Love Beyond Sight by Rebecca Royce Page B

tried to sit up and gentle hands pushed him back down.
    "Easy now." Eden looked down at him and he realized his head rested in her lap. "You had a hard time. It really knocked you out."
    Footsteps approached and seconds later a man with shoulder-length brown hair regarded him. "You okay, bro? It hits everyone differently."
    Pushing past Eden's embrace, he made himself sit up. He wasn't going to start out in a vulnerable position.
    Eden started to object. "Samuel…"
    He'd already gotten into a sitting position by the time she got the word out. Staring at Gabriel, he held the other man's gaze. "I'm fine and I'm not your 'bro'."
    "Ha." Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest. "Easy, tiger. I mean no harm and we're the closest thing you'll ever have to real family. We're all freaks together."
    Eden made a sound of disgust. "Ignore him. He likes to be provocative. At least that's what Loraine always says."
    "Loraine shouldn't be giving away all my secrets. You girls… you talk and we guys have no privacy." He held out his hand to Samuel and for a moment Samuel considered not taking it. Begrudgingly, he let the other guy help him stand up. As unsteady as he was there was no way he would win in any macho contest at that moment.
    "Careful with this one, Samuel. These Outsider women, they like to whisper to each other."
    Eden stood up behind him. "Stop that, Gabriel. He's just woken up and it's… complicated between us."
    "To say the least." If he sounded bitter, he wasn't sorry. First Fate took his face, now it had dropped him in New Orleans with no chance of real happiness. Even he could only pretend to be pleased for so long. "So, we're here. Let's get whatever I came here to do over with."
    Gabriel grinned. "I love it. You've got a chip on your shoulder so big you might fall over from it. Welcome to the family. You fit right in."
    Samuel wanted to punch him.

Chapter Nine
     
    Sebastian stepped out into the snowstorm, pulling his ski hat farther down on his head. He hated the snow. Never once had he regretted choosing to live in the southern half of the United States. New Orleans had proven to be all he could have wanted and more. Everyone there was used to weird things. If a person seemed a bit off, no one gave it a second thought.
    Somewhere more conservative, he might have found himself having to explain his odd behavior more frequently. He hated the snow. Still, he trudged forward. Eden's presence had left him and he wanted to know if it was simply that he was being blocked by the influx of bad weather or if the pathetic Outsider had somehow managed to get away even amidst the white mess currently blanketing the east coast the United States.
    He also had a second reason for wanting to put some space between Alexa and himself. It was time for him to eat, and if he spent any more time in Alexa's company, he was going to have to feed on her. That wouldn't do him any good. He still needed the bitch to locate all of her kin. Once she'd done that, he would suck her blood through a straw.
    It was getting harder and harder to resist. The night before when they'd fucked until she couldn't see straight and he was out of his mind with boredom, he had almost reached down and eaten her right there. Sebastian felt proud of his self-control. His father would be pleased. The last dimension he'd taken over he hadn't maintained his cool very well and the old man had lots to say on the subject. This time, no one would doubt his ability to maintain a level of decorum up to the family's standards.
    It was hard being from the most prestigious family of evildoers ever created. That kind of pedigree left no room for fucking up.
    A man walked on the sidewalk a distance away. Head down, he stared at his feet as he made it through the sludge. Some of the snow seemed to be changing to rain, which meant everything was going to get slushy. In his right hand, the downtrodden fellow held a snow shovel.
    "Hey," Sebastian called, increasing his pace to catch