When Friday night rolled around at the end of the week, I had masses of homework and I curled up on the couch to read some chapters in my Art History textbook. But I couldn't focus. Reason wasn't working and seemed restless, pacing the room absently. Finally I closed my book. We were both going stir-crazy, stuck in that tiny, dark apartment together without a break.
"Do you miss your family?" I asked.
Apparently startled, he looked at me. "I'm fine," he said brusquely but not too convincingly.
"C'mon," I prodded him. "Let's head up to Pine Grove."
He gave me his second-in-command look. "I won't risk leading a harpy to Pine Grove and my family."
"Why not?" I challenged him. He was always thinking of everyone else. "There are five gargoyles in Pine Grove and only one of you here. I'm thinking five gargoyles are better equipped to handle a harpy than one."
He just shook his head like the stoic martyr he was.
"Why can't we sneak away tonight, when it's dark?" I pressed him.
"She could follow my scent," he rumbled. "And track us all the way there."
Oh, honestly. Is that what he was thinking? I almost started laughing. "How's she going to do that without a nose?" I demanded.
His head turned slowly in my direction and his sharp gaze connected with mine. I could tell that he'd forgotten all about the harpy's missing nose but he didn't want to admit it. I started snickering and he had to work really hard to look serious and second-in-commandish.
I stood up and gathered my stuff into my messenger bag. "Let's go," I said.
Now he started acting all reluctant. "You don't have to do this," he muttered. "I know you have a lot of homework."
"I can work in Pine Grove," I told him. "I can't get anything done in this apartment. It's too dark."
Finally, he gave in. "Let's wait until later," he said.
So, we packed a few things and sat around until nine or ten, then turned off the lights and sat around some more, in the dark this time, so the harpy would think we'd turned in for the night if she was watching. Then we sneaked out to the car and slipped away.
It felt great to escape, cruising down the highway, free from the monsters haunting us in Boulder. I cranked the music up as loud as it would go and shouted out the words to the songs while Reason looked at me like I was nuts. I don't know. Maybe he didn't like rock. I figured it was his loss.
When we reached Pine Grove, Reason directed me past MacKenzie's place to the next driveway, which was almost as steep. "We rent the house next to MacKenzie," he explained.
"That's convenient," I murmured as I parked in front of the garage. The wide bay doors were open and the lights were on. Havoc was inside the empty garage and met us with a skateboard dangling from one hand.
Reason glanced down at the brightly colored board. "What happened to clogging?
"This is almost as good," Havoc answered. "And once I get the hang of it, it might even be better."
"Clogging?" I questioned, not familiar with the word.
Havoc pulled me into a one-armed hug. "Medieval dancing," he explained. "I'll have to give you a show sometime."
"Not until we get her a helmet," Reason muttered.
The rest of the pack spilled out of the house to meet us in the driveway. Victor was the first to grasp Reason's arm and pull him into a fierce hug. I hung back so they could get their greetings out of the way but as soon as Victor was done with Reason, he swept me into his arms and passed me along to the others. They were probably just being nice, but they seemed genuinely happy to see me. Havoc made some popcorn in the microwave and the guys got caught up in the kitchen while Dare gave me a quick tour of the house.
The place was pretty sparsely furnished. The guys crowded around a small table in the kitchen, sitting on six mismatched chairs that looked like thrift-store bargains. But good thrift-store bargains. Each chair was epic vintage. I wondered who'd picked them out and guessed Havoc.
Moving on to the living room, there were two clean but outdated couches upholstered in homey blue plaid, a banged-up coffee table positioned between the couches, and no television in sight. The table in the dining room didn't have any chairs but it didn't look like it was used for meals; it was covered with a bunch of tools and several long pieces of wood.
"What's going on here?" I asked, even though Reason had told me about their bow-making operation.
"We make hunting bows and sell them online," Dare explained.
"How's business?" I asked.
