“Don’t worry about me.” Gabrielle gave them a thumbs up. “I’m tough.”

  Gabrielle didn’t wait for a reply. She flapped her wings and shot toward the ground.

  Alex must have spotted her, for his head turned in her direction. He didn’t seem to recognize her. He raised his hand, fingers curled, and swiped it through the air. Four massive claw-like distortions tore through space. It wasn’t an energy attack. It was air moving so fast it created blades.

  Gabrielle swiped her finger through the air, summoning Mr. Shield—a device that looked like an old-fashioned buckler—which she used to erect a barrier several meters in front of her. The air blades hit the shield, which stretched out like a rubber band before, with a loud snap! the blades rebounded off the shield and slammed into Alex.

  An eruption just like the previous ones engulfed Alex. It cleared a second later when Gabrielle felt a massive surge of energy, revealing Alex once more, unharmed.

  Is he getting stronger?

  Gabrielle dismissed Mr. Shield and summoned Mr. Silly String. It was an older invention that she had used to help her escape from Azazel when she was younger. Basically, it just tied people up with an incredibly durable string that not even someone of Azazel’s strength could break.

  She pulled the trigger. String shot out from the nozzle. Alex raised his arm as if to block a projectile. The string hit his forearm and stuck there.

  By now, Gabrielle was at ground level. She flew toward Alex, swerved when he tried to swipe at her, and then moved past him again. Alex turned around, but by then, she’d already zoomed back around. Again and again she flew past him. The string attached to Mr. Silly String tightened around Alex, who only now seemed to understand her intent.

  He struggled against the binds as Gabrielle kept wrapping the string around him. When nothing happened, he roared. Liquid burst from his pores and melted the strings like his sweat had become acid.

  So that didn’t work. Then let’s try this.

  Gabrielle swerved around a compressed beam of air that Alex launched from his mouth, wincing as the wind slammed into her. This was pure blunt force damage. Her suit couldn’t protect her from that. She’d be done for if she got hit.

  Swiping her finger again, she summoned Mr. Bondage from her D-space. Built to look like a massive cannon, Mr. Bondage shot round blobs of adhesive goop that, when it hit something, would splatter and turn into an adamantium-hard substance.

  Several blobs spat from the barrel, striking Alex and splattering against him, coating him in thick, pink goop. He screamed as his arms and legs were bound. While his physical struggles did nothing, more sweat burst from his body and melted the goop, freeing him again.

  Muu… that didn’t work either.

  It seemed like none of her inventions were working. Whatever this new power was, it seemed quite versatile.

  Several more blades of compressed air raced toward her, but Gabrielle avoided them easily by ascending into the air. The resulting explosions behind her caused her vision to become obscured by dust. This didn’t bother her. If she couldn’t see, then Alex probably couldn’t see either.

  What should I do?

  Gabrielle was running out of options. If none of her inventions worked, then the only thing she had left was her own power, and she couldn’t use that. She had used it too many times already. If she used it again, there was a good chance that Alex, Alice, Jasmine, and everyone else along with this entire D-box would be destroyed.

  “Alex!” Gabrielle called out to him. “Don’t you recognize me? It’s me! It’s Gabrielle!”

  Alex stopped snarling like a beast. He stared at her with eyes that didn’t seem to understand anything. It was like his mind wasn’t there. His eyes were blank.

  That color…

  Not only were his eyes blank, they weren’t the same blues that she remembered. The whites of his eyes had become black. His pupils were a sickly shade of yellow. These were not the eyes of the boy she loved.

  Swiping his hand through the air, Alex unleashed a massive crescent wave of wind, which headed straight for her. Gabrielle summoned Mr. Shield again. The crescent slammed into the shield, rebounded, and flew back toward Alex, who was unable to react in time. Alex was lifted off his feet and sent flying. He smashed into the ground, kicking up clouds of dust as he tumbled across the desert landscape like a ragdoll.

