Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Gabriel watchedas the children walked through the doors of the new home he had renovated for them on the manor’s grounds. His heart broke into a million pieces as he took in the vacant looks in their wide eyes. The many years of abuse and torture at the hands of the Brethren had stolen their childhood innocence from them, something Gabriel could never give them back.

The staff he had hired using his grandfather’s contacts ushered the children to their rooms. Just as he had done with the Fallen, Gabriel had designed rules for the orphans to follow, their own set of commandments. They needed structure and calm.

Maria smiled at the children as they passed by her. But Gabriel could clearly see the devastation on her face too. She looked up at him when a final group entered the home. The hairs on the back of Gabriel’s neck stood on end. Because it was like looking into a mirror reflecting him and his brothers in the past. This group of boys appeared different from the other orphans. No nerves or anxiousness in their demeanors, no fear. But something else hovered around them—death. Not a sense that they had experienced it, but that they wanted to bring it.

Just like Michael had been all those years ago in Holy Innocents. How Bara, Uriel, Raphael, and Sela had been when Gabriel had sinned enough to get himself a ticket to Purgatory and met them.

Those boys were guided to another part of the home. As they passed Gabriel—who had dressed in civilian clothes that day, rather than the priest’s uniform that may have caused the children discomfort—they each stared at him, arrogance and threat in their gazes … but Gabriel read what that cockiness disguised.

They were broken.

They were lost.

They needed help.

The final boy to walk through was the boy Noa had rescued from the Brethren plinth. The one who wore a collar just like Diel. His head twitched, the same as Gabriel’s brother’s had. But he kept his gaze to the ground, bypassing Gabriel and Maria without ever looking up. Katie, the den mother, gave Gabriel and Maria a nod and followed the boys upstairs to settle them in.

When the foyer had cleared, Maria moved beside Gabriel. She shook her head. “They seem so lost.” Gabriel nodded. He had just thought the same. Then Maria put her hand on his arm. “It’s a good thing you have done here. Giving them this sanctuary. To rebuild, to heal.”

Sadness caved in his stomach. “It’s not enough,” Gabriel said. He gestured around the new orphanage, where the boys would be safe and protected. They would be free to be themselves, no matter what desires ran in their veins. No matter what Brethren cruelty had turned them into.

Gabriel ran his hand down his face, and his soul shattered for all of the children still in Brethren clutches. For Cara and Destiny and the many Shunned that were listed in the ledger. And for all the other sub-groups they had yet to discover.

Because there would be others. Gabriel was no longer naïve to that fact.

“It’s a start,” Maria said, firmly. “We will both find and help others—that is our calling. We both believe this to be true—”

“That’s just what I was thinking.”

Gabriel and Maria turned to find Dinah leaning against the doorway, looking around the recently refurbished space. Gabriel caught the shine in her eyes, the air of disbelief that radiated from her as she drank in the high-spec finishes and all the room the boys would have to enjoy.

Freedom. Finally.

“Dinah,” Maria said. “What do you think?”

“Exceptional,” Dinah replied through a tight throat. She pushed off the doorway and approached Gabriel and Maria. She stopped right in front of Gabriel. “You did it,” she said. “Everything you said you would, you did.”

“Of course,” Gabriel said, understanding why Dinah seemed so surprised.

“No one outside of my sisterhood has ever stayed true to their word before.” Dinah looked behind her to the kitchen. The cook they had hired had begun cooking that evening’s meal for the children.

“Come this way.” Gabriel led Dinah into a private living area off the main room. Dinah followed, shutting the door behind them. Gabriel moved before the unlit fire, Maria taking her place beside him.

Dinah assessed the room, then looked at Maria and Gabriel. “We’re stronger together. Don’t you think?” She ran her hand over the dresser that sat against the wall.

A flare of relief fired through Gabriel. He didn’t know what the Coven wanted to do in regard to staying at the manor. In regard to fighting alongside the Fallen. Long-term plans had never been decided upon.

“I do,” Gabriel said, feeling some part of God’s bigger plan for him slotting into place.

“Definitely stronger,” Maria echoed.

Dinah walked closer. “There are more children to be rescued, to be saved.”

“There are,” Gabriel agreed.

“And you will need my Coven’s help in retrieving the Shunned, in taking the Brethren down from the outside.” Dinah smirked. “Especially since we apparently have a sister covertly on the inside.”

Gabriel nodded. Priscilla. The sister who was just like his brothers. “That’s true.”

Dinah huffed a laugh. “And now that Noa and Diel are soldered to one another’s sides, it seems there’s no separating the two of them.”

“I know that feeling,” Maria said. A blush coated her cheeks.

Dinah smirked at Maria’s reaction, then said to Gabriel, “So it appears that our two worlds have permanently collided.” Gabriel nodded, knowing where this conversation was headed and instantly feeling lighter inside. Dinah took a deep breath. “It also seems like you guys need a third musketeer in your leadership group.” Dinah shrugged, but there was a playfulness to her tone. “Someone who knows what it’s like to be under Brethren control. Someone who can fight and plan and scheme.” She folded her arms over her chest. “Someone who is used to planning missions to retrieve the children stealthily and successfully.”

“That does sound exactly like what we need,” Gabriel said.

Dinah held out her hand. “Then what do you say? Shall we continue this Coven and Fallen alliance?”

Smiling, Gabriel placed his hand in Dinah’s, and they cemented the deal with a handshake. Next, Dinah shook Maria’s hand. When they broke away, Dinah seemed brighter.

“You are welcome to stay in the old housekeeper’s home,” Gabriel said. “Or there are plenty of rooms in the main house.” Gabriel thought of the two factions sharing an evening meal each night, thought of them training each day. Although their handshake had secured the alliance, he, Dinah and Maria already knew that, somewhere along the line, they had already become family found. The rest was just semantics.

“I’ll put it to my sisters,” Dinah said. “And I’ll leave a voicemail for Priscilla, so she knows that even though she’s on her own path right now, there’s a ready-made fucked-up family and safe home waiting for her whenever she’s ready to return.” Gabriel nodded in agreement, not for the first time wondering about this Priscilla, the sister who had both saved them at the meeting house and helped them when they retrieved Noa.

As Dinah went to leave, Gabriel said, “We’ll see you and our new sisters at dinner soon then, yes?”

Dinah winked, and waved as she left. “That you will, Goldilocks.”

Gabriel looked around the orphanage once more, a small victory in the hellish war that was bringing down the Brethren.

“See?” Maria said, linking her hand through his arm. “God is slowly pushing us onto the right path. You’ll see.”

Gabriel closed his eyes at those reassuring words and sent a silent prayer to God for resilience, and for strength for the new task before them—rescuing Cara and Destiny and giving two of his brothers their loved ones back.

Then he opened his eyes and guided Maria from the orphanage and back to the manor, back to his brothers and sisters …

Back to his family.