The Greystone Bundle (Books 1-4)

by Taylor Longford

  She eyed the guys expectantly so I introduced them and then explained, "These are friends of my cousins. I met them on my last trip to England."

  "I'm Alexa," she announced breathlessly without commenting on their unusual names. Maybe she didn't even notice. "Do you guys have last names?"

  There was a slight delay before Dare answered, "Greystone."

  "All of you?" giggled Alexa.

  "All of us," Valor confirmed. "We're related. Brothers and cousins."

  "Cousins," she gushed. "I get it."

  Valor turned an uncertain frown on me as if he hoped I could interpret.

  I just shrugged.

  "I saw you at school the other day," she said, singling out Dare. "I really love what you've done to your hair."

  Dare fingered the white ends of his hair while a brief flash of pain touched his eyes. "I didn't do this to my hair," he said in a low voice.

  "You mean it's natural?" she squealed. "That is so cool."

  Talk about awkward. As Dare moved backward a step, I quickly changed the subject. "Have you seen anyone else from school tonight?"

  "Just some loser freshmen," she answered.

  I winced. I knew quite a few freshmen. I didn't consider any of them losers.

  "So, MacKenzie," Alexa bubbled on, speaking to me but eying Victor like she wanted to get him alone in a dark closet. "There's a party tonight at Carly's house, starting at midnight. Her parents are out of town. Why don't you guys come?"

  "Um," I stalled. I don't dislike Alexa. She's a harmless giggler. She's also pretty popular with the guys at school. She has what Whitney calls infinite cleavage and she never fails to show it off. In fact, Alexa has more shirts with missing buttons than anyone I know. But she'd never invited us to any parties before and I couldn't help but think there was a wee bit of hypocrisy involved in her sudden offer of friendship. "We might do that," I answered noncommittally. "Are you gonna invite Josh Saxon, too?"

  "Is he here?" she exclaimed, and turned her head to check the crowd.

  I pointed to the other side of the mall. "I saw him earlier. He was heading that way."

  As Alexa bounded away with her friends, Valor slanted a sly grin at me.

  "What?" I asked as I tried to look innocent, like I hadn't just lied to get rid of my classmate.

  "Nothing," he said with another grin that showed off his white teeth.

  "Do you want to go to the party Alexa mentioned?" I hated to ask the guys but assumed the answer would be yes. Alexa was definitely boy bait and I had several unattached gargoyles on my hands.

  The guys shared a quick look. "I think we'll give it a pass," Havoc answered for the pack.

  Okay, I was kinda surprised. Like I said, I consider Alexa to be pretty harmless. But maybe the gargoyles could sense something I didn't know about. Maybe they noticed how she ignored Mim. Or maybe it was because of her awkward comment about Dare's hair.

  We turned at the far end of the mall and headed back in the direction we'd come. About half way down the other side, we ran into a bit of a bottleneck. A rough crowd of bikers had taken over the center of the mall. They were older, dressed in motorcycle leathers and were shoving each other around while beer splashed from the bottles they gripped in their fists. Although there was no real danger, Valor put his arm around my waist and pulled me against his side.

  His grip on my waist was strong, warm and possessive. And I've never been more grateful for rowdy, beer-drinking, motorcycle-riding guys in my lifetime. If I'd known their addresses, I'd probably have sent them all thank you notes.

  Up ahead, I noticed Defiance and Havoc flank Whitney on either side while Reason and Victor did the same with Mim.

  One of the bikers took a shove in the chest and staggered backwards toward us. Reason stepped toward him and met him before he could fall into our path. When the leather-clad oldster stumbled into Reason, the gargoyle dusted him off, turned him around and gave him a shove back toward his friends. With a few fluid steps, Dare moved in to take Reason's place at Mim's side.

  I was impressed with the way the guys worked together to make sure Whitney, Mim and I were safe. It reminded me of the way they'd operated the other night, cooperating as a pack on instinct to protect me from my neighbor. And although I hated to give any credit to Reason, I also noticed that the second-oldest gargoyle was in the front line again, the first to step forward and shield the pack from danger. Not that it improved my opinion of him, or anything. As far as I was concerned, he was still a total jerkoff.

