Gran’s exhaustion now made sense. She’d been doing spell work all night. “We could have helped.”
“It was better you slept. There is still lots that needs doing before tonight.” Gran gestured at the small television in the corner of the kitchen. “My spies have already overheard many interesting things. We are still persons of interest—though not as much as before now they have something else to hunt. In the meantime, they plan to give the town a clean bill of health and lift the lockdown. They have an ulterior motive, of course. Once they turn the townsfolk loose to gather and gossip, they are going to tail those of interest and see if they can learn something.”
“So every time we turn around we’re going to run into our new best friends.” Lillian stated with a snort of amusement. “That’s going to make things more complicated.”
“We’re not going to do anything of interest,” Gran said. “In fact we’re going to bore them to death. Lillian, you and Gregory are going to go grocery shopping and run errands. Make sure you hit the coffee shop and the diner for lunch. Jason and Alan will go to the hardware store and get the wood for the new gazebo. I’ll go meet with the card ladies. Business as usual.”
“You’re going to turn me loose on the town?” Gregory actually looked pretty excited at the thought, so Lillian introduced the other part of the equation.
“Yep, lots of places to go in the car.”
Gregory’s expression fell.
Chapter Fifteen
Shadowlight thought Gran would never leave, but she finally did. Taking the noisy and smelly conveyance she called a truck, she drove off down the lane.
Perched on Gregory’s pedestal in the center of Lillian’s maze, Shadowlight couldn’t actually see Gran driving away, but he could hear it. He waited until the sound of her truck drifted away before he moved.
Jason and Uncle Allan had gone to something called a hardware store to get wood, which mystified him. Why would they go somewhere to get wood when they were surrounded by forests? Oh well, Lillian’s adopted family might be strange, but he liked them anyway.
Lillian and Gregory were out shopping—whatever that was. Gran had just left to play cards. It was all a ruse to trick the humans. He’d been eavesdropping on their conversation at breakfast and thought it sounded like a perfect opportunity to visit with his pet human.
He was supposed to stay on the pedestal and pretend to be Gregory, which he totally could do, but he was also skilled enough to leave an illusion behind that looked and felt like a stone statue.
After stretching, he jumped down from his perch and created the illusion. He felt a touch guilty. His father had given him the assignment and it really wasn’t honorable to just leave.
Yet, he needed to check on his human.
Somehow, he didn’t think his parents would be understanding.
Good thing they were out patrolling the perimeter of the human military camp.
He’d originally wanted to join them, but they’d refused. Something about it being too dangerous.
He made his way out of the maze, searching for any other Fae that might be about, especially Greenborrow. The leshii had taken the blame for allowing the Medical Technician to escape.
Why, he didn’t know. Greenborrow could simply have said he’d left the human in Shadowlight’s care.
The leshii had glanced at Shadowlight while he’d told the lie and taken the blame.
Shaking off the mild guilt the memory inspired, Shadowlight began to run, using his natural magic for camouflage. It wasn’t foolproof in the bright light of day, and he felt more exposed than he liked as he ran through the gardens.
He didn’t relax until he was once more under the dense forest canopy.
Taking a long winding path to his destination added an extra few minutes to the trip, but it made him feel more secure about his human’s safety.
When he arrived, she was already up and walking the edges of the protective dome of energy. Every few strides, she reached out and touched the solid surface and then pulled her fingers away with a little shake.
There was method to her actions, he realized. She was using a search pattern to cover the entire dome within her reach, looking for a door or weakness she could use to escape.
He stalked forward, maintaining his shadow magic. In a mix of curiosity and playfulness, he paced her, mirroring her move for move to see how much his blood had changed her.
After three steps and no outward change in her expression or body language, a sense of disappointment swept over him. He had hoped his blood would have had more of an effect on her—for her own safety. She needed to be more gargoyle and less human if she had any hope of being accepted by the other Fae.
Oh well, no one had discovered his secret. He only had to maintain it long enough to get a little more of his blood in her.
Once she was more of the Magic Realm than the Mortal one, he was certain his family and the other Fae wouldn’t kill her outright.
Admittedly, he hadn’t thought it out fully when he’d saved her, but he was confident the others would see she possessed a noble spirit.
While he’d been thinking of future possibilities, Anna had stopped her search of the dome and was staring at him with a perplexed look on her face. The little wrinkle between her brows deepened.
“You’re there, aren’t you? I can sense you.” Her brow smoothed as her eyes widened in surprise. Then in a hoarse whisper, she added, “It damn well better be you.”
“It is,” he assured her as he released his hold on his cloaking magic.
His sudden appearance had startled her, but after a moment she returned to the dome’s edge and studied him through it. “Handy trick. How many others can you do?”
At first, he’d been a bit in awe of her outwardly calm exterior—he doubted many humans would possess such an adaptable personality, but then he’d come to realize it was a coping mechanism. To keep her panic at bay, she asked questions and catalogued his answers, telling herself she would take everything she learned and turn it over to her people once she’d escaped. Her thoughts were all there before him, clear as a glacial waterfall.
