"Benjamin?" I peaked my head over the edge of Benjamin's cubicle to see if he was in the office already. It was five in the morning, I didn't think he would be in, but I was hoping he couldn't sleep either.
Benjamin jumped like I had shot a flash bang spell at him. I startled him to the point that he spilled his morning tea across his desk. He launched out of the chair and scoped up the report he was working on as the paper cup rolled over the edge of the desk, spilling steaming hot tea over everything.
"For Merlin's sake, Cadence!" he snapped.
I stepped into the cubicle quickly and picked up the cup. With a wave of my wand, I cleaned up the tea as if it had never spilled. The papers that were tea stained were once again white, crisp and clean; the desk and floor were dry.
"Sorry," I whispered. "No harm done."
"Except I don't have any tea now," he said as he took his seat again.
I snapped my fingers and his cup refilled with tea. Benjamin stared at me with raised eyebrows.
"You're in early," was all he said.
"I need your help with something," I said as I took a seat at the extra desk in the cubicle. It was meant to be my workstation, but I rarely used it. Normally, I would just come into the office to check in with Benjamin, then I would do the remainder of my work from home. Since most of my work required private investigation and "hunting," for lack of a better term, I could do it at my own convenience.
"What's the matter?"
"When you were doing research to help Haiden about Dark Magic spells and ceremonies, did you come across anything that relates to someone called the Chaste?"
Benjamin took in my question and didn't answer right away. It was clear that he was trying to remember his research and the title 'chaste.'
"Why are you looking into her?"
"Carrigan said it's a woman who is destined to sacrifice herself to save the life of a dark lord, not necessarily the Dark Lord Voldemort," I sighed with mild concern. Maybe the definition of the title would help Benjamin remember if he saw something in his research.
"Cadence, I have—"
"Benjamin, here is the information that I would like you to pass along to—"
Benjamin and I both looked up at the entrance of the cubicle where Gabriel was standing. My breath caught in my chest at the sight of him. As usual, he was as handsome as ever. His large frame and intimidating stature made shivers run through my entire body. He was wearing a black long sleeve button up shirt, which was strategically unbuttoned a the top to draw attention to his muscular neck and collar bone, with a dark charcoal grey waistcoat over top. His black slacks were ironed with a professional looking crease up the center of the leg, making him look taller (not that he need the illusion as an aid). His sleeves were rolled up his forearms, in a manner that was strictly his style of wear, to reveal his plethora of tattoos.
I bit my bottom lip with hot sexual desire; he was the only man who constantly sparked such feelings in me, no matter if I was angry or madly in love with him. Something about Gabriel made me want to tear all of his clothes off so I could feel his hard, well shaped body pressed against mine in fits of animalistic sexual hunger.
He rolled his shoulders back as he stared at me for a few moments with intense dark hazelnut eyes. I couldn't remember the last time his eyes were a shade of brown. They were warm and deep, like hot chocolate on a cold winter morning. He blinked, then without a word, he turned his face to Benjamin.
"The file we discussed," he said with a touch of aggression. I rolled my eyes, but his complete dismissal of my presences was expected as I did kick him out of our home.
"Thank you," Benjamin said as he glanced awkwardly between Gabriel and I. "Do you two want a moment?"
"If she wanted to talk about anything, she wouldn't have kicked me out of our home," Gabriel said rather ruthlessly. Before I could argue a point, he turned on the heel of his slick, black, leather dress shoes and walked out of the cubicle.
I stood up straight, jumping onto the chair so I was standing higher than the cubicle wall.
"What did you expect me to do you lying, womanizing pig!?" I yelled at him as he walked away for the entire office to hear. Because it was five in the morning, there weren't many people in the office to begin with, but the few that were there, stood up, poking their heads over their cubicle walls to catch who was screaming at the head of the department.
"Cadence!" Benjamin said grabbing me and pulling me down as Gabriel ignored me. He continued to walk away with out a yell back. He was too professional to engage me. I frowned slightly while Benjamin forced me back into my chair.
