Damn, she really needed an idiots guide to dryads with a bonus chapter on gargoyles.
Basket at her side, Gregory a few steps behind with his nose still buried in the newspaper, Lillian rounded the corner of the next aisle and nearly ran head-on into one of her friendly tails.
It was the taller of the two clones. Up close, she noted this one had brown eyes where the other guy possessed a lighter shade—hazel maybe?
She compressed her lips and then replaced the encroaching frown with a smile instead. “Nice day,” she said. “Enjoying the town?” Because really, what did one say to their tails?
“Ma’am,” Brown eyes acknowledged and then glanced down in her basket.
His one eyebrow rose slightly. Yep, he was so adding the basket of pregnancy tests to his report. Damn. As long as he didn’t say anything in front of Gregory, she didn’t care.
“Well, I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again soon.” She sidestepped brown eyes and nodded to military clone number two.
They didn’t stop her, so she continued on toward the checkout. She was halfway there when the tattoo around her neck tingled and she realized Gregory hadn’t followed.
A glance over her shoulder showed him having a staring contest with the taller soldier. She sighed, and briefly wondered if there was a sudden bout of testosterone poisoning sweeping through the town.
She ignored the tattoo’s second warning twinge and continued on to the checkout. Eventually, Gregory returned to her side while she was bagging her purchases, but his attention was still for the two soldiers.
With a sigh, Lillian plucked the forgotten newspaper from his fingers and gave it to the cashier to add to the other items.
Without a word in exchange, and apparently Gregory being none the wiser about what she’d purchased, they returned to her car under the watchful gazes of her two tails.
She’d just slammed the trunk when she heard a loud rumble approaching. The sound increased in volume alarmingly quickly as seven heavy-bodied helicopters armed to the teeth, tore through the skies overhead.
The townsfolk came out to gawk at the helicopters until they vanished behind the tree line.
She couldn’t be sure of their destination, but she’d bet the lower branches of her hamadryad those helicopters were there to transport the prisoners to a more secure location.
She turned to Gregory and whispered, “We need to get home, now.”
“Yes,” he agreed, but didn’t take his eyes off the place they’d last seen the helicopters before they vanished.
Chapter Seventeen
By the time they made it back to the spa, Lillian discovered everyone else was already home. Gregory stomped into the house loaded down with eight bags of groceries while she scooped up her own bags and ran them upstairs where she hid the pregnancy tests in her bathroom vanity. She was just headed back down the stairs when the second warning tingle crawled along her tattoo.
Gregory emerged from the kitchen, rubbing his own throat and watched her with a questioning look as she crossed the living room floor and returned to his side.
“Sorry,” she mumbled as she joined him. “I figured I could run the stuff upstairs and be back before the collars reacted.”
“Darkness is in the kitchen. He has news.”
Gregory didn’t say or do anything else to outwardly show his excitement, but she could sense it all the same.
The trip to town was almost too much for her beloved, and now he was clearly itching to do something dangerous.
She felt her own blood surge at the thought of danger, and she began to wonder if their DNA was coded to hunt out dangerous situations.
Rather like they equated danger with fun. She now had to include herself within those parameters.
She pushed open the kitchen door and was only halfway through when she was scooped up in another strong embrace.
“Father says I get to help with this mission.” Shadowlight vibrated with happiness. He spun Lillian around once and then put her down.
Her little brother made an aborted motion toward Gregory, who was still in human form, but her other half lifted an eyebrow in warning and bestowed a grim look upon the youngest gargoyle which promised pain to anyone foolish enough to attempt to pick him up.
Shadowlight dropped to all fours and butted Gregory in the stomach instead.
With a sigh, and a smile he couldn’t hide, he gave the youngster a few affectionate scratches before turning to the other gargoyle in the room.
Darkness stood in the corner of the kitchen with the most shadows. He wasn’t actively trying to hide. Perhaps it was just unconscious instinct on his part.
Her mother stood off to the side, speaking with Gran, Alan, and Jason. Gregory went straight to Darkness. Lillian joined them.
“Those loud flying machines landed at the humans’ camp,” Darkness was saying. “I overheard one pilot,” he hesitated over the foreign word before continuing, “Say to another member of his team he had orders to be back in the air within the hour.”
“Not long,” Gregory chimed in. “They must be planning to move our people.”
“There was a flurry of activity at the base. I agree. They will move your allies soon.”
Lillian glanced out the window, eyeing the sun as it started its descent toward the horizon. She knew Gregory and Darkness were able to hide even while the sun was still high. Shadowlight she wasn’t so sure about. He was a proper gargoyle and had inherited their father’s memories and skills to a much greater degree than she herself had. He, too, might be able to hide while the sun was still high.
Lillian knew she wasn’t ready to infiltrate the base again so soon but didn’t see another option. “We have to get them out. Now. In the daylight.”
Gregory nodded. “The base is too well guarded. We’ll take them on the wing.”
Darkness nodded agreement and they both went over to Gran.
