Forbidden

“My uncle will know what to do.” Nicolae finally breaks the silence. The dark undertone of his voice makes Gabriel glance up. The limo slows at it approaches a towering wrought-iron gate. Just beyond, down a winding lane, stands a large stone estate covered with snowy ivy.

  Gabriel shivers. “We’re here already?” He isn’t sure he is quite ready to face what lies beyond.

  “Time flies by when you’re scared to death,” William mutters, pressing his nose against the tinted glass to get a better look.

  Nicolae pokes his head out of the window to speak to the man guarding the entrance. The gates groan as they shift open. The sound reverberates through Gabriel with a sense of evil foreboding. The tires crunch on the gravel path as they creep along at a snail’s pace.

  Gabriel feels like pulling out his hair or screaming as the driver inches toward the mansion. The irrational need to escape is overwhelming but as the gates slam shut behind them, Gabriel knows he is trapped.

  Once the limo has come to a complete stop, the driver comes around to open the door. Each of them is met by his enormous, broad chest and short-cropped hair as they rise from the vehicle. A jagged scar runs from his temple to his throat, disappearing inside his black uniform.

  “Well, that’s not creepy,” Sadie mutters as Nicolae shifts to offer her a hand out of the car.

  Gabriel glowers back at the chauffeur as he turns to lead them up the steps. They incline sharply and end at the base of an enormous door.

  “Who lives here? Giants?” William jokes weakly as he leans back to stare at the top of the door that towers fifteen feet above them.

  “It’s just for show,” Nicolae chuckles, grasping a nearly invisible door handle. A normal-sized door opens inward to reveal a dark hall beyond.

  “I can’t believe you live here.” Sadie clings to Nicolae’s side.

  He smiles down at her and squeezes her hand tightly. “Pretty depressing, huh?”

  “No kidding,” William follows closely behind his sister.

  Gabriel brings up the rear. He nearly jumps out of his skin as the door slams behind him without anyone there to push it closed. “Okay, now that’s creepy.”

  Footsteps echo from up ahead. Nicolae goes rigid. He ducks out of Sadie’s grasp as he stands to attention like a soldier in the military. “Uncle.” He bows low as an imposing figure emerges from the shadows.

  The man is tall, though not nearly as tall as their chauffeur. His face is rugged, lined with scratches that Gabriel guesses to be fingernail marks. His black hair is slicked back and a trim goatee clings to his broad chin. He wears a tight-fitting black uniform under a heavy cloak, identical to the chauffeurs. The man walks with rigid determination.

  “Nicolae.” His booming voice echoes around the vast hall as he formally greets his nephew in Romanian. He doesn’t sound the least bit pleased to see his kin.

  “Yes, Uncle. She has returned, as I informed you,” Nicolae says in English.

  Gabriel glances at Nicolae. It is disconcerting to hear such a strong voice coming from the nerdy boy he has grown to dislike over the past couple months. The transformation is now complete.

  “You’ve brought unexpected guests.” This announcement is tinted with anger as his uncle concedes to the language change.

  “Yes, Uncle. They are…friends.”

  Nicolae’s uncle eyes each of them, sniffing the air. His beady eyes drill into Gabriel. Two guards, armed with heavy black guns, emerge from behind tall marble pillars on either side of the room. Gabriel’s heart is in the center of their targets. “You were not supposed to bring him here.”

  That doesn’t sound good. He looks toward his friends and see the same thoughts mirrored on their faces—they made a big mistake coming here.

  “He has come looking for Roseline, Uncle.” Nicolae steps forward. His voice drops so low Gabriel strains to hear him. “He is unaware of the prophecy.”

  The sudden gleam in the imposing man’s gaze unsettles Gabriel as he is regarded with new interest. Nicolae’s uncle does not relax his tense stance as he speaks around Nicolae. “You know what she is?”

  “I know what you think she is,” Gabriel corrects.

  Nicolae stares at him in amazement. Never in a million years would he have spoken so boldly to his uncle, but then again Gabriel doesn’t know what his uncle is capable of.

  The older man strokes his goatee, staring at Gabriel with a hint of admiration. “And yet you still come?”

  “Yes, sir,” Gabriel nods. “I love her.”

  Sadie bristles at the man’s boisterous laugh. “You can’t help who you fall in love with.”

  His laughter fades as he glances at Sadie for the first time. “Spunky,” he mutters, noting how his nephew stiffens. “I can see why you like her.”

  Sadie blushes but does not look away. “You are right, though, my dear. When it comes to vampires, your friend never stood a chance. He will love her until the day she sucks him dry.”

  Gabriel isn’t sure if he said the words so bluntly to scare them or because he believes it to be true. Either way, it has quite an effect on everyone in the darkened entry room.

  “I supposed I should introduce myself. My name is Sorin Funar. I welcome you to my home.”

  Without a sound, the two guards vanish into the shadows and Sorin heads back down the hall without another word.

  “Well, that was odd,” Sadie mutters under her breath.

  “You have no idea,” Nicolae says as he moves to follow his uncle’s lead.

  Forty-One