The air was saturated with the creeper’s piercing shrieks, and then there was silence.
I opened my left eye a crack. “Is it over?”
“Kenna kill creepers.”
Okay, rein it in. Exhaling and inhaling through my nose, I focused on pulling the energy back into myself until we were surrounded by darkness once more.
“Kenna?”
Baal.
I dropped down to the ground beside him, taking his head in my hands. His eyes were drowsy, his brow beaded with perspiration. My hand hovered over the weeping welt that ran across his chest. Oh, god, please don’t let him die.
“We have to get him out of here. We have to get him home. Shit!”
Where the heck was his mansion? With the amount of light I’d just thrown, someone from the fortress was bound to have noticed. They could be coming for me right now. The last thing I needed was another altercation with Erebus.
Baal raised a hand, his index finger brushing against my cheek. “Fetch your gargoyle friend.”
“Fargol!” I waved him over.
Fargol crouched before us, his huge body blocking out the moon completely. “Tell Fargol where home be.”
“The Wahda Sea, the province of Sa’ada. Do you know it?”
“Fargol will find it.”
Baal’s eyes fluttered. “Ariana, take me to Ariana.” Unconsciousness claimed him.
Fargol turned his monstrous face to me, his kind eyes gleaming in what was left of the moonlight. “Fargol will carry Baal, Kenna must ride.”
He was big and powerful, but to carry a djinn and a human, it may just be too much. “Are you sure you can do that?”
“Fargol is sure.” He nodded firmly then stood. “We go now.”
He picked up Baal as if he weighed nothing, and then crouched to allow me to clamber on to his back.
“Hold tight, Kenna.”
Those were the last words I heard because the beat of his powerful wings blocked out everything else.
16
It was the longest ride of my life. Perched atop Fargol, face pressed to his stony neck, his wings echoing the beat of my heart I prayed that Baal would make it. The wind ripped at my hair and scraped at my cheeks, and I prayed that we’d make it to Ariana on time. We flew through the night, into the dawn, and finally the tang of salt told me we were almost where we needed to be.
I lifted me head to see the forest below us, and Baal’s mansion rising out of it like a sleepy dragon. The tower stood out as the tallest section of the structure.
I yelled into Fargol’s ear. “There. The tower over there!”
Fargol swooped down. Salty air pricked at my eyes, and I ducked, blinking away the moisture. The drop in altitude turned my stomach, and then we were landing, much too softly to be atop a stone gargoyle.
Fargol gently placed Baal’s unconscious form on the ground and dropped to his knees to allow me to clamber off his back. My feet touched the floor, and I turned to Fargol and wrapped my arms around his neck as best I could, before pressing a kiss to his grey cheek.
“Thank you.”
Fargol made a strange guttural sound that sounded like a cross between a cough and a hiccup. I swear if he hadn’t been made of stone he would have been blushing.
“Baal!”
Ariana’s voice drifted out of the chamber and onto the balcony, and in the next instant she was falling onto her knees beside her brother and pulling his head into her lap.
“Oh, baby brother, what happened, what happened to you?”
“Creeper venom. Can you help? He asked for you. Please tell me you can help?”
She lifted her head to look at me, her eyes shone like jewels in her alabaster face. “There is a box beneath my bed. Fetch me the green vial with the red ruby stopper, and be quick about it. If the venom reaches his heart, then he will be paralysed for life.”
I didn’t need telling twice. I ran into the room and practically dove under the bed. The box she’d been talking about was a large leather-bound thing I practically had to drag out from beneath the bed. Brushing the dust off my hands, I undid the brass clasps and lifted the lid to reveal hundreds of tiny vials with colourful stoppers nestled in individual velvet covered recesses.
Where was the ruby red stopper? There! Plucking it carefully from the box, I rushed back out to the balcony and handed it to a waiting Ariana.
