The Complete Gargoyle and Sorceress Boxset (Books 1-9)

by Lisa Blackwood

  He laughed and then came over and helped her up. “I did warn you about the likelihood of our attraction. You’ve always smelled good to me. I suppose it only makes sense I would smell equally good to you.”

  She wobbled around until she found her new center of gravity. Feeling like she might be able to stay upright, she glanced at Gregory and was surprised to see they were eye level. For the first time since she’d met him, she didn’t have to crane her neck.

  “Okay, points for being a gargoyle.”

  He tilted his head in question, but she ignored him in favor of getting a good look at her new body. While she had his height, she was of a slighter build than him, less heavily muscled, less bulky overall. But what she lacked in physical strength, she’d bet she made up for in speed.

  “I’m fast, aren’t I?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why is my coloring so different from yours? Do gargoyles have variations in skin pigment like humans?”

  Gregory cocked an ear. “You’re a female gargoyle, there’s nothing normal about any of this. But as for your coloring, no, it’s different than any gargoyle I’ve seen. The Lady of Battles likes black and crimson. I can only assume she designed your gargoyle body with that in mind.”

  Lillian flinched. “Killjoy. I didn’t need the reminder about her just now.”

  “I detect nothing evil within you. The changes are physical only. The Dark Goddess couldn’t touch your soul, not even with the demon seed’s influence.” Gregory dipped his muzzle to nudge her gently. “Soon we will be free of her taint altogether and can face her in battle unhindered by her manipulations.”

  Gregory seemed a little over-confident on that score, Lillian mused, but he had faced the dark one in the past so she would bow to his wisdom.

  Dropping to all fours, Gregory bounded around her in circles. “Come,” he called, slapping her flank with his tail as he dashed by. “Run with me.”

  Gregory’s enthusiasm was infectious, and she took a cautious step forward and then another. She remained upright, more trusting of two legs than four. Her wings and tail shifted naturally to aid her balance, requiring almost no thought on her part.

  “Lillian, the night grows long.” Gregory darted out around her, and she could hear him coming up directly behind.

  Not knowing what he planned, she squealed in mock anger and started to run. Her new body responded like she’d owned it all along, her stride stretching into a relaxed, ground-devouring lope. He came alongside and kept pace with her for several strides and then bounded over a fallen tree.

  “Be patient.” She cast him a dark look. “Haven’t you heard the saying you need to learn how to walk before you run?”

  “A human saying,” Gregory countered. “You’re a gargoyle now. React.”

  With only the one word as warning, Gregory charged, his wings spread to block escape to either side. She backpedaled, lost her balance, and landed on her butt in an undignified sprawl. Gregory landed on top and gave her a sloppy gargoyle kiss before bounding away again. She growled at his retreating backside, wishing she had a well-weighted rock. Rolling to all fours, she scrubbed his residual kiss off with one foreleg and then stretched, loosening and limbering up muscles.

  When he doubled back for her, she was ready and pounced on him. Her strike was more luck than skill, but she landed square on his back and was rewarded by his grunt of surprise as she knocked his hind legs out from under him, using only her tail.

  Gregory collapsed and rolled at the same time. Lillian suddenly found herself falling sideways with him somehow on top. They were chest to chest, and when Gregory gave a happy little wiggle, she was reminded she was naked.

  “Chauvinistic pervert.” Lillian issued a light-hearted challenge. “Why do you get a loincloth and I get nothing?”

  With another of his slow, toothy grins, Gregory tugged at one of the loincloth’s ties. “I would never wish to make you feel you weren’t my equal.”

  “Ha! Nice try, but no getting naked. One buck-ass naked gargoyle running through the woods is enough. And speaking about running. If you want me to run and hunt with you, you better magic up something to bind these with,” she pointed at her breasts, “because running with them loose is not going to be any kind of fun.”

  Gregory sighed longingly. “Perhaps not for you...”

  “P is for perverted. G is for gargoyle...”

  “I like to think P is for patience.”

