Chapter 14: Successor

Vivian Gandillon

No sooner then I'd clambered off the Harley, slightly unbalanced from all the corners we'd just skidded around and all the near misses- fence posts and trees that seemed to fly past missing our faces by millimeters- then Persia appeared in the courtyard. I suppressed a groan and politely walked with her back to her flat. She was draped in long black bolts of material reminding me of the crone a story she once told. Her ancient face seemed lined with some indescribable emotion but for somebody her age she walked briskly. "I meant to give you some weeks to settle in first, but time is not on our side," she said in that ageless voice and I frowned. "English translation, please?" I asked and she looked at me for a second, eyes flaring with compassionate blue light. "I've watched you growing up, to be the woman you now are and am convinced that you will be the best person to succeed me." Talk about hitting you between the eyes. I felt as though the air had been knocked from my lungs with a sledge hammer. "What! Aunt Persia-" "I have chosen. All you must now decide is whether to take the power I offer to you, or to let it die from the world, because I will tell nobody else." Her voice was so determined I nodded solemnly.

"I accept then, Aunt." I told her softly and she smiled. "Good. Now to matters of interest. Ross has awoken again, and is looking for answers I refused to give to him." I groaned openly at that one. "Fine, I get the hint. Would you be able to be scarce for the next twenty minutes?" I asked and she nodded, pulling a little manila envelope from her pocket. "I'll be in the inn's kitchen, should you want me." Suddenly she put the envelope up to my nose with speed that shouldn't belong to somebody so old and I took a breath of the violent blue powder before I could pull my nose out, sneezing. "What is that!" I demanded but Persia just turned and walked towards the main inn and I decided not to chase her. She probably wouldn't tell me even if I pried her jaws apart. Persia's flat was open, and the room was filled a cherry warmth from the candles the lined the shelves, flames flickering daintily in the breeze that followed me inside. Ross was lying back on the table, holding a book above his head that cast a long shadow over his grizzled and heavily bandaged head. He looked up when I came in and smiled. "Gabrielle! I was hoping to see you today," he said, very friendly. I smiled back. "Turns out I'm still under legal obligation to attend schooling. What can I do you?"

He frowned. "You still at school? If you've gotta lie to me, at least make it believable." A familiar headache began at the base of my skull. "I'm sixteen. I really do go to school. How are you feeling?" I changed the subject before I could get hassled about my age again. He put the book down. "That's the thing. I broke my collarbone a couple 'o years ago and it took a good six weeks to really heal. But here I am with a broken skull, all these cuts and other breaks, and I feel stronger and better than I've ever felt before." I grimaced. I've never really tried to imagine what it would feel like to be human- so weak and vulnerable. I took a seat by his head so he could still see me and curled my knees up to my chest. "Do you remember anything about when you were attacked?" I asked and he looked at the white washed ceiling. "There was a man… a tall man behind me one minute. I thought it was just a trick of my imagination, but then it was a wolf, a giant, snarling wolf tearing and tearing at me-" he began to shudder slightly and I put a hand on his shoulder to pull him out of the recollection.

"Look, I've never been very good at explanations, so cut me some slack. You were attacked by a wolf… but a very special kind of wolf. You see, that man you saw… he was the one who attacked you. He turned into a wolf." I said slowly and Ross blinked at me for a second before he laughed as though it was the most hilarious thing he'd ever heard. I frowned in surprise. Revulsion, I'd expected. Disgust, hatred, rage, terror… I could have dealt with those. But laughter? That was the scariest of all. Finally he patted my knee. "Thank you for making my day. You say a werewolf attacked me? Ha." I shook my head in disbelief. "You don't believe in anything supernatural, do you?" I asked and he shook his head firmly. "Load of rubbish the lot of it. Gabrielle, I deal in the real world." He sounded so proud, which is why I couldn't quite hide my amusement to see that the book he'd been reading was the Holy Bible. Then again, I can't really be judgmental… people say that werewolves are fragments of the imagination, so who am I to dismiss the Holy Trinity?

