Then she was falling, dropping away as he righted himself in the air. Below, the razor-sharp rocks at the bottom of the cliff waited eagerly to shred her flesh and shatter her bones. Magic burned inside, her gargoyle nature rushing to the surface.
Chapter 13
Moments before the shift took her, Obsidian was there, his tail wrapped viselike around her torso. Wings snapped out to stretch wide, halting their descent so suddenly all the air was smashed out of her lungs. His tail was a punishing and lifesaving pressure around her middle.
Death adverted, she swallowed back her rising gargoyle nature.
In a small part of her mind not devoted to that task, she cataloged her injuries. She’d be aching and sore later. Likely a broad assortment of bruises would circle her chest and waist where his tail was even now holding so tight she couldn’t breathe. But she was alive.
Obsidian continued to beat his wings, rising higher. She’d successfully mastered her gargoyle nature by now. Good thing too. She was on the verge of blacking out. With an ever-narrowing field of vision, she watched as he came in for a landing midway up the cliff’s face where there was a ledge wide enough to hold them both.
“Anna!” The word was bellowed in her ears. It was only then she realized he’d been yelling her name for some time, but she’d been too busy swallowing back her gargoyle nature and assessing her injuries.
“Anna!”
Hmmm? That was a very panicked sounding Obsidian. Then he loosened his hold enough that she could breathe.
“Anna, please talk to me. Did I break anything? Crush your ribs?”
Poor fellow was so upset he forgot to use their link. “I’m okay. Sore. Nothing broken. Tomorrow morning’s gonna suck.”
“I’ll take you to a healer.”
He touched down on the ledge, and the jolt renewed the pain in her ribs. Yep. Gonna feel like crap warmed over with a side order of road kill. The muscular tail unwound from around her waist. His hands took its place.
He poked and prodded. She hissed and cursed. Eventually, they both stopped.
After a moment’s hesitation, the big gargoyle reached out and oh so carefully gathered her in his arms. Even with all his loving gentleness, her abused ribs complained at the new pressure.
Obsidian shook with adrenaline and reaction and their link flared with a secondary pain. He’d been hurt snatching her back from death, but it was dwarfed by his emotional distress.
Her ribs would keep; her partner needed reassurance.
She mumbled nonsense at him like she had done when he was a child and hugged him back. When that didn’t seem enough, she patted his back and projected her love. Anything to comfort him.
“I’ll hunt Reaver down and murder him for what he tried to do.”
“As tempting as that sounds, neither of us is up for that kind of hunt. Let’s hunt up some healers instead.” Anna continued to hold him even though her ribs were starting in with a new relentless throb.
“Some of your ribs are cracked.” He nuzzled her hair, breath still coming in great gasps. “I’ll use shadow magic to wrap your ribs until the healers can mend the fractures.”
“You’re hurt too. I can sense it, a burning ache all down your spine. Did you dislocate your tail?”
“Doesn’t work that way. It’s part of my spine.” He shifted his wings and tail, testing them. “Might have a couple small fractures. I’m still flight-worthy.”
That’s good, Anna thought. Should probably let him go now.
“It’s nice.” Obsidian’s tone was gentler, the rage melting away further. “I’d forgotten how nice this was.”
“I’ll give you a proper bear hug later, once the ribs heal up.” Anna winced and stepped away. “I know you’re not a child anymore, but you’ll always be huggable Shadowlight to me. Get used to it.”
Obsidian laughed, a deep, genuine sound of relief. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. You? I know that tail grab maneuver did something to your back. There are better ways to get a lumbar adjustment.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Anna moved farther from Obsidian as another gargoyle landed on the already crowded ledge.
It was Truth and his rider, Brooke. The dryad didn’t dismount—there wasn’t room.
“Obsidian, are you and Anna all right?” Truth paced closer and sniffed them over.
“I’ll be better when I have Reaver cornered.” A growl punctuated the end of his sentence.
