But I wasn't alone. Dare had stayed behind to hold their jackets and T-shirts. And to "protect" me. I'd tried to convince them Hooligan was more than enough dog to handle my security needs but the gargoyles weren't having it. They insisted one of them had to remain behind with me. I was pretty sure it had more to do with their lack of trust in me than anything else, but I felt sorry for Dare anyhow. I could see the longing in his eyes as he watched his pack circle away above the park.
"Maybe you can take off after they come back," I suggested as we watched the sky darken.
Dare shifted the awkward pile in his arms. "That would be nice," he murmured. "Only, I can't fly."
I stared at Dare as all the breath went out of my lungs and my heart beat brutally against my rib cage. He'd told me earlier that he used to dive from the sky at great speed, for fun. I knew there had to be something terribly wrong if he couldn't fly anymore. "What do you mean?"
But before he could answer, Hooligan moved close to my side and growled into the shadows behind us.
"What is it, boy?" Dare asked. He glanced over his shoulder into the dark forest that separated us from the house. The gargoyle's expression was troubled as he peered down the trail and murmured, "Hooligan's senses are better than mine."
"He's probably just sensing a fox," I murmured though Hooligan wasn't one to bark at shadows or even foxes.
"I don't think so," Dare answered quietly. His long coat swept the ground, the forest floor covered with a quiet carpet of brown pine needles. "Let's go back to the house."
I glanced up at the skies as we headed through the trees toward the house. I hoped the rest of the guys would return soon. I wasn't exactly afraid but I knew I'd feel safer with the pack there. Safety in numbers and all that. As I checked overhead again, I realized the growling had gotten louder. I lowered my gaze back to earth and discovered my dog watching the house in the distance. A rumbling snarl vibrated in his chest as he padded forward.
But Hooligan wasn't the only one growling. Dare was making the same noise.
"What's wrong?" I asked in a low voice, getting more concerned as we drew closer to home.
"Quiet," he warned as I followed his gaze down the trail. A dark form slinked through the shadows close to the house. Dare dropped his armful of clothing while I felt my pulse thicken in my veins.
A sudden swooping sound hovered overhead, like huge birds beating their wings against the air. I looked upward and saw the sky filled with black leather sails. Reason landed in front of me, caught me and tucked me behind him. Victor did the same, passing me back to Defiance, who passed me another step backward to Valor. Valor put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his body while Dare stepped forward and Havoc landed beside him.
"What is it?" I whispered.
Valor shook his head. "Something bad."
I held my breath, expecting a grizzly bear or mountain lion to loom out of the darkness. Although I'd never seen anything more impressive on our property than a young black bear—and that had been ten years ago when I was a girl—several people had reported mountain lions near our neighborhood. The big, golden cats are considered more dangerous than bears and more likely to attack humans.
The gargoyle pack stood in front of me, their wings folded into vests, their bodies held taut, as if prepared for battle. A flash of light caught my eye as the moonlight glinted on metal and I could see Dare had his knife gripped in his fist. My gaze traveled immediately to Defiance's hands. He wasn't holding a knife. Instead, it looked like he had slipped on a pair of brass knuckles tipped with sharp spikes. When I checked out the rest of the guys, their hands were the same. Except for Dare, they all wore the strange weapons on their knuckles.
A dark shape separated from the trees closest to the house and stepped onto the patio deck. I almost screamed when I recognized my neighbor's face. Not that he's horribly disfigured or anything like that. The guy's a perfectly normal-looking man in his mid-thirties. But his gaze is restless and cold and I've always avoided him. There's just something about him that makes me uneasy. I didn't know why he was creeping around my house at night but I doubted he was up to any good.
Victor reached the house in a few long strides. He stepped onto the patio deck, followed by Defiance and Reason. It took both Havoc and Dare to hold onto Hooligan who was throwing himself at the house and howling like he'd lost his mind.
