Free Finding Gabriel by Rachel L. Demeter Page B

non , he wanted to despise her – for thwarting his plan. He’d finally mustered the courage to do what should have been done long, long ago … then she’d appeared.
    Indeed, she’d appeared within the darkness, like a lighthouse among the jagged sea cliffs, steering him away from destruction.
    Except he was already destroyed.
    A dreamy haze settled over his mind and body as the laudanum trickled through his veins. It was a familiar feeling – one that took him back nearly a decade. Before departing for the war, Gabriel had often found refuge at the bottom of bottles. The war, however, had sobered his drinking in a matter of months. The withdrawals had been damn difficult to endure – but the efforts had paid off tenfold, transforming him into one of Napoleon’s esteemed regiment commanders.
    Now what have I become?
    A violent gust of wind rattled the small window, disrupting Gabriel from his thoughts. The wooden pane thudded against its sill and penetrated the silence with an eerie thump, thump, thump . Chilly winter air seeped through the poorly insulated walls and wrapped around his throat like fingers. He shivered, groaned, and adjusted his reclined body. Refusing to allow him comfort, the mattress’s coils screeched in objection.
    The woman lived in a state of poverty – yet her voice showcased refinement, her mannerisms a sense of inbred propriety. She hadn’t always known these circumstances. Of that he was certain. What had driven her to this lifestyle? What sort of man was the child’s father? And was her daughter a bastard … or the beloved child of another broken war hero?
    Without warning, Gabriel’s thoughts swung full circle –
    Tears cascading down pale cheeks. The thrust of a blade as it descends. Flames melting flesh from bone.
    And those images simmered inside his mind until he perceived nothing else.
    •
    Blacker than pitch, the darkness enveloped Ariah inside a cold, windowless prison. She was fifteen years old again – helpless, frightened, and orphaned …
    We race through the dark, winding alleyways, hand in hand, one with the night. A low-hanging fog curtains the world around us, obscuring everything. Above our heads, towering, colossal buildings, appearing older than time itself, scrape against the night sky. Resembling the smoke of a fairy-tale dragon, white clouds ascend from chimneys in voluptuous puffs, relieving Parisians of the cold. I admire the lush smoke rings and remember home. I think of my loving father and those visits with my half sister. How much simpler those happy times had been. Now my knapsack holds all of my worldly belongings: a rusted wind chime, a few sous, and a silver cross.
    Out-of-doors it’s cold and unforgiving. No stars dare shine overhead. The moon is cloaked behind heavy shadow and hidden from view. And yet I feel safe with him by my side. We are survivors – forgotten, orphaned, but never lost or alone.
    Nausea swells in my gut. I can’t hide my misery any longer. I slow my steps, lower my knapsack, and urge him to do likewise. “I … I’m so very hungry. It has been three nights, Geoffrey.”
    Geoffrey nods, sharing in my agony. “This way,” he gently whispers, tugging on my sleeve. Our breaths mist the air, appearing white against the black.
    I follow after him, guided by blind faith.
    Geoffrey stops and turns to me. A grin spreads across his handsome face. He appears older yet not wiser than his seventeen years. Light from an oil lamp flickers, casting thick shadows all around us. Footsteps echo from behind … now to the side. Someone is here.
    I tremble from the unknown darkness and clutch Geoffrey’s thin forearm. He steps nearer to me, a breath away – a kiss away – and his smile transforms into a full-blown grin. “Why, you’re scared, little one.” Two fingertips prop my jaw and urge my chin upright. My gaze merges with his, and for a moment, I forget to breathe. “I’m with you. There ain’t nothin’ to be afraid of, Ari.