Midnight

by Christi J. Whitney

  Zindelo wrapped his fingers around the handle of the axe buried in Ezzie’s chest. He pulled hard. One sharp movement. The blade came free. Ezzie’s body convulsed. With the axe gone, blood poured freely, soaking her shirt. I clutched my stomach, but I refused to look away. Nadya scooped out the mixture and packed it into the gaping wound. She pressed on it with both hands, holding it in place. Blood bubbled up through her fingers.

  ‘Come on,’ Hugo begged through clenched teeth. ‘Work.’

  Nothing seemed to happen at first. Nadya slowly removed her hands and sat back. Hugo’s face wrenched, and he turned away. Then, the blood ceased flowing. The prah sank into her wound like it was quicksand. The wound closed over and the red stain across her shirt shimmered into dust and crumbled away. I blinked, hardly believing what I was seeing. Ezzie chest heaved in a giant breath. And her eyes opened.

  ‘Hey,’ said Hugo, smiling down at her. ‘Thought I’d lost you for a minute.’

  She stared up at him. ‘I believe I have demonstrated on many occasions that I am difficult to get rid of. Now, help me up.’

  Hugo stood and offered his hand. She took it and rose unsteadily, planting her feet for balance. She looked at her hands, turning them over and over again. Then she tested her wings. A slow smile spread over her features, which were somehow softer and more pliable than they had been in her human skin. She turned around and faced Hugo.

  ‘Well,’ he said, looking her over. ‘This is different.’

  Zindelo studied them for a moment. ‘According to Markus Corsi’s book, Esmeralda will need a new brand in order to remain in this form.’

  Hugo shrugged his shoulders at Ezzie. ‘Don’t worry. I know a guy.’

  Her eyebrows lifted. ‘Is he any good?’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Hugo with a grin. ‘He’s okay.’

  I stepped away from them and turned to thank La Gargouille for his help.

  He was gone.

  A terrible, frantic feeling stuck me square in the chest. I searched the sky, listening for the flap of wings. I ran to the other end of the rooftop and ducked around the collection of spires. And then, I saw him.

  He was perched on the corner of the parapet with his clawed hands and feet anchoring him into place. His massive wings were curled in and folded. His eyes were turned towards heaven in a tortured, frozen stare.

  A terrible sound rang in my ears. Vaguely, I knew it was my own voice, but it felt like it was coming from someone else. I put one foot in front of the other, pushing away the dread that crashed all around me. When I reached him, all my nightmares came true.

  He’d turned to stone.

  My heart withered inside me. I slowly reached out and placed my hand on his wing. It was no longer soft and leathery, but solid granite. Sebastian was a statue. I doubled over as the air left my lungs. I’d lost him. After all this, I’d still lost him.

  ‘Somehow, he won,’ said Zindelo.

  I spun around in the pebbled gravel. Zindelo and Nadya approached, followed by Hugo and Ezzie. Their eyes were on Sebastian. Hugo’s dark face drained of color.

  ‘How is this winning?’ I shot back.

  Zindelo peered over the ledge to the ground below. ‘Because of him, the battle is over. He turned them all to stone. Every last shadowen here. Including La Gargouille himself.’

  ‘The monster is no longer a threat,’ said Nadya softly.

  My knees went weak. Sebastian had done what he’d said he’d do. He’d stopped it all. But at the price of his own existence. Everything in me felt like it was going to explode. I didn’t know what to do with my emotions. I grasped for my pendant, before I remembered Augustine had shattered it against the wall.

  ‘No,’ I said, turning my back on them. ‘This can’t be over. Not like this. I don’t believe he was only La Gargouille.’ I looked up at his statue form. ‘Whatever his origins were, whatever that creature did to him when you brought him to life, he is still Sebastian. I don’t need books or sclavs or anyone else to tell me that.’ I stepped in front of him. ‘He just needs to believe it himself.’

  I placed my hands on either side of his marbled face. ‘Do you hear me, Sebastian? It’s time for you to be the person you want to be.’ I touched my forehead to his, feeling the cold against my skin. Without my pendant, I didn’t know if communication was even possible anymore. But I had to try.

  You are Sebastian Grey. And that is all that has ever mattered to me.

