Chapter Fifteen
Finally. Finally, Gabriel was back in the States. In the mountains of America, breathing the fresh air that he realized he had desperately missed.
Gabriel and his friends were staying in a quite beautiful cabin the middle of nowhere. While it wasn’t near any city – or any town of substance, for that matter – the size of the cabin made up for it. With ten bedrooms and a view that humans would kill for, Gabriel felt quite okay in the cabin. There were paintings that adorned each and every wall, as well as high tech plumbing and a library that was a relief compared to the one in Ukraine.
Gabriel almost felt like himself again. Almost. Once he had dealt with Michael, Hann, and the rest of the Moonlight Maine Pack – those despicable fools – he would feel much better. He would feel like himself again, and he truly couldn’t wait for his plans to finally be set in motion after all this time of him sitting on his hands and hiding in horrible castles that had seen better days.
While the cabin wasn’t a castle with history like Gabriel liked, it still had class and prestige, which made Gabriel feel like he was slowly morphing back into his true self.
Gabriel was… happy. Yes, that was the word. He had something that he thought was truly going to work, and he couldn’t wait to see the results. Of course, there was the fear that this would fail just like the uprising did a few weeks earlier, thanks to Michael and Hann. This time he wasn’t showy or immature about what he was doing. This time, he was smart. This time, he watched what he was doing and made sure that no one leaked information to the other side.
This time, he had a feeling that he was going to win.
And that realization hit him like a ton of bricks in the best way possible. Soon, he would be victorious. Soon, he wouldn’t have to deal with Michael and Hann.
And it would be glorious.
“Gabriel,” one of his Elders said from behind him. Gabriel was currently in the cabin’s library, running his fingers through the books that were stacked high on the bookshelves. He breathed in the scent of literature, loving that he was finally in a room where books were done justice instead of in the dank, decrypt library in Ukraine. They had just arrived at the cabin, and Gabriel immediately went to make sure that everything in the library was in order and just the way it should be.
He missed living like this. He missed it so very much.
“Yes, my friend?” Gabriel asked the Elder, not turning around as he marveled at the new place he would be staying at.
“The others rogues would like to know when you would like to call on the other rogues to form a sort of meeting,” the Elder replied. Gabriel swiveled around, his white skull out for everyone to see. The Elder across from him had his own pale skull covered with the stereotypical black hood and robe that every Elder had and wore. Gabriel hated the garb. He felt constrained in it. He wanted to be set free from hiding himself.
“Oh, we’re going to take our time on that front,” Gabriel told him, an evil smile on his face.
The Elder seemed to be taken aback. Confused. Gabriel knew he would be, and he really didn’t care to update him, though, he knew he would inquire about what was going on.
“Excuse me, Gabriel, but what exactly do you mean? The rest of the Elders are waiting for the final motion to be put into place to enact the big uprising that we have been planning for since the very beginning.”
“We’re not planning that right now. We’re going to sit on that and let it grow. I have something else in mind at the moment.”
“But Gabriel… last time, we waited to act, and then Michael found out where we were. He found out about everything that was going on in Michigan and he ruined our whole plan. Are you seriously saying that we’re going to do the same thing as last time, even after the whole thing failed?”
“You need to have faith, my friend. Last time we were messy. Childish. Thinking of victory before the war had even begun. This time, we won’t be as shallow. This time, we are going to do something that they’ll never expect. And this time, Michael won’t have a clue and won’t be able to stop this storm that is coming to rain on his parade.”
“But Gabriel… think of what happened in Michigan. Think of all of the things that we lost when that all fell apart. When all of our people had to go to separate ends of the world just to evade Michael and his hunt.”
“We are not in Michigan anymore, friend. We are in Utah. And Michael will not find us. You just need to trust me. You do trust me, don’t you?”
“Yes, Gabriel,” the Elder seemed to mutter before he left the library, finally giving Gabriel the peace that he so desired.
He knew his plan. He knew his plan would work. He knew that the rogues and the rest of his Elders wanted to bring the uprising to everyone, but he wanted to wait. He wanted to perfect the ultimate battle, instead of rush into it like they almost did in Michigan.
He needed to prepare. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have a few tricks up his sleeve.