River had Lillian’s magical tree to thank for still drawing breath. But the tree hadn’t been able to fix everything that had been broken within Shadowlight’s mother.
Her many burns and lacerations had been bandaged until almost no skin showed. What was visible was mottled with bruises. Gran had told Shadowlight that because River had no hamadryad tree in this realm or at least not one old enough to merge with yet, she would have to fight this battle much like a human.
After Gryton’s attack, when they’d first treated River, Shadowlight had demanded to stay near his mother while they tended to her injuries, but he hadn’t been alone with her like this, with all the monitors and crap. She knew seeing River like this had to be traumatizing to the kid. That’s why Anna was hovering nearby. If Shadowlight wanted time alone with his mother, that was all right. If he didn’t want to be alone, that was fine too.
“It’s okay kid. I’ll be right over here if you need me,” Anna walked over and dragged a chair from where it was sitting in one corner. She didn’t know who had placed it in the temporary hospital room, but it was too small for Shadowlight, so she appropriated it and sat guarding the door to prevent any nosy scientists from harassing the kid.
At least the two sets of Special Forces babysitters that followed Anna and Shadowlight everywhere had stayed outside in the hall.
Shadowlight inched past Anna and closer to the bed.
Outside, Anna heard the soft crackle of a radio and hushed voices, but otherwise, she wouldn’t have been aware of the eight guards out in the hall. She and Shadowlight had initially been assigned twice that number of babysitters, but the halls and rooms of the converted community center were too crowded with scientists and equipment as it was.
Besides, as Resnick had pointed out to his superiors, the gargoyles could vanish in a moment’s notice if they wanted to. Human soldiers weren’t the only ones watching. The Fae council had assigned their own guards as well.
The only difference was that the Fae would back up Anna and Shadowlight if they ran into trouble with the humans.
Anna could almost taste the lack of trust and anti-goodwill flowing through the halls of the building.
Yep. Her new life was going to be so freaking much fun.
While she mulled over her new life, Shadowlight had knelt next to the bed and was stroking his mother’s cheek. It was one of the only bits of skin not covered in bandages.
Shadowlight’s ears, wings, and tail all drooped in distress.
He whined softly.
“Kid, I didn’t know your mother well,” Anna began and added a mental, and I pretty much hated the cast-iron bitch on sight, “but she is a tough lady. She’ll pull through. She’s got one magnificent reason to live.”
Ears perking slightly, he glanced at her questioningly
“She’s got you. You’re her reason to recover and she will.”
When she looked up into his face, she saw the damp tracks of tears.
“My father had the same reason, but he’s not here now. I wasn’t reason enough for him.”
Dammit. And damn all warmongering Battle Goddesses, too.
“Kid, that wasn’t his choice. He would have stayed with you if he could. Don’t doubt that for a moment. And Gregory says he may still heal and walk back into your life.”
The young gargoyle surprised her by turning and leaping at her.
“What—” He snatched her out of her chair and into the biggest bear hug she’d ever been on the receiving end of, and she’d been on the receiving end of a few. All four of her older brothers were built like linebackers juiced up on steroids, but she’d never felt like a child’s toy before.
Shadowlight hoisted her up and proceeded to crush her hard enough that her bones creaked, and all air was squeezed from her lungs. With her feet dangling in the air in her nose getting ground painfully against his sternum, all Anna could do was pat him on the back and pray he’d put her down before he broke her back or smothered her.
“Can’t breathe—”
He loosened his hold a fraction, and she turned her head and drew a deep breath and expelled it in a cough. Once she dragged in a few more breaths, she thumped the kid on the back and said, “I know it hurts now, but it’s going to be alright, Shadowlight. It’s okay to cry.”
As if her words were a release for his pent-up emotions, they came flooding out and he did cry, deep shuddering sobs that shook his body. He didn’t loosen his hold, and she imagined she might have a few bruises later. But it didn’t matter.