I expected Victor to politely ask the tree-slayer if he'd lost his way. He's so dignified with his m'dears and all. But the golden gargoyle cut right to the chase. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.
It was clear that Blocker hadn't expected to run into a huge barking dog and six young men, any one of which looked like they could flatten him with a bare-knuckle punch. "Who are you guys?" he snarled. "What are you doing here?"
"We're MacKenzie's friends," Victor answered in a voice that was menacingly soft.
"Friends," he sneered, making my skin crawl. "Why should I believe you? I'd like to check with the girl and make sure you're supposed to be here. Make sure you don't mean to harm my young neighbor."
I opened my mouth, ready to speak up for my friends in no uncertain terms but Valor turned away from the scene and pulled me against his chest. I had to peek around his shoulder to see what was going on.
Victor put his face very close to the neighbor's. "We're supposed to be here. You're not. Piss off."
The neighbor's tone turned ugly. "We'll see about that when I tell the girl's mother that she's got six guys spending the night with her."
A tremor of rage vibrated through Valor as he looked over his shoulder at the deck. With one hand, he held my head against his chest. His other hand was knotted into a fist at his side. As I watched, the thick skin on his knuckles peeled back to reveal spikes about an inch long.
I stared, transfixed.
Those weapons I'd seen on the gargoyle's hands weren't brass knuckles at all. They were some sort of barbs that slid from beneath their knuckles like a cat's claws.
Chapter Twelve
My neighbor's language went downhill from there but Victor never lost his composure. His voice was silky with violence. "Don't let us catch you here again. Do you understand?"
"Don't threaten me," Blocker snarled. "You guys might think you're tough with your brass knuckles and knives but they'd be pretty useless against a real weapon."
Valor didn't seem to like the sound of that. My feet left the ground as he lifted me into his arms. He took a few running steps into the darkly shadowed forest then opened his wings and rose into the air. I would have squawked when we took off but he pulled my mouth against his chest and silenced me as we glided upward, out of danger.
"What about the others?" I whispered. My lips moved against Valor's skin as we circled over the park. "Will they be okay?"
"They'll be fine. They can handle themselves."
"But what if my neighbor has a gun?"
Valor shook his head. His handsome mouth was set in a grim line. "They'll kill him if he gives them an excuse."
It wasn't exactly the answer I expected but I was relieved Valor didn't think his family was in any danger. Only when I got to thinking about it, I started wondering how I would explain a dead body to the police. I hoped nobody got killed. "Why did you hide me from him?" I asked. "I could have told him you were allowed to be here."
"I couldn't stand the idea of him looking at you," Valor growled. "That guy is pure evil, MacKenzie."
My neighbor had always given me the creeps and I knew Valor was right about him. As far as I was concerned, Valor's statement proved Dare's earlier claim that gargoyles could tell a good person from a bad one.
I rubbed my cheek into Valor's smooth skin and tried to take strength from his warm, comforting presence. He smelled good in a way I couldn't describe. And it was nice to be in his arms, even if he was only trying to protect me. I might have enjoyed the flight over the park if I hadn't been so unnerved about what had just happened and so worried about what might be happen
ing now on the patio deck behind my house.
"Reason protected me. What was that about?" I asked. I was having a hard time accepting the idea. Up until then, everything Reason had done indicated that he didn't like me…at all.
Valor tucked his chin into his chest and looked down at me. "You're part of the pack now," he said quietly. "Reason will protect his hearth, home and family. It's instinct."
I decided this instinct business was working out in my favor. "But I thought…"
"What?" he asked.
Actually, I thought Reason couldn't stand me but I didn't say that. "I thought he didn't like me."
Valor seemed surprised. "I don't think Reason dislikes you. It's just that he's the second oldest and feels responsible for the safety of the pack."
"Shouldn't that responsibility fall to the oldest?"
"It does," he agreed. "Victor is the oldest and he leads the pack. But the second oldest is the one who must first put himself in danger to protect the pack and defend the leader."
