I hadn’t thought Mr. Prim and Proper had it in him.
As Goose closed the door and we walked into what was once his office, I noted the changes in his residence. A wrought-iron staircase was now placed in front of the bookshelf, the dizzying spiral leading to a perfectly rounded hole in the ceiling that took you to a second floor.
The décor had changed as well.
It was more lived in, homier somehow.
Goose reverted to the man I knew, the consummate gentleman, even when facing the fucking surreal. “Can I get you anything?”
Carter released my shoulder and took a spot in front of the entranceway, crossing his arms, and stood before us like a fucking stone barrier. His entire body posture screamed “don’t fuck with me”.
Christ.
“I’ll take a shot of answers.” I started pacing, my thoughts chaotic. “So much has happened. I don’t know where to start.”
“You don’t have to.” Goose walked to the wall and removed a picture, revealing a safe. “I already know.”
I stopped, going still as I lowered my arms. “How could you possibly know? I’ve just gotten here.”
“You’ve been gone for over a hundred years.” He opened the safe and removed a small box. “That’s given us more than enough time to learn what happened.” He turned and pulled the box to his chest, studying me. I didn’t like how somber and pensive he looked. “Do you know about anything that’s happened in your absence?”
“Let’s see.” Placing my hands on my hips, I assumed the pissed-off female pose known centuries over. “The world went and fucked itself up?”
Instead of the indignation I was so used to, Goose actually grinned. “Ever the smartass. I’ve missed that.” He shook his head and walked to me, extending the box as he neared. “Here.”
“What’s this?”
He hesitated. After he cleared his throat and looked at me. “I’d have preferred to do this differently, but I don’t think we have the time. These are Gabriel’s remains.”
I let go of the box, wanting to believe I’d heard him wrong. The rectangular piece of wood dropped to the floor with a heavy plop and settled at my feet. The room started to go round and round, the multiple books on the shelves seeming too close and then too far away.
“Get that away from me,” I choked out the words, staggering back, feeling sick.
Disco couldn’t be inside a box hollowed out to create the likeness of a coffin.
A six-foot-plus vampire would never fit inside it.
I pictured him, remembering how he’d been.
He was larger than life in my eyes.
The thought of him being reduced to something so miniscule made me violently ill. My knees went weak, and I swayed. Lifting a hand to my mouth, I tried to fight the nausea rising from my stomach, determined not to vomit and make an absolute ass of myself.
Goose wrapped his hand around my forearm to steady me, his grip firm and his voice soothing. “It’s going to be all right.”
“Rhiannon?” Carter questioned.
“She’s in shock.” I heard Bells say, but couldn’t find her inside the room.
I was unable to get my bearings, seeing everything yet nothing at all.
Keeping an unbreakable grasp on my arm, Goose retrieved the box and lifted it. He pressed the piercing edge of the wooden container into my stomach. I glared hatefully at the cursed object, wanting to destroy it to ease the heavy weight in my chest. Taking the box would mean throwing away my dreams, my hopes. I would be forced to crush my own fucking heart, restart it, and live life as I once had—as an emotional zombie.
Lifting my head, I gazed into Goose’s compassionate, understanding eyes. “Don’t make me. I can’t.” How did I explain that by accepting his offering, I was admitting Disco was really and truly gone? “Don’t.”