  My lips touched his cold cheek.

  I love you.

  The only response was silence.

  Tears slid down my face and tickled my neck. I reached up to wipe my eyes, and then, I realized … they weren’t my tears. I jerked back and stared into his granite face. The corners of his stone eyes were wet.

  ‘Sebastian?’

  I heard a cracking sound. I stumbled back as his stone body began to crumble. Then, a rush of wind and debris circled him like a hurricane. The stone blew apart, and Sebastian melted into life.

  His legs and arms became fluid. His eyes fluttered closed and he slumped forward. Ezzie was there with gargoyle speed, helping me to catch him as he fell into my embrace. For a horrible second, I thought he was dead. But I felt the lift and fall of his chest under my hands. We lowered him to the ground.

  The bulging veins had disappeared, and the silver cracks and fiery face were gone. He looked like Sebastian again – the gargoyle Sebastian as I remembered him. With slightly larger horns and wings, maybe, but it was him.

  Hugo let out a heavy sigh. ‘I thought for a second he might—’

  ‘Be a boy again?’ finished Nadya, glancing at her son. ‘As he seemed when we first brought him to you.’ She placed her hand on his shoulder. ‘You must remember, Hugo, he was never a boy. Only the statue of one.’

  I looked at Sebastian’s gargoyle features, as he lay lifeless in my arms. ‘But it’s gone now,’ I said carefully. ‘La Gargouille.’

  ‘Gone?’ Zindelo shook his head. ‘No, I’m afraid he is not. If the monster were completely gone, then Sebastian would cease to exist as well. They are one and the same. But Sebastian is the master now, as you can see for yourself.’

  We all looked at him, watching as his breathing grew steadier and a flush of dark-gray color came into his cheeks. I hugged him protectively to me.

  ‘I knew you could do it,’ I whispered into his ear.

  Suddenly, Sebastian took a gulp of air and bolted upright. He struggled free of my grasp as his silver eyes flew open. He looked around wildly, trying to lock onto something I couldn’t see.

  ‘I am … I was …’

  He struggled for words and faltered.

  ‘Yes, you were,’ said Zindelo. Sebastian fixated on him. There was recognition in his expression, but also confusion. ‘And someday,’ continued Zindelo, ‘you may be again. But for this time and space, you are Sebastian Grey. Be content in that.’

  ‘I know you,’ said Sebastian. His voice was scratchy and raw, as though a part of him clung to the remnants of La Gargouille. But the glaze over his eyes cleared away. ‘Zindelo Corsi.’

  ‘Hello, Sebastian,’ he replied. ‘It has been a while.’

  Zindelo stood to his feet and moved to join his wife. Sebastian blinked slowly, looking around the rooftop, and I could see him trying desperately to process where he was and who we were. His gaze fell on me.

  ‘Josephine.’

  Hearing my name on his lips burned into my heart. Because it was his voice again, his real voice. Soft and mellow, and full of emotion. The warmth in my chest spread like wildfire.

  Then, I saw everything flood back to him in a startling rush of memories. His face wrenched into a painful expression. His silver eyes widened. He scooted back, fumbling over his wings, and stared at me in horror.

  ‘I’m a monster.’

  His voice was somewhere between a sob and a snarl.

  ‘No, you’re not,’ I said, rushing to take his face in my hands as I’d done just moments before. ‘I know you’ve been told
that so many times that you believe it. But now, I’m asking you to believe me.’

  ‘But who I am … what I did …’ His wings snapped to their full extent and his upper lip curled away from his teeth. His silver eyes were pained, but resolute. ‘How can you even look at me?’

  Slowly, I removed my hands from his face, but only to take his hands in my own. I wrapped my fingers firmly around his, tracing his claws with my thumb. Then I pulled his hand to my check and pressed his palm against my skin. I held his gaze firmly. ‘I’m looking at you, Sebastian.’

  His bottom lip quivered. Then his lip settled once more over his teeth. He stared back at me. His eyes, which were still so strange, so inhuman, were also the most human thing I’d ever seen in my life. I read straight into them, down to the depths of his heart. And at that moment, there wasn’t anything supernatural about Sebastian Grey.

