I turned back around, to face the babies, and his arms wrapped around my chest. I smiled in content.
Everything I needed was right here, in this room, and I would fight to keep them with everything I had.
* * *
“So,” I said to Jonathon as we sat in the unused kitchen, “how does this whole, being the seer, thing work?”
Gabriel breezed into the room at my words and sat down across from me. “I can answer that,” he grinned. I was so used to the broody angry, Gabriel, that I was shocked by just how much a simple smile could make someone look so…different.
“Okay,” I prompted.
“Like when you were human, you’ll just a get a feeling for certain things, like your gut telling you to go right, not left, for example. You’ll have visions too.”
“Will I know I’m having a vision or will I just think I’m dreaming?” I questioned.
“Oh,” he smirked, propping his feet on the kitchen table, “you’ll know.”
“Great,” I grumbled.
“It’s not like it’s painful or anything,” he shrugged.
“Regardless,” I glared at him, “I’m a little freaked out about the prospect of a vision hitting me at anytime.”
“You worry too much,” Gabriel crossed his arms behind his head.
“I have a lot to worry about,” I mumbled.
“Everything will work out,” Gabriel shrugged.
“When did you get so optimistic?” Jonathon asked.
“Eh,” he shrugged again. “I may not be the brightest ray of sunshine out there,” he smiled menacingly, “but I have my moments. I know we can take down the Originals…this is the moment I’ve been waiting for my whole existence,” he whispered the last part under his breath.
“How are you so confident?” Jonathon leaned into the table.
Gabriel let his feet drop to the ground. “Because, the Originals think they’re invincible, but nothing and no one is invincible. Even vampires. Their arrogance is their weakness, and I plan on using that to our advantage.”
“You’ve thought about this a lot,” Jonathon stated.
Gabriel smiled grimly, “Only since the moment I watched them kill my family and turn me into a monster.”
Jonathon’s eyes narrowed. “Do you really believe we’re all monsters?”
“Yes,” Gabriel replied without pause. “Every day is a struggle for us, a struggle to hold onto our last shred of humanity, a struggle not to kill, a struggle not to succumb to our thirst. At the end of the day, all of us,” he looked at Jonathon and me, “are monsters.”
“I don’t think we’re monsters,” Jonathon whispered.
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “Have you killed a human?”
Jonathon squirmed and reluctantly admitted, “Yes.”
“Monsters. That’s all we are and all we ever will be…forever.”
With that, Gabriel stood and left the room in the blink of an eye.
* * *
“Fight back!” Gabriel yelled when I refused to hit Jonathon.