Lillian was left standing with Shadowlight, who leaned against her, happy to be included in the hunt. She finally found her voice and chased after Gregory so quickly, she heard Shadowlight lose his balance and stumble into the cupboard door next to where she’d been standing a moment ago. He made a disgruntled sound but bound after her.
“You can’t be planning to attack those helicopters. It’s suicide to even think to try.”
Gregory huffed. “They won’t expect an attack on the wing. Nor will they be able to see or hear us coming. This way we won’t have to deal with the entire armed camp. Just what those five machines can carry.”
Lillian’s stomach fluttered nervously. “Those things house weapons Gregory, ones like the guns the soldiers carry, but the ones strapped to the helicopters will be bigger and meaner.”
“We know of these things now, and can use shielding magic against them.”
“And how do you propose we go about catching them once they’re in the air? Kind of hard to rescue our friends if we can’t even catch them.”
Darkness tilted his head in her direction, and she had the distinct impression he was translating her words in his mind into something he understood. “Oh, but gargoyles can match speed with those things, and if we dive from a much higher vantage point…”
“You’ll get sliced to ribbons,” Lillian cut in.
Her father’s look of disdain didn’t earn him any sympathy from her, but he continued anyway. “I saw how those things keep themselves up. It will be no great challenge to bring them down. If getting close proves too dangerous we can do it from afar. Gargoyle magic is adaptable. Those machines are not.”
“We can’t bring them down. Whitethorn and Goswin wouldn’t survive, and the humans are just doing their jobs.”
Gregory placed a hand on Lillian’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “We won’t need to harm the humans, but you need to trust me. I am not underestimating the humans and you should know by now I would not embark upon this quest if I thought you would be placed in undue danger.” He gestured to Darkness. “That’s why I’ve ask
ed your father to do a partial memory transfer so you’ll have the skills and knowledge you’ll need for this mission.”
Oh, he made it sound so reasonable, but she couldn’t help thinking about all the ways this attempt could end in painful disaster.
She glanced at her father where he waited patiently for her to see their way of thinking. Even with the memory transfer Gregory talked of, she didn’t think this plan had a hope of success.
But if they didn’t act now, Whitethorn and Goswin might slip forever beyond their reach.
“Fine, let’s do this.”
Gregory and Darkness had almost identical somber nods, whereas Shadowlight jumped to attention, wings vibrating with excitement.
If it was within her power, she would forbid Shadowlight from coming. He was far too young to come on such a dangerous mission. However, she’d been overruled, and they did need every set of wings available to rescue Whitethorn and Goswin.
Besides, Shadowlight would likely just follow them and if he was going into danger she wanted him near enough to keep an eye on.
*****
Major Resnick decided he was having the mother of all bad weeks. They made their way back to base as fast as humanly possible on foot, the land too rugged for any kind of motorized vehicles to extract them. Not that their radios were working. Something was jamming them again.
He was just exiting the forest and coming out onto the road when he heard the roar of helos approaching. His team was less than five kilometers from base, but they might as well have been ten for all the good it did him.
Thirty seconds later, five helos flew overhead, heading south. His gut told him that was the prisoner transport, and it was in danger. Was the communications blackout the work of his people or something else?
If how this week was going was any indication, the blackout would be the work of something else.
“We need to warn them. Move it.” He broke into a run.
*****
The slight breeze tugged at Lillian’s tightly folded wings, where she sat perched on the highest branch of the tree capable of holding her weight.
The stout oak grew at the edge of a craggy ravine, where it had taken root along a small rocky outcropping in some long ago century. Now it overlooked a narrow river, and provided Lillian a convenient perch from which to launch herself into flight.
Gregory, Darkness, and Shadowlight all waited in the surrounding trees, listening for the approach of their intended targets.
“They come,” Shadowlight informed the others. “It’s as the Coven reported, I only detect five this time. The other two stayed behind.”
Lillian frowned and strained her ears forth and back, seeking what her little brother had heard.
Another minute passed before she heard what Shadowlight had noted. Her little brother had sharp senses. Better even than Gregory? She’d ask about that later. There was no time now.
Together, the four gargoyles launched from their perches and climbed high into the sky.
She beat her powerful wings but it wasn’t solely their strength which catapulted her higher, magic filled her wing membranes and snapped in the air around her.
Shadowlight beat his wings harder and pulled ahead. With a wide grin, she answered his unvoiced challenge and flew faster, darting past first him and then Darkness and Gregory.
Her sleeker body allowed for greater acceleration, and she had a hunch she might be much more agile, too. Although, she hadn’t tested her theory yet.
With a joyous roar, she arched higher into the sky.
“We’re at a good height,” Gregory called across their four-way link. “Prepare to dive.”
Her beloved’s words tarnished her child-like joy, but she’d rekindle it another time, when she could take wing with Gregory for the sheer pleasure of flying. But that would have to wait.
Five dark, military helicopters thundered closer to their positions. Within seconds, they’d be directly below. Over the pristine waters of the lake.
Lillian angled a wing and dipped a few feet lower to take up position behind the tip of Gregory’s tail as he continued to circle above their target area. The lake’s blue, calm expanse looked more like a pond or maybe a puddle from this high up.
