Anna could smell blood though, so some bullets had found flesh. A grenade detonated far too close. Dirt and leaf litter pelted her and then she could smell nothing but the stink of propellant.
Her eyes watering, she searched desperately for the kid.
Guided by an instinct that always seemed to know where the young gargoyle was, she found him belly down on the ground a little less than twenty feet away. He was conscious. Thank God. But that was all she could ascertain from her position. Unfortunately, he looked like he was going to get up and attack.
“Don’t move,” Anna growled at him. “I’ll come to you.”
She summoned more shadows to form a shield. Not knowing if her command of magic was anywhere near great enough to stop bullets, she stayed low to the ground. Even so, she felt when a bullet ripped through her pack.
That was too damned close. So much for magical mastery of the shadows.
Two other things became apparent as she crawled toward Shadowlight’s position. Either she’d allowed her new magic to slip and expose her location, or whoever the fuck was shooting at her had somehow gotten their hands on the prototype weapons. She preferred scenario one over scenario two.
The next unsettling realization was that if Gregory hadn’t grabbed and hauled her back, it would have been her head, not a tree, which blew apart all over the forest floor.
Her blood still rushing with adrenaline, she forced herself to move slowly so as not to disturb the undergrowth around her.
Even if the enemy couldn’t see them, shaking underbrush would give away her position just as readily.
The crawl to Shadowlight’s location felt like a lifetime, but she finally made it to his position. Miraculously, he’d stayed put as she’d ordered, and no more bullets were presently whizzing overhead.
Which probably meant the unknown enemy was on the move.
Over the stink of hot metal and propellant, her newly heightened gargoyle senses picked up the scent of more humans. Males. At least seven different men by the sweat scent carried on the breeze. Her ears strained to catch some sound, but they were still ringing painfully from the sharp retort of the rifle fire.
She crawled the last few feet to Shadowlight. The scent of blood was stronger now, and the gargoyle’s scent was tainted with pain. Her stomach tightened with horror and fear.
“How bad are you hurt?”
Shadowlight was watching the forest in the direction the gunfire had come, but he flicked an ear in her direction, listening. “They managed to get my right wing. The membrane, not the bone.”
The gargoyle bowed his head and turned his gaze upon her. His nostrils flared as he dragged in a deep breath. “Are you hurt?”
His question echoed hers, but she heard a quiver in his voice.
“I’m good.”
He whined softly. “You’re sure?”
“Don’t you worry, I’m a tough bitch to kill.”
“But they came so close. If Gregory hadn’t…” His voice broke.
Damn. The poor kid. First, he lost his father. Then his mother was nearly killed and remained in a coma. Now some asshole had shot him and just about removed Anna’s head from her shoulders right in front of the kid. Shadowlight thought she was going to die and leave him, too.
Rage replaced fear. Whoever the fuck was responsible was going to pay for terrifying the young gargoyle.
“You stay close to me, and I’ll get us out of here,” Anna said. And then I’m coming back to hunt some heartless, spineless bastards who willingly fired upon an eight-year-old child. It didn’t matter that he was a gargoyle.
She glanced around. Now that she knew Shadowlight wasn’t mortally wounded, she again looked for the others.
Anna found Gregory first. His massive form was still shielding Lillian from her view. The male wasn’t just sheltering his girlfriend though. He was still summoning wave after wave of deadly shadow magic.
With a guttural word, the first wave of power raced forward, hunting their enemies.
In less than ten seconds there was an agonized scream. The second for the night. By the sound, this victim was at least sixty feet away, off somewhere to the right of the game trail.
A second and third pained shout rang out as more of Gregory’s magic found its mark.
Hmmm. Maybe Anna wouldn’t have to lead Shadowlight away to safety. Gregory was doing an excellent job of rendering the present location safe.
A fifth soldier broke cover and ran, apparently trying to fall back to a safer location.
