Greys III - Revelations

Chapter 33 - The Winning Side

I wasn't about to be left alone and bored in some broken-down gym. I hadn't slept for days, besides my numerous but brief bouts of unconsciousness. But no amount of weariness could make facing my master in my dreams any more appealing, especially after my fun with his Skia. He would not be pleased, and I never faired well when I displeased him. And though Jordan was entertaining to play with, something unpredictable, she was right, Gabriel was so much easier to ruffle. Years of history made his skin easier to slink beneath. I knew his weak spots, his buttons. Jordan might run hot quickly, and be exciting because I never knew what she was about to do, but Gabriel I could play with for far longer. Old habits die hard, I suppose.

I hurled an emotion at his back, the one I always had most readily available; anger. I saw his shoulders stiffen just before he made it to the doors, and then he turned, looking thoroughly unamused. I gave him a finger and a wink.

"Enough with the emotional fetch. Jordan's right, I'm done with you."

I had always hated it when he put on his calm mask, the one he wore when he acted like a young god, like royalty, as if nothing affected him because nothing was good enough or important enough for him to waste himself on. Like everything and everyone was beneath him. It was all bullshit, a ruse, but one he kept up so tenaciously, so religiously, most believed in it. Just like most believed in him. But I could see the real him underneath, I had ever since he ran away.

He wasn't a god, he was just a man, damaged and afraid, burdened by the responsibilities he thought he had to carry, the redemption he thought he had to attain, and crippled by every shard and jagged edge that made him up inside, all the horrors he lived with, those he had done and had done to him. He was just a man with a hard but brittle shell and a good mask.

"Running away every time you're faced with something difficult? And I thought you had grown in your time away."

I was only mildly baiting him, but I figured he would take it anyway. It didn't take much with Gabriel, I knew he was always looking for a fight, either to prove to himself that he was strong or to take whatever pain he thought he deserved. Whether arrogance or masochism, his reactions were predictable to me, even still, years later, the littlest spark could light him up. We both lived up to our Signs, but he had always been the hothead.

"What do you want from me?"

His quietly voiced question caught me so off guard I stared back at him for a beat. What did I want from him? What kind of fucking question was that? Nothing. Never again would I make the mistake of relying on him, of needing or wanting him. Or anyone.

"Right at this moment? I want you to stay and play with me. As I said, I'm a prisoner here, collared like a pet, the least you can do is let me mess that pretty face of yours."

Gabriel stayed annoyingly calm, despite me pushing more anger on him, sending the emotion as quickly as I could create it. He replied evenly as if he didn't feel any of it.

"What do you want from me in the long run?"

"I want nothing from you."

I snapped my reply quickly, his refusal to get angry making me angry instead. He just watched me with those damn ocean eyes, looking like his father with that hair, that superior air around him. He waited for me to continue, so I pressed my lips together, refusing.

"Good to hear you don't want to kill me any longer," he replied after a brief pause, a smug look of triumph in his nightmarish eyes.

I scowled at him. That wasn't what I had meant. I still wanted to kill him, he was just enjoyable for the time being, gave me something new to do, someone to talk to and poke at. I had been alone for so long. But I would still end up killing him or delivering him to his father. And of the two, killing him would be the kinder option.