Page 5 of Gabriel (Legacy of Heathens #4)

Amara

T he door clicked shut behind me with a sound too loud for how late it was.

I stepped into the dorm suite quietly, half expecting the place to be dark and still.

Instead, the soft glow of a lamp twinkled from the side table, casting a golden haze over the room.

Music played low from someone’s Bluetooth speaker, its sad tunes matching my melancholy mood.

Skye was curled up on one end of the couch in her oversized hoodie, legs tucked under her and her eyes closed. I breathed a sigh of relief to see her, because she was nowhere to be found when I returned after my bizarre encounters with both Jet and Gabriel.

Penelope was sprawled across the shag rug, her makeup slightly smudged and her hair messier than usual, still very much in post-mystery-man bliss.

And Anya sat on the loveseat, a Kindle in one hand while she munched on a bowl of dry cereal with the other.

“Hey,” I greeted them softly, kicking off my heels. “Glad everyone’s back safe and sound.”

Pen nudged Skye, and everyone’s eyes locked on me.

“I’ve been here all along, so I was definitely safe,” Anya retorted dryly. “Although tonight seems to be full of… excitement.”

“ You’re back ,” Skye signed, smiling tiredly. “ Everything okay ?”

Penelope blinked at me through smudged mascara. “You look like you had a rough night.”

“Well, yeah, I was worried some sicko got ahold of you two and looked around for you both like a madwoman.”

Skye signed, “ Nikola showed up and pretty much forced me back home. I didn’t want to rat out Penelope .”

I gave a weak smile and dropped onto the couch next to Anya. She handed me the cereal without a word. I took a handful and sighed.

“I thought you two got tired of waiting for me, which I wouldn’t blame you if you did, and left,” Penelope admitted sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I was in post-orgasmic bliss and wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“At least someone got lucky tonight,” I muttered. “You’ll never believe who I ran into.”

“ Gabriel ?” Skye signed, already putting the pieces together.

I nodded slowly.

Penelope smiled just as Anya cleared her throat uncomfortably and said, “I'd like to remind you all that he’s my brother, so you better watch what you say.”

I patted her hand. “I know you love him, but he really shows up at the most inconvenient moments. I was just about to go after Jet, and of course, Gabriel got in my way.”

“Wait—Jet Jet?” Penelope asked, sitting up straighter, eyes widening. “Your bad-boy, scary-hot brother?”

“Don’t say it like that,” I groaned.

“You make it sound like it’s a soap opera,” Anya muttered. “Or one of my romance novels.”

“We are in a soap opera,” Penelope said, grabbing a pillow and hugging it to her chest.

I laughed despite myself, but it faded quickly.

“He was at Revelation,” I said. “He shouldn’t be in the States, never mind Connecticut."

Anya rolled her eyes, then focused back on her Kindle as she grumbled, “It seems everyone but me was at Revelation tonight.”

“Hey, don’t be mad,” Penelope retorted. “You’re under twenty-one, and you look barely of age. It would have?—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Anya cut her off. “No matter, because I had an awesome night with my blue alien.”

Penelope, Skye, and I shared a guilty look. Maybe we should have included Anya on our little excursion to Revelation, but Pen was right. No amount of makeup could make Anya look legal.

“ Was Jet alone ?” Skye signed, watching me closely.

I shook my head. “He was talking to someone. It looked serious. I couldn’t hear much, but it didn’t seem like a social visit.”

Penelope tilted her head. “Do your parents know he’s stateside?”

“I doubt it.”

Skye reached over and squeezed my hand gently.

“ Maybe he just wanted to get laid ?” she signed.

I scoffed. “And he traveled all the way here to do so? Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Did you ask him?” Penelope suggested.

“Yeah, after I got rid of Santos—” Anya lifted her head, narrowing her eyes on me, and I quickly amended my statement. “After I had a nice little chat with Gabriel, I called Jet. He said he was just handling some business.”

“Maybe he was,” Pen muttered.

“ These mobsters make deals anywhere ,” Skye offered.

“Yeah, maybe,” I agreed reluctantly.

I stared down at the cereal in my hand and let the words pour out before I lost my nerve.

“I think I’m going to take some time to backpack Europe.”

“You should,” Penelope said.

“ Yes, do it. You’ve been talking about it for years ,” Skye signed, always ready to support everyone.

“You shouldn’t do it alone,” Anya chimed in, shutting her Kindle. “It’s safer if you have a backpacking buddy.”

I tilted my head. I wasn’t scared of doing it alone, but Anya wasn’t wrong, and there was no sense in worrying my family. They would probably be more open to the idea if I told them I’d bring Elira along.

Silence hung thick in the room, the music filling the space where none of us knew what to say.

“ So when are you going to do it ?” Skye signed.

“Right after the holiday,” I answered. “I want time to get some space and perspective. Then I’ll be back and help my family with their empires or whatever they want me to do.”

Penelope’s brow furrowed. “When you say backpacking, do you mean like real backpacking and no showers?”

I chuckled.

“Yeah, but I’ll occasionally treat myself to showers.” They all grimaced at the idea. I was raised differently than my roommates who were stereotypical girly girls. I wouldn’t trade them for the world, but it was hard not to notice the differences.

“I want to backpack through Europe,” I continued.

“I want to see museums and eat gas station croissants in Paris and cry over overpriced espresso in Rome. I want to sleep in hostels and dance in dive bars and get lost in cities I don’t know how to pronounce.

And I want to catch the most amazing views from mountains that surround picturesque little towns. ”

Anya smiled, her eyes sparkling. “Man, if you’d drive to all those places, I’d go with you. My fingers are itching to snap those photos. But no matter, because I will convince my parents to let me go to Albania and take the most amazing photos the world has ever seen.”

“Why Albania?” I asked, surprised at her choice.

She stared at me with a “duh” look. “Because the country is beautiful and wild, full of opportunities to take photos of things and places that nobody else has ever seen.”

“Okay, okay. I see your point.”

Skye shook her head, smiling, and even Penelope let out a soft, “You two are nuts.”

I leaned back against the cushions. “I know it sounds impulsive, but… if I’m going to inherit a legacy built on blood, I want to understand who I am without it first. Before I start making decisions that could get people killed. I want to know who I am when no one’s watching.”

Skye nodded slowly, then signed, “ I’m sensing some Eat-Pray-Run through Europe in the very near future. You better send us photos while you’re going through this minor identity crisis. You too, Anya. ”

“You’re insane,” Pen said, eyes gleaming with amusement. “But if that’s really what you want, you’ve got our full support.”

Skye signed with a smirk, “You’re both going to get scammed by some charming thief. I can feel it.”

“I’m okay with that,” Anya said without missing a beat.

I grinned, a lightness blooming in my chest. “I’m not. I’ll scam him first.”

With a laugh, Penelope tossed a pillow into the air and straight at Anya’s face, starting a pillow fight.