With more enemies lining up to kill him than he can count, a playboy billionaire must hire the only woman capable of keeping him alive, even if she hates his guts.
Gabriel Gerard's life is full of gorgeous women, expensive cars, and infinite wealth...
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Gabriel flung open the door to find the guard slumped over the monitors, snoring. He sighed in relief. The spell had worked.
"What is this place?" Claire asked, looking at all the monitors. "Is it to catch cheaters?"
"No, casino security takes up an entire wing of the second floor," Gabriel explained searching for the seam to the prison door. "This room is more for anti-terrorism security. You can shut down the entire building in a matter of seconds from here in case of another nuclear attack. Lead covers the windows and bars the doors. It takes hours to undo. Aha, here it is."
"Where?" Olivia asked, staring at the bare wall.
"Right there," Gabriel said pointing.
"I don't see it." Bri crossed her arms over her chest.
"Me, neither." Claire giggled.
"It's right there!" Gabriel waved his hand and said, "Adaperio!"
The sound of metal and stone ground together as a wide passageway opened up before them. Gabriel flipped a switch and fluorescent lighting flickered the way. He took off down the passage with the girls hustling to keep up.
"I expected torches," Claire said giggling again.
"Claire," Bri warned, but Gabriel could hear the smile in her voice.
"Sorry, I get goofy when I'm nervous," Claire whispered.
They moved in silence with Olivia bringing up the rear. All of them jumped when the door automatically closed behind them, but they heard no footsteps following them. Finding a staircase, they headed down into the depths of the prison.
"The negative twelfth floor," Olivia said when they reached it. "Christian's in the red cellblock, cell thirteen."
They crept through the maze of hallways leading out from the center of the prison, like a spider web. The block colors weren't painted but were lit with dim crimson, violet, and black lights. All of the black-garbed guards were lying in various positions in which they had fallen asleep. Bri had to cover Claire's mouth when they came around a corner and accidentally kicked one of them. He didn't wake up.
"How far in is the red zone?" Olivia asked, checking every corner. All of the cells were empty. It would take thousands of prisoners to fill them all.
"It's the closest to the center," Gabriel said thinking of the map that he had committed to memory. "Next to the guard station."
He waved everyone to a stop as he heard voices ahead of them. Who could have stayed awake through the spell? He sidled along the edge of the hallway and slowly peeked around the corner. The guards were passed out in their chairs in front of the monitors. The voices were coming over the radio. There was stern concern for the president's whereabouts as all Secret Service was called up into the hotel.
"They're all asleep," Gabriel called out as he searched for Christian's cell. It was the only one with a white light on inside. The soldier was face-down on the floor. "Found him."
"Christian!" Olivia exclaimed, seeing her cousin.
"He's under the spell." Gabriel put his hand on the cell door, and more memories of being trapped there settled into his brain. "Adaperio."
Olivia hurried inside the cell with Claire not far behind. They rolled him over and looked relieved to see his chest moving in fitful sleep. Claire immediately took his hand in hers and began chanting her spells. Olivia hovered behind the small summoner, studying her cousin's face.
"Gabriel."
He jumped at the voice in his head.
"What is it?" Bri asked, standing next to him. Her dark eyes searched his pale blue ones. She leaned towards him. "Is it your mother?"
"No, it's my father." Gabriel felt cold.
"They're coming, Son. You must get out of here now. They will catch you."
"What is he saying?" Bri put a hand on his arm.
"He said that they are coming for us. We're going to get caught." He looked down at Claire trying to wake Christian. "How is my dead father talking to me?"
"It is All Hollow's Eve," Claire said taking a break from her chanting. "The day that the barrier between the living and the dead is the weakest."
"Is he here?" Olivia asked, looking scared for the first time that night.
"No," Claire explained calmly. "They can't come to this side. They can only talk to us."
"Great, now he wants to talk," Gabriel said trying to make a joke but even he didn't laugh. Bri stood before him, worry in her eyes as they silently interrogated him. "I guess now is better than never. Especially since his murderer is after me."
"Gabriel, get out of there." Steven Gerard's voice echoed in his head, deeper than it ever was when he was alive. "You don't have much time."
"You're father's right." His mother's voice filled his head. "We are coming for you."
"Shit!" Gabriel jumped again. "Now I can hear my mom. I'm turning into a serious head case."
"Block them out." Bri took his hands in hers. "My father tries to reach me all the time, but you can block it out."
"Your father can reach you all the way in Texas?" Gabriel asked, wishing he could. "I guess mine's reaching from the dead, so Texas really isn't that big of a stretch."
"Just block them," she said trying not to laugh. "Like this."
Her hands warmed around his, and he felt her power travel up his arms. It was dark but not sinister. Like a moonless night when it was the stars' time to shine. It shimmered over his chest and engulfed all of him setting up a wall around his soul. He focused on his own magic and saw that it was red, like fresh blood, and thick like velvet. It mixed with hers to form a deep purple barricade around them. He hardly could breathe. He didn't want to break the spell.
"There," Bri whispered. "They shouldn't bother you anymore."
"Forever?" Gabriel asked hopefully.
"For tonight." She released his hands. "While we're together."
"Then it will be forever." He stepped closer to her.
"Christian's almost awake," Claire interrupted, watching the soldier's face.
"Good." Gabriel reluctantly looked away from Bri. "They know where we are. We have to get out of here now."
