The Greystone Bundle (Books 1-4)

by Taylor Longford

  "Go on," Havoc said encouragingly.

  "At first I thought it was an eagle then I realized it was too big for an eagle. Way too big."

  "Did you get a look at it?" Defiance demanded.

  She bobbed her frizzy head of hair. "It had wings like an eagle. They were massive. But it had arms too, and legs."

  I shared a meaningful look with the others, thinking the waitress had stumbled upon one of our missing gargoyles.

  "The creature didn't appear to be wearing any clothes," she added. "And oh my god, you talk about ugly."

  We all stood at once. "Time to leave," Valor muttered.

  The rest of us didn't waste our breath agreeing with him. We all knew we had to get out of town. We had to get away from Limon before the waitress's harpy picked up our scent.

  Chapter Nine

  We turned to leave, but the five big cowboys at the front of the restaurant were blocking our escape route. Most of us are about six feet tall, but these guys made us look puny. They were massive. They looked like they wrestled bulls every morning before breakfast then ate them for lunch. And despite being obviously well-fed, they did not look either happy or friendly.

  I slid a look in Havoc's direction to check his reaction but my brother was grinning at the steer wrestlers like they were some kind of celebrities. Havoc isn't slow or anything like that. He just always thinks the best of everyone.

  "Where you girls going in such a hurry?" the lead cowboy drawled as a toothpick rocked in the corner of his mouth.

  There was only one girl in our group so I suppose his words were intended to be an insult. But since I rather like girls, I really don't understand how it's meant to work. In the gargoyle culture, females are considered equal to men. In fact, since there are no female gargoyles, they're especially valued…as long as they aren't harpies. You can't insult a gargoyle by suggesting he's a girl.

  I took a closer look at the cowboys blocking our way. They appeared to be a little older than us, maybe Victor's age. Probably out of high school and possibly not bright enough to get into a college.

  "We were just leaving," Havoc informed him amiably.

  The guy shifted the toothpick to the other side of his mouth and gave Havoc a once over. His eyes finally settled on my brother's big wooden clogs. "What are those things on your feet?" he sneered.

  Havoc glanced downward. "Shoes," he answered, his smile fading the slightest bit.

  "Yeah?" The hefty cowboy leaned on the counter beside him. "They don't look like any shoes I've ever seen."

  "They're clogs," Havoc explained without animosity. "They're for dancing."

  "Dancing shoes," Hefty snorted loudly. "Well, I reckon you oughta give us a dance before you go."

  "We really don't have time," Valor argued in a low growl with his arm locked protectively around MacKenzie's shoulders.

  "I think you better make time," Hefty insisted. He squared his shoulders and bared his teeth, the toothpick jutting aggressively from his mouth.

  Refusing to be intimidated, Defiance tried to shoulder his way through the five steer wrestlers, but two of them locked their fists in his leather jacket and shoved him backwards. Three chairs scattered behind him as he stumbled back a few feet. As soon as he recovered his balance, he surged forward again, this time with a snarl on his lips. But Havoc put out his arm, stopping his cousin.

  "Actually, I'd love to show you some clogging," Havoc offered swiftly. "If you'll just step back and give me some room."

  The cowboys shuffled back a few steps and Havoc went into his routine, his heavy wooden shoes banging against the floor. The female population in the diner watched with avid interest, as if they'd never seen a guy dance before. Like I mentioned earlier, it was pretty common for men to dance back in our time. It was a way to pass the long winter months and keep in shape. But I don't think the cowboys liked the admiration they saw on the girls' faces.

  "Okay, that's enough," growled Hefty.

  "But I'm not done," Havoc protested cheerfully. "You gotta see this last bit where I catch my shoe. It's epic."

  We all knew what was coming next. Havoc hates to be against anything but he won't stand by and watch someone shove his cousin around. And once his hackles are up, you'd better get out of the way.

  "No matter what happens, stay behind me," Valor murmured to MacKenzie as he tucked her behind his back.

