The Gargoyle Gets His Girl

by Kristen Painter

  She laughed softly. “Is that your way of trying to get me to nap, too?”

  “Maybe.”

  He heard movement, then her hand appeared through the bars outside his cell and gave him a little wave. “Let’s go. I need the wrist with the bracelet on it. Before I lose my confidence.”

  He stuck his arm through as far as it would go and tried to get comfortable. She took hold of him, and he closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her touch and the reassuring wash of her power. He wished he could see her pretty face. Kiss her soft mouth. Run his hands over her body.

  Damn, it sucked being separated from her.

  Her fingers worked at the slave bracelet, but the thing didn’t seem to want to move. She huffed out an annoyed breath. “This stupid thing won’t budge. I thought after practicing that I was getting better at using my gifts. I guess not.”

  “Didn’t you just use your gifts successfully?”

  “Yes, but I’m not now.” She sighed.

  “I thought you were going to put the new one on first anyway?”

  “I just wanted one more crack at it. All right, let’s get the new one on.”

  She sounded disappointed and a little tired. “Maybe you should rest first.”

  “No. We’ve got to keep pushing.”

  “If you don’t rest, you may not be able to keep pushing.”

  “I’m fine, I promise.”

  He didn’t really believe that, but she clearly was determined to keep going. He pulled his arm back in. “You know, if Kyanna figures out that you’ve overridden her bracelet with one of your own, she’ll punish you.” He wasn’t about to be responsible for Willa’s situation deteriorating further.

  “I know that, but I’m not scared of her. And besides, she already sees me as a threat. It’s not like I’m getting out of here unharmed either way. We have to do something.”

  He agreed, but he wanted to make sure she knew exactly what she was getting into. “This could make things worse.”

  “I accept that. And the consequences. Please, Nick, put your arm back through. I’m doing this.”

  He didn’t like this option, but he knew she was right. He stared down at the slave bracelet. “We have to figure out a way to keep Shay safe, too. She’s got more power than you think, and eventually Kyanna’s going to figure that out.”

  “I already knew that—but how did you figure that out?”

  “When Shay brought me the ring, she touched me. Shot me through with the same kind of power you did that first night at the fountain.”

  “You can feel fae powers?”

  “Yes. Can’t you?”

  “No, we can’t sense them in each other. That’s why children go through so much testing. Unless someone demonstrates their gifts, we don’t know about them.”

  “Interesting. I’m surprised the fae don’t also use gargoyles as power detectors. But that would mean getting the gargoyles to cooperate.”

  “I’m guessing it’s been tried.”

  “And I’m guessing it failed. We can be a stubborn people.”

  “I noticed.” She went quiet for a moment. “You think Shay’s as powerful as I am? As Kyanna is?”

  “Easily. Maybe more.”

  “Then we really need to get out of here. Wrist.”

  He stuck his arm through. “Whatever you want to do, I’m with you.”

  “Good. Now let me concentrate.”

  He smiled and said nothing, closing his eyes to revel in her closeness again. Her confidence was sexy.

  Her fingers worked the new metal onto his wrist, zaps of energy and power shooting through him like gentle electrical current. She pressed the cuff firmly into place above the other one, and a single, hard jolt shook him.

  He took a deep breath. He’d felt worse. Much worse. But he hadn’t expected it. “It must be on, I just got a jolt of power.”

  “Yes, it’s on. Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “Wasn’t painful exactly. More like the new bracelet was establishing dominance.”

  He moved his arm to see the new cuff and the sensation of her hand on him stayed although her hand was nowhere near him. “That’s curious.”

  “What is?”

  “Feels like you’re still touching me.” He grinned. “I’m okay with that.”

  “Must be because of using my old ring as part of the metal.” He could hear her rubbing her palms together. “Okay, let’s get the old one off. Wrist.”

