"You are a disappointment to me, to the family, to the Pack," Gabriel said.
Magic rose again in the room, but not the energetic buzz from before. This magic was old, heavy, and oppressive. Although it had nothing to do with me, my lungs burned with the effort of pushing in and out the air made heavy with the weight, and consequence, of Gabriel's disappointment. There was no missing it.
"You don't choose to be Apex," he told Adam. "The Pack chooses you. Being Apex isn't about power or wealth or status. It's about family and commitment. Lessons that I have, apparently, failed to teach you."
There was melancholy in his voice as he took on part of the burden of Adam's actions.
"Being Apex isn't about taking charge. It's sure as hell not about endangering family. And if you'd taken me out? What then? Fallon is next in line, not you. And I know she has strength and sense enough to hold the Pack. You're at the bottom of the ladder of succession, my boy, and while I might have wondered if you could prove yourself stronger than the rest of them, this proves to me that you will never be fit." Gabriel rose again, then stared absently across the room, a decision seeming to weigh on his mind. After a minute of silence, he sighed. "You are responsible for the death of a Pack leader. I will not - cannot, given the vows I made to our father - take you out, despite the pain and embarrassment you have caused."
Gabriel shook his head, resignation in his eyes. "And maybe you'll be lucky. Maybe the members of the Great Northwestern won't, either. But it will be their decision to make."
"Gabriel - ," Adam hoarsely pled, but Gabriel shook him off.
"You will present yourself to the members of the Great Northwestern, and they will decide your fate.
And if you're unwilling to go of your own accord, I'll ship you in a crate, if that's what it takes to get you there."
Adam's fate apparently decided, Gabriel blew out a breath that seemed to push the weight of the world off his shoulders, then glanced at me. "It seems I owe you another goddamned apology for bringing you into another Pack dispute. I don't care for owing apologies. I'll have someone call Sullivan so he's briefed when you get back. I'm guessing if he doesn't get that debriefing, you'll be spending the next two hours in his office, replaying events."
I nodded. "That's pretty much how it seems to work."
"And when he does ask you for your version of events, how much are you going to tell him?" I gave the question some serious consideration. There was no way I was going to lie to Ethan. But omission? Maybe. Especially if I explained to him why I was omitting certain details.
"I'll tell him only the things he needs to know," I answered honestly. Gabriel seemed satisfied by that.
"Good enough. Although he's going to shit about this, about your being involved in something this goddamned stupid and dangerous."
"I'm an asset," I said remorsefully. "If he gets pissed, it's because you've endangered his weapon."
"Merit, if you really believe that, I have been giving you way too much credit." His expression was serious enough to put surprise in mine. "Then he has an odd way of showing it."
"Babe, he's a vampire."
Why did everyone keep saying that?
I'd been about to ask for a ride home when my beeper sounded. Curious, I unclipped it and glanced down. It read "CADGN. BREACH. ATTACK. 911."
I stared at the message; it took a moment to wrap my brain around the content. And then what should have been obvious from the first dawned: there'd been a breach, an attack, on Cadogan House.
"Oh, God," I said, my mind suddenly racing. Then I looked at Adam. "What did you do?"
"Merit?" Gabriel asked, but I put up a hand and kept my gaze on his brother.
"Adam, what did you do?"
He looked back over his shoulder, meanness in his eyes. "It's too late. The plan was in place. I already sent them to attack."
My heart nearly stopped. Even Gabriel paled. "You sent who?"
"Shifters. Some humans. Those who wanted to take down the vamps a few notches."
"Oh, God," I said. "There's a party going on. They're outside the House." Unprotected. "I've got to get back."
"Okay, okay," Gabriel said. "Nick, keep an eye on Adam. And call the Pack."
"And my grandfather!" I put in.
"Get as many to Hyde Park as you can. I've got my bike. We'll get you back, and we'll stop this." God willing, we still could.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE
It was a good thing it wasn't yet close to dawn, since my way home was open air. I took a moment to use the bar phone and put in a quick phone call of my own while Gabriel prepped his bike. By the time I made my way outside, he sat on an Indian motorcycle, a low and long line of gleaming chrome, black studded leather, and silver enamel.
I pulled the extra helmet from the back of the bike, then swung a leg over.
"You ever ridden before?"
"Not in a while," I said.
Gabriel snorted, then revved up the engine. "Then I suggest you hold on tight." I pulled on the helmet, climbed on, and wrapped my hands around his waist.
"Not quite that tight, Kitten. We're only going to Hyde Park."
"Sorry. Sorry."
The bike thundered, a hollow, rumbly sound. But even over the din of it, I thought I heard him mutter,
"Vampires."
Ten terrifying minutes later - on a trip that should have taken twenty - we made it back to Hyde Park.
Gabriel drove as if the fires of hell were on his tail. From the column of smoke we could see rising from the neighborhood even blocks away, I worried they were. The street was riotous - trucks and bikes were parked in the middle, probably to keep out the cops, who were nowhere to be seen. But the paparazzi were plentiful, snapping pictures of the vehicles and the shifters that emerged from them.
And, more important, from the smoke that billowed from the first floor of the House. My chest felt hollow. I was the Sentinel. This was my House. And I had been tricked into leaving it unsecured - leaving the vampires inside unsecured.
God, please let him be safe, I prayed, whipping my dagger from its sheath and jumping off before Gabriel had time to come to a full stop. He called after me, but I was already running, dagger in hand.
I made it only steps before a shifter came at me, bearing a katana that had probably been pilfered from one of our vampires. My vampish ire rising quickly and fiercely, I dropped to one knee, fangs descended, and forced the attacker to vault over me. As he stumbled through the air, I stuck an elbow upward into his chest and yanked the katana from his loosened grip.