Wanderlove

"Yes?"

"Thank you for finding me. . .and for everything."

He looked down at me again; this time his eyes lingered as he observed me. "You"re welcome."

Dawn was nearing when we finally made it back to the Constantin house. Miriam stroked my hair before she left me and told me she would come by whenever I woke up. It felt very strange, not going home with her.

Gabe continued to carry me even after we entered his house. He carried me straight up the stairs, into an enormous room with a king-sized bed placed smack in the middle of it. He set me down very gently on the bed, where I sank into the soft sheets, stretching with languor.

Compared to the last few days" attempts at sleeping while being tied up to a pole, this had to be the closest thing to heaven. Intoxicated, I breathed in the scent from the sheets, picking up the familiar citrus-like smell. My brows furrowed in confusion. "Gabe, whose room is this?"

I glanced up to see he was rummaging through a dresser drawer. "You"re in my room. The bathroom is to your left." He tossed me a big t-shirt. "You can wear it if you like. I"m sure it"s comfier than a hospital gown."

I was really confused at this point and too tired to think straight. "Wait, why am I in your room?"

He moved closer to the bed, regarding me with his warm gaze. "Don"t worry, Lo. I"m not planning on sleeping here tonight."

"But I thought you mentioned something about this house having plenty of guest rooms? I don"t want to put you out of your own bedroom when there are others available."

"Yes, but none of them have a bed that"s as comfortable as mine," he said. Then he added, "Plus I"m really enjoying knowing you"re in my bed right now. It seems right to me."

My stomach tied in knots as a thousand different images instantly flashed through my mind of Gabe and me in bed together. It was a very rare occasion for me to blush or even seem remotely embarra.s.sed, but I was positive my face had gone red with humiliation. Gabe"s lazy grin proved he noticed it, too. I wondered if he had done it on purpose.

"Good night, Lo." He leaned down to kiss my forehead. Afterwards, he exited the room, closing the door.

Great, now I would have to try to sleep with all these seductive images haunting me and my dreams. I bet that"s just what he wanted too, the beast.

THIRTY-THREE.

My eyes shot open to the sound of a distant knocking. I really hoped the knocking would end without it being necessary for me to actually wake up and answer the door, but someone was being very persistent.

"Lo, can I come in?" I heard someone shout.

It took me a few moments to register who the voice belonged to. After I heard my name being shouted again, I realized it was Cam.

My brow furrowed confusedly as I sat up in bed. What time was it? I looked around for a clock, but I didn"t see any in view. I ended up finding a sleek, expensive-looking Movado watch on the bedside table. I picked up and read the time. It was nine-thirty a.m. I figured that meant I had only been sleeping for approximately four and a half hours.

"Ugh," I groaned. I stared at the pillow longingly, debating if I should simply go back to sleep and ignore Cam.

"Lo-laaa!" he shouted again, louder this time. He was practically banging down the door at this point.

"Okay, okay. Come in already."

It suddenly occurred to me that I was wearing nothing more than Gabe"s shirt, so I threw the comforter over my legs. Cam came bustling into the room only a moment later.

"This had better be good," I warned him. "Or did you not realize I"m recovering from the most horrific two days of my entire life?"

"Whoa." His brows shot up and his eyes widened. "Your face looks awful. It"s all purpley and yellowish." He appeared almost repulsed by my appearance, which made me want to throw the sheets over my head and hide forever.

"What do you want, Cam?" I asked, casting my face downwards.

"We"ve got trouble," he said. I detected panic in his voice. I also noticed his blonde hair was mussed. Of course, Cam"s hair always looked messy in a surfer sort of style, but today it was simply out of control.

"Here, take this." He shoved a duffel bag into my hands. "Miriam brought it by for you earlier."

I unzipped the bag and looked inside. It contained a bunch of my clothes and toiletries.

"So what"s the trouble you mentioned?" I asked as I rummaged through the clothes.

"One of the Royals is here."

I paused as the impact of what he just said fully hit me. "Which one?" I asked, a little worried now.

"Prince Tiberius."

The name ran through my mind as I tried to place it. Tiberius, where had I heard that name before? Oh, yeah. He"s from the house of Gabor. The house of Gabor was one of the four Royal families, otherwise known as the working gypsies. They were my favorite of the Royals, but they also held the least amount of power.

"What does he want?" I asked. But the question was pointless because I already knew the answer. He wants me.

