Acropolis (24 page)

"Let's go, Ace," I whisper, and we are
airborne.

Chapter 35

Conor

"Do you really want to fight them?" I ask
Will quietly.

He looks at me from the corner of his eye as
we fly.

"If they don't give us a choice, yes."

It's easy for him to say this, and I envy him
that.

"We're gargoyles, Will. Do you realize we're
turning our backs on everything we've ever known, everything we
are?"

Will is quiet a moment.

"And you really believe that?" Will asks.

I don't answer.

"We're still gargoyles, Con. We just refuse
to murder hybrids because of their parentage. If they don't see
that, then it's a good thing we're leaving them."

"Maybe you're right," I murmur.

Will flies into a copse of trees and motions
me into them. I follow. There is a group of gargoyles behind us,
their wings darkening the sky, but it's impossible to see who they
are.

"How much money you wanna bet Roach is among
them?" I ask as Will leans forward.

"I'm not making that bet. You're guaranteed
to win. Look."

He's pointing now, and I see another smaller
group of gargoyles slinking along the tree line. They are shifters,
and the serpentine head is most definitely Roach.

"If it comes down to it, he's mine. Got
that?" I tell Will as my eyes narrow.

Will pats me on the back.

"I wouldn't want that fight anyway. We've got
to narrow down our field of combatants."

We glance around the area. There aren't a lot
of options when fighting one of our own. With the exception of the
shifters, most of us share the same powers. Shifters have
invisibility but only with humans. They can't use this power on
anything supernatural. But they are fast.

"Water won't work here," I mumble.

"Or stone," Will adds.

Or maybe it would! Will and I both pause, our
eyes meeting.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I
ask.

Will nods.

"I'm pretty sure I am."

The gargoyles coming our way are not part of
the Council. I recognize none of them other than Roach, and while
this can hurt us, it is also a relief. It means they are not as
powerful as the Council members who sent them. Some of them may not
even be Guardians. Even better.

Will leaves me, slinking into the trees'
darkness, and I move higher, climbing the limbs quietly.

The gargoyles are nearing, and I lift my
hand. I don't have to look to know Will is doing the same. The
first gargoyle moves beneath me.

"Now," I whisper through gritted teeth.

I call upon the rocks in the dirt below me,
the stone in the surrounding area, and I shove it toward the twelve
gargoyles in the open. My eyes are focused on their wings.

My chest tightens as the first stone rips
through one of the gargoyle's bat-like appendages. He screams, and
I let myself feel his pain. We are taught from the moment we come
into our power to protect our wings. If destroyed, they are
useless. Healing, if possible, is slow and painful. Those grounded
can no longer serve.

Three more gargoyles go down before they
start to figure out our strategy. Attacking a gargoyle's wings is
sacrilegious because protecting them is inbred. We are gaining the
upper hand, but not without guilt, remorse, and heartache.

Will flags me from a nearby tree, and I nod
before swinging through the foliage. The shifters will be searching
the trees now. I hear two more gargoyles go down behind me as I
move toward the ocean. Time for plan B.

Emma has miscalculated. We are facing sixteen
gargoyles, and we have downed six. Ten left, at least three of them
shifters. Will joins me again, and I look at him askance.

"You realize this may do more than ground
them? What we do now may kill them?"

Will nods

"It's them or us, Conor."

"And yet, we will be the ones left with the
nightmares," I say softly.

Will's eyes meet mine.

"Nightmares I can live with."

"You say that now," I grumble as we dive
toward the sea.

We've angered the gargoyles, and they are
moving in fast. Will lifts his hands, and I feel the pull as he
summons rocks from the shore and boulders from the ocean floor. The
gargoyles following us feel it to, and they pause a moment. When I
look back, two of them are turning away. They are leaving,
retreating. We're down to eight.

Rocks form around us, and I use my own power
to throw them at the gargoyles. I move above the rock field. On
cue, two of the gargoyles turn into stone, deflecting the rocks
heading in their direction, and I move in quickly, diving until I
am just over their heads.

