Yes, I had three gargoyle mates, and I was potentially in love with a fourth—Silas. But I’d pretty much ruined any chance of him ever feeling the same when I’d left him behind in the City of Wings.
“Oh, don’t flatter yourself, Sebastian.” I rolled my eyes. “If I did want to add to my harem, you’d be the last gargoyle alive I’d choose.”
“So, you’d go for Silas or Alaric then.”
I cleared my throat, feeling my cheeks flame. “This is a ridiculous conversation. Stop stalling and tell me why we’ve stopped here.”
“Well, I hate to return to base empty-handed,” he began, but I held up the bow and the sword with my eyebrows raised.
“Not exactly empty-handed.”
“Might as well be,” he said in a growl. “Those fae didn’t head straight back to their realm as they promised, though we really should have expected that. They stopped here first to get their weapons. We’ve basically come all the way here for nothing, but I have an idea. One that might be even better than a nice stash of magical weapons.”
I perked up a bit at that. Right now, it was hard to believe anything in this world could be better than a huge collection of weapons that could do far more than what the humans were amassing. Sure, they had a goddess controlling them or pushing them along, but they were still mortal and very much confined by the reality of this world.
But I couldn’t let Sebastian have the satisfaction of seeing my excitement. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“Well, as you know, I worked with the magic hunters for a bit.”
“How could I forget?” I asked in a wry tone of voice. It was an ever-present reminder in the back of my head any time I started to feel a tad bit softer against the former assassin. He was bad news. And he’d done terrible things. All for a hit of power and some cash.
“I’ve got connections. I know people. Let’s pay them a visit. See if we can get some information out of them. Particularly, let’s see if we can get them to tell us where Eris’s base is located.”
All this time, we’d had no idea where the magic hunters were basing their operations. We knew it was somewhere relatively close to the City of Wings, and we knew that it had access to helicopter pads and docks for ships. But we could never pinpoint the location, no matter how hard we’d tried.
“Alright, I can see how that might be useful. We could launch an attack on them instead of waiting for them to attack us.”
“Oh, I can do you one better than that, princess.” Sebastian flashed me a wicked smile. “If we know where her base is, we can sneak in and find out what her plans are. And if we know that, we’ll be one step ahead of her all the way to the end.”
It turned out that we’d been standing in the cow field of one of Sebastian’s contacts, which was about as far from what I’d expected as we could get. I’d conjured up images of dark alleyways and secret handshakes, shadows pulsing along grimy walls. But this...this was just an ordinary old farmhouse in the countryside. Dogs barked out the window, and the hazy warm glow of a fire made the entire place feel warm and welcoming. The total opposite of magic hunters controlled by a terrifying god.
I turned to Sebastian and arched an eyebrow. “Is this part of your grand scheme to get on my nerves as much as possible? Make up a fake contact who lives what looks like a perfectly ordinary life?”
“What you’re forgetting, princess,” he said with a wink, “is that ordinary is the perfect cover for extraordinary.”
He knocked on the door, and the barking dogs grew strangely silent. A shiver of ice slid down my spine. A warning. A premonition of something terrible to come. Maybe Sebastian was right, after all. Maybe this place was more than what it seemed.
The door creaked open, and a tall, thin woman in matching flowery pajamas blinked out at us. She stared hard at Sebastian’s face before flicking her eyes my way. There was something strangely sharp and unnerving in those eyes, as if she saw far more than most people in this world did.
“Sebastian,” she finally said, her tone of voice curt. “I’m surprised to find you on my doorstep after you disappeared without any warning.”
“Rumor has it you disappeared yourself, Fiona.” He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin. “They say you lost your nerve, and I’ve got to admit, I never expected that from you. Hell, you had nerves of steel when I knew you. Guess people change.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Speaking of nerve, you’ve got a hell of a lot of it coming here and insulting me. I have a mind to turn you away. And I would.” Her eyes flicked to my face again. “But I know who this silver-haired girl is. You’re lucky she’s with you, or I’d feed you to my dogs.”
Chapter 3
Turned out that Fiona had a lot of bark, but she didn’t really have much of a bite, at least that I could see. The inside of her house was the very definition of country chic. Everything was rustic and gingham, and a row of wellies sat by the front door, along with a tweed coat. Two black labs sat by the flickering fireplace, panting with open-mouthed smiles.
I raised my eyebrows and turned to Fiona. “You’re a magic hunter?”
“Was,” she said quietly as she eased onto a gingham armchair where she’d left behind a paperback book, propped open near the end. “I got drawn into the entire thing before I even realized what I was doing. Like I was in a daze. I snapped out of it when Eris decided to shoot gargoyles out of the sky. I saw one of their wings get hit. I saw him falling into the sea.” She swallowed hard and shook her head. “Something about seeing the violence up close, when I’d never been a violent person before...I guess it got to me.”
I nodded, remembering the incident she meant. An incident that had been all Sebastian’s fault. I shot him a quick glare.
He held up his hands. “No one got killed, though I am sorry for what happened.”
“Sure you are,” I said.
“Anyway,” Sebastian said, turning back to Fiona. “Rowena and I have come here because we’re hoping you can give us some information. You were pretty well within the trusted circle, right?”
