"Well, well, look at what the cat dragged in," came the soft drawl. "If it ain't Gabriel Caine. What're you doing? Don' you know the air ain't healthy here?"
Gabriel placed the voice, but didn't allow himself to relax. "Kellan. Cousin. How's it going?" Apparently it was family reunion weekend in Los Angeles.
"So far, so good."
"What are you doing here? Have you changed sides? 'Cause then I'd have to kick your ass."
"You could try," Kellan retorted. "I'm working a lead. You?"
"Came to see what we escaped from last night. These are no friends of mine." After a tense silence, Gabriel heard Kellan sigh and lower the gun, heard the whisper of metal against holster. He turned around, wary. It had been a good fifteen years since they’d seen each other.
The two men took stock of one another. Kellan had dark hair similar to his own, cut military short; but his eyes were the color of molten amber and his skin shaded toward burnished gold. He had the same build as all the Caines, big and tall.
Abruptly Kellan opened his arms and the two men did the backslap hug thing. "Let's move. The demons are starting to wake." He peered closer at his cousin. "You look terrible."
Gabriel grunted. "I thought the change had fixed all the wounds."
"Open wounds, yes. Bruises still show up. I'll bet your nose hurts."
"Shut up, Kel." He hesitated. "There's a were in here, being held against her will. She's pregnant. Any way we can rescue her?"
Kellan shook his head. "You do like to complicate things, don't you? Leave well enough alone, and let's get out of here."
"We need to do this. I promised." Uneasy, he looked around. “No guard? Unbelievable.”
"I took out the two J'aadts when I came in. I haven't seen or heard anyone else." Kellan sighed. "You're not going to back down on this, are you?"
"No. I'm not."
"Okay. I really don't like it, but lead on."
They headed down the back stairwell, Gabriel focusing only on the scent of the female Were. Two floors down into the earth he stopped and gestured to the hallway. He held up two fingers and motioned to the left side.
Kellan nodded.
Gabriel's hand went to his holster, only to realize he'd never replaced the gun they took from him. He hadn't replaced the holster, either. Mentally swearing, he gestured to Kellan, who readied his own gun.
Gabriel laid a light hand on the door handle and moved it gently. Locked. He raised his eyebrows at Kellan, who handed him the gun and pulled out two slim tools from his back pocket. Three seconds later, the lock clicked and they were in.
Gabriel handed Kellan the gun back and motioned him to go first. The room was quiet. Kellan went in silently, Gabriel following.
The air smelled sweet. Not perfume sweet, but drug-sweet. Gabriel frowned. The female was heavily pregnant. She lay still on the raised platform of stone at the back of the small room, not moving a muscle as the men stepped in. Kellan halted when he caught sight of a man snuggled up behind her, his face turned to the ceiling, snuffling with sleep. Both blondes, it was hard to tell where her hair ended and his began.
Kellan cocked the gun and the woman's eyes flew open. Gabriel put a finger to his lips and held out his hand to her even as Kellan put the gun close to the side of the man's head.
She took Gabriel's hand, moved to stand gracefully. She opened her mouth and her words barely made a sound, but Gabriel heard, "He's drugged himself." She stood naked and unashamed, sweeping her long blonde hair out of her eyes. "Let's get out of here."
He shrugged off his long leather coat and handed it to her while averting his eyes. She put it on, her mouth quirking in amusement. They left the room as silently as they entered it, Gabriel locking the door behind them.
They went out the way he’d gone in, through the window and over the balcony, the pregnant woman landing easily, the coat floating around her. Once down on the asphalt, Gabriel gestured to the window. "Not secured from last night. On purpose?"
Kellan shrugged. "Who knows how vampires think. Finally grew into your potential, yeah? You have any q's, let me know. I've learned a lot."
"I'm good. So far." Gabriel knew Kellan wasn't referring to the operation at Twisted.
"Gentlemen. Thank you." The woman hooked her arms through theirs, strode between them easily, almost as tall as they were, her bare feet seemingly no problem. "My name is Chandra Roush and my mate's name is Daniel, our Alpha. We owe you a great debt."
"You look healthy. You are well?"
"Yes. One of my pack mates is very ill, though."
"And you're not home yet. No offense." Gabriel kept his eyes peeled as they walked in the early morning light. "We could get you a taxi."
She smiled. "It is almost impossible to find taxis in L.A. May I have your names?"
"Gabriel and Kellan Caine at your service." Gabriel gave her a short bow.
"I'm with the Santa Monica Preserve Wolf Pack. You are demon?"
"Tribred," answered Gabriel absently. "Human, demon, fae. Several generations now."
"Ah, of course. Gideon and Maria Therese Caine. You are their offspring."
Gabriel and Kellan shared a glance. Shrugged. "Yeah. In a way."
Kellan cleared his throat. "Glad to help. Uh, where are we going, anyway?"
Chandra smiled again. "My mate will be here soon. I contacted him the moment I saw you."
They slowed as a black SUV pulled alongside them. Chandra stopped and turned to the car, longing and eagerness pulsing off her in waves. The passenger door burst open and she leaped to meet the dark man who wrapped her tightly in his arms.
