by Amity Green
“I would offer to accompany you for the ride,” he looked at me, just long enough to make me break out in a new dousing of sweat. “Although, I feel you owe me this, so I’ll attend business here and await your prompt return. Don’t forget what I said about the fate of your friend, should you decide to deviate from our agreement.” He stared at me, so cold I could have got brain freeze. At that moment I understood him with sheer clarity. I wouldn’t mess him around and he knew it.
“Off with you now, and get some rest. Big day tomorrow.” Kai looked meaningfully at Hamish.
I frowned. Big day, indeed. I turned to go, stepping toward the door. Hamish followed me out.
“I know the way to my room. You can go away now,” I told him. He followed too closely for my comfort.
“Kai wants to be sure you stay put in your room until morning.” His voice was monotone, all business, each word a grunted snarl.
“Well you don’t need to follow me to be sure of that. We have an agreement, and I won’t do anything to mess it up.”
“Just the same, I’ll walk you back.”
“Here’s the deal,” I stopped and glared up, way up, at him. “Go away. I don’t need any more cheap shots.” My voice shook, making it hard to sound demanding, rather than pleading.
He smiled, knowingly. “No’ a chance.” The gargoyle stepped forward, peering nearly straight down on me. “You need to be taught your place, lass. And I be the perfect one to show ye, so don’t push me.” His green eyes gleamed with venom, forked tongue sliding across his teeth as he spoke.
I stood my ground. Where did he get off telling me “my place”? He didn’t know me like that, and I was certain “my place” was nowhere near the big bastard. He could end me, true enough. But that didn’t mean I had to agree and turn mousy in the meantime. Kai wanted me alive, with working body parts, and Hamish needed to remember that.
“I’m apparently not like other girls you know. I won’t take orders from you, or anyone unless it suits me for a very good reason. You can go die in a hole. Leave me alone.” I blustered, giving my best shot at showing him I wasn’t afraid when inside I was cringing. Goawaygoawaypleeeeeeasejustgoaway ….
Hamish was silent for a second, then threw his head back and laughed like a rabid hyena. “Turn and walk or I’ll be sure you get to your room the hard way. Seeing how the only thing that’s kept you alive this long is Kai’s amusement with you, I’d take each breath as a gift from the gods.” He rapped my sternum hard with a talon, pushing me off balance. “Now. March, before I change my mind and have to come up with a good excuse for killing you where you stand. Believe me, every drop of your spilled blood would be worth it.”
That was convincing enough to get me moving toward my room upstairs. I may try to talk tough, but there was a time when I needed to play it safe for the sake of self-preservation. Mousy me.
Sometime before I reached for the bedroom door, I changed back to a gargoyle. I was in such shock that I hadn’t even felt the transformation. Becoming Garged Out was really beginning to feel second nature, in the truest sense of the statement.
Hamish drifted toward the couch as I walked through the library. I was intent on slamming my bedroom door right in his face if he tried to follow me in.
When I stepped inside, I scanned the room. My heart sank to my feet.
Kai had already taken Brea.
Chapter 24
Not being able to tell my friend what was about to happen pushed me too far. I was determined to take control. Little ol’ me was going to do something drastic. My body heated up the second Brea’s absence greeted me. I wanted answers, and was going to make allies.
Fear tactics and duress were the ways of operation at The Grotto. Physical torture, abuse, and coercion were Kai’s tools for keeping order. I got the point. That didn’t mean it wasn’t working. Hamish completely freaked me out.
I tried not to think about it hours later when I tested the situation to see if he was still out on the couch in the library. The door opened painfully slowly, but that was the only way I could get the handle and hinges to be silent. The back of the couch was to my room and I didn’t see Hamish on it, but wasn’t about to rule out his presence. He could have been lying down, even though he seemed much bigger than the furniture. Besides, he wouldn’t maul me too badly, because then I wouldn’t be in any shape to retrieve Kai’s book. I crept out of the library on my claws and knees, moving so slowly, I wanted to pee the whole time. An hour passed easily in the time it took to get into the hallway, and by then, I was done hiding. I leapt over the bannister, stretching my wings wide to soar in a tight circle. My crouched landing was perfectly placed on a sofa, then I slipping outside into the cool, moonlit air.
