And that meant Reason got me.
So it's all good, right? We were getting away in style. And we were going to be safe from that giant Elven dude.
No, not all good. Because I'm crazy scared of heights. I'd already had a long, bad (exhausting) day. And now I was having a bad day about five hundred feet off the ground. And Reason will probably wear the scars from my fingernails for the rest of his life.
"Are you alright?" he asked, grimacing as my nails clawed at his biceps.
"No, I'm not alright!" I shouted, squeezing my eyes shut.
"Take a deep breath," he advised. "We don't a have far to go."
"Couldn't we do this a little closer to the ground?" I whimpered, hiding my face in his smooth chest.
"Too dangerous," he answered with a rough chuckle that vibrated against my ear. "Someone might see us."
"I guess you wouldn't want that," I moaned.
"Not if we can avoid it," he agreed with another snicker.
"How did you get into the lab?" I asked, just to be talking and not worrying about how high we were.
"We went through the same window Force used," he said.
"I guess we were lucky it didn't set off the alarm system," I commented
"We were going in, alarms or no alarms," he growled. "And I imagine Force felt the same way. But Rafe hadn't set them. So it wasn't a problem."
"Keep talking," I begged him when he paused.
"Alright," he answered slowly. "I guess you should know about Walker."
"Walker?"
"He's a friend who's living with us this summer. But…he doesn't know about us."
"You mean he doesn't know about the wings that I only just found out about?"
"The wings and everything else," Reason said. "He wasn't home when we left but he might come back. So if you see a tall, skinny redhead, just be cool, okay?"
"Got it," I answered.
And somehow I survived the flight. But I was glad when Reason put me down on the front steps of the house where they live.
You wouldn't believe their place. It's like this huge mansion carved out of gray stone with dormers and turrets and a high, steep roof tiled with thin layers of slate. It's amazing. True, it's a bit of a fixer-upper but I could tell that the guys had already done a lot of work on it. The hardwood floors were polished to a warm glow and a window seat had recently been installed in the dining room.
It was nice.
But as soon as Reason put me down outside the front door, I hurried past the winding staircase in the tiled foyer and started looking for Force. I could just see the top of his head turning the corner at the end of the hallway, which wasn't exactly empty. As well as the cousins I'd already met, there seemed to be a girl for each of the boys. But I elbowed my way past all of them, the torn leg of my jeans flapping around my calf, intent on getting to Force. I found him in a large kitchen with retro-styled black and white tiled counters.
When I burst into the room, he was propped against the kitchen table, his long legs stretching to the floor. His clothes weren't dripping anymore but they were still wet and I was worried that he might be getting cold. In front of him stood a guy I hadn't seen before, an ash blond with a ponytail. He was holding Force's face in his hands and frowning into his eyes. "Alright," he said impatiently. "This can't wait any longer."
And as I watched, four sharp spikes slid from beneath the new guy's knuckles. That was startling enough. But before I could react, he plunged them into Force's neck. At that instant in time, I flashed on him. And I saw him doing the same thing to a middle-aged man with a beard. I witnessed the absolute horror in the man's eyes as he realized something terrible was happening. Then I saw the light die in his gaze as he turned to stone.
I was pretty sure I'd just seen a man die…at the hands of the guy who had his claws in Force's neck. And I lost it. Of course it didn't help that the guy with the claws had very pale hair tied back in a ponytail. Because for one horrible confused second, I thought he was another monster from the Olander tribe.
"No!" I shrieked and threw myself at the new blond, jumping on his back and trying to strangle him with my arm while raining blows on his head with my fist. I'm not exaggerating. I was smashing my knuckles against his skull just as hard as I could. But it didn't stop him. He just lifted an arm to shield his head and kept pumping that stuff into Force's neck.
And for the third or fourth time that day, I thought it was all over for Force.
Chapter Thirteen
"Victor!" the unidentified blond shouted over my screams. "Help! Force's lass is beating the crap out of me."