"He was sent here to summon you to Redwood Forest."

"I refuse to go," I declared. "I"m an abandoner now. It"s not as if they can banish me or something."

Cam raised a brow and stared at me with a "you really buy that c.r.a.p?" look, which clearly indicated that he wasn"t taking me seriously. We both knew a gypsy never refused a summoning from a Royal. It just wasn"t done. Royals were law. And if the law wasn"t obeyed, there were always consequences. And the Royals had ways to track someone down, no matter how hard they tried to run or hide.

"Get showered and dressed," Cam told me. "He"s sort of impatient-- so hurry."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course," I said to Cam. "G.o.d forbid I cross a prince, especially a Gabor."

Cam didn"t seem amused by my mockery of the Royal. But that was because the Prince probably had his mind readers close by and fixated on me, listening to every word that escaped my mouth, every thought that pa.s.sed through my head. But I didn"t care if they heard what I was saying or thinking. I very well knew the reason the Royal was in this house. Undoubtedly, he was after the same thing Natasha had been after- the primus thingy she"d been talking about. And I still had yet to remember anything about their primus oracle, or whatever it was called. So as far as I was concerned, the Royal had all the time in the world to wait. It didn"t really matter to me if he was an impatient man or not.

You wasted your time in coming here, Prince, I said with my mind, wondering if anyone was listening in. I don"t have the memories you want and even if I did, I"d die before I"d reveal them to you!

I was a.s.suming on the last part, of course. But I figured if I killed myself trying to protect my memories in a past life, then I would most likely do it again in this one.

But something unexpected happened. An arbitrary thought ran through my mind, a thought that hadn"t come from me and I nearly had a heart attack as I heard the unfamiliar voice in my head.

We"ll save the conversation for when we are face to face, Lola Moori.

I was so completely freaked out by the obtrusive thought that had entered my head without my permission, I ended up rushing after all. I had never witnessed such an ability before. Then again, the Royals were known to be more powerful than the rest of us commoners. And for some inexplicable reason, most of the gypsies within the Royal families had repeatedly been born again within the realms of Royalty for centuries on end. No one had ever been able to explain why, though the Royals themselves believed they"d been given the right to hold power and it was theirs to keep forever. I thought it was an arrogant belief, yet no one had ever proved them wrong.

Gabe"s family was the only exception. The Constantins" were the only family to lose power. Also, they were the first and last Royal abandoners in existence. I knew Gabe had explained the history of his family to me before, sometime in a past life, but I"d forgotten the details.

After showering, I quickly changed into a pair of dark jeans and a brown sweater I found in the bag Miriam had packed for me. Then I headed towards the only mirror in the room and combed my hair out. I tried applying concealer, desperately hoping to cover my bruises. But the makeup hardly helped, which sort of depressed me. I was able to hide most of the darker spots, but there was simply no hiding the swollen balloon my right cheek had formed into. For a brief second, I even considered putting a bag over my head.

Giving up, I headed out of Gabe"s bedroom and descended the stairs. I heard voices resonating from the dining room, so I ventured in that direction.

Gabe was waiting for me in the kitchen before I even reached the dining room. He must have used his mind sight to know when I was coming.

My heart skipped a beat as soon as I saw him. He looked so much better today than he had yesterday. He was freshly showered, wearing a crisp, white cotton t-shirt and a pair of khaki trousers.

As soon as he saw me, he reached for me, cupping my face in his hands and looking over my bruises. "I hate that he was able to do this to you. I wish I could kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d again." His pa.s.sion was intense, causing me to pull away from him. I still didn"t want to think about anyone killing anyone.

"How do you feel today?" he asked.

"I"m fine," I a.s.sured him. "It"s only my vanity that"s hurting."

"Why? You"re still beautiful, Lola."

I smiled uncomfortably. "Thank you," I said. "But I"m sure you"re the only one who thinks so. Cam acted like I was a monster when he saw me this morning."

"Cam is overly dramatic. And besides, your swelling will go down and the bruising will fade. Have you been keeping ice on it?"

I shook my head. "Not since the hospital."

Gabe moved towards a nearby drawer and pulled out a zip-lock bag. He reached for the icemaker in the refrigerator door, allowing the crushed ice to vend into the bag.

"So is he in there?" I asked, eyeing the entryway to the dining room.