Will sends a boulder in my direction and I
force it down on top of them. I am straining, my power screaming.
The gargoyles are fighting back, and their power hits me directly
as the boulder is forced back up. Will is suddenly beside me, and
we are shoving the boulder back down. The first gargoyle hits the
water.

I clench my jaw as he screams. No matter how
much affinity we have for water, rocks sink. We never turn to stone
in water.

The other gargoyle goes down, and Will and I
break away. There are six gargoyles in front of us, their faces
hard. Roach is among them.

"You would kill your own? You traitors!"
Roach yells.

Will moves toward him, and I stop him.

"Who are the traitors, Roach?" I shout in
return. "You plan to kill innocent people, some of them
children."

"They aren't human!" Roach argues. I stare at
him.

"Aren't they? I've met some of their mortal
parents, seen them cry, and you say they're not human."

The gargoyles next to Roach are looking
uncomfortable.

"They are powerful, ruled by their Demonic
blood," Roach says.

Will and I call up rocks, surrounding
ourselves with a force field of stone. It's a smart move, and a
foolhardy one. We can call stone, but so can they. Our own weapons
can be used against us. Our confidence in our own abilities in
unwavering, and we do it anyway.

"Keep telling yourself that, Roach. I swore
to protect my mark, and I will die doing just that," I yell.

Roach growls.

"Then you'll die!"

I am ready for the attack, and when the first
rock moves toward me, I repel it, sending it into the closest
gargoyle's wings. I hear her scream. It's an easy strike, but the
others know what they're facing now, and Will and I both furl our
wings and dive as rocks fly at us.

I hit the water hard, slicing through the sea
as I curve back toward the surface. I see Will beneath the waves,
and he nods at me. We fly from the sea together surrounded by a
geyser of water. Rocks are ripped from the sky.

I am water, I am land, and I
am rock. I am steadfast. I am steady.
The training has
been bled into me, and I hit the first gargoyle head on, my body
throwing him back toward the shore. He lands in the trees, and I
hear one of his wings break. I cringe. Down to four
gargoyles.

I let the water go, and the geyser
disappears.

"I'm not doing this," a female gargoyle
says.

She is petite with blonde hair and brown
eyes. Roach sneers at her.

"Are you a coward, Rowan?"

She shakes her head.

"They are protecting a mark, Roach. This
isn't right."

"They've killed their own!" Roach yells in
return.

The girls looks conflicted, but she finally
shakes her head.

"I can't do this," she says before turning
away. The other two gargoyles turn with her.

"You'll be demoted!" Roach threatens.

Rowan looks over her shoulder.

"I'll earn my rank back."

And with that, they are gone. Only Roach
remains.

"Leave, Roach," I say quietly. "It's
over."

Roach laughs.

"Do you know what Demons did to my family?"
he asks.

I nod.

"We've all had something taken away from us
by the enemy. I won't punish the innocent for it."

Roach narrows his eyes.

"I'm not above vengeance, Reinhardt. I've
seen the way you look at that dirty hybrid. You don't think I know
you've developed feelings for her. She's using you, you idiot. They
do that, you know."

"Leave it be, Roach," I warn.

But Roach is insensible now, and he moves
toward me, his eyes bright with anger. Will flies in next to me,
but I wave him away.

"I'll kill her, Reinhardt. I won't let any of
you get away with this. She'll die. They'll all die. And I'll make
her feel pain. She'll suffer everything my sister suffered.
Understand?"

My heart is beating fast within my chest.

"You won't go near her," I say through
gritted teeth.

"Try me," Roach says as he throws himself at
me.

His head hits me in the chest, and I fly
backwards, my wings furling as I sink into the water. I call on the
ocean, using the pressure beneath the waves to punch Roach hard as
he enters the sea. He flies backward, but regains his stride
quickly. He's underwater, and he's in serpent form. He has the
advantage, and he knows it.

I swim toward shore, breaking the surface
just as Roach glides onto the waves. He's practically skipping on
the sea's surface, his fangs dripping salt water.