A Tyren had spoken to me once. Maybe I would be lucky twice, not that they were all-knowing or something, but it wouldn’t hurt to pick one’s brain. I didn’t slink toward my destination, I sprinted two running steps, caught the wind and shot across the grounds like a missile, moving so fast my eyes narrowed to slits and watered as I blew through the air. Adrenaline was truly addicting. I could have soared into the night and stayed there until I fell to the earth when the sun rose.
Music greeted me halfway down the stairs. Moonlight dimmed as I descended, and by the time I took the bottom step into the cavern I was in human form. I straightened my skirt and walked toward the small area behind the staircase. I didn’t want anyone to notice me, but it was really hard not to look around.
Some of the people beside the bar, and a few more on the dance floor, seriously needed to get a room. The air was damp with warm humidity and my sense of smell struggled but finally adjusted to the sulfuric minerals that weighed down the air. I sped along, padding on bare feet across the tile and smooth stone walkway, ducking behind the stairwell.
Memories flooded my mind from waking up half dead in the shallow eddy there. The pain I suffered that day was the worst I’d endured in my young life. The gushing sounds of the hot springs were much quieter there. I circled the pool to the side where I woke up that day, when I’d looked into the face of the Tyren.
“Hello?” I called, low. My voice echoed a little off the stone around me. No one was in view, so I called again.
After a couple more times, it was confirmed, I was an idiot, calling out to no one. Risking my life didn’t seem like such a bright idea when there wasn’t a payoff. Not noble at all. Who did I think I was? I needed to get past the identity crisis quickly, before I got someone killed. I sat at the water’s edge, and let my toes wander the pebbles, contemplating sneaking back into my room.
The more I thought about it the angrier I got at myself for even trying to find a Tyren. I picked up a smooth river rock, flinging it hard to skip across the pool.
The projectile skidded once, then stopped, suspended by a watery hand. Relief coated my frazzled nerves. I hoped I hadn’t ticked someone off by breaking an unknown rule about not throwing rocks. I figured no one was around in Tyren-ville.
Shimmering water rose into the form of a man who paced my way. He paused inches from me, gazing down before dropping the smooth stone in my lap and sitting on the pebble beach.
I ran my thumbs over the flat of the tumbled limestone, wondering what to do next. How does one start up a conversation with a supernatural being? ‘How ‘bout those Longhorns?’ didn’t seem appropriate.
He stuck his feet in the water next to mine and they disappeared to the ankle. I wondered if they were gone, or just camouflaged by the water. He seemed comfortable enough, so I broke the ice.
“Sorry if I bothered you.” I said, looking over at him. “I just need to know what would happen if I gave Kai his magic book back.” He watched me, but didn’t reply. “Do you know what I’m talking about?” I fidgeted, waiting. “Is he going to turn the whole world into monsters? I mean, what else can he do if he gets it?”
He remained quiet. I was pretty sure Tyrens could talk. I straightened my knees, putting my legs in the warm water. The tattered hem of my
skirt was like a sponge, soaking the back of my thighs.
“Maybe I’m losing it.” I laughed. “What’s left of ‘it’, I mean. I’m going to get my best friend killed.” I folded my legs against my chest and put my chin on my knees.
The Tyren still didn’t answer. He just sat, gazing at the pool and the walls. I sighed loudly, without realizing it at first. He turned his head and smiled.
I was beginning to think we had a language barrier or something. At least he showed up. He stood, walking a ways into the water. When he was nearly waist deep, he looked over his shoulder at me. He gestured with a hand, urging me to follow him.
I wasn’t so sure that was a good idea. From what I knew about Tyrens, they were basically good guys. Last time I was at that spot, the female Tyren could have let me drown, rather than try to get me to breathe. I wondered if they were like people, some good and some not-so-good. Like she could have been a good Tyren and the new guy could be like The Joker of the Tyren world, waiting for me to trust him and then turn on me and cackle while he drowned me.