She continued to pat him on the back and murmur nonsense. What the hell did parents say to their kids to comfort them? Her mind kept coming up blank. She hadn’t even babysat as a teenager.
Finally, she settled for little white lies, telling him everything would be okay over and over.
Eventually, the young gargoyle lowered her back to the ground. He wiped a forearm across his cheeks and muzzle while Anna remembered how to breathe normally.
Feeling like a teddy bear that had been squeezed in a headlock for too long and had her stuffing rearranged, she tried to subtly realign the discs in her spine.
Shadowlight sniffled a couple more times, but the tears had stopped flowing at least. He glanced over his shoulder and then focused back on Anna. “Is it all right if we go somewhere else now?”
“Of course. Hey, kid. Are you hungry?” Anna glanced at the clock on the wall. She still had some hours before she needed to meet with her CO again. There’d be lots of time to take a nap after they grabbed a bite to eat. And if she knew gargoyles at all, Shadowlight was probably ready to eat a horse.
Shadowlight’s ears perked up. “Do you think Gran has any of her chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies left?”
“What? You mean you didn’t eat all of them this morning while you were waiting for breakfast?”
He shook his head.
“Well, by all means, let’s see if we can find some.”
As it turned out, they never made it to Gran. Anna was leading Shadowlight down the hospital wing when his sister, her doppelgänger, and a sour-looking Gregory all march down the hall.
Gregory glowered at Anna and Shadowlight’s security detail, but his expression softened and brightened when his gaze landed on the young gargoyle.
“We’re going hunting before we have to attend to today’s duties. Did you want to come?” He asked as he dropped to all fours.
Shadowlight bound over to Gregory, and they greeted each other in boisterous gargoyle affection while Lillian looked on with a grin.
As far as demigods went, Anna had decided Lillian and Gregory weren’t bad. Lillian ran her fingers through her little brother’s mane and her smile stretched wider. However, the clone held herself further back.
Anna wasn’t sure what to think about the clone. Actually, that wasn’t true. Anna was one hundred percent certain she didn’t like her.
The problem was that she didn’t know why.
While she’d missed the doppelganger’s birth, Anna had been briefed later. Apparently, this Daryna was supposed to contain Lillian’s soul and magic; she was in fact just an extension of the other woman. With a mental ‘what the hell do I know’ and a shake of her head, Anna had shoved the entire strange new development aside for later.
Well, later had just walked up to her.
Shadowlight broke off his play fight with Gregory and turned back towards Anna. “Do you want to come hunting with us?”
She felt a frown trying to crawl across her face. Hmmm, bumping around in the forest on the back of a gargoyle while they looked for deer to hunt in the rain. Not on her life. She still hurt from getting tossed off Shadowlight’s back yesterday when he’d jumped a fallen tree on his way to battle Commander Gryton in the glade.
She didn’t know the first thing about riding a horse or a gargoyle, and it had been abundantly clear, Shadowlight was unfamiliar with carrying a rider.
Apparently, daddy’s memories didn’t cover all the day-to-day stuff.
Shadowlight looked mildly disappointed until Gregory bumped the young gargoyle in the side. “Come on youngling. I’ll teach you the finer points of being a gargoyle mount so that next time when we drag Anna along, you’ll have the skills not to kill her.” Gregory huffed with laughter. “In the meantime, Daryna will help teach you how to carry a rider.”
“Gregory is correct,” Daryna said with a grin. “I’m sure Anna will appreciate not being the one to hit the ground every time you take a corner too sharply.”
The Sorceress’ words were light-hearted, but that annoying worm of doubt burrowed deeper into Anna’s thoughts. Perhaps she should go?
Oh, for fuck sakes. He’s got demigods looking out for him. He’ll be okay.
Anna fought down what was likely just overly protective maternal instincts. Who thought she’d turn out to be the motherly type? With a somewhat fake smile, Anna wished them a good hunt and watched them walk away. When they were out of sight, she headed off to round up some breakfast, clean clothes, and a shower. Anna’s personal guards trailed along behind her as that earlier nagging worm of doubt returned and dogged her steps.