He shrugged. "We sell one or two a month but we're getting more inquiries all the time."
I didn't know how much hunting bows went for, but one or two sales a month didn't sound like enough to pay the rent.
As if he read my mind, Dare offered, "We have some old coins we brought with us from jolly old medieval England, and we sell one or two when we need the money." He looked around at the stuff spread out on the table. "But ideally, this work will support us one day."
I nodded without speaking, determined to make sure that Reason and I shared our expenses while he was staying with me in Boulder.
Upstairs, there were three bedrooms. Valor and Havoc slept in one, Dare shared a room with Defiance, and Reason bunked with Victor. They had enough beds to get the job done but chests of drawers were scarce, and most of their clothing hung in the closets. There didn't appear to be a spare guest room, but the guys made me comfortable with a quilt and a pillow on one of the couches down in the living room.
Reason gave me a gruff, "good night", and I settled down on my own. After being cooped up in a small room with him for a week, I thought I'd be as happy to get away from him as he was to get away from me. But it felt…lonely and I couldn't sleep so I got one of my reading assignments out of the way. I fell asleep with my heavy Art History text open on my chest.
The morning sunlight slanting through the living room windows woke me. I cracked my eyes open, surprised to find my textbook sitting on the coffee table and Reason stretched out on the other couch, across from me. Like me, he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. His eyes were open and he was watching me.
"Did you miss me?" I teased him in a whisper, wondering what he was doing there.
He rolled his eyes like he thought that was the most ridiculous idea on earth. "Victor snores."
"And you only just discovered that?"
"It never bothered me before, but since moving to Boulder I think I've gotten used to…"
"The quiet?" I suggested, thinking that my apartment in the middle of Boulder was anything but.
"Maybe," he answered in a sleepy growl. "Or maybe I've just gotten used to…"
"Me?" I said, half joking and half hoping.
He snorted. "I think I've just gotten used to sleeping on a couch."
Huh. So much for hoping. From what I could tell, it would have killed him to say something nice to me.
Pans were rattling in the kitchen so I headed in that direction, and when I got there Havoc put a cup of tea in my hands. I took a seat at the table while he fixed the most amazing breakfast of eggs and sausages and bacon and home fries and stacks of toast. He even heated up a can of beans. He said it was a typical, modern English breakfast.
"Where'd you learn to cook?" I asked Havoc a little later as I spread strawberry jam on my third piece of toast.
"I've been picking it up as I go along," he said modestly, leaving the table to fill his cup from a dark blue teapot with a chipped spout. "But I used to do all the cooking back in the day."
"You mean back in the thirteenth century?"
"That's right," he answered, his pale green eyes glinting as he slid back into the chair beside me. "I was a proper medieval marvel in the kitchen."
"Did they even have kitchens back then?"
"Sort of," he said. "We had spits, of course, and pothooks or tripods to hang pots over the fire. And sometimes there was a small box built into the side of the fireplace that got hot enough for baking."
"What were your specialtie
s?" I asked, and took a sip from my cup of tea.
"Badger Bourguignon," he answered lightly. "Hedgehog pie."
"Hedgehog pie?" I laughed out loud and almost spewed my tea over the table.
"Very convenient meal," he said with a grin. "You never have to look far for a toothpick."
"You're making this up," I told him between snorts of laughter.
"He's making it up," Reason confirmed as he stood and took his plate to the sink.
"But eight hundred years ago he was known for his roast venison," Valor chipped in. His long fingers were wrapped around his mug and his gaze rested proudly on his brother.
Havoc cast a longing look out the window. "I could really go for some venison, but MacKenzie won't let us hunt around here. She thinks of the local deer as her personal pets. I think she's even got names for all of them."
I nodded solemnly. "Girls can be like that. Very sentimental."
"You're not like that?" Havoc asked, tilting his head and lifting a bronze eyebrow.
"Not much," I admitted.
He leaned toward me and lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Wanna help me bag a deer?"