But there was nowhere safe for this soldier to run. The pooka raced out from behind his thicket in pursuit of the human. He darted between two trees and shouldered the fleeing human hard enough to send him flying. Anna’s attention snapped to another flash of motion as a sixth soldier rose up out of the cover and took aim at the pooka.
With a snarl, Shadowlight bolted for the soldier. More of Gregory’s magic was already in pursuit, so Anna scanned the immediate area looking for dead man number seven.
Two seconds later she spotted him raising his rifle’s muzzle toward Shadowlight. Darkness descended upon Anna. Rage. Fear. The need to protect. The need to destroy. They all warred within her until her mind clicked to the realization that destruction would sate all the other needs.
Kill the enemy and Shadowlight would be safe.
She rose up from her hiding place and darted forward with superhuman speed. As she ran, she dropped her shielding spell that hid her from view.
She wanted the enemy’s attention, needed it upon her, not the child. She roared, a deep snarling sound that shouldn’t have come from a human chest. Anna darted across the distance, weaving around trees and leaping over fallen trunks and anything else in her path.
The soldier realized she was closing in on him. The muzzle of his gun started to swing toward her. But he was too slow.
Before her target could level his rifle at her, she slapped it out of the way and continued forward, her speed and momentum driving the bigger soldier back. She rode him to the ground and sank her new talons into his wrists, digging deep until he released the rifle with a scream.
He grabbed at a sidearm, but she blocked him, and then tore the gun free and tossed it away. When he reached for his knife, she snarled a deep inhuman sound. His arm snapped like a twig in her grasp.
The man howled in pain, but she wasn’t finished yet. She grabbed up the rifle and brought it down. His good arm managed to block the first blow, but she smacked it out of the way.
“You tried to kill the kid. Only monsters kill children.” She screamed at him as the rage drove her to a greater need for violence. She brought the rifle’s butt against the human’s head again and again. Blood splattered her in a fine spray.
She’d broken his nose and likely a cheekbone, but the bastard was still breathing.
“He’s just a child,” she screamed and raised the rifle high above her head.
“Anna, no.” Shadowlight’s voice was young sounding and pain-filled, but his will was strong and reached deep into her mind. “You will stop now.”
As if his words were a command, she released the rifle. It thumped to the ground beside the unconscious soldier underneath her.
The soldier was nearly unrecognizable.
She’d beaten him bloody.
She shook her head to clear it but still nothing made sense. No that wasn’t true. Something made sense in the madness. Shadowlight’s familiar voice.
What the hell was wrong with her?
“Come away now,” Shadowlight urged. “The threat is past.”
Anna came to her feet, obedient to Shadowlight’s command.
But it was Gregory who finally approached and urged her away from the human at her feet.
“Shadowlight is right. Come.” Gregory reached out and took her arm. At his touch, the red fog blanketing her mind seemed to lift.
She shook her head again. “What? What’s wrong with me?”
Shadowlight trotted up on her opposite side
and bumped his muzzle under her hand. “The humans have been defeated. You can relax now.”
“Listen to Shadowlight and come away,” Gregory said. “We’ll get to the bottom of this later. First, we need to see to Lillian and Shadowlight’s injuries. Are you in control of yourself?”
It was a simple question. One that should have an easy answer. But the answer was evasive.
Was she in control of herself?
It didn’t feel like it.
But she nodded, and Gregory stepped away from her to see to Lillian. When she looked back to Shadowlight, it was to see that he’d reared up to stand on two legs. Anna immediately noticed his shell-shocked look.
She turned and then enfolded him in a bear hug. “I’m sorry kid.”
Shadowlight returned her fierce hug
“Why did they try to kill us? I thought they were allies.”
“I’m not sure, hon.” But I’m damned well going to find out.
When Shadowlight released her at last, she glanced around to check on Lillian and Gregory again but noticed the black pony rolling on his back and grunting. Had he been injured? If it didn’t mean leaving the kid unguarded or exposing him to new horror, she would have gone and checked on the Fae they simply called Pooka.
