She cut him off. “I don’t really want to share your affections. Not even with myself, as it were, but we all need each other to be strong and whole. No secrets and no deceptions. And Gregory, that’s why I won’t make you choose.”
She reached out and turned his face until his eyes met hers. “However, just in case you get confused, if you want more than to kiss,” she ran her hands over her curves. “This is the body for that. We don’t need any accidental demigods suddenly being born into the Mortal Realm. We have enough trouble.”
Daryna made a soft noise. It almost sounded like a gasp. Had she just managed to surprise an immortal sorceress?
By the time Lillian looked up, Daryna’s expression was as stoic as always. Hmmm. Damn. Must’ve imagined it, Lillian thought a bit sourly. She’d have liked to shock the age-old sorceress out of her calm demeanor for once.
Daryna wasn’t going to humor her today it seemed.
“Lillian. Gregory. I, too, must ask forgiveness. I’m certainly old enough to know better than to wish for things I can never have. But that also means I’m old enough to know what a rare gift fate has given us in this lifetime.” She stared at Lillian. “Don’t waste the opportunity to be with the one we have always loved. And there is no need to be jealous for what Gregory still feels for me. I am but a memory. You are the Mother’s Sorceress as the Divine Ones intended for this lifetime.”
Daryna gave Lillian a little bow and then straightened and walked towards the door. “Gran said that she, the Fae council and the human military were likely to talk long into the night and that my presence would be appreciated when I’m able to join them.”
Duty, Lillian thought sourly. “We should be there too.”
It was the last place she wanted to go.
“No need. I will report everything I learn after the meeting is over. If other humans mean to harm us, I will find them, but you have my word I will leave any traitors for the human authorities to deal with.”
“Are you sure?” Lillian didn’t like the thought of shirking her duties.
“Yes. You and Gregory have both been tromping around the forest all day. You need rest worse than I do.”
Daryna smiled serenely, and suddenly Lillian was in the other woman’s thoughts.
“Our beloved needs soothing this night. He has been divided and uncertain how to provide what we both need without hurting the other. Show him that he has been overthinking things. And, Lillian, if you can accept that Gregory’s love is not limited, that he can, in fact, love us both without conflict, then that will make things easier for you.” Daryna fell silent in Lillian’s mind, but she could still feel the other’s presence so wasn’t surprised when she added one final thing.
“And if you can accept those truths, know that I will never attempt to seduce Gregory for more than a kiss every now and again.”
Lillian arched an eyebrow. “Agreed. And if you never try to take more than a kiss, I will never have to drag you out by your hair.”
Daryna was halfway to the door when her laughter rang out. “Deal, my firstborn body.”
Chapter 18
Commander Gryton paced around the perimeter of the natural cavern that was now his temporary home. As far as such abodes went, he’d been in worse places while he went about his duties assigned by the Battle Goddess.
So far, the Mother’s Sorceress—it was too strange to call or think of her as his mother yet—had been honest, teaching him things about controlling his magic that he’d never known.
And Daryna was fair in her teachings, never unduly harsh with her words or training techniques when he failed to grasp some concept. Unlike the Battle Goddess, who believed weakness and failure could be beaten or tortured out of a person.
Was this kindness and patience really what it was like to have a mother, he wondered? Or was this just another type of manipulation?
Because, really, she could simply be a far more accomplished liar than he gave her credit for.
Although…he’d been in her head during the training sessions and those times her memories and motives were open for him while she taught him about controlling and harnessing his vast and terrible fire magic. Nothing in her thoughts had hinted at a later betrayal.
Before she captured him, his power had been cascading out of his control. Had she not seized him and drained much of his wild power and started the process to teach him, he doubted he’d still be here. At least not as he was now.
His inability to control his own magic might have ended with this realm gaining a second sun. While the idea of a second sun to dance in binary sync with the star that already powered this solar system might be an interesting one, it wasn’t how he wanted his present existence to end.
“That’s why I am glad my hamadryad recognized you as our son. Otherwise, I might have lost you before I even had a chance to know you.”
Daryna’s voice appeared in the air, echoing from another location. Then with a slight buzz of power along his skin, she stepped through a portal and was standing at his side.
He’d grown accustomed to her sudden appearances and disappearances, as well as the seeming ease with which she read his mind. “Greetings, Sorceress.”
She flashed him a smile, the warmth in it real and frighteningly addictive.
“Hello, my son.”
She came and sat by the small fire he’d built earlier. Not that he needed one. Being a fire elemental, he could simply summon fire and make it burn without needing fuel. Although, there was something comforting about the smell of wood smoke.
It wasn’t lost on Gryton that he could learn so much more than he already knew from this woman.
If he were willing to trust her completely.
So far, she’d done nothing to betray him. As a result, he was prone to letting his guard down around her far more than he should. “Did you achieve what you had hoped?”
“I must admit, my day wasn’t very productive. There was an incident with the humans. A minor betrayal. But it was enough to set back the alliance.” She sighed and flicked her hair over her shoulder in annoyance. “Every moment we are pulled away from our rightful task to fix some little insignificant issue, we are drawn away from our preparations for the war with the Battle Goddess.”