I hid a grin and gave him a thumbs-up. "I'm down for it," I said. "Just tell me what to do."
He rested his arm on the back on his chair and looked over his shoulder at Reason. "I like this one," he announced. "I think we should keep her."
"When did you ever meet a girl you didn't like?" Defiance challenged him sourly from the other side of the little table.
"I never liked your girlfriend back home," he answered mildly.
"She wasn't my girlfriend," Defiance answered in a low snarl, obviously pissed that Havoc had brought up the subject.
Havoc ignored his cousin's bad mood, his eyes sparkling with mischief as they locked with mine. "Well, if you guys don't want Elaina then I'll consider the road clear."
Reason swiftly crossed the kitchen and jerked Havoc's plate from the table. "Knock yourself out," he grunted.
My mouth turned downwards and I pressed my lips together. I didn't know why he had to go and ruin our fun. It wasn't just what he'd said. It was the way he said it; his tone was so…distasteful, like a June bug had just died in his mouth.
Havoc leaned closer. "He's just jealous because we're getting along so well."
I sent him a small, grateful smile and picked up my toast.
By the time I finished breakfast, I was alone at the table. Reason was halfway through the dishes and everyone else had moved on. But it wasn't unusual for me to still be eating after everyone else had given up. Even though I'm stick-thin, I can pack away as much food as a guy twice my size. High metabolism, I guess.
I got up to help Reason with the dishes but Valor told us to leave them. Actually, he implored us to leave them. It seemed like he thought any minute spent without MacKenzie was sixty seconds wasted.
Reason was more than happy to leave the last few pans in the sink. "Fine with me," he stated and dried his hands on the kitchen towel. "I want to call a pack meeting as soon as we get there."
"Pack meeting?" Dare groaned from the living room. "Mac's supposed to take me down to Mim's place."
"Don't worry, I'll keep it short," Reason promised gruffly. "I won't keep Mim waiting long."
I arched an eyebrow and questioned him with a look while I was getting into my coat.
"Mim's his girlfriend," he explained under his breath. "She's not allowed to see Dare, except at her house. He's on probation."
"Protective dad?" I asked.
He shook his head as we headed out the door. "Tough mom. But he should be in the clear here in a few weeks."
We followed the rest of his family, Valor leading the way along a trail of packed snow that led from the back door of his house to MacKenzie's place. The property surrounding the guys' rental was pretty barren. Someone had recently cleared the lot. And you could see where MacKenzie's property started because it was marked by a straight line of tall pine trees.
MacKenzie's mother had gone shopping in Denver so we had the place to ourselves. I brought up the rear as the guys stepped inside the house and hung their coats on the wall in the entry. There was a shortage of pegs so I hung mine on top of Reason's then peeked around him to look for Hooligan, hoping he wouldn't notice me.
Fortunately, Hooligan isn't much of a romper. He probably realizes he's too big for that kind of behavior. Anyhow, he stood beside MacKenzie, acting like the lord of the manor and waited for each of the guys to give him a pat on the head. I let out a thin sigh of relief and tiptoed past him, following the pack into the dining room.
Evidently, that wasn't good enough for the big wolfhound. He trailed me to my seat beside Reason and thrust his huge, hairy head under my hand. "Okay," I muttered and gave him a quick scratch behind his ear. Eventually satisfied, he ambled away and sank down to the floor beside Havoc's chair.
The pack meeting was interesting. The first thing Reason did was pull out his knife and place it in the center of the dining room table. After settling into their chairs, the rest of the pack tossed their blades alongside his. When everyone's sheath was empty, Victor started the meeting and asked his brother what was on his mind.
Reason wasted no time getting to the point. "Elaina has been checking the Internet for the last week; there've been no reports of missing or stolen statues. Did you guys see anything on the news?"
"There was nothing on any of the local channels," MacKenzie confirmed.