Gregory barked out something sharp and inhuman at the Fae. After a moment the pooka levered himself back to all fours with another grunt and then gave himself a good shake. Only then did he trot over toward the Avatars.
“Oh, God. Did he...? Gods, that’s so nasty. I think I’m going to puke,” Lillian said. She was still in gargoyle form at the moment, but if she’d been a dryad, Anna would have bet the other woman would be a bit green.
Anna scanned the pooka, trying to see what distressed Lillian so much. That’s when she noticed the pooka’s black pelt shone damply. And now that he was closer, her gargoyle senses could detect the dense coppery odor of blood. Lots of blood.
“What the hell?”
Shadowlight bumped his muzzle against her shoulder to get her attention. “Pookas roll in the blood of their fallen enemies after battle.”
Then the cub flicked a mildly horrified looked down Anna’s own blood smeared body. “I didn’t realize humans did the same.”
Anna glanced down at her bloodstained uniform.
How was she ever going to explain this mess to her superiors? And for that matter, how were her superiors going to smooth over the massive rift this attack would cause. Anna had a few other questions all vying for attention, too.
Top of the list was finding out who the soldiers that had attacked them were. Why did they attack? Who did they work for? The questions went on and on. But whatever the answers, the motive was clear. The realization that humans weren’t the only sentient species on the planet was bound to put a bee up the ass of every elitist and human-centric crazy this side of the equator.
With a deeply unhappy sigh, Anna watched as Gregory dragged the soldiers to one location.
Anna needed to answer Shadowlight’s earlier question and hopefully quell his fear, even if it put her own differences in an uncomfortably bright light. “Humans don’t generally make a habit of glorying in our killing. Certainly no rolling in an enemy’s blood. I overreacted.”
“I was in danger,” Shadowlight said in a whisper. “You acted the way you did because of me. Because of what my blood has done to you. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. But don’t worry, kid. I’m an adult and can deal with my own shit,” Anna said and stroked another unruly lock of hair behind his ear. In truth, she knew what he was talking about, and she knew his words were true. But she didn’t care. She would have protected him even without the blood’s influence. “I need to go clean up and report this mess.”
“I think your superiors already know,” Gregory said as he stepped up to them. “I hear helicopters coming.”
The other gargoyle had Lillian tucked against his side protectively. That’s when Anna saw blood seeping down Lillian’s arm from a graze. Other than that minor wound, the female gargoyle didn’t seem to be harmed. She was in fact, alert and studying Anna.
“You might want to regain some…composure,” Lillian said and paused as she flailed for a better word. In the end, she just rushed to the truth. “You look more gargoyle than you did before.”
To reinforce her words, Lillian reached up and gestured at her own horns.
Anna felt her jaw drop. Oh, for fuck’s sake. No. Nope. Can’t be.
But when she reached up, she felt the wide bases of two horns. Yup. She had big-ass horns.
Shadowlight reached out and touched first one horn and then the other. There was a mild heat in both horns, and then suddenly they were gone. Instantly her head felt lighter. How the hell hadn’t she known about the horns earlier?
Well, that was one thing fixed. What other surprises awaited her? Dragging in a deep breath, Anna glanced down at her body. She took stock of her condition and was pleased to see she hadn’t sustained any wounds or other disconcerting changes.
At least the horns were one less thing she’d have to explain in a report. She thought about asking Shadowlight how he had made them vanish, but at that moment she was too tired to care. She was just glad they were gone. She had enough weird-ass anomalies as it was.
Overhead a helicopter circled, its spotlight illuminating the area. In the distance, she could hear other vehicles approaching. Light armored vehicles by the sounds of the engines.
Great. She was in for a long night of debriefing and would later have scientists breathing down her neck.
“Do you wish to go elsewhere? We can.” Shadowlight said, proving she still hadn’t mastered the art of shielding her thoughts from the others.