  A clack and a jump later, Havoc kicked his left foot then his right. He caught the first clog and let the other one sail. With a meaty thunk, it nailed Hefty in the middle of his forehead.

  A huge fight is what happened next. That was okay with me. I was in the mood for a short battle. The steer wresters were big but they weren't all that fast. And despite their size, they weren't as strong as I'd expected. On the other hand, we had several years of bridge building under our belts so it wasn't much of a contest in the end. I think we surprised them, though. At least they looked surprised five minutes later as they stared up at us from the linoleum the floor, trapped beneath the chairs we'd jammed under the restaurant's counter.

  Havoc was grinning as we loped out to the parking lot behind MacKenzie and Valor—who we'd given a head start. "I haven't had that much fun since we raided the friars' mead cellar with Panic and Malarkey," he chuckled as he yanked the car door open and threw himself into the passenger seat.

  "You didn't think it was much fun the next morning," Defiance reminded him as he slid into the back seat beside Mac and settled his sunglasses over his eyes.

  Valor wasn't in a joking mood. He looked back over his shoulder through the rear window. "Let's get out of here," he warned as soon as I was back behind the wheel.

  We drove straight home, pushing the speed limit as much as we dared and watching the skies the whole way. We didn't see anything following us so we hoped the waitress's harpy had left the area before we'd shown up in Limon.

  I was disappointed that Mim and Victor weren't at the house when we got back. I'd hoped they'd be sitting around and waiting for news about the missing members of our pack. They weren't far behind us, though. I'd just filled a glass with water when I heard Mim's old car motoring up the driveway. Swiftly, I climbed the stairs to my bedroom. I wasn't ready to face her, or Victor.

  'Course I could follow the conversation downstairs from my bedroom. As soon as Victor walked in, the pack brought him up to date on the trip to Limon. I strained my ears for the sound of Mim's voice but couldn't pick it up. I hadn't heard her car go down the driveway so I assumed she was in the house somewhere; she was supposed to be part of the New Year's Eve Parcheesi Tournament. But Mim isn't like MacKenzie who always has something to say. She's a quiet girl. I think that's one of the reasons I'm attracted to her. It feels peaceful when she's around.

  "If there was a harpy in Limon, it might mean that Chaos and the others were there," Victor pointed out. "But nobody in town reported seeing them?"

  "Not before we decided we'd better leave in a hurry," Valor answered.

  MacKenzie cleared her throat. "What would Chaos and the others have done after the accident? Do you have any idea which direction they'd have headed?"

  Defiance answered. "If they'd had a choice, they'd have followed the same guidelines they'd follow if they were lost. They'd have stayed put for a while, hoping we could locate them."

  "But they might not have been able to stay put," Valor pointed out. "If a harpy was on their tails, they'd have to make a run for it."

  "Which way would they go if they had to run?" MacKenzie asked.

  "There's no saying which direction they'd have taken during the day," Victor told her. "But at night they'd have headed toward the lights of a nearby town, toward people, where they'd be able to find food and water."

  "As soon as they had a chance, they'd probably try to leave some sort of sign." Havoc pointed out. "That's what I'd do if it was me."

  "Did you see anything at the crash site?" Victor asked sharply.

  "Nothing," Valor replied.

  "They'd leav
e a sign as close to the site as they could," Defiance mused. "Even if that turned out to be a mile away."

  "A mile away?" MacKenzie exclaimed. "What good would that do? How would they expect you to find a sign that far away?

  "Because it would be something big," Victor answered thoughtfully. "And you could see it easily from the air."

  A substantial silence followed. I knew what they were thinking. They wanted to go back and search the crash site from the air but it might not be safe to return to the plains if a harpy was still lurking around. While it wasn't impossible for a single gargoyle to take down a harpy, it would require two to do the job safely. Preferably three. And they'd have to stick together during the search.

  MacKenzie would have to go with us; she was the only one who had any ID. If we got pulled over or ran into any problems at all, we'd need her help to sort things out. So, with three gargoyles involved in the search, that would leave two gargoyles on the ground to protect MacKenzie…one of which couldn't fly.

