Forever (Fallen 3)

“Makenna,” she repeated. “That’s a pretty name. Different.”

“She’s special,” Jonathon smiled proudly, “therefore she deserves a special name.”

“That she does,” my mom said, handing Ren to Jonathon. She held her arms out to take Makenna from Amelia.

I smiled as I watched her with my daughter.

Family truly was the most important thing in the world and I’d been so stupid to force my mother from my life. I might not have agreed with her choices, but they were her choices, not mine, and I should have respected them.

Eventually, everyone disappeared and I was left alone with my mom.

We sat side by side on the couch, each of us waiting for the other to speak first.

Finally, I reached for her hand and held it in my own.

“I meant it, mom. I forgive you for what you did. At the time, I was…I was young, and I was hurt, and I was scared. Here I was in a completely new place, where I didn’t know anyone, and my mom….the only person I felt that I had left, killed herself. Or tried to at least,” I took a deep breath even though I didn’t need the oxygen. “I was angry at you for a long time. But I’m not anymore. Having my own kids makes me see things in a different light. I wasted years on being angry, and that was extremely immature of me. I hope that you can forgive me for wasting that time.”

She smiled, rubbing her fingers across my cheek, and then tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. She had done the same thing many times when I was a child.

“What’s to forgive when we have forever?”

Chapter sixteen: Battle Strategy

Days later, we are all gathered in the living room, my mom and Gabriel included. My mom had already been filled in on everything that was going on…the prophecies, my power, and the war that was imminent.

“We need a strategy,” Gabriel paced in front of us. All of us were quiet, our eyes on the brooding vampire. “A great one, not some half-assed one. These are the Originals we’re talking about. We can’t just wing it. We need numbers too. Patrick,” he stopped his pacing and glanced at Patrick, “did you speak with the Coven like I asked?”

“I did,” Patrick nodded, “they’re in.”

“Excellent,” Gabriel rubbed his hands together and I half expected him to start cackling. “I’ve contacted some…friends of mine, but I’m waiting to hear back from them.”

“You say ‘friends’ like it’s a bad thing,” I stated.

Gabriel’s silver eyes flickered to mine. “If you haven’t noticed,” he smiled widely, “I’m not the nicest guy. I use the term ‘friend’ loosely.”

“Great,” I rolled my eyes.

Gabriel chuckled. “I’ve been in hiding most of my existence. Very few vampires know about me.”

“Wait,” I looked up at Gabriel and then back at my vampire family, “then how did you guys know about him?”

Patrick smiled. “We’re much older than most vampires, so I crossed paths with Gabriel many centuries ago.”

“Back to the original topic,” Gabriel sneered, “there’s power in numbers. We need more than just the Coven and us. This fight will make what we experienced with Selena seem like a piece of pie.”

“Cake,” I laughed.

“Huh?” He looked at me.

“You said, ‘a piece of pie.’ The saying goes, ‘a piece of cake.’”

“Whatever,” Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t have time for technicalities.”

“There’s a pack of shifters not far from here. I think I can find them and get them to agree to help us,” Patrick said. “If my memory is correct, the Originals haven’t been very nice to them.”

“Good,” Gabriel cracked a half-smile, “they’ll definitely be more than willing to help. Do you know what type of shifters they are?”

“A little bit of everything,” Patrick shrugged