Bound by Sin: The Beginning of a Prophecy (Prophecy #3) (7 page)

Brooke

Chapter
Nine

September 17, 2014

Lying on the bed with my head hanging from the edge, I let out a sigh. Despite how grand this hotel suite was, I was beyond bored from being cooped up in it. I flipped over on my stomach and grabbed a magazine from the night stand. All of the pictures were of places to go in London, things to do, and I was stuck here.

I groaned and tossed the magazine
on the floor just as Gavin walked in with two cups of coffee. He handed one to me and the steam floated up from the rim of the white ceramic mug, the pleasing aroma warming my nose.

"What's wrong with you?" Gavin asked
, sitting down on the edge of the bed. His hand skirted along the small of my back.

"I'm just so tired of being stuck in here. It sucks."

Gavin sipped his coffee, staring at me over the edge of the cup. Now, knowing what he was, moments of quiet and stares like that always made me think he was pondering something deep and dark, fighting off his demonic urges.

"I just don't understand what we're doing? I mean, no one could possibly know where we are, right? Nothing's happened."
That was more of a plea for reassurance than an actual question.

"You think it's impossible that anyone would know where we are?" he asked, reaching over to set his mug on the nightstand.

"Pretty much. Out of all the places in the world, how would anyone know that we are here, in this city, in this hotel?” Staring down into my coffee, I tapped my nails over the mug; the light clink sounded almost like a tiny bell. “It's statistically improbable."

A quick smile flashed
across his face and he twisted the ends of my hair between his fingers. "Statistics mean nothing with the beings this involves.
Everything
about what I am is improbable, Brooke. The fact that it is only a matter of time before we are hunted by beings that will stop at nothing to find us –
that
is something that is undeniable." He glanced over me to stare at the wall and let out a frustrated groan. "Come on, then," he said as he rose from the bed.

I sat up, completely confused.

He grabbed his jacket from the foot of the bed and shoved his arms through the sleeves, adjusting the front and zipping it halfway up. "Do you want to go out or not?"

I sat there, still looking at him.
I was dying to leave, but afraid.

"Look, if you want to get out of this bloody hotel, this is your only chance. There's not been enough time for the guardians to realize what's happened, and even if someone knew
, it's the early morning, it's busy outside, and they can't very well just snatch you up in broad daylight and trot off with you. At least not yet."

Gavin made his way to the door, turning to face me as he placed his hand on the knob. "This is the only time we will do this. Understood?"

I nodded my head and followed him out into the hallway.

We strolled through the lush green park. Large azalea blooms covered the bushes. Laughter from a group of people sitting on a bench a few feet away carried over to us. Gavin held
my hand tightly, almost like a parent would a small child they were afraid would dart out into traffic at any moment. His eyes remained focused on the ground, a permanent scowl shaping his brow as he watched his feet while he walked. He looked angry, not terrified, worried, or even slightly concerned. Just put out. It was as though none of the events from the past few days had ever occurred, and for a moment, I caught myself wondering if they even had. I found peace pretending that he really had just whisked me away for a spur of the moment getaway. The ignorance of that daydream was quickly interrupted when I caught the image of a very slender man standing across the street, his attention concentrated on us.

Moving closer to Gavin, my grip
on his large arm tightened and I said, "Maybe we should go back."

Gavin glanced up, immediately looking over the top of my head to see the man now leaned up against a building, still watching us. "I wouldn't worry myself with him. He's
just
a man."

Gavin’s gaze immediately fell back to the ground and
I felt the tension in my body release.

We made our way over a small bridge and stopped. Gavin leaned over
the railing, staring across the river and fidgeting with his hands. "So, what's it like? How is it? To be human."

His question caught me off
guard and a short laugh fell from my lips. "Normal. I mean, I've never known anything else. You know?"

"Aye." He was still st
aring down into the green water, his eyes glazed over and his face vacant. "What's it like to have a family? To love people like that?" He paused and looked up at me. "You're the only thing I've loved. You've had a lifetime of love. You were
brought into
this world knowing what that emotion is... until you, I'd never felt it. How is it possible to feel this way toward so many people?"

The question shook me
, and I realized all the things that had made my life seem so complete and fulfilled were foreign to him. There was so much about him I hadn't realized, wouldn’t have been able to realize if I still believed he were just a man. What he was affected him in so many ways. Countless things about his existence seemed tragic. He truly had only
existed
, because the things he knew nothing of are what make a life.

I thought, my eyebrows scrunching
down as I tried to decide the best way to answer him. "It's wonderful." I stared into his eyes, knowing I could never make him understand it the way I wanted him to. "Never having to be alone. Always having someone there you know will help you, love you ... no matter what horrible things you do."

"I see," he said
, and once again directed his gaze back down to the water. "And death – how do you find joy in life knowing that at any moment it could cease? I always found it peculiar that humans did all this," he motioned his hand across the horizon, pointing out all of the man-made objects surrounding us. "All this is made, knowing that, for you, an end is inevitable."

I'd never thought about it like that and for a moment as I glanced arou
nd at all the buildings, looked at the people in business suits out for lunch, as I watched all the traffic whizz by on the street behind the park, it did seem rather foolish. Life was brief and really, in the grand scheme of it all, my own existence was nothing more than a blip. Man spent his entire life building things, making a way for himself and, within the moment of death, all he could hope for was to leave a legacy behind.