  Her command left him no choice, the need to obey was too strong in his blood. He put his arm through the bars again. “I like this new side of you.” Even if she was controlling him. Better the woman he loved than one who might kill him.

  “What side is that?”

  “Commandeering. It’s hot. You should do some of that at home.”

  She snorted. “We’re in a life and death situation and you’re thinking about…bedroom things.”

  He shrugged one shoulder. “I’m a man. I think about bedroom things all the time when you’re around.”

  “Hush now, you’re making it hard for me to concentrate.”

  “Speaking of making it hard—”

  “Nicholas!” She laughed. “Behave over there.”

  He smiled as the next retort died on his tongue. “I have no choice now, do I?”

  “Why’s that?”

  Her fingers worked under the old cuff. “Because I’m wearing your bracelet now. I have to obey you.”

  “No, you don’t.” She grunted softly as she pried at the bracelet. “I designed it to give you complete free will. You don’t have to obey the commands of anyone, fae or otherwise, ever. Unless they’re touching you. I can’t do anything about that. Like right now, I’m sure it’s just the influence of my touch and—” The old bracelet came flying off and landed halfway across the dungeon across from their cells, clattering against the stone floor. “Crap.”

  “I take it that wasn’t part of the plan.”

  “Nope.”

  “Can you…I don’t know, use the fae force and get it back?”

  “Maybe. But that’s probably going to drain more energy than I wanted to.”

  Drained? He didn’t like that all this effort on his behalf was weakening her. That left her too vulnerable. “Shay will probably come back. She can get it.”

  “Maybe,” Willa started. Then voices sounded from outside the dungeon door. Loud voices. “That’s not Shay.”

  The door opened, and two tall, regal fae walked in. Nick was about to ask Willa if she knew them, but her quiet curse answered him before he’d said a word.

  “Hello, Willa,” the woman said.

  Willa cleared her throat. “Mother.”

  The current of emotions raging through Willa made it almost impossible for her to speak. Anger, longing, love, pity and sadness rose and fell within her like storm waves. She hadn’t seen her parents in eighteen years, and now here they were in front of her.

  Jarrel and Melinna Iscovian. The pride of the fae kingdom when she’d left. Now, she wasn’t sure they still held that status.

  They didn’t look much different. A little older maybe, but fae didn’t age the way humans did. Tired was a better word for it. Worn. Like they were laboring under the weight of a burden too heavy to carry much longer.

  Kyanna’s dominance. And Shay’s secret. Willa knew without asking. “I’m surprised Kyanna let you in here.”

  “We are still her parents,” her father answered.

  Anger won out. “You’re still mine, too. Doesn’t mean anything.”

  Willa’s mother stared at the dungeon floor for a moment before making eye contact again. “We owe you a larger apology than we can ever give you, Willa. We know what we did to you, what we allowed to happen to you, was wrong.”

  That was something, Willa supposed. But a few words weren’t going to erase the past. “Which is why you’re trying to protect Shay.”

  Her mother’s eyes rounded for a second, then she shook her head and looked away. “Ther
e’s nothing to protect Shay from.”

  “Really? So you’re not worried Kyanna will discover how powerful she is and think her little sister is just as much of a threat as I am?”

  Both her parents stayed quiet.

  She sighed. “Haven’t we had enough secrets and lies?”

  “How did you know?” Willa’s father’s voice was quiet but firm.

  “She touched Nick and he felt it.”

  “Nick?” Her father’s brows lifted. “The gargoyle? They can feel our power?”

  The anger came back. “Yes, they can, and don’t talk about him like he’s not in the cell next to me.”

  Jarrel nodded. “Yes, you’re right.” He looked over at Nick. “My apologies.”

  Nick made a soft noise, nothing more.

  Melinna moved closer, her delicate fingers reaching out to grasp the dowels keeping her from touching her long-lost child. “Please, Willa. We’re here to help. Tell us what we can do.”

  Willa hadn’t expected that. “You mean that?”