  It was probably midnight by the time we returned to the van parked several blocks away. Victor claimed the back seat with Havoc and Reason, leaving Dare no choice but to sit with Mim. I couldn't help but notice the quiet undercurrent of maneuvering going on amongst the gargoyles. There was no doubt in my mind Victor had given up his seat so that Dare could sit with Mim. But why had he done that after showing so much interest in Mim? Was Dare interested in Mim, too? If so, how did Victor know? And why would he care?

  Dare was actually talking to Mim about her costume as Valor handed me up into the car. Maybe I'm a hopeless romantic but I was encouraged by the look in Dare's eyes as he gazed down at my best friend. I curled my arms around the jar on my lap and eavesdropped as they discussed Ann Boleyn—or Nan Bullen, as Dare called the unfortunate wife of Henry the VIII.

  Just after Valor slid the door closed and Whitney started the engine, some goon in a zombie mask threw himself at the side of the van. His plastic mask slid along the window with a thin screeching sound as he beat the side of the car with his fists and howled like he was being murdered. Valor's barbs shot into place before he realized it was just a kid fooling around. The sharp tips of his talons scraped across my arm. When I looked down, I saw four thin tears on the long sleeve of my gown.

  I was surprised at the modern curse Valor used as his barbs eased back beneath his hackles.

  "What's wrong?" I asked. I rubbed my palm over the rips in the black silk.

  He yanked my hand away and turned my arm so that he could look at it. His hand was shaking as he thumbed the edges of the ripped fabric apart.

  "What's wrong?" I repeated. I figured he was worried about scratching me with his poisonous barbs but I couldn't see any marks on my skin.

  With his gaze locked on my eyes, Valor shook his head grimly and I realized he couldn't explain while Mim and Whitney were in the car.

  Valor didn't say anything more until we were back in my bedroom at the end of the night. I sat on the edge of my bed and smoothed my hands over my black silk skirt while he paced the floor. I eyed his fierce expression. "Are you okay?"

  He shook his head with a violent jerk and said in a low voice, "I almost scratched you with my barbs."

  "That idiot in the mask startled you," I protested, immediately jumping to his defense.

  The look on Valor's face was a study in anguish as he stopped pacing and dropped into the chair. He rested his elbows on his knees and held his head in his hands. "I could have killed you, Kenz."

  "No," I insisted as I got to my feet and joined him on the wide chair. I took his hand. "You didn't and you wouldn't. You just grazed me. It wasn't that close."

  "It was damn close," he rasped. "Too close."

  "You could never hurt me," I insisted quietly as I stroked my fingers across his thick knuckles.

  As if he needed an emotional release, Valor reached for my face with both hands. He lifted my chin with his fist and his fingers traveled along my jawline before threading into the hair behind my ear. He smoothed his thumb across my cheek as he tilted his head and lowered his mouth against mine. His lips rubbed against my mouth like rough silk, sending my inner circuitry haywire and leaving me utterly breathless. I wrapped my hands around his strong wrists and hung on.

  "Oh no," he suddenly breathed, and pulled his mouth away from me before the kiss got properly started.

  Everything inside my body was humming and whirring from the sweet shock of my first kiss. It was unlike anything I'd e
ver experienced before. If I had to compare it to something, I'd say it was like a tempting sample of something indescribably irresistible. Once I'd had a taste, I wanted more. "What is it?" I murmured woozily.

  He leaned away from me. "You'd better go back to your bed, MacKenzie."

  "But, what—"

  "Now, MacKenzie."

  My hands were still wrapped around his wrists. "Valor, what's wrong?"

  He stood suddenly, tearing his wrists from my grip. "Dammit," he cursed as he stepped away from the chair. As I watched, blue liquid dripped down his fingers and onto the carpeted floor.

  "What is it?" I gasped. "What's wrong?"

  His tortured gaze met mine. "Can you get me a towel or something?"

  I raced for the bathroom down the hall and returned with a dark blue towel, which he pressed against his knuckles. "Valor," I panted. "What is it?"