She took the vial from me, unscrewed the stopper, pinched Baal’s cheeks to open his mouth and then poured the contents into it. I waited with bated breath for him to open his eyes, to sit up and smile and just be okay, but none of that happened. He remained silent and unmoving, his usually dusky complexion pale and lifeless.
Wake up, dammit. “Why isn’t it working?”
“It is working, but it will take time.” Ariana said. “Now we wait.” She glanced up at Fargol. “Please, kind sir, help me get him inside.”
Fargol made that strange cough-hiccup sound again and bent down to scoop up Baal. He had to crouch and manoeuvre to get through the doorway into the chamber, but he made it and placed Baal on the bed.
“Fargol will rest on the balcony,” he said and then he squeezed his way back outside.
Arian patted my shoulder. “Get some rest. It will be a few hours before we see improvement.”
I tore my gaze from Baal and ran it over her. She seemed much saner today. “Ariana, do you remember me?”
She blinked and cocked her head.
“We met yesterday. You helped me remember something?”
“Of course I remember you, silly! How could I forget my very best friend?”
And I’d lost her. I sighed. It was fine. I would just play along until Baal awoke.
“May I stay here with him?”
“I would expect nothing less.” She swept her arm toward the bed. “There’s plenty of room. I think I will bathe beneath the sun with the stone man for company.”
I watched her gather some blankets and a large pillow, and then disappear outside.
My eyes were gritty from lack of sleep, and now that we were relatively safe, my body decided to revolt on me, throwing every ache and pain it could at me.
Ariana was right. There was plenty of room on the bed.
I climbed up beside Baal and lay down facing him, so I could watch the rise and fall of his chest.
“Please, be okay.”
My eyes burned. I squeezed them shut to stem the tears.
He was going to be fine, Ariana had said so.
He would be fine.
_____
I woke to a gentle caress down the side of my face and the scent of liquorice teasing my nostrils. Baal was staring at me, his beautiful green eyes clear and alert. I scrambled to sit up, but he tightened his arm around me, holding me in place.
“Hush, it’s alright. I’m alright,” he said.
My thudding heart slowly fell back to resting pace. He was okay. And so, it seemed, was I. Sometime during my nap, I’d rolled on top of him. My leg was trapped between his thighs, my arm thrown over his chest, and his shoulder was under my head. Heat radiated from every point of contact, seeping through my clothes and into my skin, and man it felt good.
Too good.
“I should …” I pulled away, and this time he let me go.
Scrambling off him, I sat up on my knees by his hip. “How long have you been awake?”
“A while,” he tucked his arm beneath his head and watched me from beneath heavy lids.
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You looked so … peaceful.”
My eyes fell to his chest. The welt was gone, completely healed. I reached out to touch him, running my fingers over the smooth taut skin that a few hours ago had been torn and weeping. His abdomen contracted beneath my fingers, and a low rumble rose from his chest.
I quickly retracted my hand, my cheeks heating.
He was okay. Really okay. The knot I hadn’t even realised was in my chest unravelled and a half sob broke free. Clapping a ha
“Kenna?” His hand was a warm soothing pressure on shoulder, his breath a familiar presence brushing the delicate shell of my ear. “I’m alright.”
“You could have died.”
“Yes.”
Fury pushed aside the relief. “You could have died and it was all his fault!”
I pushed myself off the bed and began to pace. “I can’t let him get away with this. He tricked us, tried to bind me, to keep me hostage. He almost killed you! I can’t let that go unanswered.”
“So like your father.”
I faltered in my pacing. “What?”
“The anger … So quick to rise. Ibris was the same, until he learned to harness it.”
“But I have a right to be angry. You almost died!”
“Yes, you do, but you also know that his intention was not malicious.”
“Why are you standing up for him? Seriously? If I hadn’t managed to get out of the binding everything would have been lost.” My eyes pricked, but this time with tears of frustration. “Dammit!”
“Believe me, Erebus will be dealt with. In fact, he may have helped us.”
Maybe the venom was still in his system because he was making no sense.