He cocked his head with look like “Awe, come on, really?”
I sighed and got up, following a supernatural being to the depths, hoping I hadn’t made a decision that cost me my life and Brea hers.
I was waist deep when he turned and smiled at me. I smiled back. He pointed down.
I looked into the water, but didn’t see anything. “What?” I looked at him and then back down, still seeing nothing but the pebbly bottom and my bare feet.
He pinched his nose—as if he really needed to—and went under, beckoning with a hand for me to follow. I held my breath and submerged. Only his silvery silhouette was visible under the surface. The sound of water flowing filled my ears. My hair billowed around my head and I had to clear it from my face to keep the Tyren in my sight.
“The book is not his to claim.” he said.
“You need water to speak!” My words gurgled together in a mass of bubbling syllables.
I’d been half submerged with the female Tyren when she spoke to me. I smiled and stood up straight for a quick breath. The air in the cavern was chilly compared to the temperature of the water. His head popped up a few feet from me. He grinned, and was gone.
“So whose is it?” I received no answer when I looked for him in the water. “Please don’t leave me yet,” I called. There was no sight of him. He’d left me to ponder things by myself.
Of course the book wasn’t really Kai’s. Water splashed onto the dry pebbles when I trudged from the pool. Risking my life to hear something I could’ve guessed wasn’t the information I’d hoped for. I’d hardly hit pay dirt. Whether the book he wanted was truly Kai’s or not was beside the point. Kai’s demand to bring it to him to trade for Brea still held firm. Soaked and angry, I realized I’d have to sneak past Hamish and wait for dawn.
Golden light flickered ahead from a tunnel in the rocks behind the path leading to the secluded pond. There was an additional part of the grotto I’d failed to see when I was there before. I followed like a moth, tracing the light to an immense, chiseled doorway. Dim torchlight peppered a row of squatting forms with yellowed illumination. Water dripped inside, echoing in a soft patter. Stone gleamed underneath from a pedestal knapped in limestone. Six stone gargoyles hulked, statuesque, all crouching on haunches with unfurled, massive wings creating a regal halo at their backs. Large claws clutched heavy swords that shone platinum. Spiked horns sprouted from the foreheads of each one. I paced forward, examining the “place-holder” of Hamish and five others that matched his huge form in size, some going beyond in mass, others more lethal, demonic, but all equally tormented in facial expression. I placed a hand to the cheek where I’d struck Hamish earlier in the night. Cool, scaly stone warmed to my touch in an instant.
I exhaled into the dank air. A twinge of recognition pulled at the back of my mind. Not only was Hamish familiar to me, I’d also seen the others somewhere. I paced between them, an odd reunion taking place as I studied them individually, working my way across the long, crypt-like hall.
Soft, cracking sounds carried from farther inside the new cavern, just loud enough to drown the patter of dripping water. The doorway out beckoned with safety behind me, a reminder that I would make a choice to leave it behind if I continued down the darkened hall to satisfy my curiosity. I’d snuck out for answers and struck out with the Tyrens. In a few short hours I would trek back to London to return bearing a tool of possible destruction into the hands of a lunatic. I could skulk back to my room and act like I’d never found the mysterious tomb holding the gargoyles, never heard curious sounds. Never tried and failed.
The smell of decay should have warned me off but I walked on, carefully picking my way across the gravel strewn floor, listening as noise was defined into recognizable categories—tearing fabric, and chopping on wood. Splatter. The hall widened into a room.
Torchlight sconces illuminated the place, bringing into view a tall plank table, streaked with black and crimson blood in various states of dryness and rot. A cleaving blade smacked down into the thick wood. Splatter erupted, coating the table, the floor and the skin of men accustomed to the spray. I could tell, because not one of them flinched when it hit them. Long, matted hair hung down the backs of two that faced away. A sticky flip flop worked loose from still, suntanned toes on the table and clopped to the gooey floor. Pink and red flesh was lifted to a Viking-like mouth on the flat of a short blade. Lips smacked. Lifeless, human eyes stared in my direction, jerking with the chopping and pulling. They were blue. The hair sandy, light brown.
