AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Before they got too far inside the doors of the great hall, Aidan and Lucy swooped in to claim Gideon in their own barrage of tackle-hugs and words of endearment. Their reunion was followed swiftly by Toni and Drake.
By the time everyone had had their moment, Gideon collapsed in one of the chairs that still lined the great hall, his wife nestled beside him. Though Rukia expected that he was relieved to be up and around, he wore an air of exhaustion.
For his part, Gideon had seen them all only hours ago under normal circumstances—whereas they’d all experienced his assassination and subsequent burial firsthand.
Aidan was the first to breach the silence once they’d all been seated in a loose circle. “I expect Rona’s told you what happened?”
“We only talked about it briefly, and didn’t have time for many details,” Gideon said, his arm cinched possessively around his wife who was glued to his side. Locking eyes with Jeremiah, his features pinched. “If you wouldn’t mind reliving it, I’d like to hear firsthand at some point.”
“I had a feeling you’d say that,” Jeremiah countered, exhaling steadily into the emotionally-charged conversation. “We can talk when you’re ready.”
Rukia cocked her head to the side. “Do you feel any different?”
“Not at all, to be honest,” he replied, blowing out a breath. “Rona had to show me where they shot me.”
Shuddering, Rukia tried to dispel the image from her mind, leaning into her mate for his support. A beat of silence riffled through the hall, the others undoubtedly reliving the same moments.
The Elemental monarch suddenly looked up. “Did theCitizenshurt anyone else?”
“Just you, Gideon.”
Rukia’s hand tightened on Isaiah’s leg from where she sat cuddled beside him. Isaiah, fully conscious that Gideon had yet to question their sudden closeness, had possessively swung his arm around her regardless.
“It does me well to hear it.” Tension eased out of his features before his shrewd gaze landed on the pair of them. “May I ask … why are you here, Isaiah?”
Isaiah’s subtle laugh beside her gave Rukia the support she needed for the reveal. “Isaiah and I are newly mated, Gideon.”
One blink. Two. Gideon opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again, his finger and thumb coming up to clasp at his temples before he looked from one to the other.
“How long was I in the earth?”
“More than a month,” Rona offered, gazing up at him with unvarnished love.
Cursing under his breath, Gideon ran his hand through his hair in a practiced motion. Eyebrows pinching together, his voice was full of bewilderment. “How did you know I was alive? How did you know that I was rising?”
“Aaron kept an ear to the ground, and Jeremiah put a monitor on you before the earth took you,” Rukia explained tightly, trying her earnest not to relive the moment.
“Just in case,” Jeremiah echoed, his face suddenly falling.
Tyee cocked his head, the long curtain of his dark hair falling forward. “When did you become conscious again?”
Gaze falling to the ground, Gideon frowned in renewed focus. “I don’t know.” Concentration marred his features, shaking his head. “I don’t know, really. I can remember several times when I felt you close, Rona, but … it’s more a haze than anything tangible.
“Just before I rose,” Gideon recalled, “was the only point where I was truly aware. Couldn’t remember a time when I’d ever been so deep in the earth, or even why I was there.”
“I, for one, am glad you don’t remember how it happened.” Rona cuddled even closer into Gideon’s chest as his arm tightened instinctively around her. “I’d prefer to forget it myself.”
His lips brushed her forehead gently. “I’m sorry, little vampire.”
“Next time, just take your impromptu vacation to Maui, okay, home slice?” Jeremiah quipped in an attempt to be lighthearted, but a brush of roughness rode in the undercurrent of his voice. “I’m not a fan of the overtime.”
Rukia’s fist connected with Jeremiah’s deltoid from where she sat but said nothing.
“For what it’s worth,” Gideon met the eyes of the immortals around the room, “it was never my intention to cause any of you grief.”
“No one blames you, Gideon,” Aidan assured, the wolf behind his eyes, “but theCitizenswill learn we have boundaries they should not cross. ”
Epilogue
