Chapter Thirty-Nine: Gabe Morelli

Present day

Border of NC and VA

"Gabe, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Winifred snapped, snatching the sectioned talisman from his hands before he could surrender it to Gideon.

Gabe knew this would happen but still wasn't prepared for how difficult it was going to be, nor had he formulated a solution. She'd only just got him back, she wasn't about to watch him offer his life away... or what she thought was him offering his life away. He turned to her, pinching the bridge of his nose, his tone firm. "Winifred, give it back."

Winifred clutched the pendant tighter. "No! You're not giving this to the Coven!"

"I'm not giving it to the Coven, I'm giving it to Gideon," he specified, not that it was going to make any difference to her.

Winifred pointed vigorously towards the door that Gideon had walked from, where the Coven was waiting for him to return. "The moment he goes back into that room and presents this to them, they will remove the stone and you'll die. I'm not letting you do this."

Gideon took a sharp breath, running his hand along his face. It made sense now why Stef never gave up the name of the vampire who turned her. "You're the vampire in all of this, Gabe? You?!"

"Yes, but that's irrelevant," Gabe responded, feeling like he was about to be attacked from both sides.

"It's pretty damn relevant!" Gideon snapped.

"Wait! Nobody has to hand over anything," Raid interjected, stepping between them. "If the Coven think that Stef can eliminate their magic, they won't risk attacking her. Adam and I have the protection spell on us, nobody will get hurt –"

"This truce isn't just to protect you or Stef," Gabe stated. "It's about ending the conflict between vampires and witches. It's my duty as a representative of the council to do what I can to make that happen."

"Not at the expense of your life!" Winifred raged.

As others started to express their agreement with her, Gabe took Winifred by the arm and pulled her to the furthest end of the bar. He knew every vampire in the room would still be listening in, but he just needed to talk to her without interruption. He spun her in front of him, holding her either side of her shoulders. "Winifred, please listen, nothing will happen to me." He held her tighter as she twisted in his arms, unconvinced by his words. "Winnie, I swear to you! This isn't me making you a promise that I could break like I know I've done before. I realize you have no reason to trust me when I have a history of trying to do the right thing and sacrificing us in the process, but you will not lose me this time. I'm giving part of the talisman to Gideon and Gideon only. That way, should Stef ever use her powers against them, they have the means to reduce her powers to that of a regular witch. I guarantee you, she won't do that, so if you don't trust me, trust her, because she has been through hell and back refusing to give up my name."

"But even if Gideon refuses them the talisman, they will stake you the moment they learn your part in the ritual," Winifred argued.

"Gideon won't tell them," he replied. "He wants this truce as much as we do, and the Coven have no reason to keep to the truce if I'm dead. That section of the talisman will be under his guard. Knowing that stone is linked to my life, he would never remove it unless Stef was a real threat to them. You know Stef would never put me in the position where they would need to make that choice. You know I would never put us in the position of losing each other again. Please trust me."

Gabe couldn't tell what Winifred was thinking as she looked down at the pendant in her hand. She'd stopped arguing, which was a good sign, but that didn't mean it was over. He was trying to think of any other possible way to secure the truce, worried that Winifred would never hand the talisman back to him. He wouldn't take it from her. As much as this had been his decision, she had to agree to it, and she was never going to agree unless she realized this was the only way. They had to keep up the pretence that Stef had powers that were a threat to the Coven, while also offering them something that made them feel like her powers were under their control. Their first offer, of Stef limiting her consumption of human blood, was extremely reasonable, but it wasn't possible when she needed human blood to maintain the protection spell on Raid and Adam. If they declined that offer, the Coven were going to wonder why. They might feel even more threatened. So the counter offer had to be irresistible.

Winifred's grip on the talisman loosened, her thumb stroking against the engraving of the vampire symbol. It had taken Gabe a lot of arguing to convince Stef to section the talisman into two pieces using her magic. When Winifred had walked in on them mid-discussion, he had been worried his plan was going to be halted before it had even begun, but luckily she hadn't overheard them. Instead, she saw him with the talisman in his hand and jokingly asked if he didn't think Stef was fit to protect his stone. That gave him his most convincing argument yet: it was his life – his stone, his section of the talisman – to keep, protect or bargain away as he saw fit. Stef couldn't deny him that, just as she wouldn't deny Raid or Adam their rightful claim to the sections that were attached to their lives if they asked for them.

When Winifred's grip tightened again, Gabe sighed deeply, ready to renounce all of his claims, all of his plans, to the woman he loved. Then to his surprise, she raised her head, straightened authoritatively, and walked over to Gideon. "I have conditions," she said, turning her head briefly towards Zakariah, "for both of you. Gideon, this part of the talisman must not leave your possession unless you are returning it back to us, and you do not tell the Coven that Gabe is the vampire in the ritual. Unlike Raid and Adam, there is no protection spell on him, and the moment they find out, they will kill him and the truce will be broken." She waited for Gideon to nod in agreement before resuming her demands. "Zakariah, with the truce in place, the witches would be permitted to conduct magic on behalf of vampires, meaning you no longer need Stefanie in your service..."