"So why do you believe in God, but not UFO's and Vampyres?" I asked, genuinely curious. He looked a little baffled by this question. "Because you can feel Gods presence. Because if you believe in God, it gives you hope. It makes you feel better on your worst days. It gives meaning." He said after several minutes' contemplation. I nodded. "And if I told you that I got the same feelings from the moon on the earth, would that make me Satanic?" I asked and he frowned. "God made the earth, so you're worshiping Him in your own special way." I can't believe I'm actually hearing this from a no nonsense deer stalker. Miracles will never cease. I dipped my head gracefully and dragged a leg over the arm of the chair absently. "And if I told you that the moon… or I suppose considering God made the moon, God… gave my people a special gift eons ago, what would you think?" I asked and he frowned. "I suppose I'd be honored to have such a gift." And Gabriel says I'm not diplomatic enough.

I smiled at him. "Somehow, in a way none of us can work out, our gift got transferred to you when you were attacked." And this time, instead of the sarcastic look, Ross seemed genuinely curious in an indulgent way. "And what gift would that be?" he asked and I though hard. It would make the long web of words useless if I freaked him out now. "A way to become closer to everything- the earth, the sky and the animals… a way of changing so you become fast and free." He looked at me. "You're babbling, Gabrielle. Spit it out." I bit my lip and decided to take a different angle- the Vivian way of breaking news. "You've somehow turned into one of us. A metamorpth. A loup-garou. A werewolf." I told him firmly, and this time he didn't laugh. I reached out a hand and rested it on his shoulder. "That's why you're healing so fast. That's why everything seems sharper to you." He shook his head. "This is a poor joke," he said softly, as though praying that this were a nightmare he could wake from easily.

I shook my head grimly. For a moment he seemed to look off into space vaguely, and then he crossed himself just like you see priests do in movies. "Why has my God forsaken me?" he asked quietly, more to himself then me. I frowned. I never realized just how much of a devout Christian Ross actually was. "What makes you think that God's forsaken you?" I asked before I could stop myself. He was still looking off into space. At my question, he turned to look at me and his eyes seemed almost feverish. "Why else would he curse me?" he asked and I drew back my hand as though he had developed a second head. "As that what you think this is? A curse?" I demanded angrily. For some reason I felt tears prick in my eyes. Would no human ever accept me for being me?

I glared at him, and cut in before he could answer with another pathetic 'poor little me' reply "You Christians all have all those big words about acceptance, being gentle and kind to the condemned. But whenever you actually meet people who really fit the category you all rush to throw stones. Rudy thinks things will change, but they don't. You're all just full of crap as you were three century's ago. Your own rules dictate that there's only one place for you; Hell." And with that I walked out. Okay, so I overreacted, I told myself as I stalked across the courtyard to the inn. In record time all the anger I felt drained away to frustration and by the time I reached the main doors, smoldering shame. I put my hand to the knob, but didn't turn it. Suppressing a scream I turned and stalked back across the compound, pushing aside Persia's net curtain a little too hard, almost slicing through the strings with sharp claws. Ross looked up at me from his bible again. "Are you going to yell at me again?" he asked in a way so matter of fact it lift me a little speechless.

"Nope. I've got better things to scream about to people with denser skulls than yours," I told him, breezing in to take my seat back. He shrugged and turned back to the Good Book. After a minute silence I couldn't take it anymore. "What are you reading?" I asked and he put the book down on his chest. "Matthew, 5:38-42." I frowned, waiting for him to go on, but when he didn't elaborate coughed. He looked surprised. "You haven't read Matthew?" I gave him a look. "Matthew, 5:38-42 is about not fighting back. If a person slaps your right cheek, don't slap them back. Present your left cheek." I sniffed. "If anybody actually lived by that principal they'd be run ragged. Gees, you'd lose everything, including your sanity." I said and he smiled slightly. "Including your selfishness." I rolled my eyes. "If a person hurts you, I'm sure you should strike back even harder, to teach them never to hurt you or anybody else again." He closed the book with a snap and I wondered where he got it from- he wasn't carrying a bible, and none of the pack would own bibles. "You say that with conviction. So tell me. If I ever see the… creature that did this to me, should I try and kill him, or should I forgive him and try and help him?"

For me, the answer bubbled to my lips without a seconds thought. "You should hurt him as much as he's hurt you. It's not your right to kill him." He looked slightly sickened. "You can talk so matter of factly about ending a person's life?" he asked and I looked at the small box of his possessions, including a long gun that I'd heard Bucky refer to as a .88. "And you can feel so comfortable killing innocent, defenseless animals?" I shot back, conveniently ignoring the fact that I do that on a regular basis. That was different. "Nothing I say is going to convince you to stop trying to create a fight, so there is no point to my answering you." I admit, that miffed me a little. I'm the one who breaks up fights, not provokes them. Often. "So this is just you being silent." He nodded, looking wistfully at the bible before settling it onto the table beside his bed. "You are far too young to be so close minded, Gabriele," he looked at me wisely and I felt my lip curl. Me being close minded? I'm not the one saying I'm cursed.

