Spectrum (Stone Society #14) - Faith Gibson Page 0,102
no longer whispered to him in his head. If it weren’t for the pictures he kept, he would have probably forgotten the gleam in her eyes and the way her cheeks pinkened when she blushed. Gabriel’s imprisonment hadn’t been punishment enough for his crimes. The fates saw fit to reunite him with his mate only to take her away again.
“No. We’re already here. You can sit and stare at nothing in there just as easily as you can at the Pen. Besides, your niece misses you.” Christina was Isabelle’s youngest, and for whatever reason, she loved Gabriel.
Gabriel pushed open the car door and trudged inside. Kids were scattered all around either playing or running, and the adults had already started drinking. Not that those who had Gargoyle blood could get drunk. If they could, Gabriel would have grabbed a bottle of whiskey and hidden out in a corner. Instead, he headed for the recliner and parked his ass.
“Hey, Brother.” Dante walked over to Gabriel, cradling a sleeping Christina.
“Hey.” Gabriel held out his arms, and Dante handed the baby over. He knew it was pointless to refuse. His family tried to use the kids as weapons. Before Rebekah passed, it had worked. Now, it just intensified the ache where his heart used to be. Dante didn’t hang around to make sure Gabriel took care of his child. Isabelle brought a bottle and burp cloth, setting them on the end table next to the recliner.
“In case she gets fussy,” Isabelle said.
Frey’s kids were on the floor with Dane and Marley’s toddler. Gabriel was happy for his youngest brother. Marley was a good mate. She was spunky but sweet. She and Rebekah had become fast friends, while it had taken Dane longer to open up. He still hadn’t forgiven Gabriel for kidnapping Kaya and trying to kill her. Gabriel didn’t blame his brother. Gabriel still hadn’t forgiven himself.
Gabriel inhaled deeply, letting the new- baby smell wash over him. Tessa’s twins were in trouble for something, but that wasn’t anything new. They were always in trouble. When the adults managed to get all the kids gathered and settled, Tabitha asked Jonas to read from a journal she and Anthony had found in Isabelle’s closet.
When Jonas flipped the journal open, he was quiet for a moment. “Wouldn’t you rather hear about Santa Claus or some other nonsensical story?” he asked Tabitha.
“No, sir. I want to hear about you and Grandma.”
Jonas glanced at Caroline who nodded. Settling back with Tabitha in his lap and Anthony sitting on the hearth holding his twin’s hand, Jonas read his own words, telling about meeting his mate, Gabriella. Caroline was her middle name, and she adopted it once the two of them went on the run. He spoke of their kids and how they put them up for adoption. When it came to the part of what happened to Gabriel, Jonas paused and looked over at him.
“It’s okay, Jonas. I’m not going to lose it if you continue with what happens next.”
Jonas didn’t continue reading, though. He suggested they open presents instead. Gabriel remained in the corner, content to rock Christina. He closed his eyes as chaos ensued, and his mind drifted to all the Christmases before when Rebekah was with him. The evening wore on with the children being sent upstairs to play with their new things, while the adults peppered Jonas with questions about cloning and Tamian being a full-blood.
“I had selfish reasons for what I did. I was trying to find the cure for cancer, but I also wanted to figure out if I could create a full-blooded Gargoyle using Tessa’s DNA as well as my own. Don’t get me wrong. I am not ashamed of my children, but I wanted to know if there was a way to engineer the cells so a child would be full-blooded. I succeeded with Tamian, and that fact needs to remain a secret. If word got out I managed to clone a full-blooded Gargoyle, I’m afraid he would be targeted the same way Gabriel was.”
Before they could argue about Tamian’s safety, someone knocked on the door. Isabelle surprised Jonas with a special gift. She had traveled to Cairo and convinced their oldest siblings to come visit. Lucian and Marcella had never wanted anything to do with Jonas and Caroline, but there they were, all the way from Egypt. Gabriel continued rocking Christina, half listening to the conversations. When he overheard whisperings that Marcella had cancer and Connor had finally come