  "I'm sorry," he muttered, and scowled at the stains on the carpet. "I've made a mess."

  "What is it?" I shrieked in a whisper.

  "It's instinct," he answered soberly. He fell back in the chair as if he was suddenly tired. "I knew it would happen," he murmured. "I just didn't think it would happen this soon."

  "Valor, what are you talking about?"

  "It's instinct," he repeated, his expression troubled as he watched me. "I'm driven by instinct to mark you."

  "Mark me?"

  He nodded. "With my rune."

  "I don't understand," I said shakily.

  He looked at me a long moment while emotion swirled in the intense color of his eyes. "I'm attracted to you," he said softly.

  "That…doesn't sound all bad," I whispered.

  He shook his head. "It's not all bad. But it's not all good, either. If I try to mark you, my venom will kill you. I can fight it, but…"

  "But what?"

  "I'm not safe, Kenz. You're not safe with me."

  Chapter Fifteen

  While Valor watched me unhappily, I sorted through my internal database of gargoyle knowledge. There wasn't a whole lot there but it was enough for a few questions. "When Victor first got here, he said I was fair play because I wasn't wearing your rune. That suggests a gargoyle could give his rune to a human girl without killing her." When Valor said nothing, I continued. "And I assume your father must have given his rune to your mother."

  "Aye," he admitted reluctantly. "It's not impossible."

  "How does it work?"

  "It's risky," he answered as his mouth formed a stubborn line. "And I don't want to place you in danger."

  "But I'm in danger now," I argued. "I'm in danger anytime I'm out with you and the other gargoyles. If I was standing next to Victor and something startled him…"

  But Valor refused to discuss the matter. Eventually, I gave up and I went down the hall to the bathroom and changed into my pajamas.

  I had all day Thursday to wonder about the wearing-of-the-rune business. By fifth period, I decided I'd take Dare for a driving lesson after school and pump him for information. But before I headed home, I stopped at the library and picked up some children's easy-readers then swung by the store for some wide-ruled notebooks. After Dare's driving lesson, I planned to start teaching the gargoyles to read and write.

  When I pulled up to the garage a little later, Valor was waiting for me in the driveway. I half-hoped that he wanted to talk to me privately, without the rest of the gargoyles listening in. Their super hearing made a private conversation impossible. But as I stepped from the garage, Valor kept his distance, which was majorly depressing. I hoped he didn't still think he was a threat to me. 'Cause if he did, I was never gonna get a follow up kiss. And I wanted more. As in, a lot more.

  "I need to tell you something," Valor started. He buried his hands in the front pockets of his jeans like he didn't trust himself not to touch me.

  I could tell from his tone he didn't have good news. A stiff breeze cut across the driveway. It carried an icy chill that felt like winter coming and I wrapped my jacket across my chest. "What is it?" I asked.

  He eyed the treetops uneasily and motioned me back into the garage. After he followed me inside, he closed the doors.

  "What's going on?" I exclaimed quietly as I flipped on the lights.

  He turned to face me and searched my face. "While you were at school today, we heard some troubling news on the television. Evidently, a stone statue is missing from a collector's home in Denver."

  Puzzled, I looked at him.

  "The television reporter called it a gargoyle. Only it's not a gargoyle, of course. It's a harpy."

  "So a harpy statue is suddenly missing in Denver and you're worried because…"

  He let me figure it out for myself.

  "Oh," I murmured, finally catching on.

  He nodded grimly. "We're afraid it's woken up and is looking for us."

  I felt a horrible breathless ache of worry in my chest as I watched Valor's face in the dark garage.

  "The owner reported the piece as stolen," he explained. "She imported it from England over ten years ago."

  "But how could the harpy be looking for you? How would she even know you were in America?"

  "Harpies have a sharp sense of smell," he explained as he reached up with one hand to rub the back of his neck.

  "They can smell you?" I asked, shocked by the idea.

  "It's the venom," he growled. "They can smell the venom beneath our hackles."

  I hated the tension I could see in his body language. "How good is their sense of smell?" I asked. "Because Denver is thirty miles away."