Brooke leaned over Truth’s shoulders. “Are you sure you’re able to fly?”
“Yes.”
The dryad wasn’t put off by his gruff tone. “Truth can carry Anna and I both if you need to reduce your load for the return trip.”
“No.” New menace rolled from Obsidian. “Anna flies with me.”
“Easy,” Truth said. “We will not separate you. But you don’t have to worry about dealing with Reaver. Everyone saw what that fool did. He’s already being escorted back to Haven where the elders will be made aware of what he did. He was flying above you the entire time and says he didn’t realize until after that Anna wasn’t secured in a saddle. He was telling the truth.”
Gargoyles could scent lies as quickly as identifying their favorite food by smell. If the others didn’t sense a lie, then Reaver wasn’t a murderous asshole. He was just an asshole. That didn’t mean she would not rip him a new one the first chance she got.
Truth was directing his words at Obsidian along a private link, but Anna still heard. Her mental connection with her gargoyle partner was much stronger now that she’d come so close to shifting.
“You’re certain you can make it to the island?” Truth asked. “There’s no shame in asking the healers to come to you.”
“I can make it.” Obsidian’s voice still held an underlying low, menacing growl. “But have the healers waiting when we get back. I want Anna checked over. She has a few cracked or broken ribs.”
Truth’s ears tilted, scrutinizing Obsidian. “You’re being stupid you know. You should just let me carry double.”
Obsidian’s answering growl didn’t require words.
“As you wish.” Truth backed away and then launched himself off the ledge and into the air.
Obsidian turned back to her. “Let me bind your ribs in bands of shadow magic for now, until the healers can see to them properly.”
She wasn’t about to argue with that and stood docile while he spun out a shadowy substance that looked something like cloth but was cooler to the touch than the surrounding air. Slowly she raised her arms out away from her body and allowed him to wrap her chest from just under her armpits down to her belly button.
Then he ordered the shadow wrap to tighten a little at a time.
“It’s not a freaking corset. That’s tight enough.”
“It’s supposed to be tight.” But Obsidian loosened the spell a tiny bit.
“By the way, thanks again for that.” Then Anna arched her brow at Obsidian. “You sure it’s wise to ignore Truth’s suggestion?”
“I will be fine.”
“Well, I will totally say ‘I told you so’ if I have to shift and carry your heavy ass the rest of the way to the island.”
“Part of my training focuses on pushing beyond physical limits. I’ve suffered worse training accidents than this and continued the session.”
“Fine. Be a bonehead. We’ll go see the healers together later.”
Obsidian merely huffed and then dropped to all fours, presenting her with his tail and well-muscled backside. She suppressed the urge to slap his stubborn ass.
The ledge wasn’t wide enough for her to circle around and stand beside him to mount, so she’d have to attempt one of those running gymnastic maneuvers where the rider vaults onto the horse’s back. Or like they did in track and field.
Fuck. This would hurt.
He glanced over his shoulder, reading the hesitation. “I’ll carry you.”
“Do I look like a damsel in distress?” She to
ok three long strides, planted her hands on his rump, and sprang up and over to land heavily on his back.
They both grunted under the impact.
“Told you this would suck,” she wheezed out.
Then she carefully leaned forward, bracing one arm against her ribs and the other between his wing joins. A bloody motorcycle ride over three kilometers of potholes would likely be more comfortable than this short flight, but she didn’t have a choice unless she fancied getting carried back like some fainting damsel in Obsidian’s arms.
When Anna thumped his back, he leaped off the ledge and into the sky. His wings caught the air and forced it to submit to his will, and soon he was climbing higher as he headed toward his island home.
Chapter 14
Obsidian held onto his rage by the tips of his talons. If Reaver had been within sight and if Anna wasn’t clinging to his back, he would have engaged in aerial combat with the other male without so much as a second thought. Reaver might plead stupidity versus hatred for Obsidian’s Kyrsu. It might even be true. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to go after Reaver and break his wings and whatever other body part he could sink his talons into.
