Sorceress Awakening (14 page)

Half-dazed, she smiled up at him. “Now who
is naughty? I was just going to kiss you.”

“I know. I wanted more. The dance seemed
like a good time to steal it.” He tossed his head back, his wings stretching
toward the ceiling, and he laughed. The great rolling sound rumbled from the
depths of his chest. His joy was infectious.

“Gregory, I . . .”

Her human-formed gargoyle placed a finger
across her lips. “We should finish what we started; the dance, that is. The
others are waiting.” His eyes drifted closed and he pressed his forehead to
hers.

She’d forgotten the dance. Everything had
vanished from her mind except Gregory. With the return of her wits,
embarrassment awoke, too. Focusing on Gregory helped. She didn’t have to see
the others still circling them slowly.

With his eyes closed, Gregory looked
serene, at peace. He remained motionless for a moment, and then he released a
sigh and opened his eyes. The magic above him shuddered. A strange humming
doused all other sounds for several heartbeats, until her eardrums sorted the
noise out. With a low whine, the magic revved up. Teetering, it hovered on the
brink of losing control, then the magic exploded out, colliding with her circle
of magic. When the two powers merged, a retina-searing flash of light blinded
her, followed by a clash of sound louder than thunder. Power raced away like
shooting stars. Most of the magic vanished through the walls and ceiling of the
room. What remained fell like big wet flakes of snow, except they sparkled like
tiny fireworks.

A tall, elegantly boned man raised a horn
above his head. He met her eyes across the distance and gave first her and then
Gregory a nod of respect. She’d never seen such old eyes in a young face. One
slightly pointed ear peeked out between his hair.

“We Hunt for honor.” He gave the horn a
little shake. “We Hunt for duty. We Hunt for life.”

“We Hunt!” the crowd screamed back.

“Ride until dawn grays the sky.”

“We Hunt.”

“Let the Wild Hunt ride until the moon is
long vanished.” He raised the horn to his lips.

With the first blast, a haunting note
sounded through Lillian’s soul. The crowd roared.

“We ride.” Lillian screamed the words out
along with them. Then again, a final time, hard enough to hurt her throat.

The brown-furred hounds bayed madly,
yipping and barking as they darted through the crowd and headed for the loading
bay doors. Outside, magic pooled in little eddies, hanging above the ground
like fog. It hadn’t vanished as she’d thought.

It was waiting for the Hunt. Like a moonlit
path paved with white stone, magic gathered, forming into a silver road. She
held her breath as people vaulted upon the backs of ponies, wolves, and elk.

Gran approached and held out a bag. “I
brought these for you. Thought they’d be more sensible than what the dryads
made. There’s a small office through that door where you can change.” She
pointed at the door. “Now hurry.”

Lillian took the bag and glanced at Gregory
and then with a shrug, hurried into the office and slammed the door before her
gargoyle decided to come and ‘guard’ her. Inside she upended the bag on a desk
and got a look at what Gran had packed.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

* * *

When Lillian returned from swiftly changing
her clothing, she found Gran was already astride a white stag, her quarterstaff
balanced across her lap.

Lillian pointed at her leather pants and
then plucked at the black blouse and leather corset. “All I need is a crop or
wicked looking whip and I’m all ready for Halloween or a new career direction.”

Gran huffed. “That’s not a costume. That’s
real leather warded with spells. It will give you some protection from brambles
and whatever other nastiness we might encounter. But by all means, if you
prefer the dress…”

The dress with the slits up the sides?
Hmmm, no.

“Shall we Hunt?” Gran asked.

“Yes,” Lillian replied. “Though I don’t
know what I’ll be hunting. Or what I’ll be riding.” Nerves fluttered in her stomach.
She glanced around, and most everyone else had already exited through the
loading doors.

“We Hunt and gather the magic we summoned
from the Magic Realm. And never in my lifetime have I seen such bounty as what
you and the gargoyle summoned.”

Lillian didn’t reply, too embarrassed by
what her grandmother and the rest of the family had seen.

“Mount, so we can catch up with the
others,” Gran said with a note of impatience.