  I traced the crease in his brow with my finger. His eyelids fluttered closed and, after a moment, his forehead smoothed. ‘Now,’ I said. ‘Look at me.’

  His eyes opened, like a burst of moonlight from behind a cloud.

  ‘What do you see?’ I asked.

  His gaze roamed my face and then met my look. ‘I see us,’ he said simply. And then, he smiled – really smiled – full and bright, sharp-toothed and all. And it was amazing. Because it was Sebastian. And he was mine.

  42. Sebastian

  I took Josephine in my arms, like I’d dreamed about so many times. And she wasn’t disgusted. She wasn’t afraid. She hugged me tight, and her eyes shone with emotion like I’d never seen them before, like liquid emeralds, staring right at me, through me.

  ‘I love you, Josephine.’

  Her smile destroyed the shadows, once and for all.

  ‘I love you back.’

  43. Josephine

  I didn’t want to let him go. I pressed my cheek against his chest, feeling the steady beating of his heart. It felt like we’d been apart for years. So much had changed in such a short amount of time. Now that I had him back, now that I’d finally gotten honest about my feelings, I didn’t want this moment to end.

  Neither do I.

  I startled. Sebastian had spoken in my head. I swallowed hard and answered back.

  How did you hear me?

  I felt him smile.

  You’re speaking kind of loud.

  I didn’t know I was speaking at all. How are we doing this?

  Sebastian paused before answering.

  I have no idea.

  I carefully pulled up a mental wall, at least, as much as I could tell. Not that I wanted to block him out. But I didn’t want to say more and risk giving away my thoughts. Ezzie said she’d never heard of a guardian and charge who could speak to each other telepathically. But Sebastian was the essence of La Gargouille. I supposed that took everything off the table.

  At last, he pulled back, releasing me from the embrace. I reached for his hand. He gave it freely to me. No more cringing away. I let my gaze roam his face, taking in every detail. Sebastian’s ordeal had left its mark on him, in more ways than the larger spiraled horns that curled back into his pewter hair. There was a haunted look in his eyes that even our happiness didn’t totally eradicate.

  ‘Hey.’ I squeezed his hand. ‘It’s okay. It’s over.’

  He nodded, and the look retreated to some place deep inside him. His silver eyes sparkled back to life. He took a deep breath and looked around, as if seeing everything for the very first time. His mouth slacked open in surprise as he spotted Ezzie.

  ‘You’re a gargoyle.’ His eyes flicked to Hugo, who was standing close to Ezzie. His brow furrowed curiously at his brother. Hugo only shrugged. Sebastian glanced back at me. ‘I’ve missed a lot, haven’t I?’

  ‘Yeah.’ My smile dropped. ‘Actually, we should get back.’

  He tilted his head. ‘Where?’

  Nadya moved forward. ‘To our people.’

  Sebastian blinked several times at Hugo’s mother. ‘I know you, too.’

  ‘Yes, you do,’ said Nadya. ‘But now is not the time for re-introductions.’ She moved to the shattered glass dome and peered into the sanctuary below. ‘The rest of you should get down there. Zindelo and I will meet you, as soon as we’ve reawakened these gargoyles.’

  Sebastian’s eyes roamed over the rooftop, taking in the four statues, frozen in their last battle stances. More recognition flickered in his expression. ‘I’ve met them before. These are the Sobrasi’s gargoyles.’

  ‘Not anymore,’ said Hugo.

  I tugged on Sebastian’s clawed fingers, bringing his attention back to me. ‘What do you remember?’

  Sebastian winced. ‘Just bits and pieces, really. I remember Augustine’s tattoo and then feeling like I was leaving my body. After that, I have glimmers, like fragments of moments.’ He kept his eyes on me. ‘Of you, mostly. The rest of it’s just a blank. Until here, on the rooftop.’ His wings quivered. ‘When I … he … the creature, I mean … we killed Augustine.’

  ‘And saved Esmeralda,’ added Hugo.

  Zindelo joined his wife at the window. ‘Go and speak to our people, Josephine. They need the reassurance of their Queen.’

  Sebastian’s shocked look returned as he stared at me. It was an almost child-like confusion and, combined with his impressive gargoyle appearance, made my heart melt with sympathy.