Perhaps this was the end of Gabriel and I….I had dismissed his feelings for me so many times, perhaps after this he was giving up on us. I bit my bottom lip suddenly. I frowned as I looked at Benjamin.
"I'm an unforgiving bitch," I whispered sadly. I ran my hand through my hair as I considered my options. "Will you excuse me for a moment?"
I stood up quickly, ready to exit the cubicle.
"But I thought you needed my help?"
I paused in the entrance of the cubicle. "Yes, yes I do. But, I have to go fix something. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Benjamin slouched back in his chair but nodded his head. I quickly turned away without another word. I bit my bottom lip as I walked across the office towards Gabriel's private office. His sweet looking secretary smiled at me as I approached her desk. I did not recognize her, but I was sure she was like every other secretary that had sat in front of the department head's door. She was a pretty, young witch with long blond ringlets falling around her heart shaped, pale face.
"Mr. Quintin is heading to a meeting, Ms. Coleman," she said softly, still grinning as her blonde curls bounced with each movement of her head.
"Well, he'll see me before he goes."
"Actually," she said standing up quickly. "He said he wasn't to be bothered, even by you."
I frowned deeply while nodding my head in understanding. "I'm very sorry," I whispered.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Coleman?" the secretary looked at me confused.
I nodded as I looked her straight in her blue eyes. I pulled my wand quickly, pointing it straight at her chest and stunned her without even uttering a sound. She looked at me in complete shock as the red jet of light struck her in the chest. She remained frozen as I stepped around her and advanced on Gabriel's office door. Without knocking, I opened the door and marched straight in.
Gabriel was standing behind his desk, looking down at paperwork. He looked up at me as I entered, but didn't seem surprised by my appearance. He rolled his eyes while sighing.
"Irene had instructions not to let you in," he whispered with a dry tone.
"Don't be angry with her, I stunned her."
Gabriel nodded his head as he looked away from me, back down at the paperwork on his desk.
"I don't want to speak to you."
"I want to speak to you though, Gabriel," I said sincerely.
Gabriel looked up with angry eyes. "You want to speak or you want to yell?"
"I'm angry, you can't blame me for that," I said quickly while I held my position just a few steps from the door. "You'd be angry too."
"You threw me out of my own home, Cadence. You don't get to decide that you want to talk about it now—weeks later."
"Yes," I stepped forward. "Yes, I can make that decision. Gabriel, I was furious—more than furious—I wanted to blow the house up! I sent you away so that I didn't do that. If I wanted to fight then we would have fought and one of us probably would have died. I had to think. You can't just come home and spill the beans like you did."
Gabriel shook his head with annoyance. "You thought she was my daughter before I even looked into her. It's not fair that you're upset about that. You don't get to be upset about a child I didn't even know about from a relationship that occurred long before we knew each other."
"But it wasn't that long before we knew each other," I shot back. "I'm not upset that you have an adult child, Gabriel. I'm upset that you have an adult child with my godmother, who you used and had an affair with in an attempt to gain access to my mother and me. Then, you killed my mother once Helen had given you enough information on us."
Gabriel looked down ashamed.
"We would have found you even if Helen hadn't given you away," Gabriel shrugged. "Don't be angry with her—"
"What makes you think I'm angry with her!?" I yelled ruthlessly.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Helen, but it didn't seem relevant," he insisted. "Once you knew that I was the one who sent your mother down the stairs…how I got there didn't seem relevant. I certainly didn't think that of all the women I've been with, Helen would get knocked up."
"I'm not angry about any of that even, Gabriel." I glared at him as tears welled up in my eyes. "You don't ever tell me the details. You never give me the whole story. You expect me to trust you, while you continuously leave out information that you don't want me to have. You have always done this."
"Leaving out information is not lying."
"It might as well be," I snapped. "You're my husband, Gabriel. You're supposed to tell me everything…you have to trust that I can handle everything."
He shook his head before looking me straight in the eye. "How can I trust that? When I tell you something from my past you flip a lid. It goes two ways, Cadence. You want me to tell you everything, but you have to give me a reason to tell you everything."