“Cool it, Obsidian. You’re not shielding half as well as you think. I feel what you feel.”
Anna’s thoughts washed through his mind like a refreshing rain.
“Come on, you great brute.” Affection and exasperation were equally clear in her tone. “You’re hurt. I can feel as each wingbeat jolts through your body like a hundred little sparks of pain running from the base of your neck all the way down to the tip of your tail. By the time we make it back to the island, you’ll be in no shape to deal with Reaver anyway.”
He wanted to growl loud denials at her words, but they were all too true.
Though, it was also true that he’d trained to overcome pain and was fit enough to discipline Reaver once he reached the island.
“I know what you’re thinking! Pretty damn sure your mentors won’t appreciate it if you decide to do their job for them.”
Again, his Kyrsu was correct. His mentors would punish him if he sought revenge against his rival. He grinned suddenly. A little punishment never bothered him.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. I. Can. Still. Hear. You.” Anna thumped him on the shoulder. “You’re ten times more stubborn now than you were as a kid.”
“That’s likely true,” he admitted, humor rising above the rage.
Though even humor couldn’t neutralize his rage completely. It still simmered below the surface. With good reason. Anna’s return was like a vital part of him had been restored. He dreaded her vanishing out of his life again. Reaver’s careless act had come far too close to stealing Anna away.
She sighed. “Fine. Do what you’re gonna do. I’ve got your back... I’ve always got your back. Even when it’s likely to get us banished or sent to the brig.”
Obsidian couldn’t help a grin. They were still a team. That hadn’t changed in the thirteen years Anna had been asleep.
He was still dwelling on that when he touched down a tad gracelessly at the edge of the cliff.
Other gargoyles from the hunt were already cleaning their kills. He stomped past them with barely a glance, intent on the circle of curious bystanders around the elders.
“Hey, I’m still here in case you forgot.” Anna’s words were punctuated with a few more thumps upon his shoulder. “I’d like to get down and walk.”
“Of course.” It was best that Anna wasn’t on his back for what he planned to do next.
∞∞∞
When Obsidian finally halted to allow her to dismount, she knew it likely wasn’t her words that had swayed him. It probably had to do with the growing pain she felt in his body.
“Let’s go see that healer you mentioned earlier.”
“We will,” he agreed as she slid to the ground.
Good. Reasonable was good. She could work with reasonable.
“Hey, how long do you think it will be before the—”
Between one second and the next, Obsidian was gone, racing across the distance to the circle gathered around the elders.
Well fuck.
So much for the peaceful ‘let’s let the mentors handle it’ method.
Giving chase, Anna winced as her bruised ribs bitched about the jarring pace. Sending a glower at the sight of Obsidian’s muscled rump disappearing through the crowd, she cursed as he swiftly outpaced her.
“Fuck!”
She darted around the bystanders in her way and soon spotted Obsidian again. She hadn’t covered even half the distance when Obsidian leaped, going up and over a crowd surrounding the mentors. He moved like he had rockets strapped to his ass. To go by his appearance, no one would suspect he was injured.
A moment later sounds of snarling, growling and shouting rang through the air. Bystanders along the west side of the gathering suddenly flew backward as Reaver rolled across the ground, his limbs flopping in a way that made her think he was already unconscious.
But a moment later, when he came to a stop, he drew his limbs under him and half rolled onto his side. Stunned. Not unconscious. At least not yet. But he would be, or worse, by the time Obsidian was done with him.
When she touched the mental link connecting them, it was to find Obsidian consumed by an unnatural need to protect. She’d encountered this a time or two before—had, in fact, experienced it herself the first time she’d shifted to full gargoyle form to protect Shadowlight.
Yep. He’d totally lost his shit.
Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to run faster.
By the time she reached him, the mentors had recovered from their momentary surprise and were advancing on Reaver and Obsidian, shadow magic swirling around them.