  “That’s for me. You definitely get the former.” Lillian turned from him and started scanning the ground. When she found a particularly nice patch of moss and ferns, she pointed at it with one long, clawed finger. “Magic me up some clothing like you did once before. Only this time, something like your loincloth and a sports bra instead of a pretty but functionally useless gown.”

  “As my Lady commands.” Gregory turned to the area she indicated.

  DRESSED IN HER STRANGE but comfortable mixed plant-fiber clothing, Lillian loped along behind Gregory as he stalked his prey through the forest. At a later date, he’d promised to make her magically warded clothing like his loincloth so the items would shapeshift with her. Which, Lillian had to admit, would be handy.

  As promised, she found it natural to run on all fours, and they covered ground quickly. Following downwind of Gregory had the added benefit of being bathed in a wash of his warm, male scent. It mingled in an altogether pleasant way with the night breeze.

  Following him for kilometers at a time was far from a chore. It soothed the wildness she’d experienced earlier in the afternoon when she’d felt trapped in the house, missing Gregory and needing something so primal, she hadn’t known what it was. Now she knew.

  She needed this—a wild run through her home forest. Hunting with Gregory at her side. Putting on a burst of speed, she came alongside him. He glanced over at her, and she prodded him affectionately with her muzzle, working her way up his side, to his shoulder, and then finally managed to plant a wet kiss along his cheek as they ran.

  “I love you,” she sent in a burst of emotion.

  “And I you, guardian of my heart and soul.” Gregory’s tail slid along her body, a caress of friendship and reassurance. “But there are still many things I must teach you this night, and you will need nutrition to maintain your strength.”

  She was feeling mildly hungry, had been for some time, but she’d seen so many wonderful things she’d put it out of her mind. Though now that he’d mentioned it, hunger planted itself forefront in her thoughts.

  “I could use a snack,” she sent.

  “Follow me. I know a place.”

  Chapter 17

  TETHYS SWAM DEEPER, her powerful tail cutting through the water quickly as her eyes scanned the reef below for signs of Surefin. There, near a yawning ravine in the coral, a silver-grey shadow darted around an outcropping of coral and sank into a fissure. She followed the young dolphin, humming and clicking softly. She used no enchantments, wanting him to come to her willingly. Swimming over the crest of coral, she almost collided with the young dolphin. He turned to bolt deeper into the reef.

  “Wait. I will not harm you. You are safe with me. Look within my mind, and you will see the truth.”

  His uncertainty still clear in every flick of his tail and fins, he rose a bit higher.

  Taking it as permission, she turned her magic upon herself. Her enchantment allowed the young male a way into her thoughts and emotions if he was brave enough to try.

  “Go ahead. No harm will come to you. And you are free to go now or after.” Tethys sent warmth and peace across the mental link. “I never have and never will enslave one of the ocean’s creatures.”

  Surefin cautiously bumped his muzzle against her outstretched hand, then forward a bit more until he positioned himself for a scratch. After a bit of tactile reassurance, his thoughts touched hers. He was more thorough than she would have thought, given his boisterousness and reactive personality. She waited patiently for him to finish picking his way through her thou
ghts. When he slid back and away, she did not hinder his escape. He picked up speed and vanished around another part of the coral reef.

  Her heart surprisingly heavy, Tethys made her way back to the boat.

  All was as she had left it. The human male still waited where she had ordered him to sit. Focusing her magic, she sent another mental command. “Ready the boat. We will be leaving soon.”

  After waiting a moment to assure herself the human did as she said, she frowned down at the dead female. She’d waited a touch longer than was best, but the body wasn’t so old as to be useless. With a mighty heave, Tethys dragged herself up and over the side of the boat and flopped down next to the body.

  She leaned over and placed her hands on either side of the female’s head. Again, the ocean’s magic filled her, eager to her command, and with the slightest push, it invaded the dead woman’s body. Even with her magic bolstering it, the residual consciousness lacked the sharp clarity of a living mind, the memories accumulated over a lifetime already fading, disintegrating into the grey afterlife. But Tethys found the scraps of what she needed. With a touch of desperation, she hurried to gather those fragile leavings. It wasn’t enough to allow her to function in this new modern world, but it was enough to give her the bare bones of a language.

