Page 30 of Absolution

“Fuck you, Ronnie.” He was only a few years older than me. What right did he have to call me a kid?

“You went to fight. I heard that much from Gabe. Did it help?” Sei and I walked together close to the wall with me glaring at it the whole time. Was I really gonna do this?

“Some. Max has this supernatural fight club on the west side. Mostly lycans, though Luca goes there. I thought if I could get the aggression out everything would be okay and I’d be able to think clearly about what I should do.”

“Do?”

“About Luca.”

“Ah. So you like him.”

Fuck me, but I did. “It was great for a while. We both fed and we danced and kissed and it was good, and then it was chaos.”

Sei reached out and gripped my hand. “Love is chaos. Why anyone does it is beyond me.” The pulse of life poured from him to me, soothing and breath-stealing all at once. I clung to him, opening myself to the power. He was warm, and I wanted to feel human again.

“But you love Gabe,” I pointed out.

“And he still drives me bonkers.”

“Says the same about you.”

Sei nodded. “See, chaos. He shrugged. “Gabe isn’t happy Max is here. But Luca is fielding all his calls. Won’t even let Max and Gabe talk on the phone, and refuses to set up a face-to-face meeting. Any idea why? Does Max seem to have something bad in mind for Gabe?”

“He seemed pretty business focused to me. Didn’t ask me any specific questions about you or Gabe. Not really.” We approached the entrance. There were enough armed guards stationed there to prevent a minor zombie apocalypse, or perhaps just a bloodlust-driven vampire from escaping. I pulled back before we reached the gate. “I can’t, Ronnie. Please.”

“We have to talk to Gabe. He’s already inside waiting for us. Wouldn’t you feel stupid if you put up this huge fuss over something that is not a big deal? Like you walk in and fall asleep and wake up all refreshed like nothing ever happened?”

“You don’t know it will be like that. It looks like a fucking prison.”

“To keep people out. Vampires are at their most vulnerable here. Some zealot could come in and slaughter the lot of them without all the precautions. You’ll be safe here.”

I gulped. “Fuck…”

He tugged me through the open gate. The guards let us pass without question. I couldn’t imagine any of them wanting to tangle with Father Earth.

“I don’t know why you bother trying to help me all the time.”

“You’re right. You’re kind of an ass. But I like you anyway.”

“You’re messed up.”

He nodded. “That’s not news.” Gabe leaned against his car, looking tired, lips in a thin line—an expression of irritation I was quickly becoming used to from him.

“I’m sorry,” I said, clinging to Sei like they were going to drag me off to be buried at any second.

“You don’t even know what it means.” He sighed. “Answer this for me, Sam. Are you tired?”

“Yeah.” I was always tired and when I slept it was because of the sun. Though I never woke up really feeling rested.

“How many times have you blacked out in the past week?”

“Just the two times I told you about.” I looked away and frowned at the icy ground. “You should probably know. I’ve sort of let the red come out. Like in my sight and stuff. Let him do his thing as long as he doesn’t kill, but I’m there. I remember all that.”

“For how long?”

“A couple months.”

Gabe groaned and dry washed his face.