  Gabrielle knew an opportunity when she saw one. Summoning another invention, Mr. Grab & Pull, which looked like a tiny gun no bigger than her palm, she fired the little device at Alex. Two tiny cables with suction cups at the end became stuck onto Alex’s crisis suit. Gabrielle pulled the trigger again and was sent flying toward him like a fish caught on a hook. As Alex was sitting up, he was immediately brought back down when Gabrielle plowed into him like a speeding shuttle.

  Her cheek stung from where she’d rubbed against his suit, but Gabrielle clung doggedly to him, her arms around his torso, face pressed against his chest. He struggled, but she’d pinned his arms to his sides. While he was strong, Gabrielle, who was fresh from having not been in combat for several hours and had a working crisis suit (Alex’s had run out of power and was clinging loosely to his skin), was stronger still.

  “Alex.”

  He stopped moving.

  “Alex, it’s me. You remember me, right? It’s Gabrielle.”

  “Ga… Gabri… elle…”

  “That’s right. It’s Gabrielle.”

  “Ga… bby…”

  Gabrielle sat up, putting her hands on his chest as she straddled his waist. Her long silver hair curtained around them as she stared down at him. Alex’s eyes were different than she remembered, but even as she looked at him, they flickered between yellow and blue, human and demonic.

  He blinked. “Gabby…”

  “That’s right, Alex. It’s Gabrielle. It’s your Gabby.” She leaned down and pressed her forehead to his, staring into his eyes, which continued to flicker as though a struggle was taking place inside of his mind. “Please come back to me.”

  The eyes changed completely. The black turned to white. Yellow to blue. Alex blinked several times, then focused on her.

  “G-Gabrielle?”

  With relief sweeping through her like a tumultuous storm, Gabrielle beamed at him. “It’s me. How are you feeling?”

  “Tired…” Alex mumbled. “W-what happened? Where are we?”

  “You don’t remember what happened?”

  Alex shook his head. He tried to stand up—then he looked down. His cheeks flushed red. Gabrielle wondered what he was looking at, but when she looked down, all she could see was her hips straddling his waist.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  “Ah… Gabby… could you, um, get off me please?”

  “Oh. Sure.”

  Gabrielle didn’t know what the problem was, but she stood up, and watched as Alex struggled to do the same. When she saw that he was having trouble, she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. Like a creature that was boneless, Alex slumped against her, his exhaustion apparent.

  “T-thank you,” he mumbled.

  “You’re welcome.”

  As the limo carrying Alice, Jasmine, Jessica, and Nicolas came down, Alex slowly drifted to sleep in her arms.

  Gabrielle didn’t blame him.

  CHAPTER 5

  A PAST UNREMEMBERED

  The house was burning. The iron stench of blood filled my nose, gagging me. I tried to remember what happened, but I couldn’t recall a thing. What happened? Where was I? Why was my house on fire? Where were my parents? My sister?

  I sat up, immediately noticing how wet my hands were. That was odd. Since the house was on fire, my hands should have been dry. Why were they wet?

  I looked down. My heart thumped like cannon fire in my chest. Blood. There was blood everywhere. Thick, red, viscous. It covered the floor, my hands, and the body that I had been lying on top of.

  The body of my father.

  “DAD!”

  Bile rose in my throat, but I suppressed it, gagging, and shook Dad to try and wake him up.

  “Dad! Dad! You need to wake up! Come on, Dad! Wake! Up!”

  I shook and shook and shook, even though I knew he would not be waking up. There was a large hole in his chest. If it wasn’t for the thick red liquid oozing all around the cavity, I could have probably seen the floor through it.

  “Dad?! Come on, Dad! You can’t be gone! Wake up!”

  But he was gone. Dead. Why was he dead? How did this happen? What was going on?!

  A scream alerted me to another problem. My head snapped toward where it had come from. I couldn’t see anything, but I knew that voice. It was my sister!

  I clambered to my feet. Tears streamed down my eyes, which burned with both emotion and the smoke clogging my vision. I needed to find my sister. I wouldn’t let her die like my father had…

  1

  Alex blinked several times as light streamed into his eyes.

