Gabriel’s POV
It had been four days since we called Victor. I started to think our plan wasn’t going to work.
“What are you doing?” I heard a voice behind me.
I turned around and saw Annie leaning on the door frame.
I had been sitting in my room for the past hour, staring through my window at the backyard, trying to come up with strategies on how to defeat the fucker. We were done with practice for the day, so I decided to spend some alone time.
“Thinking,” I answered, turning back to look through the window.
“About?” Annie asked and walked toward me.
“Battle plans,” I answered, not looking at her.
I heard her sigh. She sat down in the chair next to me. I could feel her gaze on me.
“Are you okay?” she asked quietly.
I glanced at her before returning my gaze to the window in front of us.
Was I okay? Not really. I was tense, pissed off and afraid. I would like to glue Aria to myself, but I knew that I couldn’t. I was terrified he would take her away from me. But I can’t tell her that. I can’t show her that. I keep telling her I will protect her. I keep telling her he will not hurt her ever again. I couldn’t tell her that I didn’t believe in myself. I was terrified that he would outsmart us.
“I am fine,” I lied.
“Are you?” Annie sighed. “You can talk to me, Gabriel.”
I looked at her. She was looking at me with sadness in her eyes. She had dried paint on her shirt. She has been painting a lot more lately. It was her escape from all the shit around us.
“What did you paint?” I asked, ignoring her earlier statement.
“A mountain this time,” she said.
She loved to paint nature. Forest especially. I guess that is because she was a wolf. Forest calmed her down. She also painted beaches, meadows, and mountains, apparently.
I hummed in response.
“You can’t get out of not answering me, Gabriel,” she sighed. “Talk to me, please.”
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “There is nothing to talk about. I am fine.”
I could feel her burning gaze on the side of my face.
“You are afraid,” she said quietly. “It is okay to be afraid.”
I took a deep breath and looked at her. “I am not afraid.”
She sighed and looked down at her lap. “Well, I am.”
I narrowed my eyes on her. “Why?”
She fidgeted with her fingers, not looking up at me. “I am afraid we won’t be able to defeat him.”
I sighed and looked away. “We will win.”
I knew I didn’t sound very convincing. I guess that was because Aria was not here. I let my guard down when she was not around. I could never let her know how afraid I was.
I could feel Annie’s eyes back on my face. “I know you are afraid, Gabriel. It is okay to be afraid. We have a lot to lose.”
“I have everything to lose,” I mumbled, not looking at her.
“Nothing will happen to her,” she said quietly.
My heart clenched painfully. Just thinking about her getting hurt made me sick. I didn’t know what I would do if he took her again. I wouldn’t survive this time. The time away from her was painful, physically, mentally, and emotionally painful. I couldn’t go through that again. I can’t see her hurting again. I couldn’t let her die. It would kill me. I wouldn’t be able to move on without her.
I clenched my fists and stayed silent. I didn’t want to talk about this. I can’t talk about this. Not with Annie, not with anyone. I knew that Annie wanted to help. But I didn’t need her help. I needed her to leave me alone.
“Annie, please,” I said as calmly as I could. “I don’t want to talk about this. I need to be alone.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Annie studying me carefully. She wanted to say something else. She wanted to make me talk. But she didn’t, and I was grateful.
She sighed and stood up. She walked over to me and hugged me from behind. I placed my arm on top of hers.
“I am always here if you want to talk,” she mumbled before letting me go.
I nodded. “Thank you.”
She didn’t respond. I heard her walking out of my room.
I continued thinking about Victor. I wished we knew more about his strategy. I wished we knew more about him. It would be easier to predict his attack.
I was startled when somebody knocked on my bedroom door. I turned around to see my sister smiling at me.
“Hey,” she said and walked toward me.
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Did Annie send you here?”
She looked at me, surprised. “No. I am here to tell you that dinner is ready.”
“Oh,” I mumbled and stood up.
“Why would she tell me to come in here?” she asked, looking at me with a scared expression on her face. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”
I walked over to her and wrapped her in a hug. “Everything is okay. Don’t worry.”
She looked up at me and furrowed her eyebrows. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I smiled. “I am just a little bit tired. It’s fine.”
Aria studied my face, and I was sure she could tell I was lying. But she didn’t say anything.
“Let’s go eat dinner,” I said with a small smile.
We turned to the door when Mike ran inside. He was out of breath and there was a worried look on his face.
“He is here.”
Aria’s POV
I froze.
He was here.
Victor was here.
Gabriel moved so quickly that he almost became a blur.
“ARIA!” I heard Nick screaming.
I ran after my brother and came downstairs. Nick pulled me to him and wrapped me in a hug. Gabriel’s hands were on my back.
“You have to remain next to one of us at all times,” Nick said, his voice deep. “Okay?”
I nodded, and he backed up to look at me. “Words, Aria. I need to know if you understand.”