“He tested you without meaning to, and you passed. You broke a binding. You freed yourself, and you earned the fortress’s loyalty. Kenna, there will no longer be any doubt in his mind of your ability or your power.”
He was right. Erebus had inadvertently given me a gift—the confidence and assurance that I’d been lacking.
“Now we have more pressing matters. We need to check in on Brett, and we need to make the final preparations for the Black Moon.”
I exhaled heavily, forcing the anger to ride the breath and be free. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. Are you up to taking me back?”
He shook his head. “Not yet, but I’m sure your friend Fargol will be able to accompany you.”
I glanced at the balcony just in time to see Ariana throw back her head and laugh at something Fargol had said.
“Yeah, he could. But I think it may be daylight in Lindrealm. Someone might see.”
“Gargoyles are able to shroud themselves from sight if they desire, Kenna.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that.”
He grinned, and my heart lurched. Man I needed to pull it together. This whole episode had turned me into an emotional mess. I needed to get home and catch a full night sleep. Then maybe next time I came face to face with Baal, the temptation to climb all over him would be gone.
He was watching me speculatively. Thank god for my thought-blocking broach.
I cleared my throat “Okay, so you find out what Brett is up to. I’ll check in at the office. Then we’ll meet up to prepare for the Black Moon.”
“It sounds like a plan.”
He was sitting up now, braced against the headboard, shirt open, chest on view. His indigo hair was ruffled. He looked … adorable.
Gah! “Okay, I should get going.” I headed for the balcony.
“Kenna?”
I glanced over my shoulder.
“After everything we’ve just been through, don’t I get a kiss goodbye?”
He pouted and tapped his lips with an index finger.
Yep, he was definitely gonna be okay.
_____
“Fargol stay by Kenna’s side. Fortress demand it.”
“But Fargol, you’re kinda conspicuous.”
Ariana giggled. “He certainly is. But I can help with that.”
She ducked back into her chamber and returned a moment later with a yellow vial.
“One drop a day and you will look human to all humans that see you,” she said.
Fargol reached for the vial with his massive hand.
Ariana hesitated, then handed it to me. “Maybe you should hold on to it for him. Just in case it gets broken in the flight?”
Just in case he accidentally crushed it with his huge fingers, she meant. I nodded in agreement though and took the vial.
“Give him a drop now. Each drop lasts a day and a half.”
Fargol stuck out his tongue, and I squeezed a drop of the potion onto it, using the handy pipette dispenser.
“There, all set.” Ariana clapped her hands. “Do come visit me again.” She pressed me to her bosom, and then turned on Fargol, wrapping her slender arms around his neck and kicking up her heel. Fargol inhaled and made that strange sound again, the one which I was beginning to associate with embarrassment or pleasure.
Ariana stepped back, her hands clasped girlishly before her. She was a contradiction, flighty and strange one moment, yet in control and brusque in the face of impending disaster.
What had she been like before the curse took her mind? Pretty awesome, no doubt.
Fargol reached for me, and I stepped into his arms.
“Kenna ready?”
“Yes.”
As we rose up into the sky and the beat of his wings filled my head once more, I waited for the relief to wash over me, the tug of happiness to be going home, but this time it didn’t come.
_____
It was late afternoon when I got back to Lindrealm. After a nap, with Fargol stationed outside my door, I headed to wash, insisting Fargol go downstairs for a while—I swear if I’d let him he would have stood outside the shower cubicle.
Bathed and wearing only my underwear, I stared at my stump. The new prosthetic was fantastic, making it easy to forget that I wasn’t entirely whole, that I was less of a woman. Being around Baal, with his warm mentorship and teasing smile, it was easy to forget that I was no longer the desirable woman I’d once been. I’d forgotten what lay in store for any man who got too close.
It was all too evident with the stump glaring back at me. Blane’s face came to mind, his disgusted expression when I’d ripped back the blanket and shown him the damage for the first time. That expression could be on Baal’s face, the disgust in Baal’s eyes. I couldn’t bear it. Not from him. I cared too damn much. He could never know how much. The pity in his eyes would kill me.