The back door of the SUV opened and the two disappeared inside. Both doors slammed shut, and before the vehicle drove away, Gabriel's long leather coat flew out from the opened window.
Gabriel snagged the coat out of the air and slid it on before he lifted a hand to the disappearing SUV.
Kellan blew out a breath. "That was good. That was very good. Do you get to do stuff like that a lot?"
"Nah."
"Yeah. Me neither." They strode along in silence for a while. "What happened back there last night?"
Gabriel gave him a brief summary. "And then I dropped Rose off at Justin's house, I got antsy, and took off."
"You didn't know her well. Okay then."
"No, I— " Gabriel stopped in his tracks. "She's…hell. It's complicated. She's carrying a part of my soul," he confessed.
Kellan opened his eyes wide. "And you didn't take care of her? Oh man, you'd better come up with a good reason for ditching."
"This isn't high school." Gabriel turned the tables. "What were you doing there, anyway? Or have you changed that much in fifteen years?"
"I told you, I was following a lead. It didn't pan out, and wasn't part of what you guys are handling right now." He shook his head. "Not important in the scheme of things. Hey man, we really gonna walk?"
Gabriel grinned. "I'm thinking we run. You know where the office is?"
"Still on Third Street? Yeah. Let's go."
Running down the street, so fast human eyes couldn't track them, Kellan whooped and Gabriel grinned. It had been so long since he'd run just for the joy of it. No rescue, no fleeing danger or cops or his own heart, just running for the sheer thrill of speed and the exhilaration of wind through his hair. And after their good deed of the morning, they deserved it. They really did.
I haven't done this...in far too long...
The streets flew by as they ran toward the Caine Investigations offices.
Gabriel and Kellan pulled up to Third Street and slowed to a walk, not even panting from the four mile effort.
"So, I heard you followed in my footsteps, running away from the family."
Gabriel shrugged, stuck his hands in his pockets. "In a fashion."
Kellan stopped, gripped Gabriel's shoulder. His eyes held regret. "I'm sorry, man. Sorry I didn't stick it out for you."
Gabriel looked out at the horizon and shrugged. "Shit happens." Kellan squeezed his shoulder and let his hand drop.
Gabriel walked through the mall in silence with Kellan, marveling at how comfortable they were together. It was as if no time had passed since they’d last seen each other.
“It’s this way.” Gabriel led the way up the stairs and inside to the offices.
Kel looked around at the empty reception area. "Huh. Grey on white. Gregor must have done the decor."
"You know damn well Justin didn't. He's probably back in here." Gabriel walked into Justin's office. "Hey. Hi Maggie." He eyed her jeans and an old Rolling Stones tee shirt with approval. “Where’s Rose?” He looked around in anticipation. He needed her energy, that clean, pure, feel-good that he got whenever he touched her.
Maggie had been looking at the monitor over Justin's shoulder. She looked up, and her eyes frosted over. "Gabriel. What the hell are you doing here? Do you realize Rose could have died from the vampire bite?"
"Magdalena. Cool it." Justin stood, put himself between her and Gabriel.
Gabriel's smile dissolved and his gut clenched. "Where is she? She was fine when I left. I just – I had to get away, be alone.” Guilt twisted his stomach. He should have stayed. He
couldn’t
have stayed.
Kellan threw him a glance. “Too many people?”
“Yeah.” He faced Justin. “Look. I tried. I got her out of there, back to your place. She cleaned up. Satine didn’t have her long enough for any sort of true blood bite. I swear she was fine. I had to go. Ten minutes after I left, I checked in mentally with her.” His face twisted. “She had the barrier up, the one I taught her. I assumed she was fine. How could I have known?” His excuses disgusted him. He should have known. She was his responsibility, and once again he’d screwed up.
“If you followed the family pattern, you’ve spent most of the last ten years alone.” Kellan stepped forward. “It’s hard to reintegrate.”
“Kellan. My God. Talk about coming out of the woodwork.” Justin slapped his cousin on the back and they grinned at each other.
Maggie sighed heavily. "Not another Caine."
“You need to cut Gabe some slack, Justin.”
"Only because Rose is holding her own,” Justin said, frowning at Gabriel. “We're here doing some research.”
Gabriel’s voice got softer. “Just tell me where she is. I need to see her.” Kellan was right. He wasn’t used to this many people. He struggled to keep his breathing steady and his temper even.
Justin lifted an eyebrow. “All in due time. When you’ve got yourself under control.”
“I hated that saying when your dad said it. I still hate that saying,” Kellan said.
Gabriel paced to prevent panic, his thoughts in a whirl. “The two weren’t together long enough for the bite to have gone deep, or gotten infected or anything. A normal person would have a nasty scar but would otherwise be all right. She should be all right. I don’t understand how it could have gone so wrong.” Except he was the champion of things going wrong, wasn’t he? Everything he’d ever touched had gone wrong. He never should have forgotten that.
Maggie spoke up. "That’s the thing, though, isn’t it? Rose is a Soul Chalice, not a normal person. She called me. Justin and I took her to Doc Cavanaugh. She'll be all right, the bite’s not the big worry.”