She stared at him like he’d sprouted a second head.
Hmmm. Perhaps it was the fangs.
“No one answered my question. What’s the mark, and if I do this long enough,” she reached out and stabbed a finger against the glyph, making it dim more, “will it kill you?”
The touch chilled him as it sucked away his elemental magic. He held his ground, unwilling to show weakness to the Null, even though he was suddenly feeling as feeble as a newborn foal.
His sorceress mother seemed to have determined the truth. He was more affected by the Null than either of his parents. Though, they were the Avatars and much, much older than him. Perhaps that had something to do with it. In the coming weeks, he’d try to determine what made him more susceptible to the Null’s influence or what made the Avatars more immune. If he could crack that mystery, he might combat this Null’s power over him.
While he’d been enmeshed with his own thoughts, the Null had stepped back and was now circling him, studying him from different angles.
“You didn’t drop dead. Guess that answers that question.” She poked him twice more just to see.
A ripple of unease accompanied the weakness. The Null’s gaze sharpened suddenly.
No. She couldn’t have sensed that momentary weakness. He’d been guarding his thoughts and had a tight rein on his body language.
She smirked and poked him twice more.
Gryton drew himself up and glowered at the Null. “Touch me again and I’ll—”
“Do absolutely nothing,” Gregory asserted in a deadly calm voice. His expression suggested boredom, but Gryton could see the sharp little bits of shadow magic dancing in the corners of the room. “She was born for a great purpose, sent by the Divine Ones, and you will obey us and do her no harm.”
“And her superiors, you won’t harm any of them, either,” Lillian added and placed a hand on his sire’s arm.
The big gargoyle relaxed, his earlier mirth returning. “Not that you’ll be able to harm the Null once your mother and I finished soul-binding you to her.”
“Soul-binding?” Some of Gryton’s shock must have shown on his face because the gargoyle laughed evilly. Instinctively, he took a half step back before he exerted control over himself again. They’d surprised him badly. Servants of the Light didn’t do things like soul-binding.
“You can’t do that to me. Death would be preferable.” If he’d been able to call his power, he would have summoned a defensive wall of fire and attempted escape.
Chapter 4
Gryton
“OH, STOP WHINING,” the Null said with an accompanying roll of her eyes. “Do you think I’m any happier about this than you? I will have a piece of your evil little soul grafted on to mine. Do you think I’m overjoyed by that? The only reason I’m agreeing is that they say your ass will go supernova and take out the whole damn planet if you lose control. Which, here in this realm, is supposed to be a real possibility.”
Gryton snapped his teeth together, allowing the human to speak her mind. Anything that delayed the soul-binding, even if it was only for the time this mortal nattered at him, was a mercy.
“Thought my superiors were playing some kind of joke on us newbies. Nope. I touch down and discover it’s all true. Been an all-around surreal week. So, you can just stop whining,” she poked him repeatedly in the chest, “and accept that this shit is real. It’s happening. I’m getting a slice of your fiery little soul. There’s no way I’m letting you destroy my world. If I have to sit on you and suck you dry every day for the next hundred years, I will.”
Narrowing his eyes, he glowered at the female but realized her words and reasoning were logical from her standpoint. While she was very young, she possessed a self-assuredness that usually only came with experience, but he sensed he put her off balance and she didn’t like that one bit. He resisted the urge to smirk. “Was there anything else you’d like to add?”
“No. I’m good.” She straightened her uniform and then stepped back, returning to her earlier position by the wall. Her expression was unreadable once more.
His father’s, however, was not. “Something you wanted to add?”
Gregory’s grin grew broader. “No. Just wondering when you want to do this?”
How about never? But Gryton didn’t utter those thoughts out loud, settling for glowering instead.
“We can begin now if you like since the humans have already agreed to this.” Gregory’s expression was neutral, but Gryton was sure the gargoyle was still mentally laughing at him.
Grimacing, Gryton reflected that gargoyles were perverse beasts with equally contrary senses of humor.
LILLIAN WATCHED HER mate and her son face off. Then she glanced back at the human soldier for a moment. Not for the first time she dwelled on the fact it was likely no coincidence that the Null was also an old pure-soul and a soldier. A rare combination of characteristics. The Divine Ones were taking no chances that Gryton could corrupt her.
As an old-soul, Erika had lived many thousands of lifetimes—her soul growing stronger each time—and she was now beyond Gryton’s ability to corrupt, bribe, or otherwise compromise her morals. She was perfect for this task, and Lillian just grew more certain of the Null’s purpose. While she might be useful in hunting down and killing the blood witch and whatever other dark, twisted spells the witch had created, Lillian knew in her gut that Private Emerson had arrived here because the Divine Ones wanted her here to aid Gryton.
The Creators had a way of moving people around like pawns on a chessboard. And while that often annoyed Lillian, in this case, she could only nod at their wisdom.
“If this is truly Divine will, there’s no escaping it. Let’s get this over with,” Gryton said, his voice thunderous.
“Don’t know nothing about your Divine Ones, but God put me on this earth, and if my purpose is to make it impossible for you to go supernova, I’m happy to oblige.”
