47: Too Many Barriers

I haven't finished this, but a good enough portion is done so that I feel like I won't mess it up on my way to the ending I want. So... it's back! I'll try to update every two weeks or so.

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Recap:
*Julian rapes Gabriella to get her pregnant and make a hybrid werewolf/witch that can one day work the stone as well as benefit from it.
*Tanner's mate, Katharine, uses a spell to drastically and painfully speed along Gabriella's pregnancy.
*Nate, furious with Marge and Derek, decides to race off on his own to find a way to rescue Gabriella from Tanner's pack.
*Robert is no longer able to resist Marge and falls under her siren's spell.

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Earlier this morning....

    I can hear them! Nate thought with vicious glee as he raced around in the woods surrounding Tanner's compound. It must be an effect of the stone that I can't hear Derek's pack. Tanner's pack has been missing theirs for quite some time now

    Tanner's sentries had, of course, discovered his presence soon after his arrival in the surrounding area. 

     That's right, pups. There's a vampire in your midst. He stifled a sadistic laugh at the young ones' frustrations with not being able to catch him. They don't know I can hear their communications! It must be the animal blood in them that makes them so very very easy to read.

      Sure boys, keep trying to trap me. I know your every thought! he thought as he outmaneuvered them once again.

      Still, the sun was on the rise, and he would need to seek out shelter soon.

      Didn't some sort of lore exist that said vampires couldn't cross running water? Hah! Wrong! he thought as he raced down the river and dove below the surface of it.

      He allowed the river to guide him to the large lake nearby, and he found a dark cave in which to hide for the day. Sure, he felt a mild discomfort and annoyance because he couldn't breathe, but breathing was unnecessary. He could hear the wolves' frustration that they'd lost his scent, and he allowed himself a grin.

      The grin fell off of his face as he pondered his situation. That house was a fortress! He quickly scanned his Gabriella's memories. Thus far when he could spare a quick second to examine the place, he found no weakness in the outer fortifications. He didn't lose hope, however, of ever finding one. Every fort had its weakness.

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       Marge and Robert finally tore themselves from his bed to go to her house and retrieve the stone.
     "It's strange." Marge commented as she and Robert approached the entrance to her her hidden underground room. "I saw Gabby doing this. Not me."

      "You saw it?" Rob asked.

       Shit! Rookie mistake, she thought harshly to herself.

       "And you 'just knew' that Derek wouldn't be angry enough to stop us from being together. Tell me," he said with distrust laced in his voice, "my dear Rose, just how that is."

      "I have visions." she admitted quietly.

      "And you screwed up just now by revealing that, didn't you? You weren't going to tell me?" he asked, his arms folded.

      "There was no need for you to know."

      The two of them descended the staircase in tense silence.

     Marge approached the shelf that housed the true stone, but Rob didn't care about it for the moment.

      He stopped her hand, and as she looked at him in question, he asked, "How could I not need to know?" He paused before continuing, "And you can find out what Tanner is planning!"

      "I'm unable to see. I've tried numerous times, but for some reason, I'm not given any answers sometimes." She looked at him apologetically, hating that she wasn't more powerful.

      Suddenly, he felt this overwhelming need to comfort her, and this tender emotion brought to mind another question. "Have you seen our future? What happens with us?"

      "Wouldn't it be better not to know?" she asked him.

      His face screwed up for a second as he thought yet again how insane it was to be falling for a vampire. Still, he said, "I have to know... if you're able, please." Please tell me where this insanity will lead, he thought as he turned her completely around to face him.

      Marge let out a sigh and did as he requested. She closed her eyes and wordlessly thought her question. Then, she let out a small, distressed noise as a feeling of hopelessness washed over her. She could see Robert standing apart from her with a large grouping of wolves behind him. She was leaving him, and both of them wore a resigned expression. It wouldn't last ... They as a couple couldn't be. There would be too many barriers in their way.

      "What is it?" Robert begged, not liking the expression Marge wore.

      She didn't want to tell him. She almost knew without trying that this relationship was impossible, but to have it shown to her filled her with despair.
       "No." she whispered.
      "We're going to have to one day part ways, aren't we?" Robert guessed. When Marge didn't deny his statement, he said, "It doesn't take a psychic to figure that one out."
    "Yes." she admitted. "You were standing with many wolves behind you, and as I was walking away, I turned once to look back at you. There was no hatred, only sadness."
      "You mean 'will be' because it hasn't happened yet." he growled, gritting his teeth.
      "It's hopeless, Robert. We need to stop this." she said as she turned to pick up the stone. "I'll do my best to stop -"
       "I don't want to!" he said, sounding almost like a spoiled child.
       Her face screwed up as she prepared herself to confess, "It's my fault you feel this way."
       After a few seconds of silence, he said, "So I wasn't imagining it ... the pull."
       "Is my 'dark gift' as it's called." she finished for him before putting the stone into the bag she brought. She turned and made her way up the stairs with him following close on her heels like ... a puppy.
       "I want to say it doesn't matter." he admitted as she closed the secret panel. "That I'd have wanted you anyway with or without that 'gift'."
      She smiled a little as she said, "A nice thought."
     She walked into her dining room and suddenly felt his too-warm arms wrapping around her to stop her progress.

      "I do want you anyway, Rose." he said desperately as he used his name for her, breathing in the scent of her hair.
      "This will only bring pain." she reminded him as she turned around in his arms. Then she was silenced from saying more things he didn't want to hear as his lips hungrily claimed hers.
      "For as long as I can." he finished his earlier statement.
      The sound of the mantle clock chiming reminded the pair of their duty. They needed to return to the pack's house. No more words were spoken as they mutually agreed to leave more of this conversation to a later time and place.