabe had his hackles up.
“Do you understand that you almost took away the most important person in the world, in any world and the afterlife, for that matter, from me? ” Gabe demanded.
“Gabe,” Michael said, rubbing his temples, “the point is heisn’tjust a person. He isn’t human.”
“No, he’s a demon. For fuck’s sake, Michael, we had demons babysit us growing up! You learned how to play catch with a fucking demon, and it was a demon who taught Ser how to make those awesome peanut butter cookies, and it was a demon who you took to senior prom when your girlfriend broke up with you two weeks before it!”
Michael flinched with each reminder of how they were raised, of hownormaldemons really were. “Those were lesser demons, though,” he started, but Gabe didn’t let him finish.
“Don’t say another word to defend what you did. I love Az. I love him more than life itself, and you called out the one person who could hurt him. That isn’t assessing the situation. That isn’t checking to make sure everything is ok. Thatisthinking you know best and deciding you want Az gone and doing something to make it happen.
“You took away my ability to choose. You manipulated the situation, all because you think you always know best. If there is anyone who took advantage of me and hurt me, it wasn’t Az. It wasyou, Michael.”
Gabe stopped, taking a deep breath, trying to calm down. Michael went to say something, but Seraphina gave him a sharp nudge, and he shut his mouth without uttering a word.
“Do you understand what you could have done? Do you?” asked Gabe. “Let me tell you. You almost killed me, Michael. You almost lost me forever because of your choices. How would you have lived with that?”
Michael sputtered, almost standing up before Serpahina gave him a not-so-gentle nudge back into his seat.
“You’re being dramatic, Gabe. Grandfather would never have killed—” Michael started, but Gabe cut him off by laughing.
He was sure he sounded slightly hysterical and probably a little insane by the looks on everyone’s faces. He was done, though. He just couldn’t believe the idiocy and audacity of his brother, and it was suddenly too much. He felt like a pressure valve that had to be opened to let off steam, because otherwise he would start throwing shit or say something he’d really regret, because somehow Michaelstillthought that he knew best and was defending his actions.
Gabe was still steaming in anger, but he felt like he could talk without screaming or crying, so he let the laughter die off. At least now they all looked a little wary of him. Good. They should be.
“No,” Gabe whispered. “No, Grandfather would not have killed me. Do you know what I offered them, Michael? When I thought Az was going to be kept there? Do you know what I would have given up?”
Michael merely shook his head in confusion, but Grams looked shocked and a little scared.
“I offered them my life, Michael. I offered to stay there forever, without even a chance to say goodbye to you all. Az wouldn’t have let me do it, but I don’t think he would have had a choice. The choice was mine, Michael. Not Grandfather’s, not Az’s, and not yours. It was MINE. And I would have chosen Az.
“Your foolishness, your insistence on thinking you know what is best, almost lost me to you forever,” Gabe pronounced.
Michael looked pale now, shaking his head again. “Gabe,” he whispered.
Gabe looked at Grams then, asking her, “What happens when someone’s soul is destroyed?”
She looked taken aback. “That isn’t possible,” she said firmly.
“Fine,” Gabe retorted. “What happens when someone is separated from their soul?”
Grams looked pale for a moment, and her voice was shaky when she replied, “I would say it can’t be done, but I have lived long and seen much. Pain, agony beyond imagination, yearning and loss, and eventually, even though the body may live, there is nothing there if the soul is gone. It becomes like a machine. Always, though, there is the knowledge of what it felt like to once have a soul. It is a horror that should never be wrought upon any being. Death or to cease existence is kinder.”
Gabe looked at Michael then, staring right into his eyes. “Both god and the devil stated that Az is my soul, and I am his.” Gabe heard Grams gasp, but he went on, ignoring her. “You would have destroyed a part of me, Michael. You would have made me an abomination.”
He stared at Michael, and Michael was the first to look away.
“You are my brother and I love you. I understand that you’re used to looking out for us, but sometimes you have to let us make our own decisions. I love Az. He is my soulmate.” Gabe laughed a little at the thought. “I have been gifted with a soulmate for all eternity. How lucky could I possibly be? It is a miracle.”