Gryton groaned.
Lillian had been fighting back her mirth at her son’s grumpiness throughout the conversation and finally lost the battle and started snorting with laughter.
Chapter 5
Erika
SURVEYING THE SCENE as the Avatars began fixin’ for the magical voodoo surgery, Erika’s gaze took everything in and eventually landed on Gryton. After the first day’s initial disbelief and doubt, she’d descended into a near emotionally-comatose state where new strangeness just rolled off her like water from a duck’s back.
Though she absorbed every new bit of information and reported it to her superiors. Perhaps there was something to this whole Null business that allowed her to adapt to new situations without snapping?
She’d always been resilient.
And she’d already heard rumors of several soldiers scrubbed from the program because they couldn’t keep their shit together when faced with magical aliens. Oh, she found it beyond unreal, but the situation was what it was. No amount of denial would make the big gargoyle, his equally strange sorceress mate, or their fire-demon offspring just up and vanish.
After all, life never asked a person what path they wanted to take. It was just shoved in front of them, and a person either stumbled for a couple of steps and then righted themselves, or they tripped and rolled to the bottom of the damned hill.
Erika planned on climbing higher, not rolling down a hill at breakneck speed.
Looking at the creature called Gryton, she knew it wouldn’t be easy. She’d need to call on every scrap of patience, perseverance, and fortitude she could summon just to survive dealing with the fiery being. They’d known each other four days and exchanged only a few sentences, but she’d already concluded he was a diva.
If she had her way, she’d start in on his reconditioning as soon as possible. They just needed to get through this soul-binding thing and adjust to their new, and very unwanted, partnership.
IT WASN’T LOST ON GRYTON as he lay on the cold metal table that he now knew what a sacrificial victim might feel moments
before their death. Oh, he wouldn’t die from this, but it was most definitely a sacrifice. He was giving up his freedom and his free will.
All because he was so weak as to be swayed by his mother’s love.
Bloody blight and plagues! How had he fallen so far?
“Buck up, Hot Stuff. I’m not looking forward to this any more than you.”
He turned to glower at the Null where she sat on a second metal table three paces away, grinning at him of all things. His gargoyle father moved to stand between them, but it wasn’t enough to block the Null’s presence.
His only solace was that this unwanted alliance with a human would be short-lived. Once they won the war, he would return to the Magic Realm, and then there would be no need to ever look upon her again. The Null would remain behind on Earth where she would age and die swiftly like all humans. They’d be free of each other in less than a hundred years.
“We are ready,” the Sorceress said as she came to stand beside his sire. “Are you prepared?”
Her tone suggested he should take a few moments to center himself. While he’d never had a piece of his soul sliced off and given to another before, he had enough knowledge that this was darker magic than the Avatars had likely ever used before. He grinned up at them both.
“Do not worry, mother. You’ll only be very slightly sullied by this spell work. It is a much smaller infraction than begetting me. You survived that. And this is nothing compared to the dark spells the blood witch was teaching your little brother and his pet human.”
She blanched. He instantly felt remorse for reminding her that her younger brother was still missing, his fate unknown.
Gregory grunted, his lips compressing, not finding humor in Gryton’s words.
“Keep grinning, Offspring. And know I would have felt much worse for what your mother and I are about to do if you hadn’t been guilty of murder several times over.”
“The humans?” Gryton shrugged. “It was war. Besides, they were the first to attack intending to kill, if you’ve forgotten.”
Gregory grunted again, and Gryton took it as a sign of a victory against his father.
Just then Lillian called power, drawing their attention to her. A significant current of energy rushed from the Spirit Realm, causing hundreds of small, chilled currents to dance in the surrounding air. A moment later, his sire closed his eyes and bowed his head. Soon his power joined his other half’s.
“This will hurt,” Gregory warned as the power that had been swirling around the room a moment before formed bands and locked Gryton into place. “The pain will be fleeting at least. Are you ready to give a piece of your soul to the Null?”
Across from him, the soldier had drawn her knees up and now rested her arms against them. The posture wasn’t that of boredom. He knew she listened to every word, and her sharp gaze caught every nuance of body language.
Likely other humans were doing the same through their technology even though they’d been forbidden from entering the room. That had caused a few tense moments between his sire and dam and their human allies. Likely his fang-flashing grins did nothing to decrease tensions.
At last, he looked back at his sire. “I am ready. Perhaps you should ask the Null the same question.”
“They already did. I’m on board. But can we stop calling me Null? I have a name. Y’all are basically calling me a ‘zero’ or a nothing. I’ll happily respond to Private Emerson, just Emerson, or even Erika.”
The Sorceress’s eyebrows scrunched together a moment before she apologized. “I’m sorry. I always meant it as a title of respect. It was never derogatory.”
“On your part, yes. His?” The Null jerked a thumb in Gryton’s direction. “It’s always derogatory coming from him.”
His mother turned to him with a frown. “Gryton, she has a point. You won’t use her title in that way again, will you?”