Anna barked out a humorous laugh. “You know I do. But after Gran sees to the wound on your wing, I’ll stay and answer every question my superiors have and maybe later after it’s over, they’ll let us rest for a bit.”
The vehicles were still approaching fast, perhaps only two minutes out, when the unicorn galloped into the clearing. The Mother’s Sorceress was astride his back, and Daryna was living up to her name. Raw, white, sizzling power danced along her skin and silhouetted her against the lengthening shadows of dusk.
“Well. This doesn’t look good.” Anna stepped between Daryna and the gargoyle child.
Daryna paid them no mind. Her attention was focused on the seven-man team where Gregory had dragged them all together in one pile. Anna was surprised to see that none of them were dead. Yet. But they had an assortment of wounds. Some grievous, others shallow. But all seven soldiers were bloodied and would have a long recovery.
Though by the look of them, Anna wasn’t certain if all would survive. The man she’d beaten and the two the pooka had taken down were the worst. Their futures looked the most uncertain.
While she might not shed a tear over what happened to them in the heat of battle, it did not mean she would sit back and do nothing while the soldiers were murdered in cold blood. Hell, they were soundly defeated and were presently unconscious.
Daryna dismounted from the unicorn and then stalked up to the fallen soldiers. She spread her arms wide and held her palms up, globes of blazing magic at the ready to rain fire and death down upon the soldiers.
Chapter 15
Daryna’s sudden arrival surprised Lillian, but it also jarred her out of the numbing shock that had started to creep across her being. Daryna’s intent was obvious. And while Lillian wasn’t feeling precisely sympathetic to the soldiers, she couldn’t just stand back and watch them be snuffed from existence. Anna must have been thinking the same thing for she left Shadowlight to step between Daryna and the fallen soldiers.
Swiftly stepping out and away from Gregory’s sheltering wing, Lillian darted forward and circled around to stand beside Corporal Mackenzie.
“Lillian, step aside.” Daryna’s words were brisk and dripping with command.
“Nope.”
One of Daryna’s eyebro
ws arched up, showing her surprise. “These traitors must be put down, or their fear and hate will only spread like a disease.”
“That’s not your call to make,” Anna barked out, the rifle she’d taken from Shadowlight at the ready.
Behind Lillian, a growl broke the silence. Gregory. Really not happy. Lillian turned and pointed a finger at her mate. “You stay out of this.”
Gregory huffed out a startled grunt but swallowed back his aggression. Her gargoyle protector brought into line for a moment, she turned her attention toward Daryna. “You! Stow the fire and brimstone act. Violence generally only begets more violence. We need cooler heads. Yes, they attacked us. Yes, we used force to subdue them. But they are helpless now and are no threat to us. Their punishment will be decided by the humans. Not us.”
“Move out of the way.”
“Not until you’re rational.” Lillian spread her arms and wings wide, palms held out empty. “I’m not going to let you kill unconscious men. And I highly doubt you’re going to attack me just to get to them.”
Mind you, she expected Daryna knew a few spells and could get around Lillian’s defenses without much trouble.
Gregory, who had been stalking around the three women, finally released a chuckle. The tension in the air lessened a hundredfold. He paced over to Lillian and nuzzled at her hand.
A foolish thrill of happiness warmed her heart. Gregory had sided with her over his sorceress.
“I think the three of you must be some of the most formidable females to be found in any of the realms. I suppose it’s good that I adore strong women.” Gregory stood and wrapped a wing around Lillian, urging her up against his side. Then he reached out and wound his tail around Daryna, forcing her to lower her arm. When Daryna didn’t extinguish her magic, Gregory dragged her over to him.
Daryna hissed something but swallowed back her power before it could touch Gregory’s skin.
“There will be no more death this night. Besides, surely the future will hold enough. Lillian is correct. These humans will be turned over to their superiors.” Gregory glowered at them.
“They must be punished,” Daryna said, sounding taken aback.
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