“Kind of.” She frowned. “But Eris didn’t share her plans with me if that’s what you’re thinking. At least, not until it was time for us to leave. She kept it all very guarded and very secret. For reasons like this, I imagine. If she’d shared that with me, I could easily spread it around to the wrong sort of people.”
“As much as we would love to know her plans, that’s not why we’re here. We just need to know where her base is.”
Fiona frowned before heaving out a long sigh. She shut her book again, finger pressed in between the pages. She motioned for us to sit on the sofa with its matching gingham print. We both sunk into the soft pillows, and I pressed my elbows onto my knees, waiting and hoping she’d give us an answer.
“I can tell you,” she finally said. “But if she finds out you know about it, you have to swear on your mother’s grave that you will not tell her where you got your information. She’ll kill me. You know that, right? I don’t know what it is about that woman, but she’s not normal. There’s something strange and twisted about her. You have to leave me out of it.”
I held up my hands. “I swear. She’ll never know it was you.”
With a heavy sigh, she nodded. “Fine. There’s a little island off the coast of France. It’s not on any map that I could find. It’s like the Bermuda Triangle or something. Compasses go crazy when you get near it. Planes crash. Boats get turned around. That woman says she wants to get rid of magic, but I swear she’s got some magic herself.”
I gave a nod. It made sense. Eris would do whatever it took to obscure the location of her own little private island.
Fiona stood and strode over to a little desk in the corner by a big bay window. She snatched up a faded paper from the top of a pile of documents and strode back over to hand it to me.
“Here. This is the map I’ve been staring at the past few weeks, trying to make sense of it all.” She pointed at a red circle. “That’s my
best guess of where it is. If you’re looking for Eris, I’d start there.”
“That was weird,” I said when Sebastian and I stepped outside of the little farmhouse.
“Because she wasn’t what you expected,” he said.
“Well, no.” I frowned. “I mean, the magic hunters are trying to kill all the witches in the world, and they’ve been pretty freaking aggressive about it. How can someone like that be part of a murdering mob?”
“Not everything is that black and white, princess.” He reached out and took my hand in his. My heart thumped. “You heard her. She didn’t truly understand what she was a part of, and it sounds like Eris is using some kind of magic to sway people’s thoughts, which isn’t particularly surprising.”
“Well, if that’s the case, then how are we ever going to fight her? How can we defeat someone who can control people’s minds?”
He squeezed my hand. “She snapped out of it. Eris’s methods aren’t foolproof.”
I gave a nod, but I still didn’t feel certain or particularly optimistic anymore. If anything, the conversation with Fiona had unnerved me to the point of fear. No wonder the magic hunters had been so brutal in their attacks. Their minds were being warped, twisted, and confused by the very power they swore they were trying to stop.
They were being controlled by magic, and they had no idea. Eris must have access to the same kind of commanding magic I’d realized I had myself, but instead of using it for gain, I’d sworn never to touch it ever again. I didn’t want to control anyone like that.
“Come on. Let’s go see what Eris is up to.”
I blinked at him. “What, now?”
“You have something better to do?”
Yes. No. Well, not really. I’d only been gone for half a day, but I already missed my mates like I’d miss every single one of my limbs. I yearned to see their faces and to feel their strong arms wrapped around my waist. But, at the same time, we needed to find out what Eris had planned. The witches, Kipling, and the gargoyles, they were all waiting for our return with good news and special weapons. And yet, we had nothing.
Not to mention, I had a sneaking suspicion that they’d all argue against me sneaking into the den of the enemy. If I was going to do this, this might be my only chance.
“Okay,” I said, filling my lungs with fresh night air. “Let’s do this.”
A few hours later, Sebastian and I circled what looked like a tiny island in the middle of the sea. The wind thrashed at our faces, along with a dash of ice cold rain. The closer we’d gotten to the island, the worst the wind got until it almost felt as though we were in the midst of a hurricane. We’d brought a compass along with us, and it was spinning wildly, as if it were possessed by a demon itself.
“I’m pretty sure this means we’re here,” Sebastian said, gritting his teeth as he fought to beat his wings against the brutal wind. “We need to touch down. I’m not sure how much longer I can hold us in the air like this.”
I’d saved gargoyles from drowning in the past, but this time, there wasn’t much I would be able to do. We were miles above the sea, and if we plunged into the darkness of the waters from this height...well, I didn’t want to think about it.
Sebastian beat his wings, forcing us forward. The bitter tornado of the storm whipped around us and slapped my hair against my face. We dropped lower and lower to the ground, approaching the tiny island at an alarming pace. I closed my eyes to block out the sight of the ground and focused on cloaking the two of us in shadows. If this was indeed Eris’s island, she would no doubt have eyes out for intruders. So, I had to make sure there was nothing for those eyes to see.
Thunder boomed, and Sebastian’s wings faltered. Soon, we were off balance, careening toward the mossy ground. I clung to Sebastian’s neck and swallowed down my scream. Everything inside of me was screaming, and my heart was pounding so hard it felt as though it might explode inside my aching chest.