“Well, at least my day wasn’t a complete waste,” Gryton began. “I was able to do more scouting around the military camp earlier this evening as well as in the stone cottage that’s serving as a meeting place for the Fae.”
Gryton turned the rabbit cooking over the coals. Belatedly he glanced between his simple meal and the female who had given him life. “Are you hungry? Rabbit is all I can offer. But you are welcome to share.”
“No, but thank you.” Daryna dropped a pack next to a ridge of rock that doubled as a bench. “I brought you some supplies. There’s some food stolen from Vivian’s hearth.”
His interest piqued at the mention of the old witch’s cooking. Even cold, day-old food created by her hand was better than what he’d eaten back in the Battle Goddess’s domain. He expected it was enchanted, but he didn’t care.
Once all was said and done, and they defeated the Battle Goddess, he decided that if the old witch who was only known as Gran survived, he’d make sure she had a place in the new world.
“At least you were able to do some scouting.”
Gryton glanced up at her. “The other Fae were not able to see me. Not even the gargoyle child and his pet berserker.”
Daryna smiled. “You noticed that about the human hybrid as well.”
He huffed in remembrance, his eyes narrowing. “I still have a scar from her. I would like to return the favor sometime.”
She arched an eyebrow. “From what I saw in Lillian’s memories, you already did.”
“Her burns healed without even a scar to show for it,” he pointed out.
“The hybrid is not our enemy. Leave her alone for now.” Daryna’s expression turned thoughtful. “You’ve been able to scout the area and determine the best lo
cation to capture the young gargoyle?”
He frowned at the fire. “I tracked the young gargoyle for the better part of two days — at least when he wasn’t in the company of your male half.”
“My male half? It wouldn’t kill you to call him your father.”
Actually, if Gregory learned the truth, he just might kill Gryton. Regardless of what his mother said, he knew better than to trust his spells and mind tricks to work on his sire. “From what I overheard, there will be more of the training exercises like the one today. That will be the best time to capture Shadowlight. The rest of the time there are too many guards around.”
“I’ll have to do something to distract Gregory for you.” Daryna frowned in thought.
Gryton cleared his throat. “Separating the child from his berserker will be almost as difficult.”
“Yes, Anna is like a mother to him now. Even if she weren’t being influenced by Shadowlight’s altered biology, she would still be protective of the youngster. The need to protect seems to be hardwired into her DNA.”
“Hardwired? DNA?” The Mother’s Sorceress sometimes used words he didn’t know. He hated feeling inferior.
“They are human words that simply speak of bloodlines and origins,” she explained. After a moment her expression turned thoughtful again as she started to pace around the cavern. When she completed one revolution, she halted before him.
“That protective nature might be what we can use against her. If there is some new danger to the cub, her nature and training will demand she go find it and neutralize it before it can become a threat to Shadowlight.”
Gryton arched an eyebrow. “What would be a big enough distraction to draw away Gregory, Lillian, and the hybrid? If they’re chasing me, I can’t very well be snatching the child.”
“No.”
“And you can’t risk revealing our alliance yet.”
“Hmmm. No.” Daryna agreed.
Gryton had two other assets he hadn’t told her about yet. He supposed now was the time for a show of trust. “I have two assets that might be helpful in this endeavor. When I first arrived here and was scouting the area, I found the two Fae that the human military had captured. When they were unconscious, I took the opportunity to weave a few subtle spells that would enslave them to my will. I simply have to trigger the spell, and they will be mine to command.”
“Ah. You mean the sidhe Whitethorn and the sprite Goswin?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Use them.”
“Even with their help, it won’t be enough of a distraction.”
“No.” Suddenly she grinned. “But if you call for reinforcements from the Magic Realm, you can use them as a distraction to lure away Gregory and Anna and then you can snatch Shadowlight and take him to Lord Death’s domain.”
Gryton grunted. There were two parts of the plan he didn’t care for. “Gregory has command of his full power again. He’ll make short work of whoever comes to my aid.”
Again, Daryna smiled at him. “And that will rid us of a few enemies while furthering our plans.”
“You’re wagering a lot of hope that Lord Death doesn’t just kill the gargoyle cub outright.”
“I know Lord Death. His one great regret is that he acted too quickly in destroying his sister’s consort. Now he is rather too cautious.” Daryna gave the cooking rabbit a turn. Fat dripped into the fire, making it pop and hiss. “He will study the cub and find him a pure heart. He’ll then train him into a proper gargoyle who will serve the Light. But more importantly, Death will realize just what game his sister is playing and the type of power she now uses. Creation is the domain of the Divine Ones, not for the likes of a mere servant.”
“And you think Lord Death will not overlook his sister’s breaking of divine will?”
“Yes.”
Gryton refrained from commenting that his own existence was in violation of divine will. Instead, he said, “Do you actually think seeing what Shadowlight is will stir Lord Death to act faster? I’m not sure even that will be enough for him to risk breaking the duality curse.”
