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

by Lisa Blackwood

  Anna’s first attempt hadn’t been successful. She wasn’t so foolish to do that again. She would likely sport the bruises tomorrow after being slammed against the cliff. Luck had been with her, though, since those first waves had been small.

  If it had been a more significant wave, like the ones rolling in now, she might have gotten pulled out to sea by the riptide.

  Gargoyles were surprisingly strong swimmers, able to use their wings something like a penguin. It had been fun at first, but now that the currents were getting stronger, it was just plain old work.

  Thankfully they were almost done, Truth claiming the group had gathered enough to satisfy both dryads and sirens.

  “We just need to do three more dives each.” Truth said, echoing her thoughts. He sounded as weary as she felt.

  “Thank God. If the elders and mentors wanted to fast-track the novices and journeymen’s stamina training, just assign them this on a daily basis.”

  Truth snorted again. “The dryads would grow fat and the octopuses would swiftly become over-hunted.”

  Below them, a head and shoulders broke the surface as one of the sirens called out two more locations.

  “I think they are more demanding than our mentors. Or a dryad mate, for that matter,” Truth said after the siren had ducked back under. “It’s lucky we’re not cross-fertile with them. We’d be enslaved for sure.”

  Truth’s humorous quip was pleasantly diverting, but Anna had another dive to time perfectly.

  Studying the waves as they rolled toward the cliff, Anna picked out the biggest one—the one she’d ride to the cliff.

  One...two...now. She tucked her wings and dove, arrowing into the wave. Her momentum carried her forward as she skimmed just below the surface, her wings stretched wide to stabilize her, and her tail acting as a rudder. The wave moved her toward the cliff.

  Seconds before impact with the rocky cliff, she reared upright, her upper body coming out of the water a moment before the wave hit the cliff.

  The weight of the wave against her back was brutal, but her gargoyle body was designed to absorb punishment.

  Reaching blindly in the white surf, her talons found hand and foot holds just in time. A moment later, the wave receded, dropping away from the rocky cliff base.

  Anna spotted one of the octopus-like creatures, a sizeable ten-armed beast almost as big as her upper body.

  She was reaching to grab it when her link to Obsidian flared wildly and then opened a strong connection between them. She was still clinging to a cliff wall, angry surf crashing some distance below, but she was also, impossibly, back on the island in one of the private pools, seeing and feeling what Obsidian felt.

  Oh, my God!

  He had a woman under him, his body draped over her, dwarfing her smaller form in the cage of his arms. His jaws were locked around the back of her neck as his hips jerked against her.

  “I’ve been busting my ass all day, and you’re getting your rocks off? Get out of my head!”

  “Anna?”

  His reply came startled and strained. He was likely as surprised as her by the unexpected link.

  She didn’t care. “Get out of my head before you kill me you jackass.”

  The vision of the bathing pool faded.

  Anna heard Truth shouting at her a second before another massive wave slammed her into the cliff with rib-cracking force. A few short seconds of the ocean’s roar in her ears and then the white water was receding, taking her with it. She scrambled for handholds, anything she could use to prevent herself from being dragged deeper, but her talons only brushed against the slick surface a couple of times before the churning water spun her in a circle and the riptide snatched her up.

  Maybe twenty feet from the cliff, the current slammed her against another pile of rock, likely fallen from the cliff above some time ago, her mind noted in the odd way it did when time slowed, and death danced nearer.

  She was dragged along for a few feet more, then she smashed into a sharp projection of rock. Red agony bloomed along her back and right wing. The current bumped her against rock again, jarring precious air from her lungs.

  Clamping her muzzle and pinching her nostrils tightly closed, she fought the blinding pain and the ocean’s currents. But with her one wing out of commission, she couldn’t glide through the water even if she broke free of the riptide in the narrow channel she found herself in.

  “Anna,” Obsidian screamed into her mind, “shift to stone. You can’t drown in that form. I’ll be there momentarily and will drag you through a portal to safety.”

  In her mind, she could see what he planned to do.

  The thought of Obsidian using magic to pull her to his side—to the very pool he and the unknown female had been screwing each other’s brains out in—sparked rage deep in her soul.

  The hot emotion gave her strength, fueling her weary muscles and when the current slammed her into the next piece of cliff, she used her powerful thigh muscles to push off. Swimming for all she was worth, she broke free of the current. With each mighty kick, she drove herself closer to the surface.

  Her wing was still a sharp agony as bone grated on bone, but she used that to further fuel her rage and to fight for the surface.

  There was no way she was going to let Obsidian come play hero, not after he’d been the reason for the distraction in the first place.

  Above her, the sunlight reflected off the surface, bright and beautiful, but at the edge of her vision gray was creeping in. She fought on, forcing her weary limbs to kick and thrash. Her lungs burned, a spasm seized them, and she choked on water.

  She wasn’t going to make it.

  She had to make it.

  The damned ocean wasn’t going to be the death of her. She still had the blood witch to kill and a score to settle with the Battle Goddess.

  “Anna! Don’t make me command you!” Obsidian was still in her head. The bastard. And he was moments away from taking the choice away from her.