“On what?” Lillian asked at last.

“The gargoyle will make a fine steed.” Gran
looked at Gregory and raised an eyebrow. “And he looked willing enough to let
you ride him earlier.”

Lillian’s jaw dropped at her grandmother’s
words. Gran urged the stag into a trot, forestalling questions.

When the building emptied of everyone else,
Lillian turned to Gregory in time to catch a blur of shadows and light as he
resumed his true form. After he dropped to all fours, he came to her side and
nudged her hand with his muzzle. She held her breath, frozen in place,
uncertain. At her sign of reluctance, he moved forward until her fingers rested
in his mane. Then, shifting his wings away from his sides, he exposed his back
so she could sling her leg over, just like mounting a horse.

She frowned at the invitation.

One week of misery, which her grandmother
had called riding lessons, had been enough to convince Lillian horsemanship
wasn’t one of her skills, and riding gargoyle-back probably wasn’t one, either.
She most definitely preferred her own two feet on the ground. The horse had liked
it better that way, too.

But here she was, eyeing her gargoyle’s
broad back with mild curiosity.

Riding bareback. At night. On a gargoyle. What
fun.

Apparently tired of waiting, Gregory
wrapped his tail around her waist and dragged her closer. The nervous fluttering
in her stomach revved up another notch.

No other alternatives presented themselves,
so she swung a leg over his back and settled in place. She gripped his sides
with her thighs and knees to hold herself on. It still felt like she would fall
off at his first step. To hide her trepidation, she pretended nothing was wrong
as she leaned forward to circle her arms around his neck. When she stretched
out along his spine, he folded his wings back into place.

His flight muscles made a nice cushion, and
his back wasn’t bony like she’d half expected. Perhaps riding gargoyle-back
wouldn’t be as uncomfortable as she’d imagined. The heat of his body sank into
her bones and the subtle scent of gargoyle surrounded her. Her jaw unclenched,
and the nervous fluttering in her stomach eased. She rested her head against
his mane; it was easier than straining to look up and around. Inhaling his
forest-and-musky-male scent relaxed her another degree.

“Try to find your balance,” Gregory
rumbled. “I’ll start slow and you might remember the way of it. I used to carry
you on my back when you were born into a form lacking wings.” His gait changed
as he moved sideways and then in circles, shifting his weight from side to side
as he switched directions and speeds.

“Okay,” she mumbled into his mane, “I still
haven’t fallen off, so I suppose that’s a good sign.”

Gregory changed directions sharply. She
squeaked in alarm when she slid sideways. His wings steadied her while she
regained her balance.

“Not funny. Warn me next time you do that.”
She swatted his shoulder without much force.

He chuckled, shaking her insides with the
movement.

“You’re enjoying this,” she accused.

“Perhaps a little. Returning your gift of
mischief during the dance.”

Lillian blushed. “I wasn’t the one who
completely lost it.”

“I did not ‘lose it.’ If I had, our
positions would now be reversed.”

She laughed even as she flushed hotter.
“You’re a terrible, terrible gargoyle.”

“Blame the dance for its wicked influence.”
He chuckled and lengthened his stride into a lope. She tightened her grip on
his neck, not knowing what else to hold. Her death grip didn’t seem to bother
him, and he took off at a bone-jarring run as he zigzagged his way across the
vast floor space. She curled the toes of her boots under his belly. After a few
moments her muscles grew used to his rolling strides and she started to flow
with the motion. Her lips curled up at the corners. She might get so she liked
riding on the back of a gargoyle.

The gaping maw of the loading doors loomed
up ahead of her. Beyond them, the strange and wild night waited. Almost clear
of the building, Gregory flexed his muscular hindquarters and launched himself
off the edge of the loading bay, out into the night. She’d thought he’d run
fast before. She’d been wrong.

Her stomach plummeted each time his talons
struck the ground. Such power. It felt like he floated in the air a brief
moment between each stride. Nothing like riding a horse, more like harnessing
the power of one of the big cats. Laughter bubbled up, followed by intense joy.