Reason looked satisfied as he clasped his hands on the table. "So, there's good reason to believe that the harpy that attacked us at Elaina's apartment is one of the monsters that followed the shipping van from St. Louis. That means our missing kin might be in the Boulder area."
"Agreed," Victor murmured.
Reason shot his gaze around the table and took a deep breath. "I propose that I let myself get captured so we can track the harpy to her aerie and see if we can find the rest of our family."
What happened next was an involuntary reaction. "What?" I sputtered, while everyone pretty much ignored me. "What?" I said louder. "What the hell are you thinking?"
Reason sighed and leaned back, hanging his arm over the back of his chair in a very slouchy but sexy pose. "I'm thinking that I can take Valor's phone with a tracking app on it. After I'm captured, it'll transmit my location to MacKenzie's phone. That will work, won't it?"
"Yes," MacKenzie answered evenly. "We'd have to get together and set the phones up but it's possible for me to track another phone's location with mine."
"Then, after the harpy has taken me to her lair, the rest of the pack can fly in and help," he said like it was the simplest thing in the world.
Victor's forehead creased in a troubled frown. He appeared to have some reservations about the plan.
Dare had even more. "It's not a bad idea," he allowed. "But I don't think you're the right gargoyle for the mission."
It was Reason's turn to sputter. "What do you mean? I'm second-in-command. Of course I should be the bait for this assignment."
Dare opened his hands on the table. "It would be better if I went in your place."
"How do you figure that?" Reason cut back at him.
"Because I'll be marking Mim in a few weeks," Dare explained calmly. "That means I won't be able to give my rune to a harpy."
Reason looked deeply insulted. He leaned forward over the table and hissed, "I would never do that."
Dare stared him down. "You might be forced to do that."
Reason threw himself backward again. He slumped in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest while he eyed Dare fiercely. "No way. This is my plan and I want to see it through."
"Dare's right," Victor said seriously. "Either Dare or Valor would be the safer choice for this mission."
"Agreed," murmured both Defiance and Havoc.
Reason could tell he was outnumbered. But that didn't mean he was ready to give in. He set his jaw and said, "Let's talk about it again in two weeks. By that time, El
aina will be wearing my rune."
Chapter Eleven
With the exception of Dare, everyone looked shocked. Personally, I was completely lost. I didn't know what Dare had meant when he said that he'd be marking Mim in a few weeks or why it was important. I didn't know how I was supposed to wear Reason's rune. "Say what?"
Reason glared at me from beneath the jut of his dark eyebrows. "I'm asking you to wear my rune," he gritted.
"And how does that work?"
He lifted a hand and pushed back his hair so I could see the mark on his neck. "You wear my rune on your arm."
"Why would I do that?" I exclaimed.
When Reason didn't answer, MacKenzie spoke up. "To protect him," she said. "Once he's given his rune away, a harpy can't make him give it to her. She might be able to make him share some of his venom with her but she lives with the danger of him killing her as soon as he gets a chance. But if he's forced to give the harpy his rune, he won't be able to harm her. He'll actually defend her to the death, even though he hates her. Believe it or not, his pack would have to fight him first, and kill the harpy, before they could rescue him."
Wow. That was a lot of information to absorb. "He'd defend the harpy?" I asked, just to be sure I'd gotten that part right.
"It's instinct," MacKenzie muttered.
"And Dare's going to give his rune to Mim?"
"Aye," Dare answered, his eyes taking on a warm glow. "The rune is meant to be given to the lass you love."
"And I assume you're wearing Valor's rune?" I asked MacKenzie.
"That's right," she answered evenly.
Hmmm. Well, that certainly put a new light on things. I looked from MacKenzie to Reason. I knew Reason was in love with Mac. So, if he was offering me his rune, it was for one of two reasons. Either he wanted to track down his family really, really badly, or he wanted to take this step so he could start forgetting MacKenzie. Either way, I felt like a bit of a pawn.
The Greystone Bundle (Books 1-4) Page 47