Victor hurried into the room and dragged me away (kicking and screeching). "It's alright," he murmured against my ear. "It's alright, m'dear. Defiance is Force's brother. He's trying to help."
"Trying to help?" I shrieked, still fighting Victor's hold. "Force is turning blue."
"I know," Victor said. "That's a good thing."
I ripped away from him, panting as I watched what was going down and pointing a finger at Defiance. "What's he doing to him?"
"Giving Force an…infusion. Of venom. Olivia and her brother drained him almost dry."
"Venom?" I shouted. "How is venom a good thing?"
"It is if you're a gargoyle," he explained. "Don't you know? Didn't Force tell you?"
"No, he didn't tell me," I yelled, lifting my wrist and rubbing the corner of my eye, surprised to find it was wet. Was I crying? What the hell was I crying for? Sure, it had been a trying day, but… "He didn't tell me anything. I don't know what the hell's going on!"
"Just calm down," Victor soothed. "And we'll explain."
But the venom thing was pretty much the breaking point for me; my nerves were gone. "I've had a bad day," I shouted, more wet stuff streaming down my face (I refused to admit they were tears). "First, I lost Force and I couldn't find him and I thought I'd never see him again. Then he turned up at my apartment and I thought everything would be okay. But it wasn't okay! Because a little while after that, he was abducted by a giant freaking Legolas."
"Rafe," Force explained to the others, pushing his brother away and trying to get to me.
But I backed away from him, angry as hell and pointing a shaking finger at him while the room filled with people, all of who were staring at me like I was mad (which I had to admit was a fair assumption). "Then after a long-ass delay that cost me my college fund, I managed to find a ride to Boulder and busted Force out of that lab where they were doing god-knows-what to him. I mean, look at him. Look how weak he is."
"They drained me," Force tried to explain. "Wh-What happened to your college fund?"
"But he could hardly walk and I had to leave him at the bottom of a river."
"It was a creek," Force told the crowd in the kitchen. "A small stream. And I wasn't fully submerged."
"So then I went to look for help and found Samantha," I said, pointing at the girl with the long brown hair. "But Rafe kidnapped me before I could make it back to Force. And I thought I was going to die. And Force was going to die too, at the bottom of the river where nobody could find him because I'd be dead and couldn't tell anyone where he was."
"Shhh," Force murmured, trying to wrap his arms around me. "Hush lass, and tell me what happened to your college fund."
But I wouldn't let him get close. "Then Rafe got Force's knife out and started to skin me alive."
"I know," Force whispered, trying to get at least one arm around me. "I know, lass. But it's alright now."
"No, it's not alright," I insisted, and shoved his arm away. "Because when I finally thought we might survive, somebody hoisted me about five hundred feet in the air. And nobody asked me if that was okay. Which wasn't okay because I'm terrified of heights."
"I'm sorry, but it was the fastest way to get home," Reason pointed out.
"And then Reason put me on my feet and I thought I could finally relax. My ankle would heal and Force would get better. So I hurry in here looking for Force to make sure he's ok
ay and wondering if he's warm enough. And I see someone I-don't-know and I've-never-seen-before sinking his claws into Force's neck. And I flip out because I think yet-another-person is trying to kill us. And I make an absolute fool of myself by jumping on Force's brother like some kind of deranged banshee."
"I know you're upset," Force soothed, but kept his distance this time.
"Upset doesn't even begin to cover it," I yelled. "Because you didn't tell me about any of this. You didn't tell me about the venom. Or the wings. Or flying five hundred feet off the ground. You didn't tell me you could turn to stone. You just kept springing this stuff on me without any warning. You could have told me!" I finished in a shout.
And for the next several seconds, the room was really quiet. Like everyone was waiting to see what exploded out of me next. But I was done exploding. I was exhausted. I'd made a complete ass of myself when I'd attacked Defiance and I was sure I was gonna die of embarrassment.
Snickering came from the other side of the room where Defiance stood, his hip hitched against the counter. "Force sure picked himself a wild one."