  He shook his head. "Thirty miles is too far. But we went shopping in Denver a few days ago."

  "Denver's a pretty big place," I pointed out, not wanting to think there was a harpy on the loose.

  He pinned me with his serious gaze. "The collector's home was in a place called Cherry Creek."

  My heart bottomed out. We'd been shopping at the Cherry Creek Mall on Monday. "How close would a harpy have to be to pick up your scent?"

  He rolled his shoulders and his black hair fell over his eyes. "Within five or ten miles, maybe."

  "That would do it," I muttered, worried. "But there's only one harpy, right?"

  "As far as we know," he confirmed, sweeping his hair behind his ear.

  "And she might have been stolen," I insisted hopefully.

  He nodded but didn't seem too optimistic on that score. "The police are claiming it was an inside job. They suspect the owner is trying to collect on the insurance."

  "Why do they think it's an inside job?" I asked, afraid of more bad news.

  "There were no signs of forced entry other than a large plate glass window that was broken. But apparently, the window was broken from the inside."

  "That doesn't sound good," I commented as a chill traveled my spine. If the window was broken from the inside, that might mean that the harpy was breaking out instead of someone breaking in. "Well, the good news is the harpy doesn't appear to be here. If she was, she'd attack, right?"

  "Not necessarily," Valor answered. "She might watch us first to see who she could use against us."

  Maybe that explained why he'd stood like a mile away from me while we were outside.

  His next words carried a low note of dread. "If she knows what you mean to me, she'll try to use you against me."

  I didn't understand why he seemed so worried. So far, he hadn't confessed to anything more than being attracted to me. If he felt anything stronger than that, he'd hidden it from me. "How will she know what I mean to you?"

  "She wouldn't if I were strong," he answered as he reached out to tuck a wayward curl of hair behind my ear. "But I'm not strong. And one day she'll see us together, doing this." He leaned down and drew me into a long, searching kiss. His lips moved restlessly over mine, his hand gripping my nape and angling my head as he opened my mouth with his lips and deepened the kiss with a startling urgency.

  I responded with an unsettling urgency of my own that was similar to hunger. My fingers
knotted in his cotton T-shirt and I pushed my body against his hard frame, trying to get closer to him.

  As Valor's damp lips slid across my mouth, I felt something warm trickle down my neck. He quickly broke away from me with another modern curse. "I'm sorry," he muttered as he looked down at the blue venom dripping from his barbs. "I'm…sorry, Kenz."

  "Don't be sorry," I whispered breathlessly, wanting to console him. Wanting to reach up and cup his jaw in my hand. "I'm not."

  He wiped his hands on his jeans then carefully curled his fingers around my neck. His thumb rubbed over the hollow at the base of my throat as he pressed his forehead against mine. I could feel the uncertainty and confusion that tightened through his limbs, his desire to kiss me warring with his determination to protect me, not only from the harpy threat, but from himself.

  "C'mon," I said, and gave him a watery smile. "Help me get my stuff from the car."

  As I opened the car door, his voice was still rough with emotion. "What's all this?" he asked.

  "I'm going to teach you guys to read and write," I announced as enthusiastically as I could manage.

  "That…sounds good," he murmured, although his gaze was still stuck on my mouth.

  "What about driving lessons?" I asked cheerfully, trying to distract him, which I thought was pretty nice of me since I'd have preferred him to start kissing me again. "Do you think I should teach the rest of the pack to drive?"

  "Maybe you could hold off on that for now," he said. His expression was solemn as I handed him two plastic bags.

  I lifted my head to look at him. "Why?"

  "It's just that…all of us can fly except for Dare. I think it would be good for him if he was the only one who could…" His voice trailed away but I could see where he was going with the idea. He wanted his brother to have an edge on the rest of the pack. Something that would set him apart from the others and strengthen his confidence.

  Impulsively, I threw my arms around Valor's neck and gave him an emotional hug.

  Sadly, he didn't hug me back. He stood with his hands fisted at his sides while blue venom streamed from his hackles, down over the white plastic bags onto the concrete floor.