No.
“In the meantime,” Daryna continued as if she were unaware of Lillian’s doubts. Although she likely sensed them just the same. “I can help Gregory prepare for battle while you and the Coven act as intermediaries between the military and the rest of the Fae. The humans will have to learn to adapt and work with us, or their entire world will fall with us. There can be no infighting. That is your role. You must make sure there is peace between the humans and the Fae.”
“A wise plan,” Gregory said, speaking for the first time in several minutes.
Lillian studied him, but he seemed willing to let the two females hash out their differences.
Typical male.
Daryna nodded at Gregory’s comment. “We will need all the help we can get. The Battle Goddess has plans upon plans, and her early success in capturing my soul and forcing it to be born in her domain has made her bold. She will act again soon.”
While Lillian didn’t trust the Sorceress, she was certain she spoke the truth in this. The Lady of Battles was their greatest foe. “I do wonder if the Battle Goddess made a mistake in allowing you to be raised among her minions. You remember what I do not, correct?”
“I do,” Daryna said with a chilled smile. “And I intend to make her pay for every little shred of heartache she caused us. The Battle Goddess did not mean for me to ever break free. But I did. Now I plan to use her arrogance and all that I learned while trapped within her domain to crush her.”
As much as Lillian did not like it, they clearly needed the aid Daryna was offering. Heavens knew Lillian was mostly useless when it came to magic and spell work.
She simply hoped that Daryna’s sudden arrival would be enough to throw the Battle Goddess’s plans into complete disarray. Perhaps then the Avatars would defeat their enemy.
That would be the only thing that would make sharing Gregory’s affections bearable.
Chapter 2
Gregory was just starting to think that Daryna and Lillian might find a peaceful resolution to this new situation they found themselves in when Daryna yawned and stretched and then looked him in the eyes. “This body is still drained from emerging from the hamadryad, and I imagine Lillian could use the rest as well. Let us go to bed.”
Lillian made a snort that was suspiciously gargoyle-like.
He glanced between the two women, feeling the temperature in the room drop as Lillian and Daryna sized each other up.
The words were badly timed, but in Daryna’s defense, not a night had ever gone by that his other half hadn’t slept in the protection of his arms if they were together.
Lillian’s thoughts came clear to him, and in his mind’s eye, he could see her dragging Daryna from their room by her hair.
Oh, for mercy’s sake. The Father give him patience.
Gregory stood and held a hand towards Lillian. “My love, come here.”
Lillian glanced away but remained outwardly calm. Only a small flexing of muscle in her jaw and the black nails lengthening the tips of her fingers hinted at the turmoil he felt swirling within her mind and body.
He wouldn’t belittle her pain or anger.
In truth, Gregory hadn’t expected the hamadryad to act as she had. At first, he was simply so overjoyed to have the other half of his soul housed in flesh and blood once more that he had not thought how his actions would hurt his beloved mate.
But of course, Lillian would not understand or rejoice in a valuable ally gained. He’d been too slow to realize it, and then once he had and tried to reassure her, she’d rejected all his attempts to show her it did not change how he felt about her.
She was his mate. His only mate.
But from the very beginning of their relationship in this life, Lillian had judged herself as flawed because she couldn’t remember her past or be who she thought he needed.
That was so far from the truth. Lillian had always been everything he needed. He did not view her as flawed. Her confidence had been building, but apparently not enough to reassure her that Daryna wasn’t her replacement.
Gregory could shoulder a lot of the blame for that. He’d handled it poorly.
He snorted a deep huff of challenge. That needed to change now.
One chance. She had one more chance to come to him willingly and then he was going to have to prove to her that she was the center of his existence.
“Lillian.” He held out a large, clawed hand. Normally she would’ve come at his gruff call. “Beloved, I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“It’s fine Gregory. I understand. The hamadryad was trying to help us. And this might be the one thing the Battle Goddess did not foresee.”
Gregory’s tail flicked lazily as it slowly inched closer to her. She hadn’t noticed it yet.
Good.
He would heal all the small hurts he’d caused Lillian if it took the better part of a year. He’d show her that she still meant the world to him. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time in this life, or any before it, that he’d made a misstep.
“Strange, I don’t remember mentioning the Battle Goddess.” Gregory’s tail slid across the floor, creeping closer to where Lillian sat staring off towards the hallway.
There would be no more thinking of running away from him after he was done with Lillian. He leaned forward in the chair, his muscles bunching as he prepared to strike.
Lillian must have caught movement out of the corner of her eye because she jerked to attention a moment before his tail struck. But she was too late. His tail wrapped around her lower legs and he launched himself at her.
His tackle was carefully timed to catch her in his arms and roll with her, so she and the delicate life she carried were in no danger of being harmed. His powerful arms wrapped around her and he landed on his back in the middle of the bed.
Lillian’s surprised shout was muffled by his wings cocooning them both. A moment later his muzzle was nuzzling the bare skin of her neck and shoulder and then the side of her face. Wherever his muzzle moved, his tongue lapped at her skin, savoring her skin’s salty flavor.