“Obsidian ease up. The elders are summoning some badass looking magic.”
Her Rasoren paused his pounding of the other male to narrow his eyes at the approaching elders. Anna eyed the male on the ground. His muzzle had a pronounced bend that hadn’t been there before. Broken likely. Blood oozed from his mouth, nose, even the corners of his eyes. If Reaver had been anything other than a gargoyle, he’d already be dead.
Tearing her gaze from the male, she turned back to the elders and held up her hands as she put herself between them and her Rasoren.
“Easy,” she shouted to be heard over Obsidian’s loud snarls as he faced the approaching elders. “Let me calm Obsidian, or there will be a bloodbath. This isn’t his fault. I can calm him.”
She desperately hoped that wasn’t a lie.
When the elders turned their attention entirely on her, her body hair stood on end.
Yeah. Don’t mess with the elders.
Banrook held out a hand, signaling the other elders to halt and give Anna a chance. “Work swiftly, Anna Mackenzie. I’ve never felt such mindless rage in a gargoyle before.”
“Come on, Obsidian,” she said as she reached out to touch him on one shoulder. “Time to get your shit back together.”
When her hand touched his skin, their gift flared wide, immersing her in his thoughts and emotions. The wellspring of bitter feelings and chilling power stole her breath.
“That’s enough.” Her words were an order, launched spear-like into the rolling turbulence that was his mind. “We need to pacify the elders. They are far more dangerous to us than that useless male.”
Obsidian’s gaze narrowed into slits as he studied the elders and their magic, looking for weaknesses she realized. Damn it!
“Obsidian. I need you to look at me, to see me, to hear me. Can you hear me? Can you understand?”
He looked at her, his mind becoming less chaotic, but still he didn’t speak.
“See those mentors? Yes, them. They are going to force you to submit. You can fight, but it’s going to be long, ugly and messy. I’ll stand and fight at your side. I’ll always fight. We’re a team. But I’d much rather not fight them in battle. It isn’t needed. This isn’t about survival. It’s about revenge. You�
��re better than this. We’re both better than this. Peace.”
His muzzle lowered to sniff her hair. Then he was blinking and swallowing back all the rage. She witnessed his internal fight and her heart bled for him. Then taking his bloody hands in hers, she squeezed them and sent her deep understanding and camaraderie down their link.
“That’s it. Come back to me. The Battle Goddess doesn’t get to control us now.”
“Anna?” His voice sounded like he was waking from a dream or nightmare.
“Yeah. That’s it. Come back to me.”
He allowed her to lead him farther from Reaver. She halted once they were a good ten feet away. Then in a sudden move, he dropped to his knees and pressed his face against her stomach, his horns a hard pressure to either side of her ribcage.
The position drew her attention back to her own aching body, but she would not shove Obsidian away for any reason.
“When I caught his scent, something rose up inside me. I couldn’t stop it. If you let me go, I will kill him. I don’t want that. Please, don’t let me go.” Obsidian’s words were an anguished mental sob only she could hear.
“Shh. If someone’s going to kill that idiot, it will be me. But since I’m not going to kill him, no one will.”
Crooning soft nonsense, she wrapped her arms around his head and gently ran her fingers through his mane.
They stayed like that—him on his knees, her stroking her hand down his mane while he clung to her. The meadow was eerily silent. Only the sound of mellow flame, logs shifting, and the drip and hiss of juices cooking out of the meat disturbed the uncanny silence.
She looked up. Everyone gathered in the clearing was staring at her and Obsidian.
Oh, she thought, you see us for what we truly are. Monsters among you.
She didn’t know how Shadowlight had managed to win them over when he’d first arrived, but somehow, he’d managed to hide the depth of what the Battle Goddess had done to him from the gargoyles of this place.
Anna’s eyes met those of Banrook. Well, perhaps Obsidian hadn’t duped all the gargoyles, but he’d fooled some.
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