  “We do,” Jarrel confirmed. “Kyanna wants too much.” He glanced toward the dungeon entrance and lowered his voice. “Her ambition will ruin us all.”

  “Because she wants to be queen?” Willa asked.

  “Because she wants to return to the old ways. Becoming queen is just a way to ensure that happens.” Melinna slanted her eyes at Nick’s cell.

  “Old ways?” Nick snorted. “She’s got a rock troll under her thumb and at least one gargoyle that I’ve seen, so if you’re saying she wants to return to enslaving other species, it’s already happening.”

  Melinna frowned. “She has some…servants.”

  “They’re slaves. Call them what they are. And we didn’t have them when I was a child,” Willa said. “I don’t remember anything about slave bracelets and conscripted armies of trolls and gargoyles.”

  “Because those histories were purposefully hidden,” Melinna answered. “That time was behind us.”

  “How did all this happen then?”

  Jarrel shook his head. “Kyanna. She was too good of a student. Her abilities attracted the attention of…someone of great power. That person befriended her, gave her access to the archives and the old histories and convinced her that the old ways were worth returning to for the good of the kingdom.”

  Willa frowned. “Who is this person of great power?”

  “Someone close to the king.” Melinna looked toward the door and guards and lowered her voice. “Someone already set on changing things. That person is no longer on that path, but Kyanna is. And now she’s determined that the course must be stayed.”

  Clearly, her parents didn’t want to name names. Fine. Willa didn’t need to know that much detail right now. She crossed her arms. “What’s Kyanna’s goal then?”

  Jarrel’s mouth bent at an odd angle. “To rebuild an army of the enslaved.”

  “What the hell for?” Nick asked.

  The muscle in Jarrel’s jaw twitched. “Our mines are not producing like they once did. They’re sufficient for our needs, but won’t allow the kingdom to grow.”

  Nick grunted. “Let me guess, there are mines nearby that would allow that, but the fae don’t own them.”

  Jarrel shook his head. “It’s rock troll country.”

  “So she builds an army of those she can capture, then uses them to attack the trolls and enslaves all of them, enabling her to mine their land.”

  “Pretty much.” Jarrel took Melinna’s hand. “There are few of us strong enough or willing enough to go against her. She will bring war to the kingdom again.”

  “She needs to be stopped. You want to help?” Willa asked.

  “Yes.” Her mother nodded eagerly. “What can we do?”

  Willa pointed across the dungeon to the cuff she’d removed from Nick’s wrist. “Bring that to me.”

  Melinna grabbed it and handed it over. “That can’t be all.”

  “It’s not.” Willa cupped the bracelet in her hands and concentrated on it. The metal was weak from being superseded by her own magic. With a forceful mental shove, she disintegrated the cuff into dust. She brushed her hands off and looked back at her parents, who clearly regarded her with new respect. “You can tell Kyanna I’ve changed my mind. I want to work with her after all.”

  Nick held his tongue until after Willa’s parents had left. “Please tell me this is all part of your plan.”

  “It is. Just trust me.”

  He leaned against the wall that separated them. “I do trust you. But I don’t like being left out. I’m supposed to be protecting you. Hard to do that when I don’t know what you’re planning.”

  “What I’m planning is crazy. Which is why I’m not sure I should tell you just yet.”

  “Because you think I’ll try to talk you out of it?”

  “Maybe.”

  “I won’t. Not if you think it’s the right thing to do.”

  “I do.” She took a few breaths. The silence lapsed into minutes, and he could tell she was struggling with something. When she spoke again, anger lay beneath her words. “I can’t believe my sister intends to do such awful things. But then, she put us here.”

  Willa made a low noise in the back of her throat. “Blood isn’t supposed to do that to blood.”

  He stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about his Ranger brothers. In many ways, they were the only family he’d had. “There are greater ties than blood.”

  “You’re absolutely right. I already trust you more than any of my family. Except Shay. I’d trust her.”