  Besides, she still had the male to act as her guide. She trailed her fingers along the woman’s cooling cheek, over the line of the jaw, and down the pale column of her throat where the skin was already taking on a grey tinge. With the flick of one sharp nail, the delicate skin parted to reveal the red meat below. With a bit of pressure, Tethys forced a little blood to ooze from the cut. More followed those first sluggish drops, but it wasn’t enough for the siren’s purpose. With a soft hiss, Tethys turned the body onto its side and pressed her cupped hand underneath the wound. Long moments crept by. When her palm finally contained a few sips, she brought it to her lips and drank.

  She grimaced in distaste but drank it all, even licking the residue from her webbed fingers. She was just cleaning the last of it away when a splash at the side of the boat caught her attention. A familiar grey muzzle, with a fish grasped in its teeth, poked up out of the water. Surefin bobbed up and down as if uncertain of his welcome.

  With a smile and click of encouragement, she heaved her bulk over to the edge of the boat and gave Surefin a rub of welcome.

  “You returned.”

  “Yes. I come, too.”

  “You belong with your pod.” The siren rubbed under his jaw and along the undersides of his fins to take the sting out of her words. “Where I go, there is danger. Too much for one so young.”

  “I go until there is danger. Then I return to pod. Dolphin family wait.”

  Tethys sighed, knowing she would have to use magic upon the dolphin to keep him from following. Perhaps he could follow for a short while. At least until they were farther north. She had planned for her human guide to stay close to the shore as they headed north. It would be easy enough to command him to keep their craft’s speed down enough so the dolphin could follow them. And to be honest, she expected the journey would prove long and lonely.

  “Very well. You may come. But only until we are farther north. Once I go inland, you will have to remain behind.”

  She winced as an explosion of excited clicks nearly deafened her.

  “Calm, Surefin. You may come. But you must tell your family pod first.”

  Without further ceremony, Surefin deposited the fish in her lap. Then with another series of excited clicks and whistles, he sank back below the waves. His speech too fast for even another dolphin to understand, Tethys could only assume the slur of sound meant Surefin would be back once he had informed his family pod.

  She returned to the boat and pulled herself aboard. Turning her attention to the pale, sad corpse, she studied it from head to toe in one long sweep and determined it was of no further use. She grabbed one chilled shoulder and fought with the dead weight until she had it positioned, ready to heave over the side of the boat. One more powerful shove and the body teetered at the edge for a moment before it slid over the side and into the ocean. The dark water rippled as the body disappeared in a flurry of bubbles.

  After washing the blood from her hands, Tethys frowned at her own long tail knowing what she had to do next. Her body had had enough time to process the human’s blood.

  She closed her eyes and took one deep breath and then another, willing her magic to the surface while at the same time pushing away the dislike of what she must do. Power flooded out from her center, down the length of her arms to the tips of her fingers. She stiffened her spine and grasped the side of the boat in a punishing grip. The webbing between her fingers parted down the middle and was absorbed back into her hand. Her silver-grey skin tinted with a soft rose hue as the magic continued to burn through her body. Scales receded, smoothing into the soft, drab skin of a human. The conversion continued to race down her body, leaving the frail appearance of a human in its wake. More of her magic rose at her command, concentrating in the region of her tail.

  A pained gasp, almost a sob, escaped her. She clenched her jaw, refusing to admit any weakness. The pain intensified. Her tail receded. Bones, muscles, and veins all rearranged themselves as her magic continued its work. With a wet sound of shredding, her tail split in two, which made her cry out in a guttural scream. Her vision greyed out, and she slumped to her side.