“If that is your wish, I shall not.”
At least not in your hearing.
But that didn’t mean the Null had yet earned his respect. She would have to work to prove she had something that resembled honor and nobleness buried somewhere under her unpolished exterior. Only then would he address her with respect. He cast a glower at the Null and decided she might die of old age before he had to honor her in such a way.
In the next moment a gargoyle’s tail swatted him across the chest with enough force to make Gryton wheeze.
“What was that for?” He spat out while imagining giving his sire some lasting scars. Though he settled for glowering at his father for now.
“That was for lying to your mother.”
Gryton smirked. “I’m still learning the art of truth-telling. It might take a little time.”
“And what else might you be learning or planning, I wonder?” Lillian gestured at his naked chest. “I thought the military was supplying you with basic needs.”
“We did,” the human piped up. “He tore his shirt off. He either has super sensitive skin, or he thought he’d attempt a little seduction to see if I’d let him out of his cage. He was so bad at it, I’m not sure which motive it was.”
Gryton dropped his head back against the table. “I hate humans. This is the Divine One’s true punishment for my service to the Battle Goddess all these years.”
“That is entirely possible,” Gregory agreed and then gave him a most ghastly smile. “Shall we continue?”
“Just get it over with. The sooner I’m ‘leashed’ and no longer a threat, the sooner we can then strike a blow to the Battle Goddess and her monstrous pet blood witch.”
“Very well.” Gregory flicked his wrist, and a sharp little shard of shadow and spirit magic appeared between his fingers. Then in a motion too fast to follow, the two magics blurred and his sire struck.
It wasn’t a killing blow. Nothing that tiny could kill Gryton, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. He clenched his teeth. The power cut through his weakened defenses like they were water. Then his mother’s power joined his father’s, and they were digging deeper into his spirit.
Goddess! The two powers were so cold his fire magic hissed and recoiled. Usually, this was when his magic would have returned tenfold, a raging inferno to destroy whatever threatened him.
But this wasn’t an attack, and with the Null only a few paces away, his power didn’t respond as it normally would. Instead, it coiled tightly, like a banked ember that slept while his sire and dam cut deeper into his spirit.
He lifted his head enough to look down and didn’t see blood or fire even though the shadow and spirit magic blade had cut into his chest. Usually, when he was wounded while in a flesh and blood form, he bled like any other creature, but that blood would then ignite, setting fire to anything not immune.
“I’m so sorry,” his mother said, horror clear in her tone, “but there was no way we could render you unconscious without causing even greater trauma. We will be swift.”
“This tiny scratch? It’s nothing.” He scoffed at her concern. While it hurt and likely would have rendered most mortals dead and many immortals unconscious, he was a fire elemental and had experienced his flesh burning away far more times than he could count. This was just a dull, barely felt pain in comparison.
As promised, they swiftly separated a tiny sliver of his soul from the rest. Soon their powers were withdrawing from him, leaving him cold and shaking but remarkably whole. There wasn’t even a fading scar upon his chest. Though the glyph pulsed surprisingly bright considering the Null’s proximity.
He calmed his breathing and that, too, dimmed. Once he’d mastered himself, he turned to watch the Null. She stared wide-eyed back at him but seemed otherwise determined.
The Divine Ones had given her a remarkably calm nature.
It wasn’t until the Sorceress approached with the fiery bit of his soul that the human looked about ready to bolt.
“Is it too late to change my mind?” the Null asked, a bit of forced humor in her tone.
“No one will force you to
accept this fate,” Gregory said in his serious tones. “Not even the Divine Ones. They don’t keep slaves, only willing servants to the Light.”
The Null grimaced. Gryton could see her practically scouring her mind for ways to back out and still keep her dignity intact. At last, she stared at Gryton. Then her gaze hardening, she turned back to the Avatars. “If everything you told me about what I am is correct, then I suppose I must have already agreed to all this back in the Spirit Realm. Let’s just get on with this.”
There was still uncertainty in her eyes, but Gryton’s sire and dam glanced at each other for long moments and communicated mind to mind. He couldn’t hear their words, but he could imagine them well enough. They were trying to determine if the human was up to this task.
Gryton could have answered that question for them.
No, she wasn’t ready. No human was a match for him, not even a Null as powerful as this female.
And he planned to use that against her.
If he were to be a slave, he’d make sure she was equally enslaved to him.
Chapter 6
Erika
ERIKA STARED BETWEEN the two Avatars, willing them to believe her, even if she didn’t really believe herself. Who the hell could be prepared for this kind of shit? But it didn’t matter if she was ready for this or not. She needed to do this.
While she hadn’t been ordered, she knew everyone was counting on her to put a leash on the monster on the other table. But if she couldn’t convince herself, there was no way she could fool the two Avatars. Had she already failed in her mission before it had even started?
She held her breath and waited.
And waited some more.
At last, the two Avatars nodded their heads in silent agreement.
“We believe you are worthy of taming our son of his least savory tendencies,” Gregory said.
The Complete Gargoyle and Sorceress Boxset (Books 1-9) Page 160