Stef's lip curled in distaste. "Does this mean I have to get another job?"

"You can continue working at the bar," Gabe informed her.

Her face scrunched up in further displeasure. "Oh god, I do need another job."

Winifred resumed her instruction to Zakariah, "... but you will continue to offer Stefanie her salary in exchange for advice and counsel. Under no circumstance will she be allowed to perform magic under your instruction without Gideon's consent –"

Stef grinned widely. Same salary, less work? That was one hell of a good deal.

"Now wait a minute," Zakariah interrupted. "I hate to admit it, but Stefanie is a valuable asset to the Vampire Council."

"I'll convince Damon to let you take a nudie photo," Gabe offered him as compensation.

Zakariah shot him a look that suggested he didn't appreciate having his Achilles' heel struck. But, strike it did, and he quickly crumbled. "Deal."

"With Stefanie no longer at your disposal, she'll be considered less of a threat." Winifred then reached her final point, looking between Gideon and Zakariah as she did so. "It's important for all of us that this truce is maintained. Remember, it will also mean that the both of you will be able to resume your relationship with each other."

Gideon rasped his lips. "You think I want to continue a relationship with the man who took the position as my opposition?"

"Oh, I was the best sex of your life, Gideon, face it," Zakariah quipped with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I rode you like a cowboy at a rodeo."

Biting the inside of his cheek wasn't disguising the upward turn at the edges of Gideon's lips. He was absolutely right about that. Gideon hadn't forgotten it, and apparently neither had Zakariah. While their political rivalry had driven them apart, he had to admit, it had made them better leaders. Their mutual affection meant they could always see things from the other's perspective, while their mutual attraction meant that when they did fight it became... heated. The freedom to finally act on that heat was something Gideon was extremely interested in. "We will need to finalize a contract to share with the rest of our council members."

"Most definitely," Zakariah agreed. "The vampires still need daylight rings... all wards need to be removed from hospitals – don't think I don't know that witches have been deliberately provoking vampire attacks by restricting access to blood bags just so they can retaliate... and several towns still have vervain in their water supply –"

"Absolutely not," Gideon objected. "If a town wants to protect itself from compulsion, that entitlement remains."

Zakariah cocked his head. "Well, it seems this is going to get messy, but I'm sure you could persuade me with a good, firm... argument."

Gideon no longer hid his smirk. "It could take us all night."

Zakariah raised an eyebrow at him. "Have you ever known me not to work you hard all night long?"

Before Gideon could act on the flirtatious stare he gave Zakariah which suggested he was ready to start writing up that contract straight away, Winifred opened up his hand and placed the talisman fragment in his palm. "Speak to the Coven. See if they will accept this as our assurance and commitment to the truce."

"They'd be foolish not to accept it," Gideon said, returning back to the meeting room.

The first few minutes of waiting were the most tense. Since the room was warded against their heightened hearing, none of the vampires could eavesdrop on the conversation, but the longer the meeting, the more relaxed they all began to feel. If their offer had been refused, they would have expected to see Gideon reappear pretty quickly. Now it was turning into a lengthy discussion, they could safely assume it was being seriously considered.

Gabe slid beside Winifred, taking her hand. "Thank you for trusting me."

"Not just you," Winifred reminded him. "Gideon and Stefanie too. I have to trust that Gideon wants this truce as much as he claims he does. I also have to trust that Stefanie will keep her protection spell on Adam."

Gabe lowered his eyes. Winifred didn't miss a beat. "You're worried if she loses her humanity she'll attack the Coven and break the truce?"

"Attack the Coven... attack the councils... attack us... overfeed to amplify her powers," Winifred listed. "Do remember that both her uncle and grandmother were Rippers."

"But my mother and father weren't," Stef contributed, turning around, leaning back against the bar counter, listening in on their conversation. "At worst, I'd be one hell of a bitch."

"Like Katherine," Zakariah conjectured.

Stef twisted towards him, her eyes narrowed. "I thought you didn't know Katherine?"

"Honey, we're in 1864, can you blame me for being curious?" Zakariah defended, eyeing her sassily from head to toe. "From whom do you think I stole that dress for this occasion?"

Stef's fists clenched onto her skirt and she fumed, "Do not tell me this dress was worn by my father's ex-lover!"

"Oh, I've been simply bursting to tell you all evening," Zakariah grinned.

Gabe rushed forward, taking Stef by the arm as she bellowed through her nose in anger. For a moment, she thought he was preventing her from striking out at Zakariah for the prank, but when she saw Gabe's gaze fixed on the entrance to the tavern, she followed his line of sight, her heart sinking into her stomach as she realized that he was preventing her from attacking the witches who were now entering. Around three dozen of them, spreading out around the tavern, none looking friendly, all scrutinizing the vampires around the bar as they assembled closer to each other cautiously.

Then the door to the meeting room opened and out stepped Gideon, followed by Dimitri, Cristian and the rest of the Coven. Cristian shot a smug look at Stef which disappeared the moment Raid took a shielding position in front of her.

"What's the meaning of this, Gideon?" Gabe snapped. "Why did you invite them in?"

"Oh, he didn't," Zakariah replied casually. "I did."