When she attempted to kick and punch him, he just continued to cover whatever body part he could reach with sloppy gargoyle kisses. She fought to wiggle free of his affectionate display, but after several minutes she was laughing too hard and gave up the fight.
“I surrender,” she said as she draped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest.
“Hmmm. Much better,” he rumbled happily and wrapped his arms tighter around her. Contentment flowed through his body with each beat of his heart. He smiled into her hair. “Never doubt my love for you.”
“I’m sorry for being a needy twit. I think I’m going to blame it on hormones.”
Gregory laughed and rested his hand on her belly. His happiness swelled. “Sleep. The morning will be here too soon.”
Lillian snuggled closer and soon fell asleep in his arms.
“I’m glad you have found some happiness in this realm.”
Gregory glanced over his shoulder to find Daryna sitting on the edge of the bed. Her hair was now neatly plaited into one long braid. She studied him without a hint of jealousy or judgment.
Muscles in his back that he hadn’t even realized had tensed up soon relaxed.
“Is it too much to ask to lay beside you while we sleep? In truth, I do not know if I can sleep without you.”
Gregory had been starting to let his guard down, but at her request, he felt the return of his earlier unease. Then a moment later he chastised himself for his foolishness. This was the Sorceress.
“Of course, you may rest beside me.”
“Thank you, my beloved gargoyle,” she said as she climbed into bed beside him.
She snuggled into his back as one arm circled around his waist. Then a brush of warm lips against the sensitive skin between his wings promised trouble for him at a later time.
Some of his earlier contentment dimmed.
Chapter 3
Daryna allowed herself to doze whi
le she waited for Gregory to drift off to sleep. Lillian had already succumbed, but their gargoyle beloved was still trying to be vigilant even though he had to be bone weary. He’d been in an epic fight with Gryton just hours ago, and that offensive collar around his throat had almost destroyed him.
She could still see the delicate tracing of pale lines across his dark skin even after she’d done what she could to heal him while in her hamadryad form.
Sitting up in bed, she stroked a hand along his flank. “Sleep, my gargoyle. I will protect you and Lillian while you both rest and heal.”
“I know,” he said in a sleepy voice.
Daryna smiled when he relaxed, obeying her gentle command. “That’s it. Lillian is safe for now.”
Her beloved gargoyle reached back and laid his hand over hers, stopping its exploring. Daryna laid back down and snuggled into the space between his wings and wrapped an arm around Gregory’s waist. She couldn’t stay long. There was still too much she had to do before dawn, but she enjoyed the closeness too much to pull away even after he’d fallen asleep.
She gave herself a half hour to listen to his deep, even breathing and then she reached up and placed her fingers against his throat, tracing the tattoo branded there.
While she had been a hamadryad, she’d studied how the tattoos worked. She’d also made changes to them that allowed her to control the hosts. The thought unsettled her, but it would be necessary this night to take control of them while she dealt with another who needed her attention.
It would be only for this one time. After that, she would find other ways to visit Gryton.
“Sleep. And do not wake.”
Gregory snorted out a surprised huff, but soon drifted off to sleep again, unable to fight the gentle compulsion.
Next, she reached farther for Lillian’s collar. She repeated the same command, and the dryad didn’t even stir awake in Gregory’s arms.
Once she was certain the command had a firm hold on them both she slipped from the bed.
She needed to have a long conversation with her eldest son.
As she ghosted from the large stone building Lillian and Gregory now called home, Daryna mulled over what she’d learned about her eldest son.
While she and Durnathyne had both been destroyed at the moment of their son’s birth and later had their memories wiped upon return to the Spirit Realm, she’d learned Gryton’s parentage the moment he’d used her hamadryad to travel to the Mortal Realm.
He’d been unaware what all his unguarded mind had revealed to the hamadryad, thinking her nothing more than a common dryad tree. But as the Sorceress, she’d seen much more than a regular hamadryad.
Now she knew a fair bit about Gryton. Unfortunately, she also knew she couldn’t share this knowledge with her gargoyle protector just yet.
While Gregory might not consider the child Lillian carried a blasphemy since she hadn’t actually been the Sorceress at the time she’d conceived, it did not mean Gregory would see their eldest child in the same light.
Sacred vows had been shattered to bring Gryton into the universe.
But Gryton was more than broken vows, he was the product of her and her gargoyle’s love for each other. It was a forbidden love, but still no less pure for all that.
She refused to believe something born of that pure love could be as evil as they’d always been taught.
When she’d still been a hamadryad, she’d looked into Gryton’s mind. On the surface, his thoughts were all cold, hard edges, disdain, and ruthlessness. Under that had been a chaotic mix of desperation, hatred, and despair. Overlapping it all, threads of loneliness and a deep-rooted need to belong had run throughout and interconnected all those other darker emotions.
It was about what she’d have expected of a creature who had been hunted all his life and the only being in the entire universe willing to protect him and teach him had been the Lady of Battles.
But Daryna knew he existed now.
She would protect and guide him while she dug for the good; that potential he’d been born with, that she knew was still buried somewhere deep within. Convincing her other half might take almost as much time and care as teaching Gryton, but Gregory would see the truth in time.