Before I could point this out he called a truce, and asked if I could get him some 'real' food, not the basil broth Persia had been forcing on him. "You get this unique gift, and you're more interested in food. Men. So typical." I stalked out of Persia's house for the second time, but now at least my heart felt a little lighter. The sky was already darkening, and I marveled in the fact that only last moon there was an extra hour of daylight each evening. Pulling open the main doors of the inns hall quietly, a blanket of heat from the stoked fire rolled over me and I noticed Bucky and Gabriel painting white wash onto the far wall. Gabriel smiled as I drew closer and Bucky just nodded, the largest gesture I'd received since his loss of control at the Ordeal… I guess killing your best mate doesn't do anyone a whole lot of good. I picked up a spare brush and dipped it into the thick creamy liquid before slapping it on the wall in fat strokes.

Why on earth would you let a person walk all over you the way this guy Matthew says you should? I mean, I can understand that if everyone constantly hit back and forth at each other humanity would have died out eons ago, but surely you should seek revenge if a person hurts you, your family and friends? "How did it go?" Gabriel asked and it took me a moment to realize he was talking to me, I was so lost in my own thoughts. I blushed. "I lost my temper," I said simply, not in any mood to embellish the truth. Gabriel smirked slightly. "Something I'm sure is a new and different experience for you. How much did you scare the guy?" he asked and I grimaced. "Well, I managed to insult his religion, make him believe that this is a God-sent curse- and how could I forget- that he deserved to go to hell." Gabriel actually laughed and ruffled my loose hair with a paint free hand. "Babe, could you have done any better if you tried?" he asked rhetorically and I scowled. "Oh, and you think that if you talked to him it'd all be motorcycles and beer? I wish you luck." I slapped the paint of thickly, disgusted to feel tears pricking my eyes. For some reason I thought Ross was different. I thought he'd accept us. Gabriel put the brush down. "Look Viv, if he's as religious as I think he is, nothing you could have said would have made it any easier for him to accept it." His words seemed to soak into my heart and I felt a little better.

"But I'll say this much- he is a potential disaster for this pack, and I won't give him the opportunity to cause pandemonium. We have enough trouble with the five as it is. We can't move again… there are so few places left to run." His words were firm, and though it grated me, I knew he was right. "For generations and generations we've run every time there's trouble," I felt my chin jut out slightly in determination. "But I swear on the moon that I will never run from our home ever again. If it is time for homo sapiens to finally destroy homo lupus, I won't go out trapped in a corner with my tail between my legs." Gabriel's eyes widened. "If trouble comes, that's a death sentence Viv. Don't put that on that pack." I shook my head. "I'm not speaking for the pack, I'm speaking for myself. Besides, you can lead them if it comes to that." I noticed that Bucky had put down the brush and was discreetly heading for the door. Had he learnt tact when we all turned our backs? "You know I'd never leave you Viv. Remember my promise? I promised to keep you safe, no matter what." He sighed and sat down, back against the wall.

I slapped more paint on the wall, careful not to splatter him. "Just a note before you go all male chauvinist on me, men are overrated. It's a scientific fact that one human male is all that's needed to populate the planet, but there is obviously no way civilization could continue with just one female." He looked up at me and smiled. "Just as well I'm not human then, isn't it." He reached for me, but I darted out of his grasp. I have homework to do. "Funny. And I think I have a solution for the five." A flicker of surprise spread over his face. "Put electric collars around their necks and set them to trigger whenever they step one mile from this inn?" he asked and I laughed before I could help myself. "Hey, it would work, but then the guests would probably start calling the humane society. They're all interested in engineering, Gabriel. And all the real idiots- Axel… Rafe…Finn… are gone. They might actually stand a chance. And it'd get them out of school." I decided it was better for all of us not to inform him of the Five's school howling. He looked thoughtful. "It wouldn't be difficult to get them apprenticeships in a town this size, and if there is we they could always drive to Morgan." He smiled. "I'll see what I can do. I was depending on some help from the local carpenters this week but the guy cancelled ten minutes before he was supposed to arrive this afternoon. Right now it's up to Bucky and I to completely renovate this place in the space of a week."

