“Ash,” Gabriel repeated, needing to taste the word in his mouth. To feel the shape of it. To remind himself the rules of nature still applied, even to immortals, even in the face of an original demon.
Logic.
Reason.
Rules.
Aiden couldn’tpossiblybe dead.
“Always?” Sasha asked, and she and Gabriel both looked to Dorian for the answer.
In that moment, Gabriel couldn’t recall a time when he’d felt so young. So lost. So in need of his brother’s guidance.
Dorian was the eldest Redthorne. The fuckingvampireking.
If he said a thing, ithadto be true.
Didn’t it?
“Always,” Dorian said, and Gabriel nearly wept to hear it.
Always.
“I’d offer to demonstrate,” Dorian continued, “but I doubt Gabriel will let me stake him.”
“Maybe after the new year,” Gabriel managed, and—a fucking Christmas miracle—the girl finally smiled.
In her brief time on the periphery of Gabriel’s life, Sasha had annoyed him, vexed him, angered him, teased him, irritated him, and—on one or two occasions—ever-so-slightly amused him.
But suddenly, somehow, that smile was his lifeline.
It was everything. The hope he desperately needed. The sunrise on a frigid winter morn.
“Why don’t you get out of the water, love,” Dorian said gently. “Go inside with your sister. Gabriel and I will take good care of Aiden.”
With a string of promises from Dorian and Gabriel both, Sasha finally allowed Charlotte to lead her out of the pool and inside the house.
Dorian joined Gabriel on the deck with Aiden, and Jacinda was back too, crouching down beside them, her eyes full of concern.
“The baths are ready,” she said. “Isabelle’s on her way.”
Gabriel tried to smile, but couldn’t. His hand was on Aiden’s chest, desperate to feel a heart that just kept refusing to beat.
“How is he?” Jacinda brushed the wet hair back from Aiden’s forehead.
Gabriel shook his head, but then…
Wait. Was that…
“Bloody hell,” he said. “Do that again.”
Jacinda ran her fingers through Aiden’s hair, and sure enough, it happened again. A slight fluttering against Aiden’s palm. A beat. Then another. Stronger. Louder.
“His heartbeat,” Gabriel said. “It’s faint. Too slow. But it’s there, getting stronger with every second. He’s breathing again too. Fucking hell, he’s breathing.”
Emotion tightened his throat, making his eyes water.
Fucking hell, he was going to kick Aiden’s ass for that too.