"Is that why Reason landed first?" I asked.
"Aye. We formed our strategy in the air," he explained. "Victor and Defiance joined Reason to set up the first line of defense. They positioned my brothers behind them, to make sure they were the second line. I was meant to be the last line of defense. My job was to protect you and remove you from danger if anything happened to them."
If anything happened to them? I felt a sudden rush of emotion at the idea of the pack defending me…at all costs. "And you guys planned all that out while you were flying here?"
Valor gave my question some thought. "Actually, we didn't have to plan anything. We just did it as naturally as…breathing. I suppose it was instinct again."
I nodded without speaking, not sure I could comment without my voice shaking.
"You're trembling," he said softly.
"That guy gives me the creeps," I murmured, which was true. Just thinking about my neighbor gave me the shivers. I tried to laugh it off but that just made me shake more violently. Valor tightened his grip on me. His heat warmed me but I was still trembling when we returned to the house. The place was quiet, the hateful neighbor gone, while Havoc and Dare waited for us on the deck behind the house. Havoc was wearing his leather jacket, which meant the guys had retrieved the clothing Rage had dropped earlier in the evening.
As soon as Valor set me on my feet, I opened the sliding glass door and stepped into the kitchen. Hooligan cantered over to me and licked my fingers. "Are you guys okay?" I called out as we hurried into the living room. "You didn't kill him, did you?"
"Sadly, we couldn't find a good enough reason for murder," Defiance grumbled.
"Stay away from him," Victor advised simply.
Like I needed to be told that! I had no intention of ever having anything to do with the guy. I certainly didn't buy his story that he was just checking on me. Unfortunately, I didn't like to think what his real motive was, or how often he'd spied on me in the past.
"He's a bad man," Havoc said as he came up behind me.
"D-Did you see Hooligan?" I asked as I rubbed my hands over my arms. "He looked like he was ready to take on my neighbor all by himself."
"I think he was ready to take out his throat," Havoc chuckled and stroked his hand over Hooligan's furry head.
Hooli lifted his muzzle and gave a soft bark followed by a low, tough-guy growl.
We all laughed at my wolfhound and it helped to lighten the mood a little but I was still wound up. I think the others felt the same way. We stayed up late watching TV and it was almost two o'clock before the gargoyles started picking out places to sleep. I offered them my mother's bedroom but Victor said he'd bunk with Reason in my brother's room and Defiance said he was fine on the couch in the living room. Valor insisted that Dare move into the guest room with Havoc.
When I closed my bedroom door, Hooligan flopped down at the foot of my bed and opened his mouth in a huge yawn. He settled his face on his front paws and closed his eyes. Evidently, barking your head off is very tiring.
As I changed into my pajamas, I looked around at the shadows clinging to the corners of the room. I shivered and wondered if I'd ever really feel safe again. A firm knock on my bedroom door made me jump and I cursed myself for being such a wimp. I opened the door an inch then pulled it wider when I saw it was Valor. "What is it?" I whispered. "Is something wrong?"
"Now that there are three more gargoyles here, there aren't enough beds," he said as he looked back over his shoulder.
That wasn't quite true. "You could sleep on the sofa, downstairs in the family room," I suggested in a low voice.
He crossed his arms over his chest and gave me a stubborn look. "I won't leave you alone."
My eyes widened on him. "What are you trying to say?"
"I'm sleeping here, in your room," he answered, and pushed past me into the bedroom like I wasn't wearing a baggy pair of powder blue pajama pants…dotted with little black penguins…wearing red earmuffs. Fortunately, the top I had on was a quietly understated, plain white T-shirt.
"But if anything happened, you'd hear with your gargoyle super hearing," I pointed out, not really wanting to convince him of anything. I knew I'd feel safer with Valor in my room.
"I might not hear soon enough. And I might not get to you quickly enough," he argued. He glanced around the room and threw himself into my wide, French Provincial chair.
