Chapter Eight
It was a long time before her vampire prince spoke again, and though Jaci was about ready to jump through the damn balcony doors to escape his dark, penetrating gaze, she forced herself to remain still. She didn’t even risk the movement it would take to bring the drink to her lips, though she desperately,desperatelywanted to.
Beyond those beautiful glass doors, a full moon rose high in a clear sky, casting the surrounding buildings in an otherworldly light that made her confession feel that much more ominous.
Finally, when she couldn’t take another agonizing minute of his silent scrutiny, she whispered, “Please tell me what you’re thinking, Gabriel. Whatever it is, I can handle it. Just… don’t give me the silent treatment. Not now.”
Gabriel nodded slowly, still trying to process everything she’d told him. He sipped his drink, then sipped it again.
“For all the monstrous things I’ve seen,” he finally said, “the monstrous things I’ve done…” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “There’s a darkness in you that bloody terrifies me, Jacinda Colburn.”
“I know,” she said softly. “My whole life, I just wanted to be normal. Istillwant to be normal.”
It was a small confession, but it felt big to say it out loud. Especially to Gabriel, the vampire she’d fallen for, the one who still made her heart beat impossibly fast.
Gabriel opened his eyes, capturing her in a fearsome gaze that made her very bones tremble. “But you’renotnormal.”
The words stung more than she wanted them to, but he was right. She nodded and lowered her head, unable to look into those green eyes another moment.
But the air shifted around her, and suddenly there he was, standing before her, stealing the breath from her lungs.
Gabriel tucked a finger under her chin, tipping it up until she finally met his eyes.
“You’reextraordinary,” he whispered, the walls lowering for just a moment, just long enough to let her see the wonder in his gaze. The awe.
She opened her mouth to say something in response—anything, just to keep him there, just to keep that look in his eyes. But the walls were already rising again, and before she could utter a word, he released her, turning away and moving to the window, gazing out into the night.
“What happened after?” he asked, absently tracing shapes on the windowpane. It was nearly impossible for her not to remember those same fingers on her skin, tracing slow circles around her nipple, down her stomach, sliding over her clit…
“Jacinda?”
She glanced up to find him watching her, waiting, his gaze as inscrutable as ever.
“What happened after you felt that power inside you?” he asked again.
Blinking away the memories of his searing touch, she said, “It was like my magic just knew what to do. The best way I can describe it is… Okay, remember how I explained to you about spells having different threads?”
“Woven together like a tapestry,” he said.
“Exactly. Souls are kind of like that too. It wasn’t something I could see, butfeel—my father’s life essence was just one part of his soul. Somehow, I tore it free—magically—and forced it back inside his body. The soul continued on to hell, but my father… He opened his eyes and looked up at me, Gabriel. He sucked in a deep breath, clutched my arm, and came back to me.”
“Incredible,” he whispered, that same sense of wonder shining in his eyes once more. “But not like a gray? Rotting and mindless?”
“He’s not mindless in the way the grays are, driven by instinct and completely devoid of morals and humanity. He’s just… I don’t know. The best way I can describe it is… blank. He’s just blank.”
“And physically?”
“His physical body continues to function, but the inactivity is starting to take its toll. Mind, body, and soul are intricately connected—eliminate one, and the others eventually falter. My father is conscious, but unaware. The doctors try to walk and exercise him, but that’s getting harder. They tell me his muscles are weakening. Eventually, his organs will fail too.”
“Unless you can return his soul,” Gabriel said, and she nodded. “Jacinda. Your father… Where is he now?”
“In long-term care at the hospital. Thanks to the compassion of his doctors and nurses—and not a small amount of insurance fraud—his needs are met. They seem to like him too. It’s a nice place—I’m just… I’m not sure how much more they can do for him.”
“The… hospital?” Gabriel’s brow furrowed as he undoubtedly made the connection to the night she’d snuck out of Obsidian. He crossed the room and crouched down before her, reaching for her hands. “Bloody hell, woman. I thought you were sick. Hurt.”
“Not me, no.”
“You’re telling me your father has been in this city the entire time, mere blocks from here?”
