by Judith Post
They drove, covering as much territory as possible, until the sun was directly overhead. Ally wiped a hand across her damp forehead. The air felt like a limp dishrag, drenched in humidity. Part of the joy of the Midwest. The temperatures had climbed as they explored Summit City's north and east sides.
Dread settled in Ally's stomach. Panic teased at her nerves. "Try Gideon again," she told Dante.
He gave a quick nod, concentrated, and then his shoulders relaxed slightly. He let out a long breath.
"Well?" she prompted.
"He told me to quit bothering him. He doesn't know who I am, and he tried to ignore me, but I keep pestering him."
Relief swept through Ally. It made her limbs limp. "Good. He's alive. He's unhurt."
"Let's stop for lunch," Dante said. "We're close to town and your favorite restaurant."
Ally chewed on her bottom lip. "But Gideon…."
"Is all right. It might take us hours or days to find him. You need to eat."
"We can grab fast food." She could munch a sandwich while they searched.
Dante shook his head. He sounded as frazzled as she felt. "I want to find him as much as you do, but a break will do us both good. It will help us concentrate when we start again."
He was right, she knew. She'd gotten so stressed, she felt like a deflated balloon now that some of the worry had seeped away.
"Come on. Let me tempt you with a sausage roll." Dante pointed to a parking space in front of the restaurant and waited for her to maneuver into it. As usual, when a waitress seated them at an outside table, women stopped to stare at him. Forks paused in midair and hands shielded eyes to get a better view. And as usual, Dante was oblivious.
Dante ordered her favorite combination—marinara with onions and green peppers—for them to split, along with a bottle of Chianti. Some of the edge left his taut posture when he sipped his first glass. Ally leaned back and willed herself to relax. Neither of them were in the mood to talk, so she watched females linger as long as they could, eyes drinking up Dante, before they had to hurry back to work. A half-hour later, their meal finished, Dante paid the waitress and got to his feet. "Let's head south we drive west."
He'd been doing the same thing she had, thinking of different game plans as they ate. She understood his reasoning. The west side of the city stretched farther and farther with new subdivisions and strip malls every time she went there. It would take a lot longer to search it.
They climbed back into the Jeep, and Ally started her zig-zag pattern of driving as she made her way south. They were nearly to a small community about twenty minutes past town when she turned onto a country road. They'd gone ten miles in that direction when Dante gripped the roll bar over their heads and sat up higher in his seat. He inhaled deeply. Ally smelled it, too. A whiff of magic. Something unknown. She followed it to a smaller country road that crisscrossed theirs. The farther she drove, the stronger its scent.
They ended up on a gravel road. Ally hadn't known there were any left in the county. They approached a winding, cement drive that disappeared between trees, and magic swirled around them.
Dante licked his lips. "It tastes almost syrupy, like overripe fruit."
"But cloying, like cotton candy." She couldn't place it.
Dante inhaled again and pointed for her to turn onto the drive. "I caught Gideon's scent."
The air was saturated with perfumes. Three rows of trees—first, tangy evergreens, then tall sturdy varieties of oak and maple, and finally delicately sweet, flowering dogwoods and crabapples—gave way to a front yard completely divided into herb beds. Fragrant, purple blooms of lavender divided basil from dill, oregano from rosemary. Lemon and orange trees bordered the far sides, and fig trees twined close to the gleaming, white, stucco house. Behind the home's back courtyard—circled by a low, stucco wall—vineyards stretched as far as the eye could see.
Dante frowned at the three, flat stories of the house before them. "It looks out of place here, like it should be perched on a hill by the Mediterranean Sea." The smaller, third story had no roof. It served as a courtyard at the top of the home. Potted plants towered above its stucco walls.
Ally shut off the Jeep's engine and stepped onto the shimmering cement. Everything about this place seemed to sparkle. "I vote we shift to our other selves before we knock on the front door." She didn't trust this place, didn't like this magic.
Dante gave a quick nod, about to morph with wings sprouting from his back and muscles bulging when the front doors flew open and Gideon cried, "Hey, I know you!" The youngest gargoyle stumbled toward them, a little unsteady on his feet, a little too happy.