I dropped the brush and sat beside him. "Hectic?" I suggested and he grinned. "Wonderful, actually. It's nice to be occupied with something completely physical for a week. I'll leave all the thinking to you." I flexed my fingers. "So you're going to stay here and run the inn? Not tempted to get a job as a welder again?" He shook his head. "That was just a fill in to get the pack settled. I've spent enough of my life roughing it out. Time for luxury." That made me smirk. "I have an Economics teacher who would go into cardiac arrest if anybody ever told him this is luxury." And I had the memory to prove it. "Viv, I grew up in a three room apartment with a family of seven, not including my uncle who frequently made it his crash pad whenever he was evicted. As soon as I got my first well paid job I moved out… and from dungy hotel rooms for years. I've seen everything- cockroaches, cardboard walls, spider infestations, dust bunnies and duvets that are almost moving with lice. Trust me- this is luxury." I thought about this- I know that some of the other packs have poverty, but I've never really met any.

Another small puzzle piece fell into place in my mind, giving me a tantalizing hint at the full picture of his life I doubt I'll ever truly know. "And besides, luxury isn't really what you've got. Sounds like a cliché, I know, but who you're with really is everything." He said softly, large hand resting on my knee. I wrapped my hands around his calloused ones and had to agree with him. He leaned over and kissed my forehead surprisingly softly. It felt almost empty, and reminded me of Aiden. Capturing his lips with my own I kissed him hard, fulfilling the raw need for more in me. He cradled my face, deepening the kiss when suddenly the door was thrown open and a female giggling like a dizzy teenager glided in. Esme. I broke away from Gabriel instantly and pulled myself to my feet. "Mom!" I called, a little dispassionately; the tang of betrayal stuck in my throat like heart burn. She saw me and smiled. "Vivian! How was your first day at school?" she asked and I gave some non-comitial answer.

"Honey, can you give me a hand empting the car?" she asked after what felt like an eternity of empty chatter about the shopping centre of town she'd spent most of the day investigating. Smothering a groan I threw a desperate look over my shoulder to Gabriel as I followed her out to the car. "There's Thomas?" I asked. Turns out Thomas is at a job interview. As usual, it didn't take long for mom to turn to what she really wanted to talk about. "I can't believe I'm going to have a wedding!" I would have done a lot to just vanish into the fabric of the seats just then. "Really? It's not like it's your first one," I muttered, not able to keep some animosity from my voice. But thankfully she didn't even notice. "I know, but when I married your father we didn't have a ceremony or anything like this- we just signed forms for the registry office. Do you think I should have a White dress?" No, I thought firmly. White symbolizes purity- something that is not exactly one of Esmé's attributes. "If you want one, go for it," I said, voice detached. Hey, I was making the effort not to stoop to giving single syllable answers. Esme and Thomas's flat was at the opposite side of the compound from mine, though architecturally an exact replica. But unlike our apartment, this one had navy textured wall paper, the bed was actually made and one of moms bras was hanging from the door knob.

"So what do you think of this wedding?" she asked as we dropped the heavy bags of food on the kitchen bench and unpacked them. Why couldn't she stop asking me awkward questions that forced me to lie? "It doesn't matter what I think, mom. What matters is that you're happy." Didn't you love dad! Don't you love me! The questions ached to break out of my mouth. "Really honey? That's so nice of you! You know, it's amazing just how much you've grown up in the last month." I laughed humorlessly. Sure there were changes, but the main one was that I'd stopped telling Esme the truth. And all the things I don't tell her seem to be making this giant void between us that sometimes at night I yearn to step back across and hug her like I used to, but never do in the light of day. Making up some random excuse that she seemed to buy, I ran back through the gathering darkness to our flat and flick on every single light in the place and pulling a couple of pairs of shoes on the steps inside. It's going to rain tonight- I can smell it.