Chapter Nine
Lillian returned from the hunt feeling relaxed even though she’d learned Gregory and Daryna would be spending the day together as they worked on strengthening the protections around the hamadryad to prevent other, unexpected Magic Realm visitors from just popping in. While they worked on higher level spells, Lillian would be helping Gran with a different project involving magic. But even knowing that detail, hadn’t chased away Lillian’s happiness.
Watching Gregory and Daryna teach Shadowlight the finer points of carrying a rider likely had a lot to do with her feelings of good will toward the Sorceress. The exercise had certainly gone a long way to lifting the young gargoyle’s confidence and demeanor. Not that Shadowlight lacked confidence, but the hunt helped him feel useful. And that lightened Lillian’s own dark thoughts.
Lillian still couldn’t bring herself to welcome Daryna with open arms, but perhaps she wasn’t so very terrible either. She’d been kind to the young gargoyle. And she’d even shared stories with Lillian about the Avatars’ history while Gregory taught the young gargoyle how to better control and maintain his shadow magic to hide from adversaries more deadly than humans.
Still, some instinct urged her not to trust her doppelganger twin. And there were the times Lillian felt like Daryna was intentionally trying to stir up trouble.
One part of Lillian’s consciousness said she was just jealous and paranoid, that Daryna hadn’t done anything to deserve her distrust.
But now that she had time to dwell upon it, she wondered how much Daryna had been unconsciously shaped by her stay in the Battle Goddess’ domain during those first eight years of her life. Eight years was a lot of time to develop a young mind—no demon seed required.
Another dark thought emerged from Lillian’s overactive psyche. When all this was over, and they defeated the Battle Goddess, would they just have a new adversary in the form of Daryna?
Lillian wanted to tell herself it was pure paranoia.
For the first time since she’d found out that her hamadryad had taken her soul and her powers of the Mother’s Avatar, Lillian wasn’t certain she wanted either back. She definitely liked it better when Daryna was a tree.
But could Lillian survive long-term without her soul or her powers as an Avatar?
And what would it do to Gregory?
Lillian didn’t know the answer to either question. Even Gregory might not know.
For now, she would do nothing. However, if some evidence came to light, no matter how small, she would act. Lillian also knew she couldn’t overpower Daryna in a fair fight. The Sorceress would have knowledge of defensive spells equal to what Gregory possessed.
But Lillian had seen what a few well-aimed grenades had done to Gryton.
If something did come to light, Lillian would share it with Corporal Mackenzie and Major Resnick. Together, they might have the best chance of coming up with a plan to neutralize Daryna, if worse came to worse.
As far as plans went, it was a pitifully weak one. But it gave Lillian some small peace knowing that if her suspicions proved correct there would be someone other than Gregory there to make the hard choices.
Lillian set aside her dark thoughts for now. She was supposed to report to Gran and help with brainstorming ways to ‘magic-proof’ the military’s weapons so they wouldn’t suffer a magic-induced malfunction during battle.
Given what she’d just been thinking, it might be prudent to have weapons that magic couldn’t easily sabotage.
****
Standing shoulder to shoulder with Gran, Lillian looked down upon a table full of weapons. Greenborrow stood on Gran’s other side. Colonel Tremblay, Lieutenant-Colonel Harmon, Major Resnick, and three other military personnel Lillian had never met before filled in the table’s other three sides.
Gran put down a sidearm and hoisted a large rifle instead. Lillian didn’t know guns, but she thought it was a sniper rifle. This beast looked badass. Its every line telling anyone who looked upon it that it existed for one reason; to inflict pure carnage upon an enemy.
“It’s just as vulnerable to magic as the smaller guns,” Gran said with a curl of her lip. “If you’d like me to demonstrate, I’d suggest going somewhere safer. Preferably a place with a nice bulletproof barrier to stop any stray bullets or shrapnel.”