  ‘I’ll try and fill in the blanks on the way down,’ I said, touching his cheek with the back of my hand. ‘After everything that’s just happened, I think we’d better take the stairs.’

  44. Sebastian

  I had to curl my wings around my body to make it down the spiraling staircase that led from the bell tower to the ground floor. Josephine talked at a ninety-mile-an-hour pace, covering everything that had happened since she’d followed me to Savannah, and finishing up with the stuff I’d missed after my brain had taken a back seat to the creature.

  The story of how I was created made my brain whirl. The only comfort I found in it was in knowing that the dark thing I’d been battling inside me for months wasn’t my own invention. It had a name.

  But I couldn’t bring myself to say it, not even in my head. I was scared that if I did, he’d find a way to come back. I ground my teeth together. No, he wasn’t gone. He was me. We were, somehow, the same. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. But I had to accept it. Josephine had told me it was time to be who I wanted to be. That’s exactly what I was going to do from this point forward.

  The creature didn’t control me. I controlled him.

  We reached the bottom of the stairs and turned a few corners. Josephine suddenly paused and turned around to face me. Her hand was still in mine. Neither one of us seemed to be able to let go since the rooftop. I looked down at her, shaking myself free of my thoughts.

  ‘Do you have any questions?’ she asked, apology in her tone.

  ‘At least four hundred and fifty, easily.’

  She smiled, and my stomach did flips. I’d do anything for that smile.

  ‘So, we’re good,’ she said.

  ‘Yeah. I think I’ve got enough to go on right now. Anymore and I might go all crazy again. I heard that’s not such a good look for me.’

  ‘Not trying to be picky,’ she replied. ‘But I prefer you this way.’

  The stairs creaked behind us. Hugo and Ezzie had fallen far behind us, having their own conversation, I was sure. Ours wasn’t the only relationship that had gone through some changes, in more ways than one.

  I looked over Josephine’s shoulder at the door leading into the sanctuary. My humor vacated. ‘Are you sure you don’t want me to go in with you?’ I knew her answer before she voiced it.

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘I know. I’m the creature who made the shadowen all-call.’

  ‘You were under Augustine’s control,’ she said firmly. ‘We all know it. And soon, they will as well.’

  ‘Are you going to be okay?’

  Her shoulders slumped. ‘I’m Queen because Augustine mu
rdered my aunt. Her body is still in there, along with who knows how many more. I don’t know what I’m going to do.’

  I reached up and tentatively took one of her braided ribbons between my claws. The fabric was soft, but nothing compared with Josephine’s hair. ‘You’ll know. Just trust yourself.’ We leaned towards each other, but we both stopped short. As much as I ached to kiss her, it wasn’t the time. I forced a smile instead. ‘I’ll be right here.’

  Hugo and Ezzie appeared from the hall. I did a double take at Ezzie. For the first time, I saw myself through someone else’s eyes – the shock of seeing a person a certain way, and then the change to gargoyle after. I suddenly thought about Katie and my stomach clenched. The Corsis would’ve protected her. She was okay. She had to be okay.

  ‘You ready?’ asked Hugo, looking at Josephine.

  ‘It doesn’t really matter either way,’ she replied.

  She smiled at me once last time, then opened the door and slipped through.

  Hugo set his large hand on my shoulder. ‘It’s good to have you back.’

  Several retorts scrolled through my brain, but I didn’t use any of them. My heart felt like an anchor, weighed down by everything on the other side of that door, everything I couldn’t see, but feared. Augustine may have been gone, but the destruction he left behind would leave us scarred forever.

  ‘Thanks,’ I said.

  He squeezed my shoulder and let go. Hugo’s face arranged itself into the emotionless mask I knew so well. ‘Okay, I’m going in to find our clan and make sure everybody’s okay and find out what I can do.’

  ‘I’ll stay here with Sebastian,’ said Ezzie.

  As soon as my brother was gone, I began to pace the length of the narrow hall – not an easy task with two gargoyles sporting large wings in close quarters. My instincts had cooled after waking up on the roof, but now, with Josephine absent, I felt the protective stirrings, pricking at me and urging me to go to where she was. I moved closer to the door without realizing it.