“Must be difficult to find the real estate with that extensive sword collection she has on her walls.”
Lillian swallowed the next bit of fluff she’d been about to spout and frowned as she juggled several possible responses. “Some of those have been with the family for generations—Gran didn’t start the collection. She is more a curator of sorts.”
“I thought she said you and your fiancé were still up in Kirkland Lake for the rest of the summer?”
Lillian’s mind scrambled to keep up with the soldier’s rapid change in topics. Trying to follow his logic was as dizzying as trying to track a chipmunk jacked up on an energy drink. His rapid change in topics must be some method to catch her in a lie, and if it was, she was already a suspect. Damn and double damn. It was just her luck. Of all the soldiers she could have run into in a forest, it looked like she’d tripped over a military interrogator. Ah, her usual luck. “Yes, we were there looking into some property. Gran wants to expand the family business, possibly opening a chain of resorts. Anyways, our plans changed when we heard about the rumors. We just had to come back and see what all the media frenzy was about. Now I’m wishing I hadn’t, you know, not with all the talk of monsters and aliens. Can you believe people?”
With another gruff chuckle, the bearded man glanced over Lillian’s shoulder, out beyond the dark trees. “I never believe people.”
“Ah,” Lillian floundered for some response.
The soldier snapped his intense gaze back to her as quickly as he’d taken it off. “Have you seen monsters in the forest, Lillian?”
His question caught her so off guard, she had to snap her jaws closed, and could only stand there and look upon him with utter disbelief.
“Monsters?” She cleared her throat. “I’ve seen the news and heard all the rumors—terrorists, cults, monsters, and aliens. I have to say I’m on the side of those who believe it was some kind of twisted cult, or an elaborate hoax gone wrong.”
“The way those bodies were torn apart and scattered around the forest was no hoax.”
Lillian’s stomach dropped and a cold wave of fear slid across her skin, followed by a swift blanket of gooseflesh.
“We need to get out of here.” The pooka’s voice in her mind was calm, though he had started to jerk on his lead rope, likely as fearful of a trap as she herself was. “These humans know more than the other Fae believed. The soldier wouldn’t otherwise mention any details about an ongoing investigation. He’s fishing. We need to retreat and regroup before your gargoyle comes crashing through the forest to rescue you. I can’t stress how unfortunate such an event would be.”
Lillian swallowed as she met the soldier’s gaze. “You mean it wasn’t a cult murder-suicide like the media believes?” She cast a nervous glance over her shoulder purely for show. “Are you saying there is something or someone hunting in the forest—and it killed those people?”
“The investigation is ongoing—we’re still analyzing evidence.”
“Is that code to say you’re hunting for some kind of urban legend like the rumors suggest? Sir…” Lillian gave his fatigues a once over, looking for a name or something with his rank, but realized she still would not have known what the bars and badges met anyways.
“Major Resnick, of the 48th Highlanders of Canada,” he supplied. “4th Division, Joint Task Force Central. And no, I’m not hunting for a yeti.”
Lillian started to laugh. “Glad to hear it. I wouldn’t like to think I’ve been exploring the forest for all these years when there might have been something else studying me in return.”
“However, while I have you here. Have you ever seen or heard something out of the ordinary in all your exploring? Anything at all. It might not have seemed like much at the time, but anything you remember might have importance. We’ve been interviewing many of the locals.”
While he used the word ‘interviewed’ Lillian imagined ‘interrogated’ would have been a more accurate one. She frowned, and pretended to think for several moments. “My family runs a spa, and we’ve had some unusual patrons from time to time, but I can’t think of having seen anything out of the ordinary.” If you don’t count a gargoyle, and numerous Clan and Coven members.
The pooka nickered.
“However,” Lillian continued with more authority. “I saw some signs of bear, a mother and cub by the tracks—the bears might have been what spooked the horses in the first place. And I certainly don’t want to lose the one I just found…so if you don’t have any more questions…”
A rustling in the underbrush along the path saved Lillian from having to continue. The small, wiry haired terrier burst out from behind cover and bolted between Lillian and Major Resnick and then continued to run full out, all four legs churning at maximum speed. Two seconds later, the dog was well up the path and out of sight.
Everyone stared after the dog for a few seconds more than turned to look the way it had come. Lillian turned too, fervently hoping not to see Gregory pursuing it. He wasn’t and she released the breath she’d been holding. All her plausible lies would have been for nothing if there had been a gargoyle galloping up the trail in pursuit of the dog.
The terrier’s handler jogged up the path, cursing as he came. He stumbled into their midst holding his side and sucking back deep breaths. “Something big spooked Socrates. Didn’t get a good look, but it was a damned big son of a bitch.”
“Bear,” Lillian commented nervously, but for different reasons than the handler. Gregory must have finished with his spell.
“Gregory,” Lillian sent, “I assume you just scared a year off that man’s life on purpose.”
He sent a grumbling huff in answer. All the humans twitched and their hands darted to their weapons in a way that made Lillian genuinely nervous.
“Don’t come any closer. The humans are twitchy enough as it is. Let me handle this.”
Gregory’s thoughts touched hers, confirming what she feared. “I do not care for the emotions I’m picking up from the humans. Extract yourself now or I will deal with them myself.”