  She drifted for a time on the edge of consciousness, no longer really feeling the pain. But her magic continued the transformation. She could still feel her body shifting as it settled into a new form. For a time, the only thing she was aware of was the gentle rocking of the boat and the soft splash of surf, the calming sound of her home. And there was a louder splash and a heavy, wet thump next to her head. She blinked blurry eyes to clear them. The world came into focus slowly, too slowly, and the edges were still grey. She blinked at the still-flopping fish as it twisted and jumped on the boat deck.

  “I bring you fish.”

  Tethys flinched at the sharp whistle but only sighed at the young one’s exuberance. Her ocean born companion would continually remind her of the purpose for her quest, the reason for her leaving the ocean, for the sacrifice of becoming human.

  Chapter 18

  TRUE TO HIS WORD, GREGORY knew of a good hunting spot. It wasn’t too distant, perhaps only about five kilometers. The exact distance was hard to judge as her gargoyle body allowed her to cover greater distances relatively quickly. Lillian was rapidly coming to like her new form.

  They’d only just reached the place he’d promised when a small, furry creature broke cover and darted off ahead of them.

  Gregory snorted and shot off after the creature in the time it took her to realize it was a rabbit she’d seen. Moments later, a minor scuffle ensued, punctuated by a short squeal of terror.

  Appearing out of the deep shadows, Gregory padded to her side, the carcass of a rabbit clasped in his jaws. With great ceremony, he deposited the furry creature at her feet. He sat down beside her and curled his tail around his flanks. Daintily, he cleaned a few specks of blood from his muzzle and claws. When he was finished, he pointedly looked at her and then glanced at the rabbit, his perked ears dropping slightly.

  With a mild churning in her stomach, she glanced down at the rabbit, and then back to Gregory. He still watched her expectantly.

  Did he expect her to eat the rabbit? Raw, fur and all?

  Her brother had taught her the basics of bow hunting, and she’d taken down numerous rabbits and even a few deer over the years, but that game had been gutted and skinned. Not to mention cooked before it came anywhere near her mouth.

  “Mmm, thank you.” Not wanting to hurt Gregory’s feelings, she crouched down lower on her forelimbs and nudged the small carcass with her muzzle.

  Warm and furry, the mildly musky animal scent coiled in her nose, but overlaying it was the copper scent of blood. Her mouth suddenly filled with saliva and her stomach cramped. It wasn’t nausea;
no, it was much worse.

  Hunger.

  She suddenly found the small carcass far from repulsive.

  Jerking back so she wouldn’t bite into the rabbit like her instincts demanded, she leaned into Gregory and whined instead.

  “Would you like me to gut and skin it for you?”

  Burrowing her muzzle between his shoulder and wing, she nodded. She took a deep breath, hoping his scent would drive away the all-consuming hunger. The soft, wet sounds of shredding flesh reached her ears and the coppery smell intensified.

  Gregory shifted, his wings folding back and away from her, forcing her to face what he held in his jaws. Dryad Lillian was still repulsed, but Gargoyle Lillian was hungry, and he offered it so sweetly. He presented it to her again, still held tightly in his jaws.

  She inched forward, nudging his muzzle with her own. Whining, she licked him in submission. With a grunt of pleasure, Gregory dropped his gift and stood over her. She snatched it up, giving the still-warm flesh a couple bites before gulping it down. Snatching up another piece, she chewed and swallowed it in seconds and bent for another.

  When the last of Gregory’s small ‘kill’ was gone, she cleaned her muzzle as she’d seen him do, and then looked over her shoulder at him. He stretched out on the ground less than a body-length from her. Not bothering with words, he merely patted the ground next to him and then rested his head on his folded forearms.

  She circled a couple of times before she flopped down next to him. As she curled into his side, she decided a nap sounded like a lovely idea.

  WHEN SHE AWOKE FROM her short nap, Gregory greeted her with another wet gargoyle kiss and then stood and stretched.

  “Do you feel up to a real hunt now?”

  “What? Rabbits don’t count as hunting?” She arched her back and stretched, even giving her wings an experimental flap before folding them tight again. Flying was still far outside her comfort level, but hunting didn’t sound too advanced.