The Girl and the Gargoyle: Book Two of The Girl and the Raven Series (24 page)

Aiden stands guard between Marcus and Dylan. “How do we do that?”

I eye Marcus warily and gesture for Lucy and Dylan to step forward.

Dylan shrugs. “I don’t feel any different.” He reaches for Lucy’s hand, a cocky smile on his face. “In fact, come here. Let’s hug this out.”

Marcus lunges. His fist connects with Dylan’s face, which jerks to the left. Then Dylan narrows his eyes and bares his teeth. His fist cuts through the air, aiming for Marcus’s face. Aiden raises his hand in time to absorb the impact.

“Marcus, no!” Lucy yells. She grabs his arm, tries to yank him backward.

“I told you to leave her alone!” Marcus shakes Lucy off and lunges for Dylan again.

Aiden shoves Dylan aside then grabs hold of Marcus and pulls him back.

“You’re an idiot, Dylan,” Lucy cries out. “Are you trying to ruin everything?”

With Marcus’s arms pinned behind his back, Aiden shoves him toward the door.

“Keep him away from her, Persephone,” Marcus snarls over his shoulder. “I mean it. Don’t let him touch her!”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Dylan Douglas

I’m out of control. It took staring at my bedroom ceiling for two hours to circle back to the same point. I’m an idiot. All I had to do was hold it together and read a bunch of rhyming stuff on a piece of paper. I failed.

This spell is the only way to save our friendship. Lucy said as much. One lousy spell and I probably blew it. What happens next? Well, duh.
That’s an easy one, genius. You’ll have to train with Jude on different days than Lucy. You won’t be able to see Ethan and Brandi on Saturdays. And Lucy will avoid you in the hallways at school.

What about Marcus? The guy was generous enough to heal me this morning, and this is how I repay him?

Emanation sucks.

This isn’t what I wanted. Sure. I wanted Lucy to like me. But not like this. Not under the influence of some demonic mojo. I want her to like me for me, something Rachel never did. Lucy isn’t all about status and parties and getting drunk. She’s deeper than that. She cares about other people. She’s fragile and tough at the same time.

I don’t want to lose her.

Maybe we can try it again. I’ll talk to Lucy about it tomorrow morning when I pick her up for training. Scratch that. If we’re not cured of this thing, she’ll be super pissed at me. She won’t go to training with me. Besides, Marcus won’t let me anywhere near her.

Maybe I should talk to Persephone, see if she’ll convince Lucy into giving this another go. I can’t risk losing her.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Lucy Walker

At eleven the next morning, Dylan pulls into the driveway. Marcus stands guard at my side. Aiden flanks Marcus’s other side, his arms folded over his chest.

“I owe all of you an apology. I’m sorry about last night.” Dylan extends his hand to Marcus. “No hard feelings, man.”

“I’m the one with hard feelings,” I snap. “Let’s get this over with.” I turn to Aiden. “How do we know if the spell worked?”

“Hug it out. See if you feel anything,” Aiden says then turns to Marcus. “Sorry, little brother.”

Marcus grips my hand reflexively.

I squeeze back reassuringly. “We have to give it a try.”

Dylan and I study each other cautiously. I brace myself as I anticipate the familiar heat to race through me, for my nerve endings to snap, crackle, pop, and leave me trembling. So far…nothing.

Marcus and Aiden take a step closer. Is it possible I’m holding back my feelings for fear of a fight between Marcus and Dylan? I roll my shoulders and try to relax as best I can as my boyfriend and his pseudo-brother hover beside me.

I take a step closer to Dylan. Nothing stirs inside of me. In fact, standing this close to him annoys me. And that annoyance is growing.

Dylan embraces me stiffly. His grip is too tight, and I can’t breathe. I shove him away. “Are you trying to suffocate me?”

The smell of Dylan’s cloying scent kicks in my gag reflex. I reel backward and clamp my hand over my mouth.

Dylan bursts out laughing. “I don’t feel a thing. You could be super ugly…not that you are.” His laughter turns to panic. “Because you’re not.”