He hadn’t lied when he said he couldn’t read her mind—not exactly. At least he wasn’t willfully doing it. Her mind was just so focused and disciplined, it was like she was talking aloud, and her thoughts just came to him clear and uncluttered.
“I thought you said you wouldn’t be coming back until nightfall. What happened? Do we have a problem?”
He had to admit she was good—using ‘we’ and making it sound like they were a team, when in fact she was still searching every angle to escape him.
Knowing her thoughts became a boon in that moment.
“There is no problem.” Oh, but how to go about telling her she could never return to her people.
“Thanks for saving me. Now it’s time to let me go.”
“I can’t. Not yet.” He raised a talon and tapped on the protective dome once, and then stepped through. She leaped back, putting space between herself and the dome before she dropped into a defensive crouch.
She held a knife in her hand. It was the one from the pack. A simple camp knife his father used for little tasks when talons were not sufficient.
It wasn’t much of a weapon. Its blade was no longer than his hand.
“I know you think of escape, of taking what you’ve learned and sharing it with the humans,” he said as he held his ground, allowing her to process his words. “But you are no longer only human, you are in part, small though it is, gargoyle.” He tilted his head in new understanding of what he’d done to her. “You are neither human, nor gargoyle. My blood saved your life, but at a heavy cost. One I’m just beginning to understand, myself. How do I go about explaining it to you?”
“One sentence at a time.” Her voice came out in a soft rush, the tension behind it obvious.
“My father says humans are not tolerant of anything they see as different. However, he hasn’t interacted with a human in an ag
e. Perhaps his assessment of them is no longer accurate?”
“Lack of tolerance—sounds about right for a good portion of the population,” she said grudgingly.
“And you are now different than you were.”
The truth of his words flashed across her face.
“Will your fellow humans accept you back now that you are partly gargoyle?”
A muscle in her jaw ticked. “Oh, they’ll be glad to have me back,” her throat bobbed as she swallowed hard. “I’ll be lucky not to end up on some examination slab, somewhere.”
Shadowlight didn’t have a reference for the words she used, but her tone said enough.
“So you’re saying only your kind will offer me safe haven.”
“That is not entirely accurate.”
The line between her brows deepened. “Feel free to start filling in details at any point.”
“You’re still too human, in your thinking, your emotions, your loyalty, and your motives. I think it best none learn of your existence.”
“You’re awfully astute for a kid.” Her lips compressed in thought and her brows descended slightly. She inhaled a sharp breath. “You plan to keep me like a pet, don’t you? For how long? Until you get bored with me?”
Shadowlight felt the first traces of annoyance and anger filter through his being.
He’d saved her, a selfless act.
Shouldn’t she be grateful?
Obviously, he wasn’t handling the situation well. It didn’t matter if she was grateful or not, all his gargoyle instincts and his father’s memories said he was still responsible for her. He’d saved her. Now she was his problem.
To start, he’d have to protect her from both the Fae and the humans. She seemed like a reasonable person. He was certain he could gain her trust…eventually.
“What happens when you get tired of your shiny new toy?”
An ear flicked forward and then back. Even his tail twitched slowly as he worked through the meaning of her question.
Oh, she was the toy.
His ears swung forward, snapping to attention. “You think I would harm you?”
She held her rigid pose. “Well, what am I supposed to think? You just explained I belong nowhere and you hadn’t fully thought out your actions.”
In a moment of clarity, Shadowlight dropped to all fours and bound over to her, butting his muzzle and head under her hand for a scratch. “Foolish human.”
As he had hoped, his action so caught her off guard, she didn’t use the knife she held.
“I saved you because I liked your spirit. I’m not about to kill you just because you think I now find you an inconvenience.” Shadowlight wiggled closer as he felt the first tentative scratch behind his ears. “That goes against every instinct a gargoyle has. We protect. We guard against evil and eradicate it where we find it. We don’t harm those we consider our responsibility.”
“So because you saved me, you now consider me your responsibility?” her tone was thoughtful, not flippant.
“No, not because I saved you. Because my blood changed you. I did not fully think through what I’d be forcing you to accept.” Oh there was more, and he debated telling her now or later. He wanted her trust, and lies and omissions would only bring harm later down the road. “And there is the possibility you may require more of my magic-laced blood at certain intervals to keep you strong.”
Her fingers froze in his mane. “Say that again.”
Hmmm. Maybe he should have waited a day or two for that detail.
While he was still flailing for something to say, she squatted down in front of him and stared him in the eye. “How often?”
He flinched at her tone, but answered truthfully. “I’m not sure. My mother is a healer. She would have a better idea. Unfortunately, her memories weren’t that detailed.”
“Is this a ‘for life’ condition?”
“I think so, yes.”
“I need a time out.”
With those brisk words, she took herself over to the fallen tree shelter and sat down with her head on her drawn up knees.
She stayed like that for a long time.
With a dejected sigh, he sat on his haunches to give her the time she needed to cope with that new knowledge.