"Force didn't pick anything," I snarled, spinning to face him. "And I'm not his lass, by the way. I'm just a friend."
"Sorry, Miss Just-a-Friend," he drawled. "I'm not buying it. Not after the way you attempted to cave in my skull when you thought I was trying to hurt my brother."
So, yeah. The guy was infuriating. Which wasn't too surprising considering whose brother he was. Grabbing a quick breath, I finally took the time to look around at the crowd of people in the kitchen. Along with Victor, Chaos, Reason and Defiance, there were four girls. Of course I recognized Samantha who I assumed was Victor's girlfriend since she was wearing his rune. But I didn't know the rest of the girls. And after all the screaming I'd just done, it seemed a little late to try to introduce myself and sound even the tiniest bit sane.
But the girl with the freckles and black ponytail didn't appear to think so. "I'm Elaina," she said and stuck out her hand for me to shake. "And I just want you to know that you have every right to be upset."
It turned out she was Reason's girlfriend. And she proceeded to introduce the rest of the girls to Force and me including Whitney (who was with Defiance) and Torrie (who was Samantha's sister as well as Chaos's girlfriend). Surprisingly, each of the girls had nothing but sympathy for me.
"We've all been through this in one way or another," Torrie told me, pulling a hand back through her blond pixie haircut.
"How…how did you guys do it?" I asked, my voice almost failing me.
Whitney sighed and flicked her straight, pale hair over her shoulder. "All we can say is it's worth it in the end."
"Did Force kiss you?" Victor interrupted in the middle of all this girl-bonding.
"Wh-what?" I asked, feeling my cheeks turn hot. "Why are you asking?"
"Because if he kissed you, I agree with the girls. He should have told you about himself."
"Yeah, well, it wasn't a big deal," I said, catching Force's eye. "It was just a kiss. A short one. And we were running out of time when it happened."
"He wouldn't have kissed you unless it meant something," Victor insisted.
"It was just a kiss," I argued, slanting a quick glance at Force. "It wasn't any big deal."
Force pinned me with a dark look and finally took a step away from me, leaning back against the table again. "Speak for yourself, Miss-Just-a-Friend," he muttered.
"It was just a kiss," I insisted, my shoulders slumping in exasperation. "But that's not why he should have told me. He should have told me because we're friends. And friends don't keep secrets from each other."
Well. Except that I hadn't really been a great friend to him. I hadn't listened when he tried to tell me how he lost his job. So maybe he didn't owe me much in return. But I was on a roll and I had most of his friends and family on my side so I swung around to face Force again. A little more calmly, I said, "You should have told me."
"How could I have told you I was a gargoyle?" Force argued swiftly.
"You could have shown me your wings," I answered just as fast.
But Force wasn't listening. "How could I have told you I was from a different era? You wouldn't have believed me."
"Era?" I echoed then quickly recovered. "Yes, I would have," I argued. "Because of what I saw when I first met you. I flashed on you and saw you holding your sword in a medieval scene."
"You…flashed on me?"
But I ignored his question. "I would have believed you. You should have told me…something! Anything. But you kept it all from me. The one-inch spikes, the venom, the fact that you're a gargoyle." I crossed my arms over my chest. "Have I missed anything?"
"The hearing thing," he muttered after a long, guilty-looking pause.
"Hearing thing? What hearing thing?"
"They have crazy good hearing," Samantha supplied.
"It wasn't luck that brought me to your rescue at the lab," Force explained. "And I wasn't coming back for my weapons. I could hear you fighting Rafe when he dragged you from the car. So I made the change, got out of the water and came to help. But I had to hurry and I was exhausted when I reached you."
When he started talking about how he'd dragged himself to the lab to save my life, it was hard not to melt. So I think I deserve props for not losing my focus. "Anything else you've left out?" I asked, tight lipped.
"Harpies," he admitted.
"H-harpies? What do you mean, harpies?"
"It's…hard to explain," he said, looking around at the others for help.