Dante stared. "Are you okay? Have you been drinking?"
A woman pushed past Gideon to greet them. "Welcome. Have you come to collect your friend? Come. Sit with us. Eat. Drink. I love guests."
Ally stood, transfixed. She didn't trust this exotic woman with her curtain of black hair, almond-shaped, olive green eyes, and strong scent of magic. Small and slender, her movements were lithe and graceful. She wore a sleeveless, tunic-style top and loose, white pants.
Dante placed a hand under Ally's elbow, urging her forward. If Ally had her way, they'd grab Gideon and run. Instead, she touched a finger to the ring on her right hand, taking comfort from the many protection enchantments engraved on its surface. She'd made one for Dante too. Squaring her shoulders, she followed the woman into the house, stopping to stare at the antique, arched doors as she passed them. A tree with twining branches was carved across their rough surfaces.
The woman motioned them into the terra cotta-tiled foyer, waving them farther into the spacious serenity of her home. Seating areas sprawled on one side of the large room. A long, wooden table and chairs anchored the other. Bowls piled with fruit were scattered across its scarred teak surface. Bottles of wine dotted its center, and wine glasses nestled near each one.
"Please, make yourselves at home. Are you hungry? Thirsty?" She reached for a lush fruit to offer Dante.
Ally put up her hand in warning. "That fruit's unknown to me. It smells of strong magic."
The woman returned it to the bowl. "Perhaps a fig? Or date?"
Claws sprang from Ally's fingers and toes, the first stage of her shift. "What are you?"
Gideon was quick to respond. He placed his body in front of the woman's. "I can't let you harm Humusi."
Dante stood shoulder to shoulder with Ally. His tone was grim. "You won't be able to stop us if your friend here doesn't tell us why she drugged you."
"Drugged me?" Gideon threw back his golden head and laughed. "Is happiness a drug?"
"It can be." Dante's gaze never wavered from Humusi.
The woman gave a defeated sigh and sank onto one of the chairs at the table. She glanced at the rings that Ally and Dante wore. "My magic can't match yours. Believe me, though, I meant Gideon no harm. He got here too late to save Sidu, but he frightened off whoever killed him."
Gideon's jaw dropped in surprise. "I didn't see a dead body. I didn't fight anyone."
"I know. I was afraid you'd leave if I told you what happened, if you learned the truth about me."
"Which is?" Ally asked.
Humusi motioned for them to follow her. "Come. See for yourselves."
She led them to the back courtyard, crossing flagstones veined with thyme, to a tree with clumps of trunks twisting together into one. It was the tree that was carved on the house's front doors. Branches lifted in all directions, completely shading the entire area. Fruit and flowers graced each branch. The same fruit that Humusi offered them when they arrived. A freshly dug grave nestled under a low-hanging bough.
Humusi put a hand to her throat and blinked back tears. "I heard voices out here last night. When I went to see what was happening, I saw my brother surrounded by a group of men. One of them reached out, and Sidu dropped to the ground."
"They killed him?" Gideon sniffed the air, as though he'd find some remnant of their scent. If it lingered, the fruit overpower
ed it.
She hugged herself and gave a quick nod. "The men turned then and started for the house. I was so frightened, I couldn't move. And somehow, Gideon must have felt my panic. He burst through the front doors. The men saw him and ran."
"Gargoyles are guardians," Dante said. "We can sometimes sense danger. Not from mortals, but from our kind."
Humusi's eyes went wide in fear. "From other gargoyles?"
"No, I didn't explain that well." Dante took a minute to rearrange his thoughts. "We police other supernaturals."
Ally caught his meaning. "You think that whoever killed Humusi's brother weren't mortals."
"Exactly."
"But they looked like mortals," Humusi argued.
Dante shrugged. "So do you. So do Gideon and I…so does Ally."
Humusi moved closer to Gideon, and he wrapped an arm around her to steady her.
Dante raised a dark brow. "How long have you lived near Summit City? Did your brother make enemies here?"
"We probably settled here before you did. We've lived quiet lives. It's been hard for me." Humusi's expression pinched with pain. "My people are social, gregarious, but Sidu warned me that someday his sins would catch up with him. We've been running and hiding for a long time."