“Dammit. I love you, but you can be such a pain in my ass! At present, I’m not in any immediate danger.”
“Yes you are. Their leader is thinking of taking you to a secure site where there are many more of his kind. I can see it clear in his thoughts.” Another huffing rumble issued from the darkness behind her.
“Stay out of this. I’m leaving. They don’t have any reason to hold me at the moment. Don’t give them one.” Out loud she cried, “Bear!” As she hoped, it was enough to draw everyone’s attention away from the area where Gregory was making a tree shake. She bolted for the pooka and worked loose the knot that tied him to the thick branch.
The pooka arched his neck and sniffed at her fingers. “In the future, I’ll instruct you on how to create a proper safety knot. You wouldn’t be having trouble if you’d done what I told you.”
“Stop fussing with the pooka and get out of there now,” Gregory injected from an unknown location.
“Quiet! Both of you.”
Lillian jerked on the knot until it came free and then she hauled the pooka around by his head, uncaring if she was being rude. As she and the pooka made it past Major Resnick’s position, she glared at him. “Tell your men to fall back. It’s probably the same mother bear I saw earlier. Don’t have your men shoot the poor bear just because she’s protecting her young.”
She didn’t wait to see what they would do, instead storming on down the path that led to civilization, and probably more uniformed military types, but she didn’t have any choice. Not if she wanted to find a peaceful end to tonight’s outing.
“Let her pass,” Major Resnick called, “Everyone fall back, nice and slow. Get the other dog out of here, and then bring up the tranquilizer guns.”
The forest around Lillian came alive as a second military team she hadn’t even known was there eased out of their hiding spots. She didn’t even try to hide her shock, it probably looked innocent enough
. Beside her, the pooka started trotting, his motion more up and down than forward in his excitement. Lillian didn’t think his agitation was an act. She had the impression of big guns, night vision goggles, and more camouflaged fatigues.
As Resnick continued to call out orders, the military unit split in two. Four men spread out to take up the rear and guard the others’ retreat, always keeping themselves between the main group and Lillian’s ‘bear’. Presently, her ‘bear’ was following a few paces behind the last human. While Gregory was actively cloaking himself in shadows and magic, he didn’t bother to hide his presence or his simmering displeasure from her, and she had a difficult time keeping her eyes forward.
Gregory worried for her safety, and she in turn worried for the humans should he decide they were an immediate threat, or they were simply too close to her.
“They most certainly are too close.” Gregory’s annoyance came clear across their mind link. “You said you would extract yourself from them.”
“I tried. They followed. They’re not going to just let me walk off into the forest. They’re like burrs or gum; I think I’m stuck with them.”
“Find a way.” Gregory’s thoughts were almost a shout.
She covered her flinch by pretending to swat a mosquito. “Something else is wrong. I know if I was in immediate danger, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, and the poor soldiers wouldn’t know what hit them. They’re not the enemy; they simply have a job to do. But you know that, or they would already be smoking black smudges on the forest floor. So what’s really bothering you? Are they leading me to a prison cell?”
“No.” His short answer told her nothing useful.
“Then what?”
“Some of them watch you.”
“They are probably bored after tromping around the forest day after day for the last three months.”
“Their thoughts are not the thoughts of a ‘bored’ male.” His clipped tone told her much more than his earlier one word answer.
Oh boy.
“Merciful Mother, he’ll annihilate them.” The pooka loosed a distressed whinny. “My Lady, your gargoyle is enraged by their lack of respect. He’s never had to deal with people who do not know to respect the Avatars.”
She didn’t need the pooka’s commentary to tell her how bad the situation could get. “Gregory, my love. It doesn’t matter. It means nothing.” Lillian kept walking, she and the pooka doing their best to keep the soldiers to a fast pace. The sooner they could part company, the safer everyone would be.
“It is not nothing! Their leader thinks about detaining you, taking you back for more questioning. But there’s more. One of them shows even greater disrespect for the Mother’s Avatar, Her mortal vessel. His thoughts started out as mild appreciation of your female…charms, but before I’d arrived they had changed to…to…outright….” Gregory roared.
Every gun jerked up as the soldiers reacted to the unknown danger.
“Bear, my ass,” Resnick said, then started shouting orders. “Get the civilian and her pony out of here. Daniels, call for back up. I think we found something.”
Hoping to distract the snipers, Lillian loosed a terrified shriek, but the pooka one-upped her, and bolted forward, knocking into the soldier directly in his path. She kept a tight grip on the lead rope and allowed the pooka to drag her along.
The pooka rolled an eye in her direction. “Gregory knows how to get the humans thinking about something else other than your assets, I suppose.”
She might have found the pony’s comment humorous if she wasn’t worried about Gregory being riddled by bullets. “Dammit, Gregory! Was that really necessary?”
“Yes!”
Chapter Eight
Gregory glowered at the humans circling his lady, blocking him from going to her side. Even the pooka, a creature he’d normally dispatch long before it could even scent his Sorceress, was presently closer to Lillian than he could manage. His rage building, he sent his magic outward. It rustled in the leaves and caused branches to moan. The humans twitched badly and he smiled.