“What’s up with your cologne? You smell like Eau du Skunk,” I say at the same time.

Wait…did he just call me ugly?

“Like you’re Prince Charming?” I ask. Heat rushes through me, but not the kind that leads to kissing. I shove Dylan so hard he stumbles and falls.

“What was that for?” he asks, sprawled on the sidewalk, his eyes wide.

“Yeah, exactly,” I grind out through clenched teeth.

Dylan aims a baffled look at Marcus. Marcus merely stands there, arms crossed over his chest, a grin on his face.

“I’d say it took, little brother.” Aiden claps Marcus on the back, beaming. It’s the first time I’ve seen him smile.

Dylan pushes himself off the ground. “Whatever. Let’s go and get this stupid training session over with.”

I fan my hand through the air as he walks past. “Just promise you’ll roll down the windows.”

Why am I stuck having to train with him anyway? Then I remember what Jude did to Dylan. As much as I detest Dylan right now for nearly sabotaging the spellcasting last night, I plan to have it out with Jude. Once that’s done, then I will see if he’ll allow Dylan and me to train on different days.

Marcus pulls me backward and embraces me. Then he turns me around and plants a kiss on my lips.

Desire blazes through me like a lightening bolt. I grab fistfuls of Marcus’s hair and kiss him hard.

Marcus finally stumbles away, breathless. He blinks several times, his eyes full of surprise. “Lucy…”

Aiden squeezes Marcus’s shoulder, effectively breaking the intimate connection between us. “Everything is good here. We need to go deal with Max.”

My brain struggles out of its heady fog. “What’s wrong with Max? Isn’t he supposed to be here by now?”

Marcus shakes his head as if coming out of a daze. “Max tried to charm some people out of their valuable possessions. Henry bailed him out of jail.” He glances at his watch. “They’re probably back by now. Typical Max, right Aiden?”

“I say let him rot behind bars,” Aiden grumbles.

I don’t care what Aiden says. If Henry and Persephone believe we need Max, then Henry needs to work his lawyer magic and get the demon out of jail before it’s too late.

Marcus flashes his crooked smile at me. The last thing in the world I want to do is go to Jude’s house. I can think of so many other things I’d rather be doing. All of them include my boyfriend.

“Come back to me soon,” he says.

“I will.” I smile at him.

Dylan crosses and uncrosses his arms. “This love fest is super duper touching and all, but Jude’s gonna kill us if we’re much later.”

I squeeze Marcus’s hand, then turn to go.

* * * *

Once in the car, Dylan glances at me. “Hey, I’m glad the spell worked.”

“I’m super ticked off at you right now after the stunts you pulled last night. As far as I’m concerned we’re not friends today,” I hold up a finger, “but I’m going to let Jude have it for hurting you. I thought we were past his evil stunts.”

“Just leave it alone, please. It’s over.”

“What’s over?”

“Just leave it alone. Don’t meddle,” he snaps.

I make a face. “Don’t be such a jerk.”

Dylan shakes his head. “Whatever.”

After forty-five minutes of staring out the passenger side window, listening to Dylan chomp-chomp-chomping on his gum, we pull into Jude’s driveway. I burst out the passenger side door the second he puts the car in park, filling my lungs with fresh, non-Dylan polluted air.

Lunch is a painful affair.

I can’t tolerate the torture of his smacking lips any longer. “Can you keep it down over there?”

Dylan holds up his burger. “At least my food doesn’t reek.” He eyeballs my plate. “What is that slop? Kale and beans? If you fart in my car later, I’m kicking you to the curb. You can walk home.”

My jaw falls open. My embarrassment turns to fury.

Jude flicks his fingers at Dylan, then at me.

“Ouch!” I rub my nose and cheeks to ease the sting.

“Toughen up, wuss.” Dylan snorts. “And you call yourself a demon.”

I lean forward in my chair, my palms tingling. “Want to see what a real demon is capable of?”

“Enough!” Jude slams his hands onto the table. “Outside. Both of you.”

