Page 91 of Veradel
After a solid two minutes of me pacing back and forth, exerting all of my mental energy toward the dead-end connections, a familiar voice breaks through the silence.
Stop, Lucan. It’s over.
My blood boils at the sound of Gabriel’s tone. All those times he challenged me in the past, I won and let him live. When really, I should have ripped his head off his neck.
You’re not just defying an alpha’s orders, Gabriel. You’re betraying the entire pack.
And there’s only one way he was able to do that.
Oh, now you want to give the pack attention? I renounced you as my alpha, so I no longer take orders from you,he sneers into my head, and it hits me what he’s done: become his own one-werewolf pack, in the hopes thatmymembers will joinhis.Your whole life, you’ve only cared about the strangers within this Wall, not us. And now, you only care abouther.
My teeth snap, as if I can bite at him through thin air.The funny thing is, I almost believed that, too. But you know what I realized as soon as I caught on that you’re a traitor?I don’t wait for him to answer.That it’s possible to care aboutallof you. I choose her over the world, yes, but only when assholes like you force me into a choice. The truth is, I care about the humans of XanteraandSaskiaandthe pack.
Gabriel huffs out a cold, dead laugh.If you had truly cared about us all along, we would have relocated and forgotten this place long ago. Left it all behind and found somewhere else to build a new life. But instead, you let us fester in a rotting shadow forcenturies.
So why didn’t you leave?I snarl back, and a real snarl escapes my chest, rumbling through the alleyway.I never held you hostage. You could’ve formed your own pack long before now. Found your own new life to build from the ground up.
Because I still had hope!Gabriel roars.Until she showed up, that is. And then I clung to false hope that you’d realize what a parasite she is, just like the others. But you didn’t. When we finally got close to reviving our lost kingdom, you chose to follow her out of the catacombs, away from our goal, just because she loves some old, half-dead human.
I freeze, my hair bristling, my senses crackling.Some old, half-dead human is just as worthy of our protection as any other. Young, old, able-bodied, weak-bodied, man, woman, anyone in between—they’re all worthy of freedom, and Saskia knows that. She’s always known that. Do you?
Gabriel’s silence gives me all the information I need.
No, you don’t. Because you’re lying to me, and to yourself,I growl.This isn’t about freedom for you or for anyone else. This is about yourneed for control. For power. Why else would you be blocking my access to my pack unless you were trying to force them to join yours? You never managed to beat me in a fight, so you’re finding another way to become alpha. Enlisting the help of our greatest enemies just so they can achieve what you could never accomplish alone. Killing me.
I swear, a flicker of guilt ripples between us before Gabriel yells,For their own good! They don’t realize how you’ve been dragging us down. And when the Guardians finally kill you, I can give them the leadership and direction they deserve.
As if his emotions are cracking his mind, little snippets of his most recent memories bleed through, and I catch glimpses of what, exactly, he did. As soon as Saskia and I left those catacombs, he snuck away while the rest of the pack tried to free those prisoners and found his way to the Blood Moon Palace—then found the remaining Guardians in the throne room.
“One of your kind is already dead,” he said immediately, before they could jump upon him, and that made them freeze long enough to hear the rest of his words. “But I can help the rest of you live as long as you helpme.”
Several of the Guardians all crouched to pounce on him anyway, but Arad lifted one pale white hand from the seat of his throne. “Wait. Let him finish.”
Gabriel lifted his head. “The Monster and your Chosen One are on their way to the Healing Center right now. Alone. You can ambush them and end this battle before it’s even begun.”
Arad’s eyes flicked toward one of the cameras in the corner of the throne room, every limb of his body taut with sickening anticipation, and I know he was eager to catchmylittle nightmare again. “And what do you want in exchange for this information, wolf?”
Gabriel eyed one of the empty thrones in the middle of the row—the Seventh, to be exact. The one that’s available now that its owner is dead. “A seat among you. Xantera can be better than ever if we join forces. And you must only get rid of the current alpha and his vampire lover. No one else.”
Arad’s face stretched into an impossibly-wide smile that revealed every one of his fangs.
“Deal.”
The memories leak away, and I curse at Gabriel.
You really think that parasite is going to keep his word? Let you rule alongside him? Not kill any other member of the pack?Panic twines around my bones at the thought of any of them getting hurt.
As long as they behave…Gabriel starts, uncertainty filtering through his tone.
I cut him off, having heard enough. No way in hell is Vivian, Merrick, or Soren going to behave in the face of our most ancient enemies. Nor any of the others. So I hurl a last thought against the barrier that Gabriel has up, hoping the message gets through to them anyhow.
We’re coming for you.
By the time Lucan bounds back out of the alleyway, every willing citizen has a weapon of their own. The rest of the children have been ushered back into the safety of some housing complexes on the other side of the city, far away from the fire, by teachers and caregivers. The only one who remains is Odette, currently arguing with her mother and father.
“But I want to help!”
“No, Odette.” Her father stands over her with his arms crossed. “You’re too young. Too small. And you’ve been weaker, ever since…”
