Bloodspell (The Cruentus Curse, #1)(18)

"What do you mean? What is he?"

Angie was quiet for a minute, and Victoria thought she was going to ignore her as usual but Angie surprised her by turning around. "You know, he's some kind of foreign prodigy slumming, but you'd think he was a celebrity the way everyone gets." Her tone was as disgusted as if she had something awful in her mouth. Victoria wasn't sure if that was because she was addressing her or because she was talking about Christian Devereux.

"Well, I don't care!" Charla said. "Slumming prodigy or not, I would do anything to get in that car. I would look so hot in there!" For some reason, Charla's words infuriated Victoria but she stifled the blistering response that rose in her chest and plastered a smile on her face instead. Charla grinned in the rearview mirror. "Here we are!"

The lake was encircled by thick green woodland. They parked and walked down a wooded trail to the water's edge where a long, gray pier jutted out. The water was crystal clear and the sun hung low on the horizon, casting a golden tinge across it. There were throngs of people milling about, many of whom she didn't know, but Victoria didn't mind as the coolness of the water on her toes and the smell of the clean, warm air were more than enough to make her forget about everything else.

A floating dock out in the middle of the lake looked inviting and Victoria thought she would swim to it. She stripped off her jeans and was just tugging on her T-shirt when she heard her name.

"Tori," a high-pitched voice shrieked. Victoria turned to see Charla dragging along a cocky-looking young man. "This is Gabriel. Everyone calls him Gabe. Gabe, meet Tori. She's with us."

At first glance, Victoria could see why Charla was head over heels for Gabriel. He was good-looking with black curling hair and dark, flashing eyes. His skin was tanned and his body athletically muscular. He looked like a gypsy. Victoria could see the strong resemblance to Angie, and the only real difference between them was her perpetually sulky mouth and his smiling one. He stuck out his hand and took Tori's in a warm grasp.

"Nice to meet you, Gabriel. So you're Angie's brother?"

"Funny, how can you tell?" he said. He smiled conspiratorially and a slight overbite kept his face from being too perfect. "So how do you like Windsor so far?"

"I actually really like it, thanks." His eyes were intense.

The way he looked at her as if he were really interested in hearing what she had to say was refreshing. After all, she had only met Charla, who didn't really care what anyone else had to say as she could more than capably say it for them; Angie, who never had anything to say; and Christian, who infuriated her to the point that she couldn't say anything at all.

"Do you swim?" he asked, nodding toward the floating dock.

Victoria's smile was genuine as she moved toward the end of the pier. "Race you!" She pulled off her T-shirt in mid-run and dove neatly into the crisp, clear water. The coolness enveloped her skin and she remained under for several strokes, enjoying the feel of the cold water before cutting the surface. She extended her arms in a competent free-style and sliced through the water. She was an excellent swimmer and knew she could give Gabriel a run for his money. As she pulled herself up, a hand reached down to help pull her out the rest of the way, followed by a laughing, dripping Gabriel.

"How did you ...?" she said. "You must be part fish!"

"Too slow!" he said, laughing as she struggled to catch her breath. "Okay, I confess, I'm captain of the Windsor Swim Team."

Victoria's laughter echoed across the water. It was wonderful to feel so at ease and relaxed with someone she had just met. She lay back.

"So where are you from? You didn't get that skin color from living in Maine, right?" Gabriel asked.

"Not so much." She grinned. "I get my permanent tan from my mother's side of the family, Persian ancestry I think. I lived in New York for most of my childhood and then I moved to Millinocket with my aunt when I was nine."

"Well, I'm glad you did," he said. Victoria blushed.

"It's so beautiful here," she said looking around, awed by the natural beauty of the lake with its thick wooded shores and pristine waters. "I mean New York is great but there's just nothing like this anywhere else, you know? This is perfection."

"Spent my whole life in the city, but since I've been here for three years, I can't imagine being anywhere else. I know exactly what you mean when you say that it's perfection."

They lay in companionable silence, watching the sun slide slowly behind the horizon. The air was still warm, and it was starting to get quiet as the voices on the far shore faded. Victoria never felt more at peace than at that moment. She turned on her side toward Gabriel, and realized that he was looking at her intently.

"What?" she asked, "do I have something on my face?"

"No." Gabriel smiled. "I was wondering about something." He hesitated for a second. "I was wondering how someone like you ends up hanging out with Charla, the chatterbox, and my social leper of a sister. I mean, how does that happen? Was there a sign that said 'sign up here to commit social suicide' when you enrolled? Did they pay you?" He kept a straight face but Victoria was laughing by the time he got to the end.

"Charla's, well, Charla. I like listening to her talk, because I don't have to," Victoria said. "And your sister is not a social leper." She hesitated. "I like Angie."