Gregory’s long strides ate up the ground
between them and the distant Wild Hunt. The night was soon filled with the
baying of hounds and the cadence of Gregory’s rapid footfalls.

They caught up with the rest of the Hunt on
the outskirts of the forest. Spreading his wings, the gargoyle soared across
the expanse of gravel road in one leap. A cry of surprise broke from her lips.
Coming to the ground again, he resumed his rapid pace. She was about to beg him
to fly again, but he’d already overtaken the vanguard of the Hunt and slowed
his pace to come alongside Gran, her elk, and three silent dire wolves.

“What took you so long? Lillian give you a
hard time?” Gran asked the gargoyle.

Gregory grunted in response.

“I figured she’d be more agreeable to
riding if no one else was around to watch her first attempt,” Gran said with a
grin, then saluted the gargoyle with her staff. “Sorry I couldn’t teach her
more of what she needed, but she’s progressing well regardless, don’t you agree?”

“Yes,” Gregory said as he continued to pace
the elk. “Thank you for guiding and protecting her when I could not.”

“I’m right here under your nose, so to
speak, you can stop talking like I’m not here,” Lillian interrupted. “And since
I haven’t yet fallen from Gregory’s back and broken my fool neck, what am I
supposed to be doing, exactly?”

Gran cast Lillian a sidelong look and
nodded her head. “In times past, the Wild Hunt had many purposes, but now need
drives the Hunt. Tonight we’ll ride the borders of our domain, guiding the
magic we raised into a defense against the invaders.”

Lillian nodded and glanced around. She
frowned, taking note of the thinning herd of riders for the first time. “Are
there fewer strange creatures—uh, strangers here than started out at the
warehouse?”

“Oh, young one, you forget you’re one of
those ‘strange creatures’ now.”

With a twist of her lips, Lillian
acknowledged her grandmother had a point. Her new view of the world, and her
place in it, would take some getting used to. Besides, she still felt human,
didn’t she?

“The Hunt separated to cover more ground,”
her grandmother replied. “The wards and other traps must be reset to maintain
the security of the Coven and Clan lands.”

“Why? What happened to the defenses?”

“The amount of power you and your gargoyle
summoned washed away the wards we had in place, like a storm’s tidal surge
erodes a beach. Such bounty we had not expected, and we did not prepare for
it.”

“So, I screwed up again.”

“No, dear. You shared a great gift with us.
Do not regret it. Look there” —Gran pointed at an oak directly ahead of them,
where its wide branches overhung the game trail—“and watch.”

Lillian raised her head out of the
gargoyle’s mane and peered through the space between his horns. Gregory and the
elk came to a stop when Gran raised her quarterstaff.

With her eyes closed, Gran chanted in a low
guttural tone for a full minute before shaping it into a droning melody. Her
head tilted back and she pointed her staff at the tree. Then she uttered one
final word.

The world exploded with light. Lillian
jerked like she’d been shot. Even the gargoyle jumped at the bright flash and
turned his head away. When Lillian could see again, she focused on the tree. It
still stood, but it now glowed.

“Good God! What was that?” Even as Lillian
asked her question, the glow coating the tree seeped into it and vanished until
only a very slight afterglow remained. It looked like moonlight shone brighter
on that one tree than it did its closest neighbor. Interesting.

“That is a ward,” Gran replied as the elk
began to trot again. “It will prevent lesser evil from entering our lands and
warn us should something nastier come our way. Now that the magic is strong
again, we will know if the ward is broken or breached. Yesterday morning, when
you were attacked, the wards were weakening. I believe that’s why the Riven
struck when they did. They would have known tonight was the Wild Hunt, and they
wished to strike us a blow before we could reestablish our protections.”

“Can you teach me?” Lillian asked.

“If that is the gargoyle’s wish.”