The sun sank to the horizon, shooting pink rays to the clouds, staining them a rosy hue.
Ally thought of her Greek heritage—the love of entertaining, of song and dance. A pang of regret tightened her throat, followed by bitter resentment. "Did he tell you why he was running? Whom he was hiding from?"
"No, he wouldn't talk about it." With a nod, Humusi led them inside the house to her long, welcoming table. She poured them each wine. "I'll answer any questions, in the hope that you'll see fit to help me."
Ally couldn't help it. She sniffed the wine before she raised it to her lips. Before she drank, she repeated her question. "What are you? Where do you come from?"
There was a long silence. Finally, Humusi said, "No one ever believes me, but I come from the land of Lotus-eaters. I carry its magic with me."
Dante's gray eyes gleamed with curiosity. "So the myths are true? Odysseus and his men did visit your island?"
A smile tugged at Humusi's lips. "Oh, yes, I remember Odysseus well. A clever man not easily swayed. He reminds me of you." She sighed. "Many warriors came to our shores, ready for battle. We welcomed them all, shared of our bounty. They all chose to stay."
"Because you drugged them." Ally nodded toward Gideon. "How long does it last? Is it permanent?"
Humusi shook her head. "The fruit's effect wears off in a day or two, once you stop eating it."
Good. A temporary spell, and a weak one. Ally pressed a palm to Gideon's chest and spoke a quick chant. Magic was magic, and hers came directly from Artemis. The young gargoyle blinked, then shook his head, trying to clear it.
He looked at her, then at Dante. "Why are you here? I'd have been home before sunrise."
Dante heaved a sigh of relief. "That was last night. You lost twenty-four hours."
"Twenty-four….?" Gideon turned to Humusi. "You tricked me. I thought you liked me."
She reached a hand across the table to him. "I do. I'm sorry. I should have asked for your help instead of trying to steal it. I was desperate. I've been lonely for a long time. You made me feel safe, and I enjoyed your company."
"You did?" Gideon's brow cleared. He smirked at Dante. "See, friend? I can be charming."
Dante scrubbed a hand through his dark hair. He tossed a frustrated glance Ally's way. "That, I've never worried about. Sometimes you're too charming."
"I can't help myself." Gideon laughed and leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. Ally was amazed at how quickly he recovered. Oh, to be young and innocent. Then she changed her mind. She'd earned every prickly habit she had.
Gideon reached for a fig and turned to Dante. "Since that's all settled and you're not grumpy anymore, I want to hear Humusi's story. Can we? I'd like more bread and wine, too, unless I'm in danger of being grounded for missing curfew."
"Grumpy? I searched the entire city to make sure you were safe. You call that grumpy?"
Gideon shrugged. "But I'm safe. So is Humusi. You can quit being so prickly."
Dante's shoulders bunched. Ally suspected he wanted to grab Gideon and shake him. "If you'd have told us where you were going and why, I wouldn't have had to search for you."
Tired of their bickering, Ally pursed her lips, then asked, "Humusi, you don't know, but can you guess what your brother was running from?"
The question, she was sure, would intrigue Dante enough to distract him. And she was right. After a visible struggle, Dante forced himself to relax, to pour each of them another glass of wine, and to lean back in his chair.
Humusi frowned, unsure of herself. "Do you have time for me to start at the beginning?"
Dante grimaced. "If we're going to help you, we need to know what we're up against."
She smiled. "You'll help, even after I offered Gideon the fruit, so that he'd stay with me?"
He shrugged. "You did no harm. My friend here is easily tricked. Maybe he'll learn from his mistakes."
Gideon deserved the jibe. Ally understood Dante's frustration. If he'd have taken one minute to let the other gargoyles know where he was going and why, they could have avoided a day of searching and worrying.
Gideon gave a quick nod. He got the message too.
They settled in, and Humusi began. Her gaze slid to the back courtyard, to the fresh grave, and she looked perplexed. "My brother was always restless. The fruit of our island pleased everyone but him. He said that each day was the same. He craved adventure."
Dante frowned. "So some people aren't affected by the fruit?"
