Anna didn’t step back, foolish as it might be to provoke this eight-and-a-half-foot tall wall of solid muscle.
She did, however, suck in a breath at her first look at an adult specimen. He bowed his muzzle down to sniff at her. She wasn’t intimidated by his size.
Nah, not intimidated at all.
She swallowed hard. “You’re dad?”
His eyes narrowed, and then he nodded.
“You suck too.”
The big gargoyle laughed. “I cannot fault you for your reasoning. Neither River nor I have given our son the time he needs. We will do better.”
River, yes, that was the mother’s name, she’d forgotten.
The dryad began scolding in a foreign language. The gargoyle only rumbled back at her.
While those two were arguing, Anna squeezed past and found herself standing next to a massive bed with Shadowlight taking up a good amount of it.
His wounds and burns were bandaged so she couldn’t see how bad they were, but the number was concerning.
Shadowlight shifted in his sleep, and his ears twitched as he came awake with a pained grunt. His eyes slowly blinked open and focused on her.
“Hey, kid. How are you feeling?” Okay, it was a dumb-ass question to ask, but she had to say something to distract him from his parents’ bickering.
“I hurt,” came his honest reply. His attention continued past her shoulder and riveted on something behind her. She had a good idea what.
The parents were still arguing in another language. Whatever they said must have made sense to the kid because his ears drooped, and an expression of pain and fear crossed his features. Anna was damned sure it was emotional pain, not a physical one that made Shadowlight look like he was going to weep.
She was sorely tempted to go over to the world’s worst mom and box her ears. Instead, she stroked Shadowlight’s mane, tucking a few wild locks behind his large, deer-like ears.
“You’ll heal, and I’m not going anywhere until you’re back on your feet.” She sat down on the side of the bed. “It’s going to be okay, kid.”
“No, it’s not. Mother wants you killed.” Shadowlight hauled himself up onto his forearms and then launched himself at her, his arms locking around her like a vice as he buried his muzzle against her side.
He did cry then, his whole body shaking with silent sobs.
Anna glanced over at his parents, prepared to give them the evilest look she could muster only to see Gran rapping them both on the shoulder with her quarterstaff. She then pointed at Shadowlight with the staff in case the dryad was too dense to figure out what the smack was for.
Darkness, apparently possessing a thimble-full of common sense, glided over to his son’s side and whispered in that dark, beautiful language again.
He bounded up onto the bed and nuzzled his son gently.
Shadowlight didn’t seem overjoyed and clamped onto Anna harder, digging in like a tick.
“My son, forgive us, we will not harm the human, I promise.” Darkness had said the words directly into Shadowlight’s thoughts.
Anna figured she was hearing the private conversation because Shadowlight was linked to her at the moment.
“Mother will. She promised to kill the human. I overheard her.”
“She will see reason. We were just surprised to learn you healed a human in this way. That is all. Your mother loves you.”
Anna barked out a loud laugh. She couldn’t help it. Mommy had a weird way of showing her love. Aloud she said, “Don’t worry kid. We adults will smooth things over. Besides, I’m still alive. Your mom had lots of time to do me some harm while I was out cold. She didn’t, which proves this is all just bluff and bluster.”
Secretly, Anna did wonder why she’d awakened at all. They’d had lots of time to ‘take care of the human problem’ while Shadowlight had still been unconscious. They could have blamed it on the injuries Tin Man had given her.
But they hadn’t. Which made Anna wonder what they wanted from her.
Shadowlight finally allowed himself to be consoled and went into his father’s embrace. River joined them both, and Shadowlight returned his mother’s hug and leaned into her.
Anna just held her place. She couldn’t go anywhere anyway, not with the kid’s tail wrapped around her waist like a boa constrictor.
After ten or fifteen minutes, his tail relaxed its grip, and his father laid the now sleeping youngster back on the bed. River tucked him in, and three sets of eyes firmly swung upon Anna.