  He was lying on a bed, in an unfamiliar room. Monitors beeped and booped, computers sat off to the side, and an IV drip was attached to his arm, but Alex didn’t pay much attention to any of that. As he absently pulled the IV from his arm, his thoughts remained squarely on the dream that he’d just finished having—on the nightmare that he had somehow forgotten.

  How come I’m only just now remembering this?

  It was strange, but Alex was having trouble wrapping his mind around what he had just dreamed about. He could’ve sworn his father had died in the line of duty. That was what Karen had told him. His father had died in the line of duty, and his mom had died in a house fire. Had that been a lie? If it wasn’t, then what was that nightmare about? Delusions? Strange visions? He didn’t know, but the fact that he would have such a terrible nightmare bothered him.

  As he became more aware of his surroundings, Alex realized that he wasn’t alone. Three other people were with him. To his left, Gabrielle lay with her torso on the bed, her head resting on his chest. She was drooling. Jasmine lay to his right, mumbling in her sleep. He thought he heard her “Oh ho ho ho!” laugh, but he couldn’t be sure. Alice sat next to her. Unlike the other two, she was wide awake and staring at him.

  “Alice…”

  “Big Bro, I’m glad you’re awake. You really scared me this time.”

  “Sorry,” Alex whispered. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Wait.” He paused. “What happened?”

  Alice’s frown was quite telling. “You mean you don’t remember?”

  Alex frowned in return. “Should I?”

  “You were sucked into another dimension and went on a rampage.”

  “Dimension? Rampage?”

  Alex tried to recall this happening, but no matter how much he tried, the memory wouldn’t come. “I’m sorry. I can’t remember any of that happening.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Gabrielle said, making him and Alice turn their heads.

  “Gabby,” Alex greeted, trying hard not to stare at the way her breasts popped out as she stretched her arms. It was… more difficult than usual, which was impressive because not staring was already tough. For some reason, Alex was more aroused than normal. He was so aroused that a vision even came to him as he watched Gabrielle.

  I took Gabrielle by the hand, pulling her onto the bed, twisting so that I was on top and she on her back. She looked at me with a coy expression. The buttons of her shirt were partially undone, revealing her cleavage and a hint of her nipples, which poked through the fabric.

  “Alex, take me,” she breathed, and that was all it took for me to lose my self-control and ravish her.

  Alex closed his eyes as a wave of nausea passed through him. His stomach rebelled, threatening to make him dry heave. It was then, as he was trying to quell his rising sickness brought about by a deep sense of self-loathing, that Alex realized he hadn’t eaten anything in awhile.

  Grrrgggle!

  “It sounds like someone is hungry,” Alice said with her perennially dry voice.

  Alex blushed. Gabrielle stood up and smiled. “Hold on. I’ll grab some food.”

  “Thanks.”

  The door closed behind Gabrielle, and then her footsteps receded, leaving him and Alice alone, with only the still sleeping Jasmine’s snores to accompany them.

  “Alice? Do you remember what happened when we were younger? Anything about our parents? Like what they looked like, or how they acted around each other? Anything?”

  “Our parents?” Alice stared at him like he was saying something stupid. “Of course I remember our parents. They were… and they looked like… n-no… that’s not…”

  “Alice?” Alex grew concerned when Alice grabbed her head.

  “W-why can’t I… why can’t I remember?!”

  “Alice, if it hurts, then stop thinking about. Alice!”

  Realizing that Alice was on the verge of having a fit, Alex grabbed her face between his hands and forced her to look at him. He whispered to her, telling her that it was okay, that she should stop thinking and just look at him. She blinked several times. Then her eyes cleared, though it was clear that she was pained. Tears were leaking from her eyes, which Alex wiped away with his thumbs.

  “I can’t remember what Mom looks like,” Alice whispered, no longer the dry sister with the sarcastic wit and lazy tone. “Why can’t I remember?”

  “I’m not sure,” Alex said. “But Gabrielle thinks that my memory’s been sealed away. She says there are angelisian seals inside of my head. Whoever did this to me might have also done the same thing to you.”

  “What are we gonna do?” Alice asked, sniffling.

