Anew

46

Back in the living room, Gabriel stared at the black device for a long time. Someone had come after Scarlet. Someone knew she was alone in her house and had snuck in while she was sleeping.

Someone must know she’s special.

The thought terrified Gabriel.

Scarlet was so vulnerable, so weak. She could never have defended herself against a full-grown man. She could have been hurt or kidnapped, and Gabriel would never have known what happened to her.

If Tristan hadn’t been there, Scarlet wouldn’t have stood a chance.

If Tristan hadn’t been there, Gabriel’s world would have imploded.

Which begged the question, why had Tristan been there?

Gabriel fisted and flexed his hands as a familiar suspicion settled on him.

He heard Tristan marching upstairs from the basement and waited until his twin was within earshot before asking, “Why were you at Scarlet’s house tonight?”

His palms began to sweat.

Freshly showered and wearing clean clothes, Tristan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I was trying to get some sleep.”

Gabriel raised a brow.

“In my car. Outside her house.” Tristan rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry, it’s not like I was sleeping in her bed or anything. I haven’t been able to sleep for two nights now and I thought being near her would help.”

Gabriel nodded. “Is it that bad, now?”

“It’s…bad. It’s worse than ever before.”

“Why?”

Tristan shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

Gabriel looked at the floor, unsure of what to say. He knew Tristan suffered when Scarlet was far away but, with her house being only miles from the cabin, he should be able to sleep without discomfort.

“So,” Tristan said. “Our little dilemma just got way worse. What should we do?”

Gabriel rubbed the side of his face and looked at the black band on the table. “We need to find out what that thing is.”

Tristan nodded. “And we need to make sure no one else comes after Scarlet.”

A few moments passed.

“We need to talk to Nate,” Gabriel said.

“Yeah…Nate will probably have a better idea than us.”

Gabriel pulled out his cell phone and called their longtime friend.

Nate’s voicemail picked up on the third ring. “Hey, this is Nate. I’m currently in the cave of concentration. Leave a message and I’ll call you back in seven-to-ten business days. May the force be with you.” A long beep followed.

Gabriel lowered the phone with a sigh.

“What’s up?” Tristan looked at Gabriel’s phone.

“Nate’s in the ‘cave of concentration’.”

Tristan rolled his eyes. “He’s probably practicing for the video game Olympics or whatever.”

“Video game Olympics?”

“Yeah, he mentioned something about a championship to me a few weeks ago. We won’t be able to reach him. You know how he is when he’s in the ‘cave’.”

Gabriel shook his head, frustrated. Nate was always falling off the face of the earth for brief periods of time when he was working on something.

Sometimes, it was admirable.

Right now? It was inconvenient.

“We need to talk to Nate. What should we do?”

Tristan sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Let me think about it,” Gabriel responded. “We’ll figure something out in the morning. Tonight, we just need to make sure Scarlet’s safe.”

Tristan smiled without humor as he turned to leave. “Well, in that case, I’ll be downstairs, as far away from her as possible.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Don’t be dramatic.”

Tristan spun around, his face fierce. “Did you not see her eyes tonight? They were flashing all over the place.”

“She was scared.” Gabriel tried to calm Tristan down. “Relax. She’s fine.”

Tristan shook his head and exhaled. “Every time I’m close to her it makes her heart beat harder, tearing it in half that much faster. Don’t you get that? I’m killing her, Gabe.”

For a second, Tristan looked as vulnerable and afraid as Gabriel felt. But, in an instant, Tristan’s eyes hardened. “Scarlet needs to stay as far away from me as possible.”

“Tristan.” Gabriel held his palms up, surprised by his brother’s panic. It was out of character for him. “Calm down. Scarlet’s eyes were flashing but she’s not sick yet. She’s fine.”

Scarlet was fine.

Right?

Tristan squared his jaw and left the room saying, “For her sake, I hope you’re right.”

Gabriel thought about the ramifications of Tristan being around Scarlet.

Her condition would accelerate around Tristan, simply because the blood in his body was more powerful than hers. But a few hours—even a whole night around Tristan—shouldn’t be cause for concern…right?

Gabriel went upstairs with a nervous feeling in his stomach.