  "I wish Reason was back on his feet," Victor finally murmured. "I'd feel a lot better about taking on a search with him at our side."

  "We might have to wait until he is," Defiance stated.

  "Maybe we'll get a chance to wake him after the first aid class on Wednesday," Victor said. "Are you sure nothing followed you back from Limon?"

  "Fairly sure," Valor hedged. "We watched the sky the whole way home and Dare was driving pretty fast."

  "We should probably try to make sure you weren't followed," Victor voiced next.

  "What are you thinking?" asked Defiance.

  "I'm not sure right now," Victor murmured. "Maybe a flight around Pine Grove."

  At last, I heard Mim's voice. "Where's Dare?" she asked, surprising me with her question as well as the concern in her voice.

  "He's up in our room," Havoc assured her. "We'll get him down here in a minute. I know you two want to talk to him."

  Okay, I probably stopped breathing. You two? You two? What was that about? Exactly who did Havoc mean by you two? There was Mim and Victor, of course, but I didn't consider them a twosome.

  A few minutes later, I heard MacKenzie on the phone, ordering pizza. After she hung up, Havoc called up the stairs to tell me the food was on its way. For at least a full five seconds I considered telling them I was wasn't hungry which wasn't far from the truth. My stomach was an ugly knot of tension over that you two comment. But in the end, I couldn't resist the pull of Mim's presence. I had to see her. "I'll be down in a minute," I growled as I checked my reflection in the mirror and made sure my white ends hadn't grown back.

  Mim looked tired but radiant. Just frickin' radiant. She and Victor jumped up as I came down the stairs. All smiles, they moved toward the dark leather chair and stood close together. "We have some news for you," Mim ventured shyly as she tugged on the hem of her soft, gray turtleneck. "I hope you won't be upset with us."

  I about had a heart attack. I was just sure they were going to announce they were an item. I started talking, anything to stop Mim from telling me she and Victor were together. "I'm sorry I barked at you this morning."

  She opened her mouth to reply but I cut her off.

  "I don't blame you for liking Victor," I rasped. "I understand. All the girls always like Victor but…"

  Mim's eyes widened in shock as she looked from Victor back to me. "You thought that Victor and I? Oh no. No—"

  "But I was hoping you'd give me a chance before you two got serious."

  "Would you shut up," Victor cut in. "And let the lass talk?"

  I glared at my cousin but pressed my lips together and crossed my arms over my chest.

  "Now just keep quiet and watch." Victor commanded. Turning, he and Mim each grabbed a piece of dark material from a pile on the chair behind them. Victor took a few steps to the side while Mim headed off in the other direction. I tilted my head and tried to figure out what they were trying to show me. All I could see was a long stretch of black fabric or maybe paper. It was hard to tell exactly what it was. "What is it supposed to be?" I asked.

  Victor rolled his eyes like he considered me a lost cause beyond help. "Do you really not know?" he snorted, bunching a handful of the stuff in his fist and waving it at me. "Mim needed my help so she could create a pattern. She had to make a tracing from an original set so she used mine."

  That didn't explain anything. Not a thing. I stared at my cousin and shook my head to let him know I was still in the dark.

  The fabric rustled as Victor shook his fist again. "They're wings, Dare."

  Chapter Ten

  Wings? How could they be wings?

  Mim started to explain but I was having a hard time focusing on her words. My gaze kept lurching from the soft shape of her lips to the large mass of fabric piled on the chair. How could they be wings?

  "We looked at leather first," Mim said. "But we couldn't find any pieces large enough. And we were afraid it would be too heavy anyhow. Gargoyle wings look like leather but they're actually much lighter. So after we gave up on that, we looked at nylon tenting material, like the stuff they use for parachutes. But we didn't think it would be strong enough or warm enough." She looked at Victor for confirmation.

  "Go on," he encouraged her.

  "Right when we were running out of ideas, my uncle called to talk to my mom. She wasn't home but while he was on the phone I told him I was looking for a lightweight, windproof material that was stronger than nylon. He's a builder and he suggested Tyvek."