But nobody spoke up so I guess harpies must be really hard to explain, just like he said.
Of course I was so tired, I'm not sure I could have absorbed any more unbelievable stuff for the day. I have a limit when it comes to things like that; and I'd reached it. I checked out Force to make sure he was okay, and decided he seemed a little better than when we'd left the lab. So maybe Defiance's infusion of venom was helping already.
"I want to go home," I said quietly. "Now."
"Camie," Force said. There was a note of pleading in his voice which surprised me especially since I was pretty sure I'd finally pissed him off when I'd said the kiss was no big deal. And that imploring note sounded out of place on a guy that tough.
But I wouldn't look at him. I searched the girls' faces. "Can someone give me a ride to Denver? I don't have any money so I can't take a bus or a taxi. And that sociopath back at the lab broke my phone so I can't call a friend to come get me."
"Of course," Elaina murmured but she looked at Victor and Reason like she was waiting for their permission.
"I want to go home," I repeated, making my position clear. "No flying. No gargoyles."
"You can't go without protection," Victor insisted right away.
"Protection from what?" I questioned him. "The Olanders don't know where I live. I'll be fine. We'll be fine."
Victor and the rest of the boys looked less than happy.
"Torrie could go with them," Reason finally suggested.
I looked at the tiny girl and couldn't help wondering why they considered her to be suitable protection. She was the probably the youngest person in the room.
"No way," Force barked, looking incensed that they'd even consider sending me home with a bunch of girls.
Which was SO like him.
But in the end, his family convinced him that Elaina could drive me home to Denver and Torrie could come along for protection.
The girls were nice. Really nice. I don't know why I was surprised. Elaina is an art student at CU Boulder and is at least four years older than she looks. And Torrie is like the youngest in the group of girls so it was weird as hell that she was the one they felt could best protect Elaina and me.
But on the way back to Denver, they told me a few more things about gargoyles. How they were stronger than normal humans and how Torrie had taken on some gargoyle traits.
"So you're like a gargoyle?" I asked.
"Minus the wings," s
he spoke up from the back seat. "But I have their enhanced hearing and some of their strength."
"How did that happen?" I asked, thinking that didn't sound bad and maybe I'd like to get me some of that.
"I almost starved at the hands of a harpy," she said, and changed my mind real quick. "Chaos fed me tiny drops of his venom to keep me alive."
"Why is it called venom if it's…good for you?"
"It's not good for you at full strength or in large quantities. Humans can only tolerate it in small amounts. A large dose would kill you and turn you to stone."
And I'm not sure I would have believed all that unless I'd seen it happen when I flashed on Defiance. I'm not sure I would have believed in harpies at all if Elaina and Torrie hadn't told me the stories. How Elaina had whacked off a harpy's nose with a cast-iron frying pan. How the pack had rescued Whitney from one of the monsters before it could get half a mile away. How Torrie had been a harpy's captive for two weeks, trapped in a mine with Chaos.
Turns out harpies are bigger and stronger than gargoyles. They run about seven feet tall with armored hide and are always looking for gargoyles because they crave their venom.
"Wasn't it cold in the mine?" I asked.
"Yes, but not as cold as most people think. It was well above freezing. It actually would have been warmer if the mine was deeper but the portal just went straight into the side of a mountain. I might have died of hypothermia but Chaos kept me warm," she said, blushing a little.
Chaos sounded pretty adorable. And Torrie was lucky to be alive. "So your boyfriends let us go home alone tonight because you're so strong?"
Elaina snickered. "I doubt we're alone."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
She flicked her gaze toward the roof of the car. "I suspect there are two sets of eyes in the air as we speak."
"Really?" I murmured, leaning toward the side window and scanning the sky.
"You won't see them," Elaina informed me. "They'll be dressed in dark clothing. And those black wings don't exactly show up against the night sky."
"I guess not," I answered, then got back to my questions. "Reason said something earlier about the pack."
Force Page 14