I frowned and looked down at my feet while crossing my arms over my chest. He was right to an extent. It was not fair of me to expect him to share everything with me, but when he did I would get so upset that I kicked him out of the house.
"I'm sorry, I got upset."
"I'm sorry that I never told you."
I looked at him unsatisfied with his answer. He seemed just as unsatisfied. I scuffed my foot on the antique rug in his office. "I'm sorry I called you a womanizing pig."
Gabriel smiled. "I wouldn't expect any less from you."
I returned his smile as he moved around the desk. He came to me, pulling me into his arms and embracing me tightly.
"I've missed you, Cadence," he whispered in my ear as he held my body close against his. I could feel his hard muscles beneath his clothing. I bit my bottom lip with sexual desire as I tilted my head to look up at him. "I thought I had destroyed everything we worked so hard to build."
"Oh no," I shook my head. "If our relationship is ever in danger of destruction it's because of me and my pride."
Gabriel smiled as he stroked my hair behind my ear. "That may be, but I am truly sorry for everything I have done that ever hurt you. I feel that I am responsible for all of the loss in your life. I'm constantly trying to make up for it."
"Gabriel," I sighed. "You've made up for it."
I stood on my toes and kissed him delicately. He held me close and returned my kiss with deep overpowering passion. I smiled against him before kissing him some more. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as I stood on my toes. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me off the ground against his large frame, while we continued to kiss. Without hesitation, Gabriel turned around, still holding me against him, and moved back to his desk. He set me on the top of the desk and pushed his work papers and office supplies out of the way, all the while kissing me on my neck and ear.
Before either of us could advance on our desires, there was a harsh knock at the office door. Gabriel stood up straight and gave me a weak smile, as if he remembered suddenly who he was and where we were. I sighed as I returned his smile.
"Can I come home now?" he asked as he brushed my hair out of my face. His fingers ran across my cheek and down my neck. He lifted my chin so I was looking up at him as he bent down and kissed me again.
Another knock came at the door.
"Yes," I whispered. I leaned in kissing him passionately as we ignored the knocking.
The doors of the office exploded open and people came pouring in—led by Kingsley Shacklebolt. Gabriel turned around sharply as I hopped off the desk, pulling my wand, ready to fight.
"Sir, are you alright?" Kingsley asked with his wand drawn, pointing directly at me.
"Yes, Kingsley, what is the meaning of this?"
Numerous Aurors moved around the room, surrounding Gabriel and I. All of them had their wands drawn and pointed at me as if I were an intruder. I frowned slightly; perhaps stunning Gabriel's secretary was unnecessary. Let's be honest though, if I were a Death Eater, I wouldn't have stunned her, I would have killed her.
"I was coming to see you about our meeting," Kingsley responded. "I found Irene stunned in front of your office door. I was afraid you were under attack and that Cadence was an intruder."
Gabriel smirked. "I see," he said turning to me. "Well, I appreciate you calling in the cavalry, but Cadence is who she says she is."
Kingsley didn't blink. He stared straight at me as he spoke. "Did you ask her a security question?"
Gabriel frowned as he glanced back at Kingsley. He looked at me with apologetic eyes, but I didn't object. "Where were we the first time I kissed you?"
I smiled lightly remembering the first time Gabriel gave into the erotic tension that had built up between us the entire time I was in his charge when I was fifteen. "Your basement. We had just finished a training session. I won…with a whip…"
Gabriel nodded as he smirked.
"Correct," he turned back to Kingsley. "Thank you for your concern, Kingsley, but we're fine. How is Irene?"
"Perturbed," Kingsley said.
"I did apologize," I said lightly. Kingsley shook his head at my remark. I knew he disapproved of my actions a great deal; especially after how I handled hunting down Scotts and linking him to Carrigan's disappearance.
"Cadence, I have a meeting to get to," Gabriel said to me as the Aurors began to exit the office. "And Ben has some work he needs your help with."
"I need some help from him," I said remembering the reason I had come to the Ministry to begin with that early in the morning. "I'll see you at home tonight?"
"I'll be late, probably around eight or nine," he replied.
"That's fine. I'll wait up."