"This is my ballgame now, Reinhardt. Let's
play truth or dare, shall we? Truth first. How loud do you think
Emma can scream?" Roach asks as he glides toward me.

My anger is out of control. I can feel my
body begin to shift, and I calm myself. I won't turn into stone in
water. I won't give Roach the satisfaction of seeing me sink.

I fly out of the waves, my body hovering over
Roach.

"Dare, Roach. I dare you to kill me first," I
yell as I dive at his head. The two of us collide, and we flip
through the air. I furl my wings as his teeth sink into my arm, and
I scream as I call on the land. Rocks are pulled from the earth,
and the shore shudders as a small mountain materializes near the
trees. I slam Roach into it. His eyes go wide, and I grin, my arm
under his slimy reptilian neck.

"My ballgame now."

And with that, the mountain claims Roach,
pulling him into the rock before sinking back into the shore. Will
is beside me immediately.

"You didn't kill him."

I look at him.

"No, I didn't, but he'll have a helluva time
getting out of there. Let's go."

I am weak as we fly away, and I hold my arm
where Roach's fangs have left their mark. We have won the fight,
but at what cost? The gargoyles' screams leave with me.

Chapter 36

Emma

We are within view of a massive white stone
manor when I feel him. I pat Ace on the head, and he stops,
hovering in the air as I look over my shoulder.

"Conor," I whisper as two figures come into
view. It's easy to see that the boys are injured.

"Jesus!" Grace says loudly as Will moves into
our group.

Both boys are grimy and covered in abrasions,
and Conor is bleeding from his arm.

"I take it you won?" Marion asks gently as
she touches one of Will's wounds gently.

Will lifts his brow, but doesn't say a word.
Neither he nor Conor seem very talkative.

"Are you okay?" I ask carefully as Conor
approaches.

His eyes are haunted, and he nods at the
manor ahead.

"Let's go," he says tiredly, and no one
argues.

The hybrids follow him with no hesitation. He
and Will have just proven their loyalty to the hybrids in the most
devastating way possible. They have fought their own. They are
respected now, and I feel the sickness in my stomach grow worse. If
there was ever a chance for me and Conor, I fear it's gone now.

We reach the manor too soon, and I am not
prepared for the weariness that strikes the gargoyles as they land.
Will goes down on his knees as Conor stumbles against a tree.
Marion kneels between them.

"Someone will have to go for help," Marion
says softly.

"I'll go," Grace says firmly as she begins to
walk. No one is sure how the hybrids will be received. It's best we
are not the ones to approach Alessandro.

"Let me," I say softly as I sit down next to
Conor. I take his arm in my own, and my eyes go up to meet his.
"Roach?" I whisper.

Conor nods before leaning his head back
against the tree, his eyes closed. I look up at the hybrids.

"If any of you can tell me how I can heal his
wound without using my tears, please help me," I say quietly.

The hybrids look at each other, and I'm
surprised when it's Lyre that steps forward to kneel on Conor's
other side. I feel jealousy, but I'm too worried for it to take
root.

"Touch the wound," Lyre instructs, and I lay
a hand over the fang bite.

Conor flinches but doesn't fight me.

"Now call on whatever it is your mother's
power values the most. Emotion, tears . . . it doesn't matter. Her
strength is your strength," Lyre whispers.

I look up at her and our eyes meet. Most
people could think of some pretty vile words to call Lyre.
Seductress being a tame one, but she is suddenly transformed for
me. Unfortunately for Lyre, her mother's power comes from using her
body, and Lyre has never learned how to use it in any other way. I
know, without a doubt, she can change if she wants to. Her magic
can be accessed differently.

"Help me," I whisper, and Lyre's eyes widen
as I touch her arm.

Suddenly, our power is one, and Lyre gasps as
I call on the moon. It answers, and I feel warmth flow from the
sky, through Lyre, and into me before I direct it into Conor. The
wound on his arm begins to close, and he hisses as the skin folds
together. Lyre pulls away, and she backs up on her hands and knees,
an expression of awe on her face.