Page 95 of Touched By Destiny

Gabriel caressed Eric’s lips with his thumb, then gave him a whisper-soft kiss. “I love you too. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you sooner.”

“No, no one could’ve guessed…Alden. I won’t call him my uncle again. How did you know to come here? To LA?”

“We’ll talk after you’ve finished with the police, okay? I’ll explain.”

Eric nodded and burrowed into Gabriel’s chest. “I’m so happy you’re here.”

The smallest edge of his shock and terror slipped away as Gabriel cradled his head and held him tight. “Just hold on to me, okay? I’m not going anywhere.”

That was an easy order and one Eric was all too willing to comply with. He fisted Gabriel’s shirt in his hands and sobbed into the fine cotton. The comfort of his soulmate was something Eric desperately needed. Gabriel was always there when he needed him, and tonight was no exception.

It wouldn’t be easy to relive the past day with the police, but it was necessary in order to make the perpetrators who were still living pay for their crimes. Eric didn’t really care about theirfutures. His biggest concern was that Maribeth lived to enjoy her own.

???

Early evening the next day, Gabriel sat in a darkened hotel room and watched Eric sleep. Eric had spent hours with the police at the station, explaining every horrid moment of what he’d endured at the hands of Alden and his accomplices. Then Eric’s family had taken him to the Marwood hotel in Los Angeles, and he’d barely kept his eyes open as they plied him with food. Once he was done eating, Gabriel had curled up with him in bed. Eric had been out immediately.

It had taken Gabriel far longer to find enough peace to rest. The terror of knowing Eric had been taken, and that Gabriel had failed to protect him, would take time to fade. No one had suspected Alden. Not for a moment. If it wasn’t for Takoda and the cousin whose car had been stolen, it would’ve taken far longer to locate Eric.

Takoda had followed the idiots who’d kidnapped Eric, and thanks to his exceptional vision, he’d been able to trail them from far enough away not to be obvious. Once Takoda had called to inform the Marwoods that he was on Eric’s tail, Gabriel had swung into action. Takoda had left calls unanswered because he had first and foremost been concerned with not losing the car ahead of him. Once he’d been out on the highway, he’d contacted the Marwoods. The police had already been working on the case thanks to the reported auto theft.

Before Takoda or Eric had arrived at Alden’s house, the cops had known his destination. Irwyn Seamor and his brother, Darrien, had foolishly bragged to their cousin about their sister’srich boyfriend. Thanks to their incessant boasting, their cousin had easily found Alden Marwood’s recent home purchase.

No one—including Gabriel—had wanted to believe Alden was responsible. And they’d feared for both Maribeth and Eric. Thankfully, they’d both survived. The bullet had been excised from Maribeth’s shoulder, and a doctor at the hospital had found them in the waiting room. He wasn’t human. Nor was he a necromancer or inspirit.

Gabriel didn’t bother wondering what magic he held. The man had quietly told them to check Maribeth out of the hospital and he’d ensure no one saw her blood results. Grateful to Dr. Stephen Foster-Brennan, they’d taken his advice. Now, Maribeth was in the suite with the rest of the Marwoods, and no one left her alone.

How she and Eric would heal from their ordeal remained to be seen. But there was no question they’d have plenty of support. It would take time for everyone to heal. Gabriel couldn’t shake his fear or his guilt. He knew he wasn’t omniscient, but he still hated that Eric had been forced to face such a terrible nightmare.

A few feet away, the sheets rustled, and Gabriel smiled at the rumpled man peeking his head out of the covers. There was a crease on his cheek from the pillow, and his curls were snarled into a rat’s nest.

“Hi,” Eric said. The dreamy gaze Gabriel loved was there, but it was almost disguised by a myriad of emotions nearly as tangled as his hair.

Gabriel stood and slid onto the bed. Eric worked his arms loose from the bedding cocooning him and embraced Gabriel. As he brushed their lips together, Gabriel pulled him as close as possible and held on tight.

“Are you hungry?” Gabriel murmured.

“No, you woke me up a few hours ago to eat. I’m good.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Besides happy because you’re here?”

Gabriel rubbed his back and kissed his chin. “Yeah, besides that.”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure where to start. How do I ever thank Mari enough for protecting me? I’m still so shocked Alden didn’t just shoot me in the fucking head before he did the same to himself. All this time we thought it was Arwynn following me. But it was those brothers. At least they mostly ignored me.”

“After they kidnapped you from your own fucking house,” Gabriel growled.

“I know that look,” Eric said, bumping their noses together. “None of this is your fault. Don’t piss me off by taking the blame.”

“I’m trying not to. But I’ve protected you for over twenty years. It’s not easy to turn off the part of me that’s programmed to make sure you’re safe. There was a single inspirit acting as a guard nearby, and he wasn’t close enough to stop those guys from taking you.”

“And both my mom and David are feeling guilty because they didn’t stop them. I went willingly. We thought they were the police. They were former cops. They looked the part. The blame belongs to Alden and them.”

“I guess his new fucking business venture was blaming the destiny-touched for the tragedy in his own life,” Gabriel groused.

“I won’t ever understand how he twisted everything in his mind to blame me, but I can’t dwell on that. It’s not my fault. It’s his.”

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