Page 80 of Resurrection

Seiran gave him a tired sigh. “No hard conversations right now, okay?”

“Sure,” Gabe agreed. “I’m going to jump in the shower. Let’s get you into bed though, before you pass out.”

“I’m fine,” Sei said as he teetered toward the bed and half fell in it. Gabe followed and lifted him the last little bit, tugging the blankets over him. “I heal fast. Especially inside the house surrounded by earth.”

“Will the wards drain you?” Gabe wondered if there was another way to keep them all safe rather than relying on Seiran alone.

“The wards have been layered and fed for over a decade. They can last years without renewal.” Seiran curled up under the blankets, closing his eyes as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Gabe turned out the light, since he didn’t need it even in the dark of the basement, and headed to the bathroom to shower. He smelled of earth and faintly of death magic. Though he suspected the latter would not fade completely unless he went another long spell without using his power. He stripped and stepped under a warm spray of water feeling alive—tired, but alive.

He let the water wash over him and closed his eyes to relax into the heat as it soothed his muscles and eased his mind. He would not be burying his power again any time soon. No matter how the people of this modern world feared it. Having that magic swirling inside him was settling, clarifying, and made him feel strong.

He tried not to reflect on the past too much. The lingering memory of Tresler’s forced bond, a violation that bothered Gabe more than he thought it should. His mind had not been his own. How he’d held back the revenant as long as he had, Gabe still wondered. Fear of hurting Seiran? Pulling away, and abandoning him, had likely saved them both from Gabe’s rising self-destruction. But he had no plans to use that as an excuse. Nor did he think he was suddenly forgiven. With time, perhaps he could be.

If Seiran had left Gabe in the ground the first time, the bond would likely have been broken by time. But Gabe wasn’t sure that Tresler would have ever been discovered. At least not before he’d caused a lot of damage. Sam wouldn’t have been saved either, even if the guy bitched about being a vampire all the time. Gabe knew he was happy where he was, stalking the night, and spending his days with his guys.

Gabe decided he would leave the past in the past. It had always worked before in his long years. Moving forward, trying to learn and adapt had always been the best survival option. He would take each day as it came and try to make himself more open and communicative. His long years alone meant he was used to shutting himself away.

Seiran hated that. He wanted a partnership, and Gabe decided it was the least he could do to share more. He also realized it was going to take a lot of doing to actually be forgiven. Action rather than platitudes. That was what Seiran had been saying.

Gabe stepped out of the shower, dried off, and ran a comb through his hair. He dug through his clothes, finding not pajamas like Seiran had, but boxers and sleep pants, which he suspected was better than nothing when he was in a house full of children.

He tugged on the clothes and turned off the light in the bathroom, plunging the space into darkness. He wondered about Kaine, and how the child in the mortal world became some sort of Prince of the fae across the veil. An agreement with Bryar, Sei had said. He’d have to ask more specifics about that one. Gabe had also felt the truth Sei had been unwilling to confirm when Kaine blamed himself for Sei’s lack of control over his own power. Gabe had thought that had been his fault, going to ground had cut their bond down to almost nothing. But Seiran’s emotions, careful as his words had been, indicated that he had in fact, given a lot of power, more than necessary perhaps, to Kaine’s creation. Interesting.

Gabe climbed into bed beside Seiran, who was already fast asleep, and wrapped himself around Sei. That felt right. He wasn’t the same man Gabe had known all those years before. Sei had always been cynical and a bit needy. His trauma triggering a lot of personal issues. And while Seiran hadn’t buried the trauma, as much as learning to adapt to it, he seemed to function better in difficult situations, not shutting down as he once had. But Sei’s instincts of self-preservation had always been good. He also focused more on his kids than himself, doing things to protect them, which benefited them all in the end. Gabe would have to make sure that didn’t become a crutch that held Seiran back.

He stretched out his senses, wondering if he could still feel the dead, and was surprised to find he could. A long tie to them reminded him of days many centuries past, in which he used armies of these to guard him and his while they slept each day. The Dark Ages had been dark for a reason. Filled with wars, battles of all species, ending in bloodshed and bodies enough to guard him forever.

Necromancer?Gabe texted to Mike.Had forgotten that little bit.

Seems you forgot a lot. But you buried that a long time.Mike responded.How’s your memory now?

Gabe thought about it for a while. Everything was there. An intensity that almost felt like memories of a memory in some cases. The oldest of them faint enough he wondered if they were real.

Mostly there. How goes the questioning?Zombies didn’t by nature speak much. Once they were beyond a certain point of decomposition, they couldn’t magically find a voice and the mind was so far gone, there was nothing left to pull from them other than the rattling bones of a skeleton. Those not lost to the earth’s renewing strength, like Steve, would still have enough brain matter to speak full sentences. But Gabe couldn’t recall many who had been fresh enough to question.

Recording dental impressions. Have Steven Brody and two other somewhat juicy corpses singing tunes.

It sounded gruesome, like they were torturing the dead, though Gabe was pretty certain it wasn’t necessary.

Some of the oldest have begun to shatter. We’ve sorted them as close as possible to age of death and are documenting as fast as we can.

Gabe wondered if he should be there to help. He didn’t think he had the motivation to pull himself away from the sleeping witch in his arms, but if he had to, he would.

Do you need me there?

No.Mike replied.Stay with Rou. The Dominion is up to shady shit. Let us handle this end.

Gabe frowned at his phone. He’d never been one to stand on the sidelines when a battle was looming. He knew Mike was stronger than most assumed he was. But one of Mike’s skills was his charisma. It was one of the reasons Gabe had changed him and kept him close over the years. Everyone liked Mike, and the vampire came across as approachable and engaging. Though Gabe knew he was one of the more powerful of his get.

Call if you need me,Gabe sent back, knowing it would not have to be a phone call, but a tug on the line of his magic. Dozens of his get were in the area. More than he’d met at the bar. Called by Mike to this situation? Or already here and waiting?

Rest. We got this. Been preparing for over a decade.

Gabe sighed. Too many questions, but he was tired. At least he’d get a nap.

Seiran’s phone sat on the nightstand. Sam had sent him a comment about being busy and to fuck off, which had made Seiran smile before he’d stepped into the shower. An odd friendship they had. At one time enemies and rivals, they actually almost seemed closer now than Seiran was to any of the others, including his own brother. Even if their banter wound up in a war of cynical teasing. It was a trust level, Gabe thought. Both abused and learning to survive in different ways. But Gabe suspected the two had more in common than not.