Not one barbaric, feasting man witnessed my entry. I felt behind me, stepping back with one timid foot after another. Gravel crackled under my weight and a set of cannibal eyes lifted to meet mine.
“There’s your girl,” one of the men said. He gave a stained grin and a nod in my direction.
Hamish twisted from the table, bloodied to the elbow. Our gazes met briefly enough to convey a short message between us—he was incensed and I was ever-so-sorry for being out of my room. He slapped a blade flat against the sticky table and stepped toward me.
My feet didn’t feel the jagged stones beneath me when I ran. Adrenaline beat in my chest and I pumped my arms, reaching, lengthening my stride. Heavy footfalls gained ground, but detail began to blur as I flew past the stone gargoyles. The sound of running water was a garble in the wind and the rhythm of dark music by the bar sounded offbeat against the pounding of my stride. I took the steps two at a time, diving toward moonlight at the end of the winding staircase, stealing a look behind me as my wings burst from my shoulder blades and I shot high into the air.
Hamish and two other gargoyles emerged seconds later, exploding into winged beasts behind me, but I moved lightning fast. I pulled the manor door open, stepped inside and flew over the banister, watching over the wooden handrail for Hamish to follow.
Seconds ticked, turtle style, but no one came through the door below. I stood. They’d done what they intended. I’d been scared back to my room.
Chapter 25
The same time the previous year I’d never have imagined I’d live in a world where words like warded, shroud (not the “executioner” type), Garged Out (okay so that one was mine, a Tessa-ism) and grotto, would become part of my vocabulary; part of everyday conversation that I said casually, as if I was saying “How’s it going?” or “Dang, it’s hot.” I found it crazy how life could switch up all on its own and drag me along like a bucking horse with my foot caught in a stirrup. Life could force me to pick myself up out of the dirt, dust myself off, and see what still worked.
I’d become Tessa Marie Conley; darkened even further at the heart, and able to take another person’s life, given a reason and opportunity. I had a love-hate relationship with New Tessa. She was extreme, but at least she wasn’t a pushover.
Peter and I left at first light since Kai wouldn’t give us the keys until daybreak. He seemed to derive a large amount of glee reciting the rules of our dea
l, and the possible outcome if I didn’t hold up my end. We would travel in human form. I wouldn’t want gargoyles tearing up the leather inside my Aston Martin, either.
Peter and I rode in silence. Occasionally he looked over at me as I stared ahead at the open road. The car purred along, oblivious to the turmoil inside the cockpit. I amazed myself by not crying. I’d felt something snap inside me, or maybe something inside me had begun to click, rather, which would be a good thing. I didn’t want to play a further part in any of the madness that went on at The Grotto, but there I was, on the way to do Kai’s bidding to save my friend.
Without thinking about it, I snorted at the irony, jarring both of us.
Peter looked at me, surprised. “What’s funny?”
“Sorry, I was just thinking. Not in a funny ha ha kind of way. More in a like, weird way. Why doesn’t Kai go get this dumb book himself? I mean Ezra seems pretty harmless after the last few days.”
“As harmless as Ezra seems, it’s going to be hard as hell to find that book. He’s apparently placed very strong wards around it. Kai can’t get into the store. He didn’t send Petra in after it because he knew I was there.”
“Why didn’t you go looking for her?”
Peter didn’t answer right away. I shouldn’t have asked such a sensitive question.
“Kai and Ezra battled once, just after she disappeared. Mayhap a week after. We’d only been … possibly eight years old. Ezra had brought us both in off the streets of London after catching me stealing dried fish,” he smiled a little. “After the transformation, Petra and Ezra fought horribly. She ran away, and was found by Kai. It was said that Kai killed her to get back at Ezra.” He quieted, looked out the windshield at more than just the road ahead. “And now she’s back from the dead.”
“That’s a horrible story,” I said. “I’m sorry, Peter.” We’d endured similarities as children. One difference was, he got his sister back.
“So, you’re twins?” That was sort of cool. They looked a little bit alike, but far from identical.