Daryna nodded as she gave the rabbit another turn. “Maybe not. But we’ll prod him with more evidence. Anna won’t just sit by and do nothing. Eventually, her magic will drag her back to Shadowlight’s side. Once Lord Death learns that his twin has found a way to create female gargoyles, he’ll realize that his sister has achieved a way to breed a new army that will serve her. It will push him into acting.”
One side of his mouth twitched as he fought a grin. “You figured that bit out about the female gargoyles already?”
“Yes. It was no great feat.”
“The Battle Goddess said that once the gargoyles meet their female counterparts, some will fall prey to baser instincts and will be easy enough to seduce into serving her instead.” Gryton arched a brow. “Once Shadowlight was mature, she planned for him to convert her succubus demons into gargoyle hybrids. Those females can be very persuasive.”
“It is good that River defected and took Shadowlight with her. I would have hated to face and kill my host’s baby brother in battle.”
She reached out and remove the rabbit from the fire. “Your dinner is ready and I must return soon.”
Gryton nodded. “I will summon three of my least liked lieutenants to act as unwitting distractions for your other half to hunt down and destroy while I capture the gargoyle child.”
“I will see that Gregory agrees to take part in another of those training exercises. It will take some soothing to get all parties working together again. Give me four days.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Gryton started to pull apart the rabbit, using his claws and fangs to tear into the stringy meat. Around a mouthful of food, he said, “Then three days from now before dawn colors the sky, I will make my way to the hamadryad and use her strength to project a message to my people. I’ll share with them what I’ve learned about the Fae and military alliance and that there will be a training session the following day that will provide the perfect opportunity to snatch the young gargoyle.”
“Good. After this, we will be one step closer to ridding ourselves of our enemy.”
Chapter 19
Gregory stood off to one side as scientists fitted Anna and Shadowlight with more of their strange sensors and bits of technology.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Anna growled. “Just give me the goddamn thing and I’ll do it myself.”
“Language!” Gran barked as she tapped her staff against the ground threateningly. “I won’t have that kind of speech around the young one.”
“I’ve heard worse.” Shadowlight said then asked, “What’s a clusterf—?”
“Where did you hear that, sweetheart?” Gran asked without breaking stride. “And you shouldn’t use words like that.”
His brows scrunched up in thought.
Gregory tapped into Lillian’s memories to learn the meaning of the human term and winced.
“But Anna uses them,” Shadowlight said with a stubborn hint of challenge in his tone.
A resounding thump sounded as Gran’s staff smacked down on Anna’s shoulder.
“Ouch! Crazy old witch!”
Another blow landed with superhuman speed. “Damn it!”
A third landed with more force.
“You’ve got to be effing kidding me!” Anna dropped into a crouch, realizing she needed to defend herself since Gran wasn’t going to relent.
Gregory wondered how long it would take the stubborn hybrid to figure out that if she simply filtered her mouth…
Gran’s staff weaved back and forth menacingly while Anna retreated.
“Fine. I surrender!” Then under her breath, “But you’re still a crazy old witch.”
“I heard that,” Gran hissed.
“I did too,” Shadowlight said and looked like he was about to pounce on the two women and join the fun.
“Enough!” The command was barked out by Resnick. “We are
ready to start.”
Gran and Anna both looked mortified. Shadowlight merely dropped to all fours and raced around the others excitedly.
Gregory decided four days of training wasn’t enough to turn his new cubs into respectable warriors. Every day since that first disastrous training session, Gregory had taken Lillian, Anna, and Shadowlight out into the forest to teach them more about shadow magic.
Still, he was taking no chances with his cubs’ safety this time. Before Resnick had sent his teams out into the forest to lay their ambushes, Gregory had scanned and scented each member of the hunting teams that would be testing the prototype weapons. He hadn’t bothered to hide in shadows.
After they had gotten over their initial shock, Resnick’s soldiers had conducted themselves well and had proved they could adapt to whatever strange situation they found themselves in. They seemed open-minded enough and willing to cooperate with their new allies.
This time, Daryna and Gran stayed behind to meet with the military and other civilian leaders to hash out some new terms. Gregory didn’t care what was agreed upon as long as it didn’t involve him working directly with some paper-carrying, silver-tongued human.
When he wasn’t training his young gargoyles, he enjoyed the relative peace and quiet of working with the sidhe metalsmiths as they forged more ward-spelled swords and other weapons for the Fae.
Daryna glanced up at him. “Working with the humans was your idea.”
“Actually, it was Lillian’s.”
“Yeah,” she whispered from his other side. “I’m sorry about that. Had I known that we would be moving targets for them to practice their marksmanship on, I might have agreed with you.”
Gregory mentally agreed but decided not to comment further. His grumpiness spoke for itself. They’d been training each day. And while the sessions were helping Lillian, Anna, and Shadowlight master their shadow magic and learn to fight as a team, it was also taking him from his other tasks. He missed not having other gargoyles to help with preparing for battle. Darkness had been a great aid for the short while he’d been with them. However, if other gargoyles came, he somehow doubted they’d come as friends. He still feared how the Lord of the Underworld would view Lillian, and now Shadowlight and Anna as well.
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