“Thank God. I’ll finally be able to breathe,” Dylan complains.

“What? Are you going to beat us both like you did Dylan last weekend?”

Dylan gasps.

Jude narrows his eyes at me. “Is that what you would like me to do?”

There’s an edge to his voice that makes me shrink in my chair. Jude’s irises turn black. He glances at Dylan.

“Did you explain to Lucy that you volunteered for our fight session last weekend?”

Dylan swallows. “I didn’t tell her about it. She drew her own conclusions.”

I force myself to take a breath and continue. I don’t even like Dylan right now, but I have to do the right thing. “What’s wrong with you? If you need to teach someone fighting techniques or if you’re reprimanding them—someone you claim to actually care about—you don’t do it to the extreme.”

Jude leans forward, wearing a look that would normally stop me dead in my tracks. “You’re going to lecture me on my parenting skills?”

“You’re not Dylan’s parent. I don’t know why you did what you did to him, but it was wrong. You want me to spend more time with you, but I don’t like you. And when you threaten people or hurt people, then I despise you. You hurt Dylan. It was really bad, Jude.”

Jude’s temple throbs. And he goes far too long without blinking. I brace myself in case he goes berserk.

“Are you done?” he asks evenly.

“I am.”

“Then let’s go outside and train like civilized demons.”

Dylan meets my gaze and mouths the words,
Are you crazy?

You’d think the creep would appreciate me going to bat for him.

Once in the yard, Jude stands between us. “I may regret this later, but the two of you are going to train together today.”

Dylan and I stand too close to one another.

“Back off!” I spat.

“I’m three feet away from you. Chill out.”

I turn to Jude. “Do I get to set him on fire today?”

Dylan cracks his knuckles. “Do I get to knock her on her bony behind?”

Jude tries to ignore the verbal jabs. “We’re going to start with defensive versus offensive moves. Lucy, Dylan is going to come at you and you’ll need to outmaneuver him. For example…” He ushers Dylan off to the side and beckons for him to charge.

Dylan tucks his head. A smirk appears on his face as he charges Jude like an angry bull. I wonder if he has revenge on his mind.

When Dylan is a foot away, Jude drops into a squat and extends his leg out to the side. Dylan trips over the leg and goes flying. He slams onto the ground, jumps up, and comes at Jude again. Jude faces him, feet rooted in a wide stance until Dylan is nearly upon him, then he directs a powerful blow to Dylan’s solar plexus.

My mouth falls open as I watch Dylan fly backward then slam onto the ground. I feel bad for him. Then again, he did call me ugly.

“Who’s the wuss now?” I call out.

“That…was…low,” Dylan wheezes.

“Learn to anticipate,” Jude says crisply.

Jude walks ten feet away then turns around.

“Lucy, Seamus is out there, and once he realizes you’re still alive, he’ll be back. We’re going to reenact his attack from that night.”

Alarm torpedoes through me. I open my mouth to protest, but seeing Dylan still trying to catch his breath, I want Jude to leave him alone for a few minutes.

I square my shoulders and plant my legs. “Okay, tell me what to do.”

“You tell me,” Jude throws back at me. “Recall the details. What was Seamus doing?”

I stare off, putting myself back on the roof. Seamus’s daughter, Daphne, was nothing but a pile of ash on the ground to my right. Jude called out to me. Seamus appeared across the roof. His arms directed toward me. He was muttering under his breath. “He cast a spell at me.”

“How do we stop him?” Jude barks as he paces.

My mouth goes dry. It takes effort to unglue my tongue from the roof of my mouth. “You…you threw fireballs at him. It didn’t work.”

“Tell me what you’re going to do instead,” Jude says as he moves back and forth between Dylan and me. “How do we disarm him?”

“It’s about his hands, right? Why not break them?” Dylan wheezes.

“That’s a great start,” Jude says, “but if you’re dealing with a powerful demon like Seamus, he can direct the spell with his mouth, his eyes, even a slight nod. Besides, he’d have hurt—or killed—Lucy before anyone got close enough to his hands. Next option?”