Valor looked good in the upholstered chair. It's been in my family for three generations and it's really comfortable. I usually take a book and drape my legs over one arm while I rest my head in the crook of the other arm. Anyhow, Valor looked too good to argue with, so I didn't try to make him leave. And I wanted to know about the spikes I'd seen on his knuckles. "What did I see tonight, on the back of your hands?"
For once, he didn't try to avoid the truth. "Hackles. When we sense danger, our hackles pull back and our barbs…extend."
"Show me," I demanded as I reached for his hand.
He shook his head and drew his hand away before I could touch it. "They're dangerous."
"What do you mean by dangerous?" I demanded. I found it hard to believe that Valor might endanger me in any way. I felt so safe when he was around.
"The talons are poisonous. They…release venom when we use them."
My mouth dropped open. "You told me you didn't have any super powers!" I almost shouted, feeling like he had totally misled me.
He chuckled softly. "I don't consider poisonous barbs to be a super power."
"You have hackles on the backs of your hands that peel back to reveal poisonous talons and you don't consider that a super power? You could probably kill a man with one blow."
"It would take more than one blow to kill a human male," he said matter-of-factly. "But it might kill a small female like you. It would definitely make you very ill." He gave me a serious look. "So you must be careful."
I backed up until my legs touched the bed then I sat down. "Okay, I'm being careful," I told him. "Can you make the barbs come out so I can see them?"
He made a fist and looked at his hand but nothing happened.
"Well?" I asked.
"Hang on," he muttered. "I'm trying to concentrate."
"But you didn't have to concentrate earlier when we were in the woods."
"That's because instinct kicked in," he explained. "The situation was dangerous and I was angry."
"You could think about my neighbor," I suggested.
He flicked his intense gaze at me and nodded. As I watched, his hackles pulled back and his barbs crept forward.
"That's amazing," I breathed, my eyes probably as big as tennis balls.
His barbs sank back beneath his knuckles and he smiled at me. "Now go to sleep," he ordered softly.
I hated to think of him spending the night in a chair even if it was comfortable. "You don't have to do this," I told him. "You don't have to spend the night in my room. I'll be fine here with Hooligan to guard me."
Valor cast his g
aze at my sleeping dog. "I don't think so," he murmured. He dropped his head onto the back of the chair and closed his eyes to signal the end of our conversation.
"Can I get you a blanket?" I offered.
"I'm fine," he muttered without opening his eyes. "My wings keep me warm."
As long as he was determined to stay in my room, I decided it was a good chance to learn more about him and his family. I was wide-awake, anyhow. "Tell me about the runes you wear on your necks. Are they letters from an old alphabet?"
He opened his eyes and gave me a surprised look. "Nay, they're not letters. They're words."
"They're words? Really? What do they mean? What does the rune on your neck mean?"
He reached up and laughed softly as he ran his fingers over the blue mark on his throat. "It's my name," he said as if it was obvious.
"The rune on your neck means Valor?" I questioned as I studied the blue tattoo.
He nodded and pointed to the symbol on his neck. "This is a rock in the ocean, turning back the waves. My brothers' runes mean Havoc and Dare."
"How did you get the tattoos?" I asked as I perched on the edge of the bed and swung my legs.
"Our mother named us when we were born and our father marked us when we came of age. All gargoyles wear their names on their throats. In fact, that's why we're called gargoyles."
I tilted my head and questioned him with a look.
"Gargoyle comes from the French word for throat."
"Really? French?"
"Nine hundred years ago in England, a lot of the nobility spoke French," Valor explained. "Gargoyles tried to hide their existence from most people but they always had human friends and those friends called our kind gargoyles. But the stone carvings that drain rainwater from buildings were also called gargoyles because they poured water from their throats."
"And because most of the manmade water drains were ugly, people used the same word to describe harpies," I mused as my hair fell over my eyes.
The Greystone Bundle (Books 1-4) Page 10