  “Fuck you, Obsidian.” Her vision narrowing further, she struggled closer to the surface.

  Then a pale green, long-fingered hand wrapped around her wrist. The grip was surprisingly firm. Then with a near-violent tug, she was rocketing toward the surface.

  The siren arched out of the water, breaching like a whale.

  Anna popped up more like a buoy in rough seas, bouncing and bobbing as she coughed and retched on the air, her lungs burning anew as they relearned how to process air. A dark shadow appeared directly over her head and then Truth was grasping her shoulders with his hind feet. The talons dug in hard enough to draw blood, but she was too cold and exhausted to feel much in the way of pain.

  She was too heavy, or maybe it was the raging seas which caught at her wings and created too much drag for him to haul her out of the water, but he managed to keep her head above the ocean waves and the siren returned, grasping Anna’s hands and helping Truth drag her dead weight to shore.

  “Anna,” Obsidian shouted into her mind. “I’m bringing healers.”

  “I’d hate to inconvenience you. Maybe just send the healer.”

  Her words reverberated down the link, and she felt Obsidian jerk like she’d slapped him. Good. The stupid jackass deserved to feel a little guilt and remorse for almost killing his own damned Kyrsu while he was screwing the brains out of some female.

  “There was no female.”

  “You don’t need to lie. I saw. Now shut up and just get one of the damn healers here. My wing is killing me.”

  By the time Truth and the siren had her nearly to shore, Anna could already sense the gathering of shadow magic along the beach. There was something else mixed in with it. The chill of spirit magic. Sand blew in all directions as the power swirled and trailed up higher into the air.

  Lances of silvery-blue magic sparkled between the dark shards of shadow. A disc-shaped portal opened a window between two locations.

  Obsidian bolted through before it was fully formed. Seconds later, two healers
raced after him.

  The three newcomers ran into the surf and grabbed Anna from Truth and the siren.

  “Give me a minute to thank them. They just saved my life.”

  “You can thank them later,” Obsidian shouted as he hovered in front of her. “I’ve never been so frightened in my life.”

  “Yes, you have. So, get out of the way and let the healers do their thing.”

  Obsidian obeyed, for once. But he paced and snarled softly every time one of the healers poked too deeply and made her flinch.

  “It’s your fault, so stop growling at the poor healers.”

  “You think I don’t know that?” His mind voice was full of anguish. “I did not mean to fall asleep.”

  “Fall asleep?”

  “Yes.” He blinked at her for a moment in understanding. “It was a dream. You didn’t know that?”

  “No.”

  “Ah.” He paused, tilting his head and looking at her strangely. “But didn’t you recognize...?”

  She blinked up at him while the healers worked. Recognize what? It had all happened so fast. She tried to remember the vision. She hadn’t seen the woman from the front, hadn’t seen much at all. The strongest impressions were sensations of what he’d been doing, not who he’d been doing it with.

  “I’d conjured you in my dreams.”

  A dream? Featuring her. Oh.

  At that moment, Anna knew she’d been barking up the wrong tree.

  “But it doesn’t matter. It will never happen again.” He pushed aside the healers, much to their annoyance, and wrapped her in his arms and wings.

  There was something to be said for being held in big, strong arms after a harrowing experience.

  It wasn’t until he’d held her for a while that she realized the shivers racking her body weren’t all hers. He was shuddering.

  “Forgive me, Anna.”

  “Shh, it was an accident. There’s nothing to forgive.”

  The healers poked and prodded at her more, ignoring the big gargoyle like he wasn’t in their way. One healed muscles and joints while the other attended to scrapes and bruises and lacerations. The healers’ warm magic was becoming familiar to her.

  When they were finished, one of the healers gave her instructions. “If you return to human form for two days, when you shift back, your wing will be healed. But no flying for at least three days after that.”

  Anna nodded her understanding.

  “Good. Shift now so we can aid you if need be.”

  But Obsidian shared power with her, and she was able to resume her human form without their aid.

  The lack of wings felt strange. And her balance seemed off without a tail to act as a counterbalance. But she’d suffered worse.

  The healers soon finished up and told her to sleep and then have a proper meal upon waking. With that, the healers packed up their supplies and headed back through the still-open portal.

  As she watched, the gently spinning magic of the portal vanished like it had never been. With nothing else to do, she looked into Obsidian’s eyes.

  He was looking back at her with much the same shock and confusion she’d been feeling.

  “Anna, we need to talk.”

  “I’m tired. Let’s wait until tomorrow.”

  “No. We’ll talk now. While I am sorry I distracted you enough for it to become a danger, there’s more to it than that. When you thought I was with another female, it upset you a great deal.”

  “Please don’t ask me to talk about it now.” She bowed her head and then slowly sank to her knees.

  “Anna?” Obsidian’s voice softened, and then he knelt next to her and curled a wing around her shoulders. She felt safe and warm for the first time in hours.

  “Do you love me?”

  “I can’t.” Her voice quivered. She would have done anything to make it stop. “Even if I wanted to.”

  He breathed softly in her ear. “But you were hurt when you thought I was with another woman.”

  “No.”