  Alex shifted on the bed to get more comfortable, reached out, and gently rubbed his sister’s head. “Don’t worry. I’ll have Gabrielle run a scan of you when we get home. She’s currently working on figuring out a way to break the seals in my mind. If the same thing is happening with you, then I’m sure she can fix it.”

  He didn’t mention that there were also seals on his core. He would have Gabrielle discreetly check Alice’s core, though he didn’t think there would be anything. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.

  “You have a lot of confidence in Gabrielle, huh?” Alice asked.

  “Of course I do. Gabrielle’s amazing, especially when it comes to building technology.”

  “Do you love her?”

  Alex paused. “I… I don’t know. I mean, I love spending time with her, and I want her to be happy. But… it doesn’t really matter what I want. Once this whole issue with Gabby’s father is concluded, she’ll probably leave and go on to find some amazing person to marry. I’m just a substitute.”

  It hurt to think about, but Alex had to face the truth. He was Gabrielle’s shield. He pretended to be her fiancé so that she wouldn’t get married off, but that was all he was. When her problems ended, so would their relationship. It was depressing, but he tried not to think about it.

  Alice stared at him with a look so deadpan Alex had to look away. “You’re an idiot.”

  “T-that wasn’t very nice.”

  “Mmmmm.” Jasmine groaned before Alice could retort. Sitting up, her normally perfect hair all frizzy and mussed, the blonde smacked her lips several times and looked around.

  She froze when her eyes landed on Alex.

  “Alexander!” she exclaimed and instantly began fretting over him. “Are you feeling alright? Where does it hurt? How many fingers am I holding up? What day is it?”

  “Jasmine. Jasmine!” Alex grabbed ahold of the girl’s shoulders to stop her from continuing. “It’s okay. I’m all right. There’s nothing wrong, nothing hurts, and you’re not holding up any fingers for me to count.”

  “O-oh ho… right.” Jasmine relaxed, and then she froze. Alex wondered why her face was turning red. He found out a second later when she said, “A-Alexander? C-could you please—my shoulders…”

  “Huh? Ah, right.” Alex let go of her shoulders. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

  “I-I wouldn’t say you made me uncomfortable. Actually, it was rather… pleasant… I just… I mean, my heart isn’t ready…”

  “Hm? Did you say something?”

  “N-no,” Jasmine squeaked. “I didn’t say anything.”

  Alex frowned. She had mumbled that last part so softly that he couldn’t hear it. She must have been embarrassed. Nobles weren’t really the type who enjoyed physical contact, from what he’d seen. Even Jameson hated touching other people, unless they were woman that he was seducing.

  The doors soon opened, and Gabrielle walked in with a tray of delicious-smelling food. Nicolas and Jessica waltzed in behind her.

  “Glad to see you’re awake, brat,” Nicolas said. “You gave us all quite the scare.”

  “Did I? Sorry about that,” Alex apologized.

  Nicolas and Jessica stopped and stared.

  “Jessica, am I hearing things, or did Alex just apologize to me?”

  “If you’re hearing things, then I’m hearing them, too.”

  “Has armageddon come?”

  “The stars don’t appear to be out of alignment.”

  “Maybe the universe just had a massive fart.”

  “Would you two stop making fun of me?!” Alex shouted.

  “How dare you make fun of Alexander like that!” Jasmine snapped at the same time.

  “Sorry.” Nicolas waved a hand in a dismissive fashion as he walked further into the room. “I didn’t mean to seem so surprised, but you have to admit that him apologizing to me is even rarer than witnessing a star go nova.”

  “If you’re that worried about me apologizing, then maybe I should stop,” Alex snapped.

  “I didn’t say you had to stop, did I?”

  Alex clicked his tongue. If this was what he was going to get for being nice to Nicolas, then maybe it would be better if he stuck to being a jerk.

  Gabrielle sat down on the edge of the bed, scooped up what appeared to be standard oatmeal onto a spoon, and held it out for him. “Here you go, Alex. Say ‘ah.’”

  Alex froze. His mind screamed.

  Wait, wait, wait. Is this really happening? Is Gabrielle really going to feed me?

 

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