Searching the cupboards I'm disgusted to find that because of our procrastination, we were going to survive another night on tinned spaghetti and fruit salad. I never thought I'd actually say this, but I'd even appreciate some fresh broccoli right now. The kitchen was small- about one and a half meters squared in the corner of the dining room/lounge. Unusual that a flat for two people has a table with four chairs and two moth bitten couches (that Gabriel has become quite attached to) but then again, it did belong to two people incapable of keeping the cupboard stocked and the bed made. I was used to Rudy cooking, and I'm almost positive that Gabriel survived on a stable meal of fast food in Maryland. Screwing the top off the tin I blew dust off the pot left on the drying rack from last nights identical meal, tipped the stiff contents into it, my heart tremoring for a moment when I thought that the sauce was exactly the same colour as blood. Moon, I'm becoming paranoid. Turning on the element I set it to heat.

Pulling all my homework onto the table I looked at it for a moment before I sat on the couch and flicked on the television. It was the news headlines- more murder, more rape and more conspiracy theories. I knew there was a good reason I never watched it. My eye lids seemed heavy and I couldn't seem to focus my eyes. I put my head on the arm of the chair and yawned. It wouldn't hurt if I closed my eyes for a minute, would it? Everything went dark and suddenly I opened my eyes, and I was sitting prostate in a car, chewing my lower lip absently. It was a dream- it had to be. But still, everything seemed so real… and then there was the fact that this isn't me. I'm in the body of a girl, dressed in a glistening blue gown- a prom dress. In a limousine. She/I glanced at the dark eyed boy beside me, eyes lingering over his pure skin and brown eyes with ridiculously long eye lashes. He grinned back as the car pulled to a stop outside a school hall that I couldn't place. "Ready for the prom?" he asked and She/I smiled as his fingers laced through mine. "Of course. Jason-"

"Stop worrying Sach. Now that you paid my debt off they won't come after us." She/I grimaced. "Jason, It can't be that easy." She pulled Her/me closer and kissed her hard, completely dominating her. There is something truly weird going on when you are kissed through another girl in a dream that I could never have imagined. He let Her/Me go and I was a little disappointed- were all humans such pathetic kissers? Sliding open the doors we clambered out and the boy saluted the driver, passing him a generous tip. The boy kissed Her/Me again softly and pinned a corsage to the front of my strapped dress, which caressed my legs as We walked to the opening. One of the guys at the entrance dressed in a tux did a complicated hands shake with Our date and we walked into the hall, enveloped by the pounding dance music that made the walls vibrate and the girl move instinctively with the music. For the first time in my life I was dancing hip hop in a calf length skirt with a guy who seemed more preoccupied with flirting with the DJ than dancing. But this girl just let herself go, and I could feel the love she felt in letting her hair down and allowing her body move without restraint.

We got exhausted, and the girl silently muttered thanks when a slow dance came and the boy, Jason wrapped his hands around her. To me he seemed to hold her like a prize, tucking her into his arms as easily and impersonally as though she were a bar of soap. It felt so empty to me, but the girl loved this and to her it seemed fulfilling. Is this really the way humans dance at proms? I'd exchange this any day for Gabriel in the pub last Thursday…Suddenly the boy vanished and We moved to join some of her friends gathering on the side of the dance floor. A tall, practically anorexic girl with platinum blond hair smiled at Us indulgently.

"You and Jason are so the perfect couple," she said, gripping Our shoulders. We smiled blissfully. "Really? You think so?" The girl on my right, a dark skinned girl who seemed faintly sad asked. "But what about Princeton? You didn't fight our way to the top of every class just to stay in Frankton for the rest of your life!" I marveled- I'd never had difficulty in school, but I'd never really tried to excel. This girl though- sounds like school and this boy are her life. "Ameda! I am trying to forget about it for just one night!" We joked, giving the girl a quick loose hug I've seen popular girls do at school. The girl still watched her grudgingly and I felt Her happiness when Jason came back. But something was different now. The smell of alcohol was acrid on his breath and he was slightly uncoordinated as he dragged us to a hidden niche in the wall. "Sach, it isn't enough. I'm sorry, but it wasn't enough." We looked at him fearfully. "But I gave them $5000 to cover all your costs. That's twice as much as you owed them."