  “My Kyrsu, that’s a lie. I’m rather certain my fierce warrior woman is in love with me. But I must confess, I don’t know why she hasn’t just taken what I offer so freely.”

  “Because she can’t.” Anna glanced sidelong at him. “I’m too damaged. Unworthy.”

  “Why, by the Light, do you think you’re unworthy?”

  “Something happened years ago that made it so I can’t love like that anymore.”

  Obsidian tilted his head, his dark eyes finding hers.

  “If that was the case, and that part of you was indeed dead, then it wouldn’t hurt to see me with another woman.”

  “I..” God. Why couldn’t he just let it go?

  “Because I love you.”

  “Oh god, Obsidian,” Anna sobbed into her hands. “You are so easy to love. Even my dead, shriveled little heart foolishly wants to love you.”

  “Is that so terrible?”

  “Yes, for you it is. I can’t give you what you’re seeking. I can’t be your lover. Even my trust in you isn’t enough to overcome and repair the damage done.”

  Her entire body shook, and she fought to keep herself from telling the rest.

  “Anna, your pain can only mean that you do love me.”

  “But I can’t love you, I can’t. Not physically. It will destroy me. Shatter the last protections I have around my mind.”

  “That sounds far too dire, my Kyrsu. Share with me what happened to make you shun something as wonderful as love.”

  “No.”

  “Yes. Share your story with me, and I will take your pain. Please. I’ve only ever wanted you to be happy. You never were, but I didn’t know how to fix that. Now I sense a way for you to find healing.”

  He held her and rocked her, and between that and the rhythmic sound of the waves, Anna found herself relaxing a small bit, and suddenly the story was flowing from her. The one she’d sworn she’d never tell another living soul.

  But here it was falling from her lips.

  “I’ve always picked the wrong guy. All through high school, I knew I wanted to follow in my father and brothers’ footsteps and join the military. But I also wanted to have some fun before all that, so I tended to sneak out after curfew to hang out with the senior boys from my high school.”

  Anna sighed. “I would have gotten into a lot more trouble than I did if my best friend wasn’t there to take me home after I’d partied a little too hard. Matt was always swooping in like a literal white knight.”

  Obsidian nuzzled her shoulder, and she stroked her fingers in his mane.

  Calmer, she continued, “We grew up together. He’s a lot like you, actually. Quiet, but noble. Fierce when he needed to be. At seventeen, I joined the military. Matt already knew he wanted to help people, but not in the same way. He wanted to study to become a nurse. Even though our career choices differed greatly and took up a lot of time, we grew closer.”

  “He sounds...” Obsidian paused. “Worthy enough to keep my Kyrsu company until I was born.”

  Anna smiled a touch. “Slowly, over several summer breaks and leaves, we became more than friends. I wasn’t entirely surprised when he asked me to marry him. I said yes. We got engaged. If things had been different, I might have spent the rest of my life with him. We were young, only twenty-one, but my mother and father had been high school sweethearts, and they have a great marriage even though my father is away a lot. I figured Matt and I could do the same. Then everything changed one night when I went out to a bar with Resnick and the team to blow off some steam.”

  Anna looked out across the ocean and fell silent; she didn’t want to go on. It would only make Obsidian pity her. And she damn well didn’t want his pity

  “I would never pity you. You’re too strong. Besides, I’ve long suspected what caused your fear of relationships. Now you’re going to continue so I’ll know the name of the one I’ll one day hunt down. Once I find him, I’ll rip out his heart and bring it back to you.”

  D
amn. He was serious.

  Does that make me bloodthirsty for finding his offer sweet? Anna wondered.

  She turned and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. Telling him wasn’t actually as hard as she thought it would be.

  Taking a deep breath, she continued.

  “I left my cell phone in the vehicle and went out to get it in case Matt texted me. He was sweet like that. Always keeping tabs, wanting to know how my day went. The good and the bad.”

  The ocean waves rolled in, hypnotic. Beside her, Obsidian was a substantial warm presence. His quietness was what allowed her to go on.

  “I was on my way back to the bar when a guy came out of the bushes and tried to grab me. I could tell right away he was a civilian. I was in the process of handing him his own ass when I got hit on the head with something. A tire iron or a bit of pipe, maybe. Hadn’t realized the jackass had a friend with him. Blacked out for a bit. Too long and not long enough if you know what I mean.”

  She swallowed around the lump in her throat and strived to remain detached. “Came to as the one jackass was just finishing. He put a sweaty hand over my mouth and nose before I could make a sound. When they were about to switch places, I rammed him in the face with my skull. Broke the fucker’s face. Would have broken something else but Resnick had come looking and spotted my phone on the ground and knew something was wrong. The two guys ran off when Resnick came closer.”

  Obsidian growled more viciously than she’d ever heard. “I will kill them for you.”

  “That’s not how justice works back home.” But if she ever ran across those two again, they wouldn’t survive to see the inside of a prison.

  “We will take their balls, at the very least.”

  Anna gave him a brittle smile. “Tempting.”

  “If you won’t let me kill them, will you let me hunt these males down and terrify them?”

  “Won’t do any good. Light was bad. Only saw the one guy’s face in silhouette. Never got a good look at the other one.”