The one called Gran came over and looked down upon the young gargoyle and checked his bandages a final time. When that was done to her satisfaction, she turned her gaze back to Anna.
“We need to talk.”
“Yeah, I gather.”
THE TALK DIDN’T HAPPEN right away. Gran said she had to summon everyone, alert the acting council, and make a few preparations.
A few preparations must have been code for ‘go have a nap, we’ll be back in a few hours.’ Those few hours ranked up there as crappiest moments of all time.
Darkness stood guard at the door while Anna sat on her bed and kept herself busy putting the ruins of her hair back in braids. Though it would take someone with far more skill than her to address the scorched and burned off parts.
Messing with her hair also allowed her to pretend to ignore River, where the dryad stood tending to her son while periodically shooting death glares at Anna.
At long last footsteps sounded in the corridor outside. Darkness exchanged a quiet word with the newcomer.
It was the leshii, Greenborrow, followed by Gran, another big male gargoyle, and a woman she recognized as Vivian’s granddaughter.
Gran zoned in on Anna. “We will take you before the council shortly to discuss your future, but first a few key players want to talk to you.”
Lillian stepped out around Gran, covered the distance to Anna in two strides, and then held out her hand in the first normal, friendly gesture she’d seen in a while.
“I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’m Lillian. Welcome to the Twilight Zone. Just when you think things can’t get any stranger, they will.”
Anna took Lillian’s hand and gave it a good pump. “I remember you. I’d say it’s nice to see you again, but well, the events leading up to this meeting have been anything but.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Lillian said. “But I do understand what you’re going through.”
Anna highly doubted that.
“I thought I was human until four months ago. Didn’t have a clue about magic or fae or gargoyles. Went from thinking I was just your average twenty-year-old, to finding out I’m not human.”
“There never was anything average about you,” Gran said.
Anna raised an eyebrow, realizing something she hadn’t until then. “You’re Shadowlight’s sister. Somehow, I pictured you with horns.”
“I suppose Gran is correct,” Lillian laughed. “Did I mention that I actually shift into a gargoyle upon occasion?”
“Shapeshifting? Shadowlight might have mentioned something about that. Is there anything gargoyles can’t do?”
“Subtle.” Gran and Lillian said in unison.
“Yeah,” Anna said with a sharp nod, “I’ve never seen the kid do subtle either. Did you really take on five helos?” She pointed her question at Shadowlight’s dad and got a grunt in response.
So, lethal, yes. Subtle, no.
Small talk didn’t seem to run in the genetics either. Guess that made Shadowlight the odd one out of his family. That kid loved to talk.
“You seem to genuinely care for my baby brother. We all saw the injuries you took trying to protect him from Gryton. The others didn’t expect that.”
Anna frowned, feeling a little like her loyalties were being called out or tested, or something. “He’s a kid. What was I supposed to do? And he doesn’t want to harm anyone. I saw that right away. Well, maybe not right away. I wouldn’t have asked a kid to put me out of my misery after the Rive
n attack.” Anna swung back around on the parents. “However, I wouldn’t have expected to find an eight-year-old anywhere near that shit storm firefight with those vampire-Riven things.”
Antagonizing the parents was probably foolish, but by dad’s admission of guilt, she had hope he might be able to reform. Mom was probably a lost cause.
Besides, Anna wasn’t going to forget the mongrel comment any time soon.
Darkness bowed his head slightly and then glanced over at his sleeping son. “We arrived in this Realm just before the Riven attacked the Coven lands. There were many Riven already here. I did not have a safe place to stash my son, so I kept him at my side.” Darkness fell silent, and she thought he was done, but his glance tracked back to her. “My decision almost cost him his life. Then Commander Gryton nearly stole him away from me. If you had not intervened, he might very well have succeeded. Thank you for protecting my son where I have failed.”
Anna was just about to mumble an awkward ‘you’re welcome’ when a delicate snort of disdain drew her attention back toward River.
