Gargoyle (Woodland Creek) (16 page)

Mandy grunted. Waved a hand in front of her face. “Quit flirting with her. It makes it worse.”

My jaw gaped and heat flooded my cheeks. “You guys don’t need to bring it up!”

Isaac snickered, leaning to kiss my rosy flesh. “But you blush so pretty when I do.”

I slapped at his hand creeping on my thigh. “Stop it. Or your sister will run away to smell daisies or some shit.”

Mandy choked on a laugh but didn’t glance in our direction. She did point at the page. “It says here that the owner of the book will know where to look.”

“The owner is dead, though. That doesn’t help any.” I sighed heavily.

She shook her head, peering at me. “You’re the owner of the book now.”

I stared. Blinked. “We’re even more screwed then because I have no clue.”

Her Gargoyle huffed. “Think. Where would you look?”

I snorted. “If it were shifters or wizards, I wouldn’t. You guys terrify me.”

She stared. “That doesn’t help much.”

The three of us sat silent for a full minute in thought.

“Wait…maybe it does.” My brows puckered. The wizard had said ‘
When it’s time, you will hand over that knowledge
.’ I lifted the book from Mandy’s hands and hesitantly turned to Isaac. Because if this worked, then what I was feeling for him was real—not just lust. I licked my lips and slowly held the book out to him. “I want you to have this.”

Black brows quirked. “Why?”

I shook my head. “It was something the wizard said.” I wiggled the book at him. “I want you to have it.”

A gradual blink. “Are you sure?”

“I have faith you’ll do what is right. I trust you. I kept it safe and now you can.” And I did. He was a good man—for a shifter.

“Okay.” He lifted the book from my hands, his green gaze on my blue eyes. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I coughed in the uncomfortable quiet and quickly glanced down at the book and pointed at the page. “Do you see anything that might help us?”

“I’ve looked at it twenty times—”

“Just look again.” More finger pointing. “Do you see anything?”

His brows furrowed, but he peered down to the page.

I saw when his gaze sharpened, the slight narrowing of his lovely eyes. He tilted his head forward, muttering, “There’s a smudge. It wasn’t here before.” He ran the pad of his right thumb on the edge of the sheet. I couldn’t see the ‘smudge’ he was referring to, but his eyes scowled at whatever he viewed. “Holy fuck…”

“What?” I asked instantly, staring where he was and seeing not a damn thing.

His head gradually turned in slow increments. Until his eyes landed on Mandy. His lips thinned as he asked quietly, “Where’s Vince?”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

“Vince. Where is he?”

“Why?”

He snapped the book shut. “Because your boyfriend has finally lost his damn mind.”

Stone arms held me in the dead of night. The wind rushed hard, beating the back of my head. My face was pressed against Isaac’s stone throat as he flew through the air toward Running Deer State Forest. To the crossing ley-lines. His family flew behind him in a solid front against a wizard gone rogue, even Mandy in her heartbroken state of mind.

I kept my arms wrapped around his neck tight, my bag crushed between us. I occasionally gripped one of his small horns on his forehead, as I would turn to see if we were getting close. Mandy’s boyfriend had officially gone off the rails. She had suspected it, been worried about it, but hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. And, now, we were dealing with an insane, powerful wizard, thanks to him feeding off of the ley-lines.

As we landed, I kept my grunt from the impact at bay. Isaac had agreed to let me go with him, but only if I kept silent until we found Vince. He hadn’t wanted me to leave the protection of his house, but I explained the wizard had stated
he and I
were going to take down the night.

I hoped that meant darkness because I sure as hell couldn’t twirl a finger and make night turn into day. I blinked as Isaac set me on my feet. I would have to ask him if there was a wizard actually powerful enough to do that. It would be good information to have for the future.

But I flinched as we started walking, the Stone family in full Gargoyle form. I gripped the strap of my red bag, heavy with the ancient book weighing it down, and waved a hand in front of my face as instant sweat began to bead my brow. The night was cool, so this wasn’t usual, the heat I felt radiating from the right…not the left where they were headed.

I waved a hand at Isaac, keeping my mouth shut.

His green, glowing gaze swung in my direction.

I lifted my hand and pointed to the right.

His ghastly head tilted in unspoken question.

So I rolled my eyes and pointed the way he was going. And shook my head.

Then I pointed to the right. And nodded my head.

I was playing a freaking kids game with a Gargoyle in a forest at midnight.

Yes, my life had flipped on its head when I had taken a nosedive from the clock tower.

When his family didn’t instantly do as I said, I turned on my heel and marched in the right direction. My lips twitched when Isaac was quickly by my side, walking so close our arms brushed. Smartly, his family followed along.

The farther we walked, the hotter I became.

Sweat drenched the back of my shirt, making me wish I hadn’t worn my light jacket. I watched where I stepped, careful not to snap any fallen twigs. The dried leaves couldn’t be missed, those crunching under my tennis shoes. Though the Gargoyles didn’t seem to have any problems with it, their footfalls silent—a true predator.

I peered down at my hands and crinkled my nose in pain. Blisters were popping up on my flesh. I placed a stopping hand on Isaac’s solid arm, catching his attention. With his gaze on me, I pointed at the clear evidence we were headed in the right direction…and that I couldn’t go any further without the risk of crying out in agony.

