Runaway*

I lumbered inside my room, my legs strangely heavy, and shut myself in. The incident with Leif made me weak and sweaty so I hurried through a shower, mentally cataloging everything else I needed to do: dress in something less ridiculous and I should probably grab some food too. I hadn't eaten yesterday, I realized, and I hadn't gotten any sleep last night.

No wonder I was shaky.

I remembered myself convulsing when Gabriel kissed my hand and letting go of Lysander so abruptly at the cafeteria during our first meeting. But now, I don't have that kind of reaction anymore. Instead, I made other people convulse.

Somewhere at the back of my mind, I saw a blue flash and Leif crumpled at the pool, the smell of burning filled my throat. I had been so afraid of him, so desperate to defend myself.

Was it possible I summoned a power I had never been aware of?

'Had I created lightning?' I said to myself, still so wrapped up in my head.

I almost killed Leif and if I wasn't careful I was going to end up in jail for killing someone or I might even kill myself in the process. I rubbed my hand over my face and tried to rebury the memory.

When I finished, I wrapped myself in a towel, padded the bathroom and—

Stopped dead.

Gabriel sat at the edge of my bed, dark dangerous and glaring.

I clutch my towel so tightly my knuckles creaked. My hair was dripping down my back. My skin was damp and now that I'd seen Gabriel, it's tingling. He pushed to his feet, unfolding his strong body.

"Oh my god." My eyes rounded like saucers. "You're alive."

"Of course, I'm alive." He arched a brow in amusement. "What the hell did you think?"

Remaining silent, Gabriel stalked towards me and I felt like I was his prey.

"Did you kill Leif?" I asked—then cursed under my breath. "I might be happy if you neutralize a threat for the meantime but killing someone for my sake is not okay."

Gabriel answered me as he approached closer than before. "If I killed him, his House would be after me. And if one member from the House of Pentacles killed me, the House of Cups would be after them, too."

This time, I backed up and hit the wall. He stopped when he was a whisper away from me, his body threatening to press into mine.

I tried to move around him but it didn't work. I strained my neck to look up at him, meeting his furious crystalline eyes.

"That's why our ancestors had this pact in the first place. Revenge is a never-ending cycle and they won't let the entire population of one of the Houses gets wiped out."

"What did you do to him then?" I tried to hold my breath.

"Trapped him in the pool for the meantime. He'll stay there until he figures out how to break my spells."

Gabriel had me completely pinned now, surrounded by his strength and heat.

"What are you going to do?" I asked briskly. "What if he escapes?"

"I told you. You can trust me to handle this." Gabriel replied.

"What if he sees me at school and arranges an 'accident' for me just like you used to do before? This is my life we're talking about here and Leif just admitted he wanted to kill me." I burst out in frustration. "I'm sorry. You are a dear friend and all, Gabriel, but I can't trust you with my life."

Gabriel looked at me sharply.

"You might be my savior but you told me yourself we are enemies, too." My head tilted to the side. "Why are you even doing this?"

His blue eyes were angry but still, he didn't back away from me. "I can't believe I did this in the first place. This is like a new situation for me, an uncharted territory. I betrayed my kind for you, Cassandra. I don't even know where you stand in my life. Where I stand in your life."

Rather than defend his actions, he continued throwing these words. Not what I expected him to say and my lips curled into a slow grin. "Well, I told you just now. We are friends, Gabriel. What more could you want?"

His fury returned, stronger than before, nearly sparking. "Come away with me, Cassandra."

"Are you out of your mind?" I said in disbelief.

His mouth straightened into a mulish line as he braced his hands beside my temples. "We should hurry before Lysander and Raven caught on what was happening."

I flattened my palms on his chest to push him away. I stood there in wonder as I felt his heart beating faster and harder than I had ever imagined. His heat captivated me despite his shirt keeping us from the actual skin-to-skin contact.

How easy would it be to slide my hands up and around his head for a kiss?

"What are you thinking?" Gabriel didn't back off, he pressed closer.

"I was just contemplating how great of a friend you are by offering to run away with me."I noticed that he visibly stiffened at the word 'friend'.

"We're not simply running away from home. " Gabriel gripped my arms and shook me, forcing my attention to his face. "We might suggest to the people and the school that we were two lovers eloping to another face of the Earth just to cover up our disappearance."

"Where would we go?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Somewhere where nobody knows us."

"Uh---Antarctica?" I suggested anxiously, finding this whole idea ridiculous.

Gabriel was looking at me strangely. "Why don't you ask yourself if you are a penguin?"

"What about my mom?"

"If you stay here, you put your loved ones in danger especially your mom. Leif could make her a hostage so that he could get leverage over you." Gabriel replied bluntly. "He will make you come out by yourself just by sending your mom death threats."

"Yes."I agreed. "Just like they do in the movies."

I was silent for a moment thinking about some strategies on how to solve this problem.

"And you can't control your powers yet. " Gabriel said gently, noticing my silence. "You might seriously hurt your mom and other people with your lightning."

"I couldn't control the lightning yet. It sort of had a will of its own." I muttered after a long pause, still overwhelmed. "It used to fry my body from the inside when I touched you or Leif and Lysander because I haven't figured to utilize the energy before. Now I can manage it without hurting myself or hurting anyone of you. I think I just needed constant practice and being exposed to a Knight."

"Honestly, it jumps out of you when you are in a highly stressful situation and it could be a hit or a miss. It's like a Taser." Gabriel said as if he was recollecting both sensations and comparing them in his mind. "Perhaps, stronger."

"Does it hurt when you touched me accidentally at the pool before?" I said quietly, feeling sick to the stomach.

"I guess," Gabriel said with a condescending shrug. "We could always experiment on people for the pain levels if you want."

"Are you crazy?" I said, horrified by the suggestion.

"You could probably generate a lethal charge soon and protect yourself." Gabriel amended, aware now that something has disturbed me deeply. "I'd teach you."

I thought of Leif's unconscious body—how Leif had convulsed in a nauseating way when the blue light flashed. How his head had lolled back and his mouth fell open uncontrollably. I couldn't get the horrifying images out of my head so I started pacing around, wringing my hands to dispel the nervous energy I felt.