Then he napped, one ear cocked in her direction so he’d know if she stirred.
But it wasn’t the sound of the human soldier stirring which dragged him from his sleep—no this was a great droning tone which reverberated within his very bones.
The noise grew closer and the human jumped to her feet and tilted her head back to study the sky.
Shadowlight flared his wings out, tensed his powerful haunches, and called his magic as he prepared to launch himself into the sky to face whatever enemy was bearing down on them.
“You may want to keep your feet firmly on the ground unless you enjoy a world of pain.” She shrugged. “Your choice, my friend, but those big boys are going to be armed to the teeth. Although, I don’t think they are after us. Moving too fast. They’ll overshoot us in….”
As if she’d synchronized the timing of her words to their fly over, seven mean-looking machines buzzed over their heads and were gone moments later.
“What were those?”
She looked him in the eyes. “Well, the two escorts were ours. The other five were United States Army. Things just got a whole lot more complex for you, my young friend.”
He gave her a questioning look.
She clarified. “They have way more resources to hunt you down.”
“Are they from a neighboring kingdom?” he asked, growing concerned for his family’s well-being. His mother and father could hide easily enough. But Lillian and Gregory were known, and couldn’t just vanish without drawing suspicion.
She arched an eyebrow at him. “You have so much to learn.”
He gave a little shrug, entirely unapologetic.
“I was just born three days ago.”
Her jaw dropped as she stared on, mute. Shadowlight left while she was still too shocked to waylay him with more questions. He had to find his family and make sure everyone was safe.
Chapter Sixteen
“Are you done yet?”
It was the fourth time Lillian had heard that question in the last two hours. The first time had been in the first drugstore she’d hit, the second in the long lineup at the coffee shop. The third complaint had been in the grocery store when two miniature tyrants—Gregory’s title for them—had rammed him in the hip with the cart. She’d sweetly promised him a special treat of his choosing if he didn’t decapitate the two boys.
They’d left the grocery store without further issue. Their silent tails, two dower looking military types, pretended to pick up a couple things at the store as well.
When Lillian had driven away, she’d spotted their new friends following behind in an armored vehicle. Was that their attempt at undercover? Or maybe they just didn’t care if they were spotted.
She made a few more stops and her tails followed faithfully. She was almost tempted to set Gregory upon them. She was sure he’d have enjoyed tormenting the humans.
It would distract Gregory, too. Which would be handy, she admitted as she pulled into the second drugstore’s parking lot.
She needed to pick up a couple more items for her peace of mind. The threat of pregnancy still hung over her head. Gregory hadn’t remembered anything from the night of the masquerade, but that wouldn’t help her if she was pregnant and began showing signs. Which brought her to her next issue, being a gargoyle-dryad hybrid, she didn’t even know what the signs of pregnancy would be.
She didn’t have a monthly cycle like a human. Hers came once every three months. She’d always wondered about that, but Gran had said it was a normal genetic blip on her side of the family. Being young and naïve, she’d trusted Gran. Then again, who would have equated a longer cycle than normal with being a dryad-gargoyle hybrid?
“More stops?” Gregory asked, sounding grumpy.
&
nbsp; Lillian got out of the car and came around to his side while he was still trying to extract himself from the car. She leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the lips while running her fingers along his tattoo. “I would say you could wait in the car, but…”
Gregory snorted without humor. “As if I’d leave you undefended.”
Yes, picking up a few pregnancy tests from the drugstore without Gregory knowing was going to be problematic.
Feeling ornery and flippant, she waved to her two tails as they pulled into the parking lot. Gregory gave them a toothy grin, and a wave as well.
Lillian marched into the drugstore, and snatched up a basket as she ran through her mental list of things to pick up.
She figured if she grabbed lots of stuff, Gregory wouldn’t notice a few pregnancy tests among everything else. Not that he would know what they were anyway, but he could read, which gave her an idea as she walked past the magazine racks. She grabbed a local newspaper and gave it to Gregory. “Read it and let me know if there is anything interesting in there we may need to know.”
Gregory frowned but nodded and began to skim through the paper. Lillian continued her task with military efficiency and came to the aisle she needed. She didn’t pause to read or study the packages, instead grabbed three of each variety on the shelf.
The number would make the girl at the checkout do a triple take, but Lilian wasn’t sure when she’d have a chance to get more.
She knew gargoyles were warm-blooded and dryads had breasts so they were mammals in theory. She didn’t know if they were enough like humans for the test kits to be useful.
Personally she doubted they’d be accurate, dryads and humans probably didn’t have the same hormones. In fact, it had only been two days since the incident so they wouldn’t show anything yet, anyways. She planned to use one tonight as a sort of baseline test, and then space the others out on a weekly basis to check for any changes. At least she hoped it would work, and she really hoped not to see any changes.
By her estimate, she was maybe two-thirds of the way through her fertility cycle, which once again, told her nothing.
Sorceress Hunting (A Gargoyle and Sorceress Tale Book 3) Page 10