  "Tyvek?" I questioned. The word meant nothing to me.

  Mim's dark head bobbed as she nodded enthusiastically. "It's pretty common. It's used to make non-tear envelopes. But it's also used by builders to wrap houses before they install the siding. It's meant to keep out the wind. Needless to say, it comes in huge pieces, it's cheap, lightweight, is available in black and…"

  "And what?" I ventured tentatively.

  Victor finished for her. "It's almost impossible to tear or rip."

  "So?" I asked, and shot him a skeptical look.

  Victor answered. "It means that no harpy will be tearing your wings off. Ever. Again."

  When I searched Mim's eyes, she just smiled. "So we picked some up at the local building supply outlet. I got all of this for fifteen dollars and started sewing." She shook the material out and stepped toward me. "We'll have to feed your spines into these sheaths. And I might have to do a little finish stitching…"

  "They won't work," I muttered and took a step backwards. It probably looked like I was being stubborn and ungrateful but I didn't want to get my hopes up. I didn't even want to start hoping for things like wings.

  "They'll work," Victor gritted through his teeth as he took a menacing step toward me. "Mim's been working day and night on them for the last forty-eight hours. And you're going to try them on, even if we have to hold you down."

  I looked around at the rest of the pack. A quick survey of their expressions told me they were ready to back him up. I returned my gaze to Mim and took in the dark smudges beneath her eyes. After all the work she'd put into creating wings for me, I owed her this. Still, I growled my dissatisfaction as I dragged my hoodie over my head and removed my T-shirt.

  Slowly, I unwound the spines from around my chest.

  Mim pulled a small pair of scissors from the side pocket on her backpack and moved cautiously toward me, like she was dealing with a wounded animal that might strike out at any moment. "Will it hurt if I trim your spines a bit?"

  I glanced down at what remained of my wings. Eight hundred years ago, I'd trimmed the spines with my knife, but my work was rough and the edges were uneven. "Nay," I muttered. "I won't feel anything."

  Carefully, Mim snipped away with her scissors until the edges were smooth. Then she fed the leather-clad bone and muscle into the long sheaths that were sewn into the wings. "Now, if you'll just stretch your spines out," she suggested softly. "I'll see where I need to add a few stitches."

  Gingerly, I stretched my spines. C
onfined by the limits of the Tyvek, they moved into the shape of wings for the first time in over eight hundred years. The familiar, welcome sensation almost brought me to my knees. I felt…whole again.

  "You won't be able to take off your new wings at night," she pointed out as she worked with her needle near my shoulder. "At least, not very easily."

  "That's okay," Victor assured her and smoothed his palm over his chest. "We can't remove these, either."

  "The fabric breathes," she added. "So it won't trap moisture against your body. But I'm not sure how well it will fold down into a vest." She glanced up at me, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

  "I don't see any reason why they wouldn't work fine," Valor soothed.

  I didn't say anything. I just watched Mim's head bent near mine. For once, I was glad for the pack's support. I was thankful my family was doing all of the talking for me because a huge lump had settled in my throat and I couldn't manage a single word.

  "Try folding them over your chest," Victor murmured after Mim had made the last stitch and tied a knot in the thread.

  I did as he suggested and was surprised to find my new wings handled almost as smoothly as the originals. I had to tuck in a few loose flaps here and there but I thought I'd eventually get the hang of closing them properly. I opened them again and folded them again then opened them quickly so that the Tyvek snapped tight between the spines, ready for flight.

  "They look good," Valor said. I could tell from his voice that he was excited for me. "How do they feel?"

  "They feel awesome," I managed to reply from a tight throat.

  "Are you ready to try them out?" Havoc asked.

  I looked at the sky through the living room window. "Maybe we should let it get a little darker," I answered.

  I couldn't wait to try out the wings but I didn't want to shoot off into the air without thanking Mim. I had so much I wanted to say to her. But the things I wanted to tell her were personal and I didn't want to share them with the entire pack. Thankfully, a vehicle came up the driveway while I was trying to figure out how to get Mim alone.