“The human wasn’t acting out of her great noble intentions. She did exactly as she was supposed to do when she saw Shadowlight was in danger.”
What the hell did that mean?
By the looks River was getting from the others in the room, Anna wasn’t the only one baffled by her remarks.
Darkness’s expression turned thunderous while Lillian’s showed bafflement. Gregory, the other demigod in the room, just looked thoughtful as he studied Anna.
Gran and Greenborrow both dragged chairs from the corner of the room and then sat down like they were about to watch an evening’s entertainment.
“You know something about why our son’s blood is changing this human,” Darkness accused River. “What has that meddling Battle Goddess done to our son?”
“She made him perfect,” River said, her voice softening as she explained. “My lady changed Shadowlight while he was still in my hamadryad.”
My lady?
Holy shit.
Another piece of the puzzle fell into place. River was still loyal to her goddess in some twisted fashion. Sure, she’d defected to save her children—maybe—but that didn’t mean she was friendly. Certainly not toward humans, and Anna wasn’t sure how much River cared about the other fae either.
Why, oh why, was this fanatic still free?
River continued like the others in the room weren’t thinking of bars, locks, and sturdy walls. “When Shadowlight is mature, he will be able to convert other species into full-blooded gargoyles. He will be their master.”
“Sacrilege!” Darkness roared, making River stiffen.
Shadowlight jerked awake and jumped out of bed. Still half asleep, he took up a defensive stance next to Anna.
She patted him on the head, ruffling his mane affectionately. “Easy, kid. Your dad’s just having a conversation with your mother. She said something that surprised everyone.”
Shadowlight took her at her word and slowly stood up, sheathing his talons. He still wasn’t steady on his feet. She wasn’t the only one to notice.
Lillian and Gregory came over to help steady the youngster. Then, in a very un-demigod like fashion, Gregory licked at Shadowlight. The tender action reminded Anna of a mother dog grooming her pups. The young gargoyle seemed to crave the reassurance and leaned against the older one.
“Why is everyone upset?” Shadowlight asked at last.
Gregory huffed something, but it was Lillian who answered. “We just learned the Battle Goddess changed you, sweetheart. You’re different than other gargoyles. Apparently, when you’re mature, your blood will be able to convert others into full-blooded gargoyles. It alarmed our father, but it doesn’t change how we feel. I’m different too because of the Battle Goddess’s manipulations.”
“Oh,” Shadowlight mused. “That’s why my father’s memories didn’t explain about the changes I saw in Anna. Why would the Lady of Battles want to grow her brother’s army larger? She hates him.”
Lillian planted a kiss on the top of Shadowlight’s head. “The converted gargoyles would look to you for leadership. I assume the Battle Goddess had planned to raise you as her own to ensure your loyalty.”
Shadowlight whimpered. “I don’t want to lead an army, not for her.”
“You won’t have too,” Gregory said. “We will not let her have you.”
Anna suddenly decided she liked the demigods. Who knew?
When Shadowlight had first told her about the Avatars, she had mentally added them to her list of Big, Bad, and Scary. Now she decided she needed to move them to a new list. Big, Scary, but mostly benevolent.
“So,” Anna mused while studying River, “if Shadowlight’s blood is supposed to create full-blooded gargoyles enslaved to his will, why am I not either full gargoyle or a puppet to his will?”
“He isn’t yet mature,” River answered in a short, clipped tone, and then eyed Anna with a calculating stare, “though as he matures, you, too, might improve.”
Anna was beginning to think there wasn’t anything in the world which might improve River’s attitude. However, airing that thought wouldn’t do much to improve the situation.
“What will happen to Anna, now that everyone knows what I’ve done?” Shadowlight asked.
It was the one question Anna had been too chicken to voice.
Gran stood up and crossed the room, giving the gargoyle an affectionate scratch. “That’s one of the things we need to discuss at the council meeting.”
