Page 22 of The Huntress (The Blood of Legends #1)

Chapter Twenty-Two

CONTENTMENT

G abriel materialized in Syl’s chambers, not surprised to find Leo already there. He grinned a greeting to his brother, too pleased to hide his contentment. Dropping into a large leather armchair, he ran his palms along his denim-encased thighs. Excitement and satisfaction skittered along his nerve endings, and he welcomed it, embraced the change from his unemotional life.

He had no right to be this happy this quickly. He couldn’t explain how or why Callie made him feel this way. Perhaps when he returned, he’d awaken her to taste her again in more ways than one. Just imagining it made him as giddy as a schoolgirl.

Then again, holding her in his arms as she slept brought him as much joy, so it wasn’t about how amazing it was to fuck her or how delicious she always tasted. She filled a void in his heart, one he’d ignored as each passing year added darkness to his soul.

“Ten minutes later and you’re still sitting there smiling like an idiot.” Syl handed Gabriel a snifter of brandy.

“He has a right to,” Leo grumbled.

Gabriel shot him a look, his joy faltering. Did Leo have access to his memories of Callie lying beneath him? He hoped not—those memories were for him alone.

Leo smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his blue eyes. “I can’t explain what Callie invokes in me, so don’t ask, not even in your thoughts, Gabriel.” Leo’s eyes flashed a warning.

Gabriel sighed, not liking the situation or the implied affection Leo had for Callie.

“Don’t worry. You have her, and that’s the end of it.” Leo folded his arms across his chest.

“How’s…?” Gabriel asked, thinking of Valerie, wondering if she had the same gift in her blood. If she did, and she hadn’t lost it during the conversion, he could appease Callie’s curiosity.

Leo’s visible shudder halted his words, having never seen the blond man this shaken.

“I can’t read her. I can’t scent her. It’s maddening, yet…intriguing. And no, I haven’t sampled her blood yet. Perhaps one day soon you’ll let me ask Callie for a taste?”

Gabriel frowned, hating the burst of heat consuming his chest, tensing his muscles, and clenching his jaw. Leo’s lips anywhere on her skin was out of the question. He would never let that happen.

Taking a large inhale, he opted for a subject change rather than discuss Callie with Leo in any way. “Is Val well?”

He imagined the joy on Callie’s face when he organized a visit from Valerie like he’d promised. The need to please his fiancé consumed him with a single-mindedness he hadn’t expected. Making her happy had become the most important goal of his life.

“Yes, I can bring Val for a visit.”

“Let me finish voicing my questions. Damn it. I hate it when you read my mind.” Gabriel was being unreasonable—it wasn’t as if Leo could help himself. The fury boiling within him had to do with Leo reading more than his questions.

He didn’t want to share Callie with his friend, not now, not ever.

“What’s put a damper on your mood?” Syl sat in another leather armchair before resting his elbows on his bent knees.

“Gabriel doesn’t approve of my affection for Callie,” Leo said.

“Oh, ho! When did you form an attachment, Leo?” Syl chuckled.

Gabriel loved it when his brother laughed. It brought back the joyful innocence that had once been his staple expression. Just not this day. Today, he found Leo’s affection an irritation, and Syl’s humor salt to his wound. He didn’t think any of this amusing.

“At Duhamel’s ball. She saw through your shroud, by the way.” Leo pursed his lips.

“What?” Syl spluttered in his brandy. He stiffened, his displeasure obvious.

This appeased Gabriel’s discomfort. His lips curled upward, but he hid it from Syl by taking a good mouthful of brandy.

“I don’t like surprises, Gabriel. Your woman is as unpredictable as the weather. How much longer? How many more feedings before she’s converted? Where did you leave your dear one?”

“I exhausted her.” Gabriel smirked and shifted in his armchair, a pointless attempt to ease his constant arousal. “Her conversion requires one or two more feedings before she’s fully mine, though she has yet to mention experiencing preternatural speed or strength from the feedings she’s received so far.”

“Not long then. I look forward to having a sister, Gabriel. Despite my initial doubts, she has changed her affiliation, something I hadn’t expected.”

“Don’t get excited, Syl. She tolerates you,” Leo raised a graceful hand to flick a finger.

The chamber’s door opened at Leo’s command, and hesitating at the entrance was a human woman, her youthful blood scenting the air. She entered the room like a timid mouse.

Gabriel studied her lithe form, her clinging dark blue evening gown, and the fall of her pale blonde hair. He arched a brow at Leo, who nudged his head at Syl.

Ah, dinner had arrived.

Gabriel wasn’t the slightest bit tempted. Nothing and no one tasted as delicious as his Callie. The woman kneeled in front of Syl and offered her arm as instructed.

“I offer my blood freely,” she said, her voice low and throaty.

By the way she trembled, Gabriel concluded she was nervous. Her fear would have stained the air with a bitter odor. Syl encircled her wrist with his fingers, stroking her skin without glancing at her.

“What did you do with the voice clip I sent you?” Gabriel addressed Leo before settling his attention on Syl, who’d taken to grazing his fangs along the woman’s wrist.

The movement mesmerized her, saturating the air with her sickly-sweet arousal and excitement.

“I’ve sent a few of our spies. A few human ones too,” Syl said as he trailed a finger down the woman’s chest, parting the silk of her gown. A pale globe popped free. He cupped it and rubbed a finger over her taut nipple.

“Before we invested, did we test the product inside the canister?” Gabriel asked, raising his glass to his lips, wishing he was sipping scotch from Callie’s veins, instead.

He tamped down the rising excitement, imagining the long-forgotten tastes that awaited him—cherries and oranges, to name a few.

“You scented the test subject’s fertility.” Syl guided the woman’s hand to his groin. “She has yet to conceive, but it’s the closest we’ve come in centuries.”

“To be able to father children…” Leo’s voice hitched.

A strong, sharp need hit Gabriel, clenching his chest in a breath-snatching vise. To father children with Callie was beyond his greatest desire.

“Gabriel,” Leo said.

The urgency and fear tainting his voice startled Gabriel, who raised his gaze to meet Leo’s.

“Callie’s gone.”