The sudden fall made my stomach turn, and nausea bubbled up in my throat. When the ground was only seconds away, Sebastian pulled me closer against his chest and rolled forward. We slammed into the ground, but it was Sebastian who took the brunt of the impact. He fell hard onto his back, his body curled around mine as we rolled and rolled and rolled.
Bright spots lit up my vision as the world began to still around me, and I had to gasp for air to refill my lungs. We’d fallen. Hard. So hard that my breath had literally been knocked out of me, but nothing was broken. Sebastian had made certain of that. With a groan, I rolled off of him and pressed my hands flat against the mossy earth, trying to blink out the stars in my eyes.
“Sebastian,” I said through deep gulps of air. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine, princess,” he said with only one eye open. “I’ve taken far worse hits than that, remember?”
I cracked a grin. “Are you finally admitting that my punch knocked you senseless?”
“Never.” But the wicked smile on his face said otherwise. “And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like we’ve come to the wrong place.”
Chapter 4
“What do you mean, we’ve come to the wrong place?”
With everything that had happened, we just couldn’t be in the wrong place. I didn’t know how my mind could handle it. We’d fought so hard and for so long, it was time we had a real break. Something good needed to happen. We needed something. A hope. A kernel of it, that was all. I didn’t know how much longer we could all keep going without it.
“Look.” Sebastian nodded at whatever rose up behind me, and I turned to find that it was...absolutely nothing. There was actually nothing at all on this island. We were sprawled out next to a rocky beach that jutted out into the crashing waves. A carpet of moss stretched out in all directions until it disappeared into more rocks and sand. No trees. No shrubs. No base of operations for the magic hunters.
Disappointment curled in my gut, and an overwhelming sense of exhaustion washed over me.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “How could we have gotten this so wrong? This is where the map led us. Unless...”
Unless Fiona had been lying to us.
“I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong,” Sebastian said. “Fiona wouldn’t have lied to us about this. She has well and truly left that life behind. She wouldn’t have tried to trick us.”
“Well, it’s either that or we have the wrong island.” Although that seemed unlikely, what with all the storms and crazy compass readings.
With a grunt, Sebastian pushed his bruised body up from the ground and ran a hand down his face. “Or maybe there’s more to it than that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe there’s more here than what we can see. Much like what Dreadford Castle used to be.”
Realization dawned, and I widened my eyes, nodding as I scanned our seemingly remote surroundings. “So, you think she’s put some sort of illusion over it.”
“Perhaps. Let’s have a look around.”
Sebastian held out a hand to where I was still flat on my ass. Somehow, even though he’d practically thrown himself between me and the ground, I was the one who looked and felt far more worse for wear.
I frowned at his hand and cocked my head. “How did that manage not to hurt you?”
“Oh, it hurt like hell.” He flashed me a grin. “But it didn’t permanently hurt me any more than your crazy-ass punch did. Remember how I told you I often took power as payment for services rendered?”
“You mean assassinating people,” I said in a flat voice.”
He chose to ignore my remark. “The power to withstand blunt force was one of my many payments. It’s been pretty fucking useful if you ask me.”
“Maybe we should test how much force it can really withstand,” I said, finally pushing myself up from the ground. “Because every power has a weakness, no matter how invincible you might think you are.”
“Go on, then.” He grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. “
Give me your best.”
I was sorely tempted, if only because he’d reminded me, once again, of his terrible actions. He’d done a lot to make up for it, but would that ever really erase it? But a little voice whispered in the back of my mind, worrying that I might actually hurt him, even though I’d just learned of his strange immunity to blunt force.
It was actually infuriating. I wanted to tell that little voice to shut up. I hated that I no longer hated him. All I wanted to do was be able to punch him halfway across this island, but I couldn’t even do that.
“You’re so annoying,” I merely said.
“Face it,” he said with a wink. “You’re stuck with me.”
For now, I thought, grumbling to myself.
The two of us strode away from the sea, gazing around for any sign of the illusion. The further we got into the center of the island, the more I thought that Sebastian might be wrong. The thing about illusions was...well, they were illusions. They didn’t just erase the existence of a building completely. It only made it seem as though it wasn’t there. Visually.
If this base was actually here, we would have run into it by now. The island was only so big, and there was nowhere for a building to hide.
With my heart sinking in my chest, I turned to tell Sebastian that it was time we gave up once and for all and head back to Mont Circeo. And out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shimmer. It reminded me of something I’d seen before.
When I turned to face it head on, the shimmer disappeared. Then, I twisted again, and the shimmer reappeared in the corner of my eye.
“There’s a portal here,” I said. “It’s just like the one in the caves of Mont Circeo.”
Sebastian lifted an eyebrow. “That’s impossible. Humans cannot travel to the realm of the gods. It would destroy them or drive them crazy, whichever came first.”
“How lovely,” I said. Every time I learned a new thing about the gods, the more I realized how far from being one of them I truly was. Yes, I might have their blood running through my veins, but we were nothing alike. They were distant and divorced from this reality. No one and nothing in it mattered to them. We were pawns in a little game that none of us truly knew how to play, not even me. My own grandmother, alive and well, wouldn’t even speak to me when she’d had the chance.
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