He pulled his fingers from the latch.
The air around him began to vibrate, a low tremor that rattled the porch beneath his boots and set the herbs lining the garden shivering in their beds.
"Gabriel!" Tess shouted.
It didn't reach him.
The pressure in his chest snapped tight.
Crimson fog spilled from his shoulders, slow at first, then heavier, rolling down his arms like smoke dragged from a fire. It clung to him, coiling close.
He reached his hand up towards the hilt of his blade.
His eyes burned.
Red streaks bled outward from his irises, flooding his vision as the pressure in his chest surged hard. The humming snapped into alignment with his pulse, no longer a warning. An invitation.
Whatever was inside him wanted to be let loose.
He stepped forward instead.
His boot slammed into the door.
One sharp motion.