Gregory tensed under her. Then a tree
loomed up out of the darkness, and he darted around it, skirting more deadfall
before coming back to the elk’s side. Lillian frowned. There had been room
enough between the trees for both the elk and Gregory. If she was not mistaken,
her gargoyle was not keen on her learning to use her magic, and did not want
her and Gran discussing the topic. Suspicious, Lillian reached out to Gregory’s
thoughts. At the first touch she encountered his reluctance, and then like
someone had severed the connection, his thoughts disappeared from her mind. She
was correct; he didn’t want her to learn about magic.

“Gregory, what are you hiding from me?”

A cry broke through the night’s calm before
Gregory had a chance to answer. The gargoyle skidded to a halt. Twisting his
head to the right, he looked off into the direction of the yowl. More of the
Hunt came to a halt. Heads turned toward the eerie call, and ears tilted,
listening for the faintest sound on the night wind.

A human scream rose above the sounds of
heavy breathing and the wind. The gargoyle spun back around to face Gran so
fast Lillian nearly slipped off his back with the force of his turn—she would
have, had his wings not caught her.

“Take my lady to safety,” Gregory ordered.
“Those are Death Hounds—beasts which don’t belong here. I must kill them before
they report back to their masters.”

“No,” Lillian protested as a growing sense
of dread settled in her middle at the thought of her gargoyle going into battle
without her. The flash of a remembered dream stood out fresh in Lillian’s
thoughts, of her grandmother swinging her staff at shadows. “Gregory, I’m not
letting you battle them alone.”

“You’re not going into battle with me. It’s
too dangerous. I might not be able to kill them and protect you at the same
time.”

“There are too many. You can’t go alone.
We’ll all come with you and face whatever these things are together.” Her power
stirred, uncurling within her. In that moment she knew with a certainty she
couldn’t explain she needed to be there with him.

“Get off,” he ordered, his voice no longer
gentle. Fear for her had made it deep and thunderous.

“I will not let you fight alone.” As
stubborn as he, she clung to his back, refusing to let go.

He growled as he reached back and grabbed her
left ankle in his mouth. With a twist of his head, he dislodged her without so
much as leaving a mark on her leather boots, but all the same, she still found
herself on the ground.

With a curse, she rolled to her feet in
time to see Gregory bolting off into the shadows. She needed to follow him with
every cell in her body. Her shoulder blades itched and ached. Fisting her
shaking hands, she tried to ignore the burn of power pulsing in her fingertips.
Gregory wasn’t the only one with magic. She had every right to fight by his
side. Fear for her gargoyle filled her belly.

“Gregory is faster. If he waited for us,
more people would die.” The harsh line of Gran’s mouth softened. “You must let
the gargoyle do what he was born to do.”

But Gran was wrong, Lillian’s instincts
screamed. More people would die this way.

She closed her eyes and sought calm. A waft
of coppery blood-scent snapped her back to attention. She relaxed her hands and
found she’d cut her palms. Baffled, she studied her nails. They didn’t look
sharp enough to do that kind of damage.

“Lillian, hurry. Mount up behind me. We
can’t stay here. It isn’t safe,” Gran said and held out a hand.

Lillian wiped her palms on her thighs. The strange
dark leather absorbed the blood without leaving a mark. She scrambled up behind
Gran.

The elk bounded away from the direction the
gargoyle had taken. Closing her eyes, Lillian sought the peaceful darkness and
embraced the magic which let her ‘feel’ the gargoyle. A faint blurry image
appeared on the back of her closed eyelids. He ran through the shadows of the
forest, his movements as nimble and deadly as if he hunted under the bright
light of day.

* * *

When deadfall blocked the trail, Gregory
bounded over it without slowing. Dirt and leaf litter scattered under his feet
as he ran. At first there was only the hunt, and then Lillian linked with him,
following his progress from a safer distance. She remembered that much. Pride
swelled in his heart. The emotion caused him to lengthen his stride until he
was flying over the ground without leaving the earth.

Battle sounded ahead.

Cries of fear and grunts of pain drifted to
him on the wind. The higher-pitched snarls of Death Hounds were easiest to make
out, and there were far too many of them. Closer now, he heard the gurgle of a
death’s rattle. A moment later the victim hit the ground with a solid smack.
More sounds of death echoed through the forest.