Gabriel Read Free Page A

choice.…”
    The blur that filled the space in between the luminous charms brought with it a different type of memory: a scar, reimprinting itself, damaging me again.
    Michael—a Second Generation Vampire, killed by his Gualtiero (Pureblood Master), Eligio—when his plan to hand me over to the Purebloods backfired on him.
    Ethan—the fiancé from my first life, who had fled after accidentally killing me only to be changed by a Pureblood Vampire. After seeing me alive, over a hundred and fifty years from when he thought he had ended my life, he chased me down and ultimately met his demise in his attempt to seek revenge.
    Frederic—the first Second Generation Vampire I could recall knowing. Whom I had foolishly befriended, and who had dragged me through the woods with a sharpened hook lodged in my back, and whom the girl in shadow—me—had then mercilessly killed.
    Bradley—the not so gentlemanly gentleman in the club in Limoux. He had also fallen victim to my extreme dark side—to the girl in shadow. And just like the others who had crossed me, Bradley was no longer alive to tell the tale.
    And now she was gone; the girl in shadow was ended. I had died, but I was back. He led me home—his face, the thought of him, and the thought of me.
    I bowed my head and my bangs shielded my eyes. I turned slowly toward him. His dimples dipped at the sides of his cheeks as he frowned. His pupils expanded. He was anxious to hear what I was about to say.
    â€œGabriel.” A small smile crept across my lips before I added, “My Gabriel. You waited for me.”
    The knots in his body loosened. He murmured, “I knew to wait for you this time.”
    Stepping cautiously toward me, he tilted my chin with his index finger. He swept my bangs away, clearing my vision, and then cupped my cheek with his palm. He looked me square, exploring my eyes. But he looked away—fast. Too fast.
    I had fought my way back, and yet with that one silent glance, I knew a great chasm was already forming between us. What I didn’t know then was that it wasn’t the appearance of my new sapphire eyes flecked with black spots that had caused Gabriel to look away, but instead, it was his fleeting thought of what lay behind them.
    I sighed heavily and began to pace through the clearing, oozing a false sense of confidence, as though I knew where I was going when really I knew nothing. But I was afraid that the longer I stood there the greater the unspoken divide between us would become.
    He raced to my side and took my hand with his own. “Do you remember … everything?” he asked tentatively.
    â€œI remember … I remember the last six years. I remember the memories and the dreams I have had for the same time. I can’t recall anything before. And I know the things she did. The girl in shadow.” I gulped. “Me.”
    â€œShe was an extreme darkness, Lai; she’s gone now. You accepted both sides of yourself before your heart stopped. It’s probably why you haven’t forgotten.”
    As we moved through the snow underfoot, the trees’ bare branches seemed to bow, as though they pitied me.
    â€œI’m different. Again, I’m different.” I sighed and let my hand drift away from Gabriel’s.
    â€œNo. It’s just now, for the first time in your existence, you know where you come from. You know what you were born out of and into. You’re you. What gifts you have, how they work on this plane, is something we will find out together.”
    I wasn’t sure how right he was about that. I didn’t feel human anymore. I was born into human skin, having been birthed here on Earth. And when I died at seventeen nearly two centuries ago, I awoke having inherited my immortal lineage.
    â€œI smelled blood, and fangs broke through my gums, Gabriel.” I paused to allow the weight of that fact to sink beneath Gabriel’s sea-of-glass