His actions were petty, spiteful even, and out of character. But he couldn’t help himself. This world was nothing like he’d ever experienced. His relatively short time here was not enough for him to adapt to this Realm’s….ignorance.
When he’d first awakened to Lillian’s desperate call, it was to the sight of a Riven threatening his lady. Evil he knew how to handle. The endless battle between light and dark was familiar to him. It gave him purpose in this strange new world, and allowed him to ignore what he secretly found distressing about the Mortal Realm. There were far too many humans, far too out of balance with the natural world. Too much noise, too many bodies clustered together, too many chaotic thoughts and emotions bombarding him from all directions. The soul of the earth was bruised, he could feel her pain. And it was a great evil brought about by the humans of this Realm. Part of him wanted to restore the balance.
But he couldn’t, for it would mean the deaths of millions of humans. His Sorceress of old would have understood, would have aided him with what needed doing if they were ever ordered to complete such an unpleasant task, but Lillian was like a creature newly made, innocent, gentle, naïve. She’d already made it clear she sided with the humans, and she expected him to—if not protect them—at least tolerate them.
And she was correct—these humans, even the male who had gazed upon Lillian with lustful thoughts, were not evil. In their own way, they served the light—protecting, bringing peace when they could. What little he knew about the humans of this world he’d gathered from touching Lillian’s thoughts. He’d gleaned most of the destruction the humans caused was brought about due to ignorance, greed, and neglect more than willfully serving evil. It was a common failing with a young species.
The vast majority of humans still had potential.
So he should view them with the tolerance he would grant any youngling.
But being rational was difficult when others were surrounding Lillian, keeping him from her side.
They’d only had a handful of days between when she’d first called him from his stone sleep, to when she’d had to merge with her hamadryad to heal. It wasn’t enough time. Under normal circumstances when they were reborn, they grew up side by side, studying and training until they matured into their full strength.
Until this last time when the Lady of Battles interfered. He hadn’t realized how vital childhood was to them—it gave them both a chance to adapt, to relearn how to function as two separate beings, when they’d recently been one being in the Spirit Realm.
“Oh, Gregory,” Lillian’s thoughts merged fully with his. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t remember what our childhood was supposed to be like. I only knew I needed to be near my gargoyle statue, I couldn’t remember anything else.”
Gregory jerked in surprise, his wings twitching so hard he snagged one in a low hanging spruce bough, causing the whole tree to shake. He darted off to the left as three of the soldiers aimed their guns where he’d just been.
“Gregory, are you all right?”
“Yes,” he admitted a touch sheepishly. “I was distracted and gave my position away.”
“Now that I know why you’ve been distracted,” Lillian mused, “I’ve a better idea how to help us adapt. I may not have much magic, but I have myself. I’ll make time for us even if I have to barricade us in the wine cellar.”
The accompanying image her words inspired gained a chuckle from him. While he’d never been fond of fermented drinks, he didn’t doubt Lillian could still entertain him even in such a dark and chilled place.
With her promise, he found he could tolerate the humans with some semblance of benevolence even if they were closer to Lillian than he’d wished. He even dropped back a few paces so he wasn’t tempted to antagonize the nearest male. Which, he mused, was rather generous of him, since the man was the one who had entertained the offensive thoughts.
The humans’ leader made subtle gestures w
ith his hands, which Gregory interpreted as silent orders. As the soldiers spread out, hastening to obey in a coordinated fashion, he moved out of the way of any soldier who settled too close to his position. Once the soldiers became stationary and the forest was quiet again, he acknowledged with a touch of respect they were very good at blending in with their environment. They had arranged themselves in a loose circle, with Lillian and the pooka once again in the center. Neither one looked happy to be there. But with the soldiers’ weapons pointed out into the surrounding forest, it was the safest place for his dryad mistress.
He hunched down near the base of a great old spruce, its wide trunk offered enough cover to hide him even if he wasn’t cloaked in his own magic. He thought he understood Resnick’s reasoning. By ordering his men to dig in, they could set up a defensive perimeter, use Lillian and the pony as bait, and wait to see what came sniffing after them. It was the safest strategy until reinforcements made it to their location.
He didn’t have long to wait to confirm his theory. Silent, black shadows eased through the trees to the south. They moved with a smooth, deadly grace Gregory admired. Not as elegant as a sidhe warrior, but as close as a human could come. The newcomers merged seamlessly with the soldiers already in position.
Resnick and another officer, a female by her scent, conversed with each other in hushed tones. Gregory held his position and waited for the two leaders to come to a decision. Calling a trickle of magic, he sent it outward, scouting the newcomers, looking for even a hint of evil. It flirted from human to human, brushing against bare skin as it passed. More than one shifted uneasily at the touch of magic, but none seemed overly suspicious. To them it should feel like nothing more than a particularly chilly breeze gusting through the forest.
Lillian arched an eyebrow in his direction.
“Do not worry. It was only a small spell to learn their intentions.” He dropped to all fours and padded out from behind the tree. “I detect no evil in these ones.”
Sorceress Rising (A Gargoyle and Sorceress Tale Book 2) Page 6
