Sorceress Hunting (A Gargoyle and Sorceress Tale Book 3) (11 page)

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 age.
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.