Chapter Eight
1138 Words
Gabe
I expected to see her again. I went out of my way to make myself as visible as possible, but she didn’t show up. All day I wandered the ruins of the city. Sure, it was still functioning, but it was nothing like the pictures I had seen growing up. There was a grey drabness about it now. Like the life had been sucked out of it.
There were no smiles on the faces of the people I passed. Everyone kept their head down. Human and shifters alike. And there were very few shifters that I noticed. Either they were masters at hiding what they really were like me or didn’t come out much in public. Not that I could blame them. I might not have seen first hand what their ruling council could do but I had heard the stories, hell I had grown up listening to them. The shifters of this world had every right to be frightened.
My mate hadn’t seemed frightened though. She had been brave and steadfast. Even when I had bested her in the street outside my parent’s house, when she was at my mercy she hadn’t backed down. Brave and utterly beautiful.
And perfect for me in every way.
A warrior like I was a warrior.
“Gabriel.” The voice took me by surprise. I whirled around to find a woman standing behind me. At her shoulder a man with dark hair and burning red eyes. He didn’t even try to hide what he was.
Dragon.
Like me.
Glancing around sheepishly, I straightened my back. It was strange that no one else had noticed them. It was like we were in a bubble of invisibility even when we were stood out on the street in plain sight.
“Yes.” I watched as people moved around us unseeing. And the older dragon, and he was ancient threw back his head and laughed. I didn’t like the mocking sound of that laughter. Who was he to laugh at me? He was powerful sure? But in a fight…
“We are not here to fight you, Gabriel.” The woman sighed. The sound of it seemed to float in the air around us. “You must excuse Dewi. He thinks it’s funny when people don’t realise that magic has been done around them.” She motioned with her arms and my eyes followed her movement. “They can’t see us, or more specifically they don’t want to see us. It’s very basic magic. But the quickest way for me to talk to you alone.”
Finally, I settled my eyes on her. She looked familiar but I couldn’t quite remember where I had seen her face before.
“You need to go back to Fae, Gabriel.”
Frowning I took a step back. My hands out in surrender. I didn’t know if these two were friend or foe, but I was pretty sure a friend wouldn’t have used magic on me without my consent. Not even to talk to me in private. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Playing dumb seemed to be the best bet.
The man she had called Dewi laughed behind her. And my frown deepened. Dewi. That was a familiar if somewhat strange name as well.
“Do you know who I am?”
Mutely I shook my head. “Look lady, I was just trying to get to my girlfriend’s house. I don’t want to be mixed up in any shifter business.”
“You’ve been mixed up in our business since before you were born Gabe.” The man growled out behind her.
She shushed him with soft eyes. “Enough Dewi.” Turning her eyes back to me she smiled sadly. “It’s ok if you don’t recognise us Gabe. You were just a child the last time I spoke to you. But I need you to leave.” Not letting me get a word in she carried on. “You’ve come to soon. Years too soon. No one is ready. You must leave before it’s too late.”
“I’m not going anywhere. This is my home.” Or at least it was now. My birth parents were here.
“We both know that’s not true Gabe. Your very presence on this world is making people remember. Its putting not only your parents at risk but our daughter as well.”
I swallowed hard. Her daughter? “You’re the oracle.” I said it flatly. Showing no emotion at all. Of course, she was the oracle. I should have recognised her power straight away. The parents of the woman I was meant to tie myself to for life were standing in front of me.
“You can call me Ami, or Amelia. I still don’t feel much like an oracle. And this big brute is Dewi Llewelyn.” She smiled wildly. But the grin was short lived. “I hate to warn you like this but it’s important. Go home. The time isn’t now.”
“You have said that already.”
“Then maybe listen to her boy.” The red dragon of Wales growled out behind her. “Or do you care so little of your parent’s safety.”
I thought about it for a second. My adoptive parents. Human mother and fae warrior father. No, I wasn’t worried about them. They weren’t even on this world. I doubted they would ever step foot here again. “My parents are fine.”
“I am talking about your birth parents Gabriel.” Amelia sighed heavily. “I’m talking about Wren and Opal. They are meant to be forgotten and you being here. Its making people remember them. They are human now. Powerless. You must go back to Fae and let people forget again. You must.”
The hair on my arms began to stir. Standing upright. Could what she was saying be true? Were my birth parents in danger because I was here. I had been told that it was the right time. But what if it wasn’t?
I needed to speak to my father. Both of them.
If I was putting people at risk then I would have no choice but to leave.
But leaving would mean leaving the mate I had so recently found. I frowned. How could I leave her? I didn’t even know her name.
Amelia Llewelyn smiled, almost knowingly. “Our daughter will be waiting for you Gabe. She will still be here when the time is right.”
I opened my mouth to tell her that her daughter was nothing to me. A stranger and that my heart already belonged to another. And shut it again with a snap.
They were no longer in front of me. I was alone on the pavement.
- Writer