"Like any drug, its magic is stronger the first time it's used. Eventually, its effects grow milder."
"There has to be more to it than that," Ally said, "or more people would leave."
"The fruit blesses us. Our lives are abundant, easy."
"But your brother wasn't happy there," Dante pointed out.
Humusi stopped to consider that. "My mother belonged to the island. Our father was a great warrior who wandered there from other lands."
"So genes are more powerful than magic?" Ally and Dante exchanged glances.
Humusi gave a small, sad smile. "In this case, yes. My father had been in many battles before winds blew his boat off course. When he found our island, he called it a refuge. When he saw my mother, he said his heart was fulfilled. My brother was never satisfied. My father understood his desire for great deeds, but often warned him that the world was not the glorious adventure it appeared to be. He worried that my brother knew nothing of deceit and treachery."
"An innocent abroad." Dante's gaze wandered to the new grave.
"There was no reasoning with Sidu. Finally, he took a boat and left us. We didn't see him for several years. When he returned, he was a different person, consumed by emotions I didn't understand."
"What sorts of emotions?" Dante asked.
"Fear, regret, and a deep sense of shame. He hoped our fruit would ease the nightmares that claimed him, but it didn't. Each time a boat blew to shore, he went wild with worry until he told my parents he must leave again. This time, I insisted on going with him."
Gideon hung on her every word. "Why? Were you tired of the island too?"
"No, I feared for my brother. I'd seen warriors clamor from their ships, filled with bloodlust. But I'd never seen anyone look as haunted as Sidu, as though ghosts followed him everywhere."
"Ghosts?" Ally had heard of spirits walking the earth, but had never dealt with any.
"He couldn't let go of something. He tried to flee, but couldn't outrun it."
"Did he ever tell you what happened?" Gideon asked.
Humusi shook her head. "The only thing he said was that his shame would never release him, and that someday, his sins would catch up with him."
Gideon's expression was horror-struck. "What do you
think he did?"
"My brother would never harm anyone. He was the best, most noble person I've ever met." She stopped herself and glanced at Gideon. "Except, perhaps, for you."
A smile lit Gideon's eyes. "Where did you go when you left the island?"
She sighed. "We wandered from one place to the next, with Sidu always looking over his shoulder, expecting someone to find us. I'd taken seeds from the Blessing Tree at home, and I planted one in a clay pot that I took everywhere with us. Sometimes, its fruit would relieve Sidu's burdens for a short while, but it never completely healed him."
Ally thought of Io, the beautiful nymph seduced by Zeus. When Hera approached, Zeus changed Io into a white heifer to hide his philandering from his wife, but Hera wasn't fooled. She had a gadfly bedevil the heifer so that Io ran all the way to Egypt before Zeus could return her to her human form. She'd run from place to place in torment for years. Sidu was tormented too. But by what?
"How did you end up in Summit City?" Dante asked, returning Humusi to her tale.
"Sidu thought we might find safety in the New World, so we sailed here. But too many people came to its shores every day, and Sidu worried. He heard of the West Coast, but gold was discovered there, so he feared it for the same reason. We finally settled in this country's vast middle. And Sidu hoped that if we did nothing to call attention to ourselves, we'd go unnoticed."
Dante stood and went to the patio doors that overlooked the courtyard. He looked outside, unseeing, and shook his head. "Your brother must have made some powerful enemies, and he must have done something big to worry that they'd follow him to retaliate centuries after the crime."
"Not crime." Humusi shook her head. "Not Sidu. His biggest flaw was that he cared too much, tried too hard."
Dante turned, eyes narrowed, as he studied her. "Whoever he angered, for whatever reason, turned their attention to you. You're not safe. Gideon should stay with you, to protect you, until we find more answers."
Humusi sagged with relief. "Thank you."
Ally went to stand beside Dante. The sun had tipped over the horizon, and dusk snuggled the world in grayness. "Before we leave, let me cast protection spells around the house and yard. We'll make Humusi and Gideon as safe as my magic can." She started toward the open doors that led to the patio and stopped. She took a deep breath. Another new scent tickled her nose, more unknown magic.