Colonel Tremblay seemed equal parts pleased that Gran was willing to demonstrate and disturbed by how quickly magic could render their weapons vulnerable.
“This will be fun.” Greenborrow hooted and slapped his good arm against his thigh. “Magic plus propellants always equals a nice boom. However, I must say I’m curious what it could do to C-4 and things with a bigger explosive force.”
“Missiles,” Gran said nodding sagely. “Those could be defeated if a magic wielder sensed them coming and reacted fast enough to destroy the missile before getting blown to bits.”
While Gran and Greenborrow gleefully discussed plans on what they’d enjoy blowing up, Lillian’s thoughts turned to the reason for this little session.
While the Battle Goddess and her army had never come up against modern technology before, the Fae and their new human allies couldn’t assume the enemy wouldn’t figure out that a well-placed energy discharge near live ammo had an explosive effect. If something wasn’t done, a simple spell forged by the enemy could ignite ammo cartridges and deliver a devastating blow to whatever earth forces joined the fight.
Gran picked up a grenade next. “I think with a little trial and error, we can find a way to ward-spell them with a type of shielding magic which might ‘magic proof’ your guns. At least for a short time. Don’t expect miracles. Magic and metal never play nice.”
“But you think it can be done?” Resnick asked.
Gran nodded. “I certainly hope so, because next time the Lady of Battles sends her goons to this realm, it would be nice to have some effective modern artillery to back us up. A tank or twenty might come in handy.”
Major Resnick choked back a laugh. But it was Colonel Tremblay who answered. “Let’s start with the guns. If all goes well, we’ll see what we can do about larger ordinance.”
“Good,” Gran said as she picked up a gun and tried to figure out how to release the clip.
Major Resnick did it for her and Lillian noticed the clip was empty.
It wasn’t really a surprise. Trust had to be earned. On both sides.
“I assume you have a place for us to work?” Gran asked.
Resnick nodded. “We have a safe room already set up for your use.”
Good. Accidentally shooting somebody wouldn’t help the newb
orn alliance.
“Come, Lillian,” Gran called over her shoulder as she followed the officers out into the hall. “You too, Greenborrow. And see if you can find Whitethorn. We could use his help with this. Finding a way to anchor a shielding spell to the metal of the gun is going to take a lot of brainpower and a nice big pot of tea.”
This was likely going to take hours. Long hours where Dayna and Gregory would be off working together while she was here. At least they weren’t alone. They were working with the banshee, the unicorn, and the pooka.
Sighing, Lillian reminded herself there was lots of work to be done. Now was not the time to be jealous. With new determination, she followed Gran and the others, ready to start working toward a way to inflict harm on the Lady of Battles.
****
A good six hours later, Lillian straightened from where she was leaning over a worktable. Her back protesting, she stretched and stomped feeling back into her feet. Even the aches and pains caused from standing unmoving for so long didn’t dull her sense of accomplishment.
Twelve prototype spell-warded rifles now lay spread across the worktable. It had taken some trial and error. And an explosion or two; one she’d triggered herself from behind the safety of a bulletproof barrier. Yet in the end, they now had working prototypes.
As Gran had suggested, finding a way to affix the spell to the rifle had been the most difficult part. The first two dozen tries had all ended with the spell disintegrating where it was attached to the metal. Sometimes the spell would buck and fight before slipping free of the metal and falling away from the gun. Gran had been correct. Magic and metal repelled each other like magnets of opposite polarity.
In the end, it was Greenborrow who said trying to attach the ward-spells to the rifles was too much like trying to saddle and ride a fractious horse. That had given Whitethorn the idea of weaving the ward-spell into a halter or net that could be slipped over the weapons. Once they managed that, a simple trigger spell had been enough to tighten a shielding spell over the rifle like a snug fitting glove.
The resulting product was a rather otherworldly looking firearm. A long green line ran along the top of the gun and down the handle.
Sorceress at War (A Gargoyle and Sorceress Tale Book 4) Page 6