“Yes, Nick,” I said, trying to sound calm. “I understand. We talked about this.”
We did. We had a plan. I just hoped it was a good one.
Nick grabbed my face and kissed me. I kissed him back. I didn’t know if I would be able to do that ever again. Like he knew what I was thinking, Nick looked me in the eyes and rubbed my cheeks reassuringly.
“This isn’t the last time, baby,” he said quietly.
I nodded, kissing him again. He kissed me back before letting me go and turning back to our friends. Gabriel pulled me into his arms and kissed my temple. I leaned on him, intending to stay in his arms for as long as I could.
“Gabriel, how many are there?” Mike asked, peeking through the window. “Can you feel them around your shield?”
I closed my eyes and focused. Since I have been practicing with Gabriel so much, his magic has become like mine and vice versa. Being twins was also the reason why we could feel each other’s magic.
“About a hundred,” I mumbled, my eyes still closed.
I could feel their gazes on me. I opened my eyes, and my friends were staring at me. I shrugged and looked up at Gabriel. He was looking at me with pride in his eyes.
“She is right,” he said. “About a hundred.”
“How did you know?” Cassie asked me.
“I can feel his magic,” I explained, looking back at my friends. “And he can feel mine.”
“Is it a twin thing?” Jack asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
Gabriel and I nodded.
“Okay, a hundred isn’t as bad,” Mike mumbled. “We were right.”
There were rumors that a lot of Victor’s followers abandoned him. They were getting tired of Victor’s false promises, and they started to doubt his motives for starting the inquisition. Also, humans started doubting who was behind it all. There were rumors that a supernatural being was pulling the strings, and humans started refusing to become inquisitors.
All in all, Victor’s plans weren’t going the way he wanted them to.
“Gabriel, Aria, you know what to do?” Jake asked.
We nodded. We were tasked with incapacitating Victor’s men before our friends could get to them. I couldn’t incapacitate more than 10 at a time, but that should be enough. Gabriel could do about 15 men at a time, but he was pushing his limits, which wasn’t good for him. We both believed that by the time we reached our full power, we would be able to incapacitate large numbers of people. I guess we will see.
“Annie, Patricia, Nick?” Jake turned to them.
They nodded. They practiced fighting in a formation, and their task was to eliminate wolves that came to help Victor.
“Cass, is the powder ready?” Jake asked her, pulling her from Blake’s arms into his own.
She nodded. Cassie made use of our plant knowledge and made a powder that will knock down anybody that inhales it. They will remain unconscious for hours. She put them in small bags and Zack, Mike, and Jack hung them on the branches in the forest. When the time comes, Zack will use his magic to pierce them and let the powder do its magic. Unfortunately, Cassie was only able to find a small amount of the plant, so we don’t have much powder. But it would be enough to knock some of them down, which will be very helpful.
“Petra?” Jake asked her next.
“Don’t worry,” she said calmly. “I know what to do.”
Her task was to keep Cora busy. She asked to be the one to get rid of Cora, and we happily agreed. None of us wanted to taint ourselves with dark magic.
“Patricia, I know you want to be the one to get rid of Victor, but I can’t make any promises,” Nick said coldly, staring through the back door.
“I want him dead,” she said. “I don’t care how it happens. Although, I wouldn’t mind if you saved him for me. You know, if you manage to control yourself.”
Nick chuckled darkly. “That is going to be very hard.”
“Remember, Patricia, you are the element of surprise,” Zack said.
She nodded. She was a distraction, a way to shock Victor. He thought she was dead. She would most definitely prove him wrong today.
“Mike, Jack, Blake, Zack, there isn’t much to say,” Jake mumbled. “Do your thing and beat them the fuck up.”
The guys smirked and nodded.
“Remember, don’t kill them if you don’t have to,” I said. “Most of them don’t even know the real truth. Kill only if you have to, okay?”
Gabriel kissed my temple. “We know, love.”
The rest of my friends nodded and gave me a small smile.
Cassie walked up to me and pulled me into a tight hug. “This will be over soon, Ari.”
I hugged her back. “I know. Be safe, okay?”
“I will,” she said quietly and let me go.
Gabriel pulled me back to him. I looked at my friends and my heart clenched. I didn’t know what I would do if anything happened to them. It would be my fault.
“Please be careful,” I told them. “If this goes wrong, I want you to run. I am the one he wants. And I am not letting you get hurt because of me.”
Gabriel’s grip on me tightened. “Stop saying that. We are not leaving you alone. We will be okay.”
Nick growled. “I am not running. I am not letting anything happen to you.”
The rest of my friends agreed with them and started telling me I was crazy if I thought they would leave me alone.
I wanted to argue, tell them that I needed them safe, tell them that it would kill me if anything happened to either one of them. But I didn’t have time to.
We were interrupted when Gabriel and I felt his shield being poked and pierced slowly.
He was here.