The boy grabbed her shoulders hard enough to bruise. "Stupid bitch! Don't you love me?" he demanded, shaking us like a terrier shakes a rat. Fear surged inside the girl, and pain. "I love you Jason! How can you say something like that?" she asked, and he held her even more tightly. "They want another $2000. They say somebody lied about the right figure. If you don't give me another $2000, the mob will kill me. Is that what you want?" he insisted and terror rose in the girl. Terror of the mob, terror of the boy she loved so, terror of what her father would think. "But I don't have that much money!" She cried. "I've already given them all my university savings to free you." He kissed her sloppily, alcohol on his breath making her almost retch. "If you don't pay this, I won't love you. I'll find someone else." He threatened and I felt the pain in the girls heart as real as though it were my own. It was like Aiden all over again- only this girls pain didn't explode into white hot rage, it seemed to freeze her heart.

"But $5000 is more than enough to cover it…" a realization struck her. "You bought more off it, didn't you Jas? Why can't you stop!" she cried, hitting him in the chest weakly. This seemed to gather his strength. "I need the drugs Sach!" he yelled back, and he raised his fist on Us, landing a blow heavily on Our chest. The air knocked out of us, we gasped desperately for breath. "Jason stop!" she cried, tears blurring her eyes as he reached for her, sliding a hand up her leg. "Isn't this what you wanted bitch?" he demanded, looking almost demonic to her eyes as denial to the situation rose in her. This boy she loved couldn't be doing this to Her/Me. He crushed her against the wall, pinning her arms to the wall. "Jason, cu'mon… let me go Jason, let me go!" she was crying and screaming, but nobody seemed to notice and come to her aid.

In a moment she managed to get her arms loose and in a brilliant hit that I couldn't have performed better myself she brought her elbows down hard on his shoulders, weakening him just enough for her to get a decent hit at his groin with her knee. The boy staggered off her with an explicit curse and We ran blindly through the crowds, looking for a way to get out as fear gripped her heart. There was no doubt in her mind that he would have raped her if she hadn't escaped, and there was no doubt that in her refusal to help him, the gang would kill him.

Hot tears spilt down her face as she made it to the foyer and turned for a second to see a full length mirror full of herself. It was the first time I'd seen this girl, and the only way I can really describe her is a classic beauty. Her hair was a coiled knot of black, her skin so fair it was almost gothic. She turned and ran out into the streetlight, running for the nearest wasp coloured Taxi when there was a yell behind her through the sheets of falling rain. It was the Indian girl, Ameda. "Sacha, where are you going!" she demanded, grabbing Our hands. Tears now streaked Our face. "Away. Far away. I'm going to make a fresh start." Ameda shook her head violently. "Don't leave me here Sacha! I need you! You're my mate, remember?" We bent down to kiss the intense girl softly on the cheek. "I'm sorry Ameda, but I can't live for anybody if I can't live for myself." We pulled Ourself into the taxi and looked at the driver, whom the name tag called Chip.

"How far away can you drive me?" I asked and he looked at Us as though We'd run mad. "I can take you to Columbus, but that's the best I can do, Okay? I've got a family to get back to." I nodded and we pulled away from the curb. I watched Ameda until the street turned and the feeling of complete loneliness swamped me. A single tear escaped Our eye and I as I looked out the window I saw my reflection. But there was something different now- she looked at the reflection knowingly. "Tell him this wasn't his fault. Tell him I loved him. Tell him his daughter is waiting for him."

"VIVIAN!!!" somebody was shaking me awake from a deep sleep and as my eyes cleared I saw Gabriel. "Great Moons! I thought you were in a coma!" he buried me into a tight hug as my eyes registered the solid darkness outside and the bad smell of burning hit my sensitive nose. "What's that smell?" I asked and she pulled away slightly. "You fell asleep with the spaghetti on the stove. It boiled over onto the element and almost started a fire!" it didn't sound as though he really gave a damm about it though- he was hugging me furiously again. "What's wrong?" I asked and he hugged me closer.

"You started screaming in your sleep, telling some boy to get off you. I couldn't wake you! I shook you, I yelled at you, I flicked cold water on your face…" That explains the weird feeling on my face at least. Then I remembered the dream. "Sacha," I thought out loud and Gabriel froze. "What did you just say?" I looked up at him. "I just dreamt about Sacha. But it wasn't a dream… it couldn't have been. It was too vivid…" "Baby, wake up. Tell me what happened," he desperately. "He tried to rape her. That's why she ran away. She couldn't bear to tell her father." Gabriel turned white under his tan. "How is this possible?"

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Sorry for taking so long to update- I just got out of the bush after a fortnight tramping. This chapter's a little slow, I know, but I need the background established… anyway, any comment would be great, good or bad. Preferably good.