"I never thought of it exactly like that. I guess we just ignore it. If I walked around all day wo
rrying about when I would die, I don't think I'd really enjoy life much." Pulling my bottom lip under my teeth I thought, and the words came out of my mouth before I even realized it. "Deception. I've always let myself be deceived that death wasn't really real. It just always seemed like it would never happen to me, because... how
could
this end? What would happen to me, how could I just
stop
existing? I just pretended like death was something that I could avoid." Pausing, I glanced up and locked my gaze on Gavin. "I think man really has become a master at making himself believe that he's untouchable. When things happen to other people, they aren't as real. So, really, until we have death breathing down our own necks, it's easy to believe it won't ever happen. End. That word, it just doesn't seem possible."

Gavin placed his arm around my shoulder, kissing my forehead gently. "For me, it's not possible. And I'm beginning to think that may be the worst part of this curse. If I were to lose you..." His eyes studied my face, moving to each small detail and devou
ring it with his magnetic gaze. "I can't fathom something crueler than to lose the one thing you truly love." Pulling me in the direction of the gardens, he said, "How man endures death is beyond me."

We walked tow
ard the entrance of the gardens. Buckingham Palace rose in the horizon, creating a contrast against the grey sky.

"This could very well be your last day to be out in the world. How shall we spend it?" Gavin said.

In casual conversation I’d been asked, "If you knew you only had X amount of days to live, what would you do?" and I’d always have a random answer like go to Tahiti or go see aurora borealis. Here I stood in the middle of London being asked that very question, but unlike any other time I'd contemplated it, this time it was very literal. A light breeze blew, sending a chill over me as I thought. "I have no idea.”

A soft smile shaped Gavin's mouth. "Really? No idea? Anything at all. I'll buy you whatever you want."

I turned and watched a family sitting on the green lawn. A little girl with an adorable purple dress twirled around, the air sending her skirt fluttering around her; her long dark hair flying carelessly in the wind she created. The mother sat watching her, her eyes glistening and an adoring grin molding her lips. The little girl stopped and her giggles floated over in my direction. She suddenly ran to her mother, wrapping her arms around her neck and planting a kiss on her check.

Facing Gavin
, I said, "Anything?"

"Anything, love. I'll give you anything you want." He grabbed the sides of my face
, bringing mine in close to his.
“Anything.”

"Let me call my mother."

His smile faded, his dimples disappearing as he took in a large breath. He stood, silently staring at me. His gaze drifted past me to the mother and child I'd been watching. His teeth raked across his lip and he bit down on the skin. Closing his eyes, he tilted his head back and groaned. “Damn it, Brooke. Don’t do this to me. I can give you anything,
anything
in the damned world – but I can’t allow you to do that. I’m sorry.”

He walked off, my hand still clutched within his, pulling me to follow him. I stood fir
mly in place. My vision became blurred behind the tears as anger swept over me.

Turning around, he gla
red at me. The sympathy he’d shown was quickly transforming into aggravation. “Go ahead and get mad with me. But I’ll not let you do something so foolish.”

Foolish.
That word cut me to the bone.

Gavin released a low growl under his breath and shook his head. “We
’ve no business out here anyway. I’ve already given in to you once. I’ll not make the mistake of doing it again. Your mortal mind
cannot fathom
the wickedness that is about to be unleashed on us both.”

He yanked my arm again
and this time I followed him, stumbling as my feet drug beneath me. We walked in complete silence back to the hotel. Every few minutes he would glance down at me. Sometimes he looked angry, other times he looked hurt. I felt like a prisoner being marched off to be exiled.

Later that night we were awoken by the phone ringing. Without thinking
, I reached over and answered it, still half asleep.

“Mrs. Hunter?” a quivering voice asked.

“I’m – I’m sorry?” I groaned. Being half asleep, still somewhat disoriented, and having someone refer to me as “Mrs. Hunter” left me unable to properly form words.

“Mrs. Hunter, this is Christopher from the front desk. It seems there
’s a bit of a nasty storm approaching, and we are in its direct path. At this time we are asking all our guests to come down to the ballroom on the first floor for safety precautions.”

The man hung up
, and I laid there trying to wake myself up. Thunder shook the windows and lighting splintered through the sky, casting an eerie green glow over the bedroom walls.

The sudden noise startled me and I
grabbed Gavin’s arm. “Gavin.” I shook him and he roused. Rolling his head toward me, his eyes opened, then another roar of thunder rattled the room.

“They said there’s a storm and we need to come downstairs.”

The wind screamed around the patio, the strength of it causing the windows to shake. My fingers sank into his flesh. “Come on,” I begged.

We made our way down through the lobby, behind the desk, and into the elegant ballroom w
here all the other guests had taken seats at the tables. Nervous expressions had fallen over most of their faces; legs were shaking and women were pacing, holding sleeping children on their chests. I glanced back at Gavin and he didn’t look concerned at all; he actually looked rather annoyed that he was woken from sleep.

I overheard one of the women ask someone, “A tornado? In London? Whoever heard of such a thing?”

That word caused me to panic. Growing up in the southern part of the United States, I’d had well over my fair share of the destruction those storms caused. Before I was able to turn and express my concern to Gavin, one of the hotel employees came running in. His eyes were bulging, his lips were trembling, and he was panting. “They’ve reported it tearing through West Essex!”

The room filled with gasps
. A low murmur of panic tore through the crowd and my heart pounded. “Where’s West Essex?” I asked Gavin.