Isaac’s stone nostrils cracked as he inhaled sharply, staring at my hands. His attention snapped up to me, and he jerked a clawed finger back the way we had come. He even bared his gruesome teeth at me.

He wasn’t exactly pleased I hadn’t told him about the pain I was in.

I peered once more to where we were going…and then nodded my head. I quickly turned and started a light jog
away
from the heat radiating in the air. My lungs were constricting, the very oxygen I breathed choking me, but I didn’t stop. It wouldn’t get better until I was away from the
wrongness
coating the night.

When I could breathe easily and the blisters magically disappeared from my skin, I sat down on the grass on a hill and peered down to where the Stone family had gone to save the day.

My shoulders slumped in defeat as I placed my red bag next to me on the cool ground. I wasn’t able to do anything. There was no adapting to this situation as Isaac had mentioned. If I had stayed, I would have hindered their search.

I blinked and stared as silver light shot up from the trees into the darkened sky, as if it were attached to the moon it flew so high. My breath caught. I cringed as Gargoyle roars filled the night air, my fingernails digging down into the dirt.

Just as I saw his family flying into the air, and dropping like bombs, only to shoot up into the air again, light firing from their bodies, a hand clamped down on my left shoulder. I jerked in alarm, my frightened gaze snapping up.

Caleb stared off into the distance, standing over me. He had just appeared out of nowhere. When he spoke, his words were quiet. “If you really want to be with him, a man of his caliber, in power and predator, I’ll tell you how you can help.”

I tried jumping to my feet, but his hand kept me sitting. “Yes, I want to help!”

Blunt words. “Then stay here.”

My nostrils flared in irritation. “How is that helping?”

“Know your limits, Kennedy. You can’t be with him if you’re dead.”

I swatted his hand away and turned my regard back to the fight that was taking place. My attention didn’t move from there. “But I was supposed to help. That’s what the wizard said.”

“You did help. They wouldn’t have found him tonight if it weren’t for you.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, ready to argue.

But when I glanced back…he was gone.

With my head resting on a pillow, I grumbled, “I didn’t do shit tonight.”

Isaac ran his fingers through my hair. “We took care of him, Kennedy. That was the whole point of going out there. How it happened is beside the point.”

I sighed quietly. “So what the hell was he doing?”

Isaac hummed quietly. “Well, he was trying to kill every shifter in Woodland Creek.”

My eyes widened. “Are you kidding me?”

“No.” He snorted. “You know that black fog in town?”

“How could I forget?”

“It was pulling all of the shifters powers from their bodies.”

I stared. “Why in the world would he want to do that?”

“He wanted their life force.” He grunted gently. “He had an addiction to energy.”

I blinked. “Like my mom with heroin.”

“Exactly.”

I tapped my fingers on his bare chest. “Why did the fog stop when I entered the protection of Hanna’s spell?”

His lips twitched. “Do you really want to know?”

I merely gazed at him.

“Because you held his father’s book, where he had stolen the original spell from. The book holds the power to it.”

My jaw gaped open. “The wizard was Vince’s dad?”

“Yes. And since his dad created that spell, and he gifted you with some of his power, you also felt the effect of it when the spell was put into action.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Caleb explained it all to me.”

“Wait, does that mean the “incident” was caused by Vince too? Did he steal power then?”

A soft shake of his head, a grin lifting his lips. “I believe that was Hanna’s work. Her way of placing us together since we never would have without a little influence.”

After a minute, I grumbled, “I still wish I could have done something.”

Isaac chuckled and pulled me in closer to his body, tucking the blankets around us more firmly. “You did, Kennedy.”

My lips smashed against his skin, I muttered, “What did I do other than get blisters?”

He paused. “They’re all gone, right?”

“Yes, they’re gone,” I groaned.

“Just checking.” He rubbed my back and rested his head above mine. “I’m going to tell you what Hanna said now since you think you’re useless.”

I blinked and attempted to keep the excitement from my voice. “I’m listening.”

“She told me,
‘With faith comes trust. With trust comes safety. And the woman who gives you all three will hold your heart
.’”

I grinned against his skin, unable to speak.

He cleared his throat harshly. “Well? I told you. Now you’re supposed to tell me what Vince’s dad told you.” He paused. His Gargoyle huffed. “He was even more powerful than Hanna before his death. This has to be good.”

“Fine, I’ll tell you.” The morning sun began flittering into the windows, casting a golden glow over our exposed flesh. “He said,
‘You carry the salvation of this town with the true love of your life. The two of you will beat the night
.’”

Isaac held still until his head rose, and he peered out the windows to the new day. He chuckled quietly, laying his head back above mine. “And we did beat the night. We both survived.”

My jaw slackened. “Damn! That’s what he meant?”

“Wizards have a funny way with words, Little One. Like when Hanna showed up at your apartment with Caleb. She said,
‘Perhaps you should pick one
.’ That was her way of slapping me silly to make sure I wasn’t falling for our ex’s game plan.” He kissed my forehead as I snickered at his grumpy tone. “Now let’s go to sleep, and when we wake, we’ll go for lunch at The Bread Basket.” He hummed quietly. “And for the record, I think Hanna was right with her prediction.”

My lips twitched. “As was Vince’s father.”