“Ready,” he called, using their mental link.
With slight shifts of her body, she mimicked Gregory’s every move, but she couldn’t manage his cool battle readiness, not even her father’s memories could calm her nerves although she was thankful for them. Otherwise, she never would have mastered either flying or her fear of heights.
Gran and the rest of the ground crew, as Lillian had taken to calling the Clan and Coven members aiding in this endeavor, had reported two hooded decoy prisoners had been escorted into each of the five choppers. The real Whitethorn and Goswin had been loaded into the second helicopter to take off.
Many Fae had taken to the trees, watching the track of the helicopters. Not once had the aerial formation changed during flight. Their targets were still in the chopper flying left of the leader and slightly back in the wedge formation.
Lillian kept her gaze locked on that target. Her target. Her part of the mission was easy. She just had to keep telling herself that.
“Now!”
Gregory and Darkness dived in unison, like arrows shot from some giant bow. Lillian darted after them, Shadowlight nearly wing tip to wing tip with her.
Below, the two gargoyles parted company. Gregory angled toward their helicopter while Darkness headed for the one in the lead.
Shadowlight dipped a wing and dived under Lillian, in pursuit of their father. She banked left to join Gregory.
Darkness flared out his wings, and Shadowlight matched speed. Together their trajectory and momentum slammed them into the helicopter with such force it rocked sideways wildly as it started to spin out of control. They latched onto it. Darkness under the tail, Shadowlight clinging upside down from the landing struts.
Lillian had only a moment to worry about the safety of everyone concerned before her own momentum carried her to her target.
She twisted her body in the air, and as she sailed under the belly of the helicopter, she raked her claws out, grasping at anything to hold her securely to the bottom.
The helicopter shook violently with a second impact. Gregory had just arrived. There were shouts from inside, followed by several seconds of chaos as the pilot tried to level out the wildly careening machine.
Below her, she could see where Darkness and Shadowlight had managed to bring down their helicopter—or maybe the pilot performed some kind of emergency landing. Lillian wasn’t sure what had occurred, but the helicopter was down in the shallow, rush-filled waters at the lake’s edge.
Her father and brother were already at work on the second helicopter that had swung back around to aid the two in trouble.
From her vantage point hanging upside down while she waited for Gregory to do his part, she watched as Darkness and Shadowlight attacked the second helicopter with undisguised glee.
They were fulfilling their part of the plan admirably. The two helicopters not already engaged had broken formation and arced back around, but they had no targets to shoot at. In that moment, Lillian rather like being a gargoyle. There was something to be said about being on top of the magical food chain.
The sound of wrenching metal drew her back to her part of the plan. A second later, a large-ish piece of the helicopter dropped down into the lake below.
Lillian tensed, waiting for what would come next. Then from within came much crashing and thumping as a moment later one unfortunate soldier came flying out.
Shadowlight and Darkness broke away from their helicopter and her little brother scooped up the free falling soldier before he could hit the water at breakneck speed.
Another soldier was tossed from the opening. This one Darkness caught, slowing his descent enough the human would survive the fall to the water below.
“Lillian, now,” Gregory called.
Sh
e released her hold on the helicopter the same moment Gregory burst out with two bundles tucked under his arms.
Lillian took the smaller form of Goswin and then they were both beating their wings to gain altitude and put distance between themselves and the carnage they’d left behind.
The bundle in Lillian’s arms was limp, but alive. Sedated. She scrunched her nose up at the scent of chemicals oozing out of the little Fae’s pores. She hoped the small, delicate Fae was tougher than she seemed.
But until they could get them safely on the ground, it was impossible to judge the severity of their injuries.
Darkness and Shadowlight would join them later, once they had dealt with the human soldiers. By mutual agreement, they had all agreed it was best to strip the humans of their memories before leaving them for their fellows to find. Once that was done, the other two gargoyles would rejoin them back in Coven lands.
With a nervous glance back at the mess of twisted metal, Lillian winced. At least none of the soldiers were mortally wounded. Still, she feared they’d just kicked the hornets’ nest.
Chapter Eighteen
“Oh, for the love of god,” Major Resnick snarled. “Get Lieutenant-Colonel Harmon on the line. He’ll clear us.”
“Sorry, sir, these are his orders,” the private at the main gate explained. “Any teams coming back in must now be searched and debriefed before allowing them on base.”
In other words, they were looking to avoid another incident. Which was all well and good, but today Resnick didn’t have time for this kind of bullshit.
“Fine, I need you to get this to Colonel Tremblay or Doctor Fleming or Doctor Rodgers. This contains intel about our enemy, and I believe that helo transport is about to get hit. We need to warn them.”
“Sorry, sir. I can’t leave my post, but I’ll have the tablet sent ahead.”
Resnick didn’t want to risk the tablet in someone else’s hands but knew it was no use ranting about it. He’d been the one to suggest the new procedure.
He just hadn’t thought his own idea would turn and bite him in the ass. Of all the clusterfucks that could have befallen him, did they all have to fall within the same week?
Sorceress Hunting (A Gargoyle and Sorceress Tale Book 3) Page 11