“But what if the other council members deem Anna too much of a risk?”
Gregory, who had been reclining on the floor until now, stretched and came to all fours and padded over to Anna.
She held her ground while a demigod sniffed her over.
With a huff, he reared up to stand on two legs and then walked away. When he was halfway to the door, he reached out, hooked an arm through Lillian’s and then addressed the room in general. “Anna is now family. I protect my clan. No one will be permitted to harm our youngest gargoyle or his pet human.”
Shadowlight loosed a happy whine, bounced up so fast he nearly knocked his father over, and then launched himself straight at Anna.
“What? Wait...!” She didn’t even get her arms up in a defensive position before the young gargoyle was upon her, his weight tumbling her right over the narrow bed and to the floor on the other side.
She had the wind knocked out of her but otherwise was unharmed. Unfortunately, she had no protection from the dozen sloppy gargoyle kisses he was applying to her face, arms, and even her bandaged hands.
“Ah! Uck! Get off.”
The kid was hoisted off her a moment later. She climbed to her feet in time to see Darkness holding Shadowlight a couple of inches off the ground.
The young gargoyle seemed unperturbed by the change in locations and just transferred his sloppy kisses to whatever part of his father he could reach.
Anna scrubbed her face dry on a bedsheet and then looked up in time to see a softer expression on River’s face as she looked at her mate and their son.
Huh. Maybe River was not the full embodiment of the cast iron bitch after all.
When Shadowlight finally got himself under control enough that Darkness could release him, everyone else in the room began to file out, heading to the so-called council meeting.
Darkness gestured her forward. “You must come too.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“What we discuss will affect you as well as the other humans of this world.”
That was certainly one reason to go. The meeting might also be her last chance to escape long enough to get intel to her CO.
She didn’t delude herself into thinking she could avoid recapture for long. Shadowlight would probably track her down through their mental link within minutes.
She’d just have to plan carefully and act quickly.
Chapter 32
GREGORY LED THE WAY back up through the house, Lillian clo
se to his side with the others spread out farther back. He missed the military efficiency of the gargoyle army. Not that he was even sure if they would still accept him as their commander with this cursed tattoo around his throat.
Only the Lord of the Underworld could tell him that.
And he wasn’t ready to face Lord Death just yet.
He glanced over his shoulder at the disorganized procession behind him and sighed. Yes, he missed his gargoyles.
Very much.
But they were firmly on one side of the Veil between the Realms, and he on the other.
Ah, well, he should be thankful for the allies he had. His senses stretched back toward where the human-gargoyle hybrid marched between Shadowlight and Darkness, plotting her escape.
That one hadn’t quite gotten the hang of shielding her thoughts, though she was exceptional at projecting her intent to the other gargoyles. Even Lillian was glancing back, a wicked grin on her lips.
“Was I ever that bad?”
“At shielding or sheer stubbornness?”
Lillian punched him in the arm. “Shielding!”
“Yes.”
She chuckled. “Fine. Is someone going to train the poor woman?”
“Eventually. Once things settle down, Darkness and I will take turns training you, Anna, and Shadowlight on the finer points of being a gargoyle.”
“You’re taking this really, really well,” she said, suspicion tinting her voice.
His one ear flicked at her in question. “What did you expect me to do?”
“Well,” she coughed into her hand to cover a smile. “You’ve never been the humans’ biggest fan.”
“Ah. I am coming to respect them a touch more. Besides,” he half turned and gestured behind them. “What do you see when you look at the human?”
Lillian sighed. “This game again?”
“Humor me.”
She did and studied the human in silence. “I see one big security risk that’s pretty determined to get back and warn the other humans what’s coming. Yet she seems to care for Shadowlight, and I don’t think she wants to put him at risk. I imagine she’s torn. She’s a good person at her core. I can see that easily.”
The Complete Gargoyle and Sorceress Boxset (Books 1-9) Page 72
