Page 72 of Gabriel

I needed space to think, to breathe, and to try to make sense of what Gabriel had revealed yesterday.

I hadn’t gone back to his cabin since that conversation. No lunch. No dinner. No check-ins.

I’d handed that task off to Elira.

She said he wasn’t talking much. Not to her.

After Elira disappeared, I went into my own cabin that felt like a different world, the air still and thick with everything I hadn’t dared to say out loud—and maybe never would.

My window was cracked open, letting in the breeze. Occasionally, voices drifted in from the deck, muffled and distant. It made the stillness in here feel louder, almost alive.

I stared at my phone for too long. First at the lock screen, then at the time, and then at the contact list. Her name was there, waiting.

Anya.

My thumb hovered over the call button. I didn’t know what I wanted to say or do. But I knew something in my chest had been pulling tighter and tighter, like a thread snagged on something sharp. And I needed to loosen it.

So I called.

Anya answered on the second ring.

“Hey.” Her voice was soft but a little distracted.

“Hey,” I said. “Am I interrupting?”

She laughed, but it sounded tight.

“Not really. I’ve just been calling Gabriel. I haven’t been able to get in touch with him.”

Fuck!

“I can call back later,” I rushed out, guilt clawing at my chest. What the hell was I thinking? That she wouldn’t notice he was missing?

“No, no. I need the distraction. Gabriel is probably off doing something stupid. Now, tell me, what’s up? Is everything okay?”

I sighed. “I… just needed to talk. Are you sure now is a good time?”

There was a pause that made me feel like shit. It never crossed my mind that Anya would notice him gone. He always seemed to be jetting around the world, and he hadn’t mentioned her in Colombia. It certainly showed how much I knew about him.

“Yeah,” she said finally. “Are you okay?”

“Kinda.” I rubbed my thumb along the edge of my phone. “I have a weird question.”

Another pause stretched, but this one was a different kind. Weighted.

“Okay…”

“Have you ever met my stepbrother?” I asked. My voice didn’t waver, but I was aware of how careful I sounded.

A breath escaped her on the other end. Something had shifted.

“I couldn’t remember if I’d introduced you to Jet and Elira,” I added, lying. I knew for a fact I’d never introduced them, and my siblings didn’t attend D’Arc, so there shouldn’t have been a reason for Anya to have crossed paths with either of them.

“Jet?” she asked, her voice too careful. “One of the Satan twins?”

I gave a short huff of a laugh. “Yeah. Dark hair, never smiles unless someone’s bleeding. That one. Though I wouldn’t call him Satan to his face. At least not out loud.”

She chuckled while I waited.