The wall had to stay.
A soft knock at the door was followed by Mum’s voice. “Baby, I made you something to eat.”
“Be down in a minute, Mum.”
“Um, do gargoyles eat?”
I chuckled. “I don’t know Mum, why don’t you ask him? He won’t bite.”
“I know that!”
Her footsteps padded away, and I swiped a hand over my face.
Okay, pity party for one over. Sniffing back the stupid tears, I put my leg back on. The Black Moon would start to emerge in two days, and take three days to become full. We’d be staying at the palace—my palace— for the three nights leading up to the event. On the final day, I’d reveal myself and claim the throne under the watchful attention of all the most influential djinn in the fifth dimension. The move would protect me from Kai’s assassination attempts—he wouldn’t dare try and kill me once I’d declared myself. It would be too obvious, and the ire of the people, the wrath of the other Overlords, would cripple his hold on Ibris’s kingdom.
Yeah, I just needed to focus on the prize and forget about this thing I had for Baal. After a while it would fizzle out.
It just had to.
I peeked into the living room to find Fargol crouched by the sofa, his gaze fixed to the flickering images on the television. Leaving him to his cartoons, I wandered into the kitchen to find Mum sipping a cup of tea and staring at a plate of macaroni cheese. I bit back a groan. It was all she made recently, and as much as I loved mac and cheese, my stomach was beginning to revolt against it. But I’d eat it for as long as Mum needed to make it. It had been Bella’s absolute favourite dish, and if this was some kind of therapy, then so be it.
Taking a huge scoop, I chewed without tasting, and swallowed.
Mum smiled and sipped her tea.
She’d been so together in the hospital, so adamant that this was how it was meant to be that I’d been sure she’d be fine once Bella was gone, envious even at her confidence in the path we’d had to take, but looking at her now all I saw was a broken woman. A mother without a child to feed macaroni cheese to, a woman who wondered every day if she’d done the right thing and if her child was at peace …
My heart leapt in my chest. Of course! I could tell her what I’d seen, I could give her some comfort.
“Mum, I need to tell you something.”
I told her about Bella, about the sunshine and the playground, and then I held her as she cried. We stayed up late that night talking about the old days, about Bella and the good times. When I closed my eyes that night I dreamed of her, my baby sister, swinging so high she could touch the sky.
17
Fargol was on the roof of Central Base—close by if I needed him, but out of sight of the other Fearless. He hadn’t been happy about it, but there was no way I could bring a gargoyle into the base, not even one who looked human. He was unauthorised personnel. Hopefully no one would decide to pop to the roof for some fresh air.
My inbox contained two urgent items, the first of which would cause much celebration.
Erebus had revoked the tithe.
Or course, with me to hand, there was no need for human souls. Thinking about him sent a vibration through the connection we shared, a tug in my solar plexus, a tingling heat which I quickly tamped down and dismissed. Fuck him. No way was I communicating with him, not after what he’d done to me! The reversal was good news for the people of Lindrealm, and would be broadcast tonight and celebrated for weeks. No more uncertainty, no more fear that we’d lose a loved one.
The second item had my stomach churning—the organisation heads wanted me to do a talk at Academy on overcoming disability as Fearless. The date was for today, in less than two hours. Talk about short notice. Apparently my ability to do my job, despite missing a leg, had spread through the ranks, and where previously the organisation had been happy to retire Fearless who’d been maimed or disabled, they were now looking at reinstating them, providing them with physical therapy and the required prosthetics to continue to be Fearless. On the surface it looked like an equal opportunity shift. Yeah right, more like a last-ditch attempt to swell the ranks in the face of all the Emergent deaths. It had been okay to bin off the disabled Fearless when new Fearless were emerging all the time, but now that the numbers were dwindling they were scrambling for a solution.
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