Gabriel nodded and stole a kiss from me as I walked by. I smiled at him before exiting the office.
Benjamin was waiting in his cubicle, facing his desk with the file folder that Gabriel had handed off open in front of him. He heard me enter and turned in his chair to look me over.
"Well, you appear to be in a better mood."
"Gabriel and I made up," I replied as I bit my bottom lip. "Sort of…we still have a great deal to discuss, but at least he's speaking to me now."
"Did you grovel?"
"Not as much as you would think," I said. "What's that?"
"It's a lot to explain," Benjamin said calmly as he looked back at the file folder. "And I think we should discuss it somewhere more secure."
"Alright," I nodded. "Work related?"
"Yes, but also personal."
He extended a single piece of paper from the file towards me. I took it to study. The page was a biography of Haiden Drake, my niece. A small wallet size picture of her was in the bottom corner of the page; a full description of her physical attributes, mental stability and known aliases covered the page.
I frowned slightly and nodded.
"You can come to the house for lunch."
"I'd rather go now for breakfast," Benjamin said as he closed the file. "We can talk about this and the Chaste."
"You've heard of her?"
Benjamin nodded his head carefully. "Yes, but not in my research. I'm not an idiot, Cadence. You're worried, which means this has something to do with Carrigan."
"Yes," I whispered.
"You're worried she's the Chaste, a virgin who will protect the Dark Lord."
"Let's not discuss anymore here," I replied. "Come on."
I handed the page of Haiden's biography back to him then made my way out of the cubicle. Benjamin hastily followed, tucking the file folder into his leather side bag. Once we were in the elevator, I glanced at him.
"Does that folder have to do with why you ran off on the first before Carrigan left for Hogwarts?"
"Yes, actually." Silence fell between us for a few moments before Benjamin asked an awkward question. "Who apologized first?"
"I did."
Benjamin smiled. "You're not upset that you're a step-mother?"
I shifted my weight uneasily. "How much do you know about that?"
"All of it," Benjamin replied honestly. "Gabriel has been staying with me."
"I'm happy you two are getting along so keenly. Haiden is still staying with you?"
"Yes and no," he replied.
I looked at him with raised eyebrows. The lift chimed, announcing our arrival at the first floor of the Ministry, an explanation of Benjamin's short response would have to wait. We both stepped out immediately once the doors opened and made our way to hall of fireplaces that would take us to the farmhouse.
Once at the farmhouse, with a kettle of tea boiling on the stove, Benjamin opened the file folder at the kitchen table.
"There are quite a few things to discuss concerning this file," Benjamin said calmly. "Gabriel will probably want to discuss it with you now that you two are talking again."
"Hold on, what did you mean in the lift that Haiden sometimes stays with you?"
"Just that. She stays with me occasionally."
"Where does she stay when she's not with you?"
"That is a good question," Benjamin said lightly. "Which brings us back to the file."
I frowned and nodded as I sat across from Benjamin. He pulled out various pieces of paper.
"Since July, I have been operating under the assumption that Voldemort is after Haiden, trying to get her back into his inner circle. After what happened in August, the night that Haiden was attacked and Tullius showed up, I've been thinking that the two are related. Merlin knows none of us believes in coincidences. I left the morning of the first to track down a hunch."
"What was your hunch?"
"That I could find out if an order had been sent out by Voldemort to capture Haiden."
"You wanted to verify the theory," I nodded in understanding. "Did you?"
"Yes, but it was not what I was expecting. And it led to more questions than answers," Benjamin picked up a piece of paper and slid it across the table to me. I picked up the piece of paper and looked at it with raised eyebrows. The paper was a note, scrawled in dark blue ink, that promised payment for the capture of Haiden Drake. At the bottom of the note was a beautifully signed name.
"Benjamin," I sighed in disbelief.
The name at the bottom of the note was 'The Chaste.'
"What I was going to tell you before Gabriel came to my cubicle is yes, I have heard of the Chaste," Benjamin explained. "I have not been able to find any record of her in the resources at the Ministry, but obviously someone out there believes that they are the Chaste. Whoever they are, they're looking for Haiden."