Besides, Gryton was no more flawed than the Twins. And both Lord Death and the Lady of Battles had been created by Divine will and had nearly destroyed the universe in their last fight for dominion.
Gryton’s crimes were nothing when compared to the Twins’.
He’d slay a few humans in his quest to fulfill his mission…but their lives were already such swiftly burning embers, what did it matter that a few burned shorter than the rest? Death was just part of existence—had been since the Divine Ones had first commanded their Avatars to birth the Twins into the universe.
What were a few more lives in a world where over a hundred thousand mortals died each day?
If the Divine Ones had cared for all their creations, they shouldn’t have sat back and allowed the Twins to wage war against each other. They’d allowed the Lady of Battles to rampage long past when she should have been stopped.
If not for the Divine Ones’ misplaced compassion, the Battle Goddess would have been killed long ago so she could rejoin her beloved consort in the Spirit Realm. Perhaps even to one day return to the Magic Realm healed and whole.
But that wasn’t Daryna’s concern.
As for Lord Death, he’d always been a friend. She would regret having to destroy him as well, but while one twin lived, so too did the other. To kill one, both had to die.
It was part of their birthright, born at the same moment and of the same magic. The duality of the curse that prevented the Lady of Battles from escaping her temple was also powered by the same magic.
But the demigoddess had proven she could manipulate events far outside her own realm, even while still locked within her temple. As a punishment, the duality curse was not enough. She had to be stopped once and for all.
Daryna already knew her other half would not agree, she doubted if Lillian would either. Although, the soul link between them might make Lillian more malleable to Daryna’s plans over time. Perhaps.
Caution and secrecy would be best for now. She would study Lillian and Gregory, as well as their new allies to determine if any of them could be trusted with her plans or if she would have to act alone.
If she did have to act out her plan herself, she would still succeed. It would simply take a little longer. In the meantime, if she needed a distraction, she could pit Lillian and Gregory against each other. Though, the idea of setting them at odds sickened her.
They were one being—intended to have one unified focus, not a fractured relationship that created a divide between them. However, if setting Lillian and their beloved gargoyle against each other was the only way to save all the realms from the Lady of Battles’ treachery, Daryna would suffer the pain and do it.
That the Lady of Battles had nearly succeeded in taking command of Lillian using a demon seed only proved how dangerous the demigoddess had become. With or without her allies’ help, Daryna would overthrow the Battle Goddess and her twin, Lord Death, replacing them herself if she had to.
As Avatars of the Divine Ones, she and Gregory were certainly capable of filling those roles.
Then she had another thought. Their son might like the chance to usurp the Battle Goddess’s throne himself. She could think of none more deserving. If he proved to be what she believed him to be.
Chapter 4
Once Daryna left the large stone cottage and surrounding gardens behind, she allowed herself to relax and enjoy the walk. She kept the concealment spell wrapped tightly around her body, though. To be discovered now would be…awkward.
She passed all manner of Clan, Coven and military personnel.
Luckily, her spells hid her from view as well as any gargoyle’s shadow magic. She continued into the night, following the garden paths to their ends and then farther out into the night-shrouded forest. She still
had a couple hours of darkness left, and Gregory would sleep for at least that long.
Once she deemed herself deep enough into the forest to hide the bright flare of power a transportation spell would release, Daryna called her magic to her. At her summons, a mix of raw spirit magic swirled ten feet in front of her where it combined with the warmer variety born of the Magic Realm.
A shimmering portal formed in the air and she crossed into it and emerged more than three day’s walk from where she had started. As soon as she emerged from the portal spell, she could sense Gryton’s presence.
Good. He hadn’t found a way free yet. That would certainly make it easier to talk to him. Had he somehow managed to escape, at least she’d already drank enough of his blood as a hamadryad to be able to track him anywhere.
But this was better than chasing her son all over the forest simply to have a chat with him.
She started forward again, weaving her way through a pleasantly scented boreal forest until she came to a cliff of rock where the bones of the earth poked up out of the ground. A few thousand years ago, a glacier had slid through the area and then later receded, leaving behind a few hills and valleys and the rocky terrain she now walked toward. She’d stashed Gryton away in one of the natural caverns that dotted the area.
Standing outside the narrow entrance to the cave, Daryna studied the primitive but eye-catching art that some ancient people had once drawn upon the stone walls. But no one had lived here for thousands of years. Well, not unless Gryton counted.
She ventured through the dark, narrow entrance. Squeezing past three separate outcroppings of stone and then picking her way carefully over the loose rubble, she finally emerged into the cavern beyond. The walls continued to widen the further back into the cavern she went.
Overall, one could make a fairly nice home here if one were to put some effort into it. Daryna hoped Gryton would see reason and wouldn’t have to stay here too long.
She clambered over a slope where the cavern floor humped up before smoothing into a flat, serviceable area that covered the rest of the cavern. Once she was over the last patch of rough ground, she called to life a glowing ball of light that hovered in her palm for a moment before she sent it floating out ahead of her.
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