  “Your parents seemed genuinely sorry.”

  “Too little, too late.”

  Her response was quick and born out of the bad memories their appearance must have dredged up. He scratched at the pitted metal bar under his thumb. “You aren’t going to forgive them?”

  “Would you?”

  “Yes. I’d love to have my parents back.”

  There was a long pause. “That was insensitive of me. Sorry. What happened to them?”

  “Head-on collision. Tractor trailer. Driver drifted off, crossed the center line. That was it.”

  “How old were you?”

  He closed his eyes, but the pictures from the newspaper were still there. “Thirteen months. My mother shifted into her stone form at the last second and used her body to shield me. She’s the only reason I lived.”

  “Oh, Nick.” There was no anger or betrayal in Willa’s voice now. Just sadness and sympathy. “I’m so sorry.”

  He took a deep breath. “You should think about forgiving them. People make mistakes.”

  Her fingers curled through the bars to touch his hand. “I’ll think about it, okay?”

  “Good.”

  “You know, there’s really no reason for you to still be over there all alone.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, things are moving in a very certain direction now. You breaking through this wall between us isn’t going to change any of that. But it would sure make me feel better.”

  “Me, too. Only thing is, I said I probably could. Not entirely sure about that, but I’m willing to give it a shot.” He let go of her hand and the bar and backed to the wall. “Get as far away from the wall as you can. I don’t want you hurt by debris.”

  “Don’t worry about me.”

  She sounded far away, so she’d done what he asked. “Here goes.”

  He shifted into his stone form, then put his head down and charged the wall, leading with his shoulder.

  The impact he’d been expecting never came. Instead, the stone crumbled around him like chalk, falling away in big chunks and a cloud of dust, then splinters of wood from her side. He shook himself and blinked.

  Willa stood against the far wall, hands raised and a dreamy smile on her lips. Pieces of the stone wall floated around her in all shapes and sizes. She looked at him. “You okay?”

  “Perfect.”

  “Good.” She dropped her hands and the rocks came tumbling
down. Her smile widened. “I really should have been practicing my gifts a long time ago.”

  He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Did you do something to the wall, too? Soften it or something?”

  She nodded. “I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

  He shifted back into human form. “Your sister really has no idea what she’s up against.”

  She bit at her bottom lip. “I’m sure she can do everything I can and more. She’s had a lot more training than I have.”

  He went to Willa and pulled her into his arms. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on with you wanting her to think you’re on her side?”

  She leaned up and kissed him, clearly an attempt to distract him, but he didn’t care. He kissed her back, hungry for her after being kept away. She wrapped her arms around him and sighed against his mouth. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you, too. I can’t wait to get out of here and get back home.”

  “Me either.”

  The dungeon door swung wide, and a cluster of guards swarmed in, Zane at the center. His haughty expression changed to a sneer when he saw Willa and Nick embracing. “I understand you’ve changed your mind about working with Kyanna and me.”

  Willa turned to face him. “I have. And I’m prepared to pledge my allegiance in front of her and the king.”

  “Yes, well, you’d have to, wouldn’t you?” He waved a hand. “I suppose you’re going to keep the gargoyle as your personal pet.”

  Willa nodded. “Yes, he’s mine exclusively.” She lifted her chin with the kind of imperial haughtiness that gave her words the ring of truth. “Now get me out of here or I’ll have him smash this whole place into dust.”

  With a snort, Zane motioned to the guards. “Unlock the cell and bring them to court.” He brushed some imaginary dirt off his shoulder as he gave her one more look. “I’ll see you there, sister.”

  “Yes, you will.” She put her hands on her hips until he’d left.

  The guards produced a wooden key that worked her cell’s wooden lock and then escorted them out, flanking them. Each guard had a long staff topped with a glittering gold spear head. A useless weapon meant for show. And they seemed to know that, judging by the looks they gave Nick.

  He snarled at one, and the fae jerked back.