Gabe handed me the bag of ice. "Yeah. The pompous peac.o.c.k is enjoying his breakfast-- as if he were here visiting for a b.l.o.o.d.y tea party."

"Careful," I warned. "He was listening into my thoughts earlier. He"ll hear you."

Gabe raised a brow. "How do you know he heard your thoughts?"

"Because I heard him speak to me through my mind."

Surprised, Gabe asked, "What did he say?"

"Nothing, really. I actually spoke to him first. I hadn"t been sure if he could hear me or not. Anyway, I was shouting at him in my mind and he told me to save the conversation for later."

"You were shouting at him?"

Embarra.s.sed now, I nodded. "I told him he shouldn"t have wasted his time coming here."

I watched as the corners of Gabe"s mouth curved, almost into a grin.

"I didn"t really think he could hear me," I pointed out. "And I certainly didn"t think he would answer back."

"I bet that scared the h.e.l.l out of you."

"It did," I admitted. "I nearly fell over. I caught myself on your dresser."

He started laughing about that and then I joined in, noticing the humor in it. We both quietly laughed for a few moments, trying to keep our voices down. But the laughter soon faded and I stared ahead dismally, not really seeing anything, lost in apprehension.

"Gabe?"

"What is it, my love?"

"I don"t want to go with him."

Gabe tensed. A hardened look of determination settled over his features. "I won"t let it happen. I swear it to you."

I could see it in his eyes; he meant every word. I nodded, trusting him completely.

"Come on," Gabe said softly. "Let"s get this over with."

Though I wished I could stay in the kitchen forever, I followed Gabe as he led me to the dining room. The first thing I noticed was the huge array of breakfast food spread across the table. My mouth watered at the sight.

The second thing I noticed was the group of unfamiliar faces sitting around the table. A sudden hush spread across the room. Nearly everyone stopped eating and stood up as we entered.

Neither Baro nor Rex had seen me since I"d been abducted. Rex stiffened at the sight of my face and bandaged hands. Baro"s expression nearly crumbled. He approached me and patted my head with his enormous hand. "I"m so sorry about everything you went through," he told me. His voice was raw with poignant emotion. "And I"m so thankful to see you alive."

I smiled. For as large and muscular as Baro was, he fit the ident.i.ty of a giant teddy bear. I realized I had already thought of him in this way before, in another life.

Gently, Baro took me by my arm and lead me to the far end of the table. He brought me before a tall, handsome man with dark green eyes and golden hair.

"Prince Tiberius, may I introduce Lola Moori, daughter to Christo Moori?" Baro turned to me next. "Lola, may I introduce Prince Tiberius Renalo of the Gabor family?"

I thought it was silly to curtsy in jeans, but I also knew some sign of respect was customary. I decided to give a small bow. As I rose, the prince took my hand in his and kissed it. "I was amazed to hear the story of your bravery. I, too, am very sorry to hear of the ill-fated plight you"ve recently endured."

"I appreciate your concern," I told the prince. Randomly, I thought about his speech, thinking it was much too fancy for my taste. His clothes were also very flamboyant. I could see from where Gabe had drawn his peac.o.c.k likeness.

The prince nodded to the empty chair next to him. "Sit and enjoy some food with us, Lola Moori. As I"m sure you"re aware, there are issues needing to be discussed."

I happily obliged him. I grabbed a plate and filled it with waffles covered in strawberries and powdered sugar. I realized Baro must have prepared all of this food. I was nearly as amazed as I was on Thanksgiving.

As soon as I sat down and began eating, the prince spoke again. "I would like to be frank and get straight to my reason for being here, if that"s all right with you, Lola."

Before stuffing my mouth with a heaping bite of waffles, I said, "I"d prefer you were."

Dimly, I noticed Gabe had taken a seat across from me. He watched the prince untrustingly.

"I realize you must already know you"re being summoned. I"ve been asked personally to come and collect you and take you back to Redwood Forest."

I finished chewing and swallowed my bite before asking, "And what makes you think I"ll agree to that?"

The prince sat back in his chair a little straighter. Rigidly, he forced a smile. "I know you"ve been through a trying time recently, Lola. And for that reason alone, I will forgive your lack of respect. I"d also like to remind you that there is no agreeing or disagreeing to a summoning. If you"re called upon, you must do so without question."

"Thanks for enlightening me," I said to him and then took another bite of my waffles.