The Glass Gargoyle (The Lost Ancients Book 1) (25 page)

I marched past him and flung myself into my favorite chair. I didn’t invite him to sit either. “Not everything revolves around that damn piece of mystery glass. I know you and Covey are enraptured translating those scrolls, but there are other things going on.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“No. To answer your question, no she didn’t ask about the thing. She said she had been paid to keep me out of the ruins. Unfortunately she blew up before I could find out why.”

The old chime clock in the hall rang out its doleful and uneven melody. Reminding me it was six pm and Marcos would be by to pick me up in a few minutes.

I looked at Alric. Standing there looking sexy and dangerous. Crap. Not the person I wanted Marcos to see when he came over.

“Look, thanks for rescuing me and all. But as you see, the faeries already did it. I’ll fill you in tomorrow night at Covey’s if I remember anything else.” I tried shoving him toward the door, but he was as solid as I recalled.

“Why are you trying to get rid of me? You were just attacked by a creature that is banned from setting foot anywhere in this kingdom. It’s not something to brush off. What could possibly be more—?”

“I have a date.”

“What?” He pulled back as if I’d slapped him.

“A date. Tonight. In a few minutes he’s going to show up. And by damn I’m going out and having a nice time. He startles easily, so you really need not to be here.”

Alric pinched the bridge of his nose. “You have a date.”

“Yep, thought that was clear. Nothing to see here, everyone is fine, nothing new on your gargoyle. Will fill you in tomorrow night. Bye now.” I had succeeded in moving him slightly, mostly because he was letting me, and we were almost to the door when I heard footsteps up the walk. Booted footsteps.

“Change of plans.” I spun Alric around and shoved him toward the kitchen. “You hide here until we’re gone, then you leave.”

I stuck my head out the door without opening it fully. Not the best first impression for my date, but I desperately needed a fast shower. And equally desperately I didn’t want him to see Alric or the mess in the living room.

“I am so sorry. I had a …conflict with my landlady and we just got things resolved.” I flashed Marcos my best forgive-me grin. Damn he looked tasty tonight. His dark hair was down and loose for once, his clothing just tight enough to remind me how well he was put together.

“I just need five minutes to shower. But I can’t let you in right now the faeries got drunk and made a mess. There’s even a special cleaning crew coming in.” I really hoped Alric heard me and took the hint. There wasn’t much of Zirtha left in the living room, but the least he could do was get rid of it.

“Ah, but, lovely one, I don’t mind a little mess—”

“And they have been singing.”

His face paled and he took a step backward. I knew that would work. “I will just wait out here if you don’t mind.” He stepped back again and leaned against the hall. “But do not take too long I don’t want to be apart any more than absolutely necessary tonight.”

“I’ll be right back, I promise.” Locking the door I ran to my room. I didn’t see Alric, but hopefully he was crouching down in my kitchen like a good mysterious stranger.

I showered, changed into my nicest dress, and ran out the door.

Chapter 29

The restaurant was lovely, but Marcos seemed distracted the whole way there.

He’d been fine at my place when I’d first opened the door, but was subdued by the time I’d finished my shower.

The host tried to take us to the furthest table he could find, then doubled back and parked us near the kitchen. I shrugged. I was on a dinner date with a gorgeous man at a high-end restaurant. I didn’t care where we sat. And at least there was a window nearby.

A window that my dinner partner seemed entranced with.

“Are you waiting for someone?” I tried to keep my tone civil, but this wasn’t going the way I’d hoped.

Marcos pulled back as if he’d just seen me.

“I am so sorry, my flower. I have been a rude bore have I not? It is the jinns. They have something of mine, and I need it back. I am waiting for one of them to come by.”

He must have been planning on meeting them on the way to the restaurant, there would be no way those three could afford a place like this.

“Are they—?”

“What will you be ordering?” The waiter who cut me off was a short round dreg, skinny enough for that race to only be twice as wide as Marcos and I combined. He also stood a good foot away from us and managed to appear as if he wasn’t really talking to us.

“We haven’t seen any menus yet.” I knew this place would be snobby, I just figured they would still want our money enough to acknowledge us.

“If you tell me what you would like, I can have them make it.” Obviously he feared we would steal any menus they had.

“I don’t think—”

“We will both have Algarian steaks with fresh pears. Please.” Marcos answered quickly. He kept dividing his attention between the waiter and the window. But it was clear that he didn’t want the waiter there any more than the waiter wanted to be there.

“I don’t know if…” I let my complaint drop as Marcos turned his charm completely on me. It was the first time since he’d picked me up that I saw something I wanted to go home with.

“My flower, I know you will love this dish, yes?” He kissed my hand.

The waiter gave a rude snort. “I’ll see to it.” Without waiting for us to answer, he turned on his heel.

Marcos was just starting to respond to me like I’d wanted, when the waiter came back. “There is a …jinn…at the door for you. For obvious reasons we do not allow their kind in here.” The look on his face said he hoped both Marcos and I would leave along with the jinn at the door. However, he did dart forward quick enough to deposit our plates.

“Thank you.” Marcos leapt to his feet. “Please begin eating without me I will be right back.” With more energy than he’d shown most of the evening, he fled the dinner room.

Leaving me under the glare of the snobby dreg waiter. “I suppose you have the funds to pay if he fails to return.” It wasn’t a question and he didn’t wait for a response before he turned and marched off.

The food wasn’t bad, and I couldn’t tell if any discernable damage had been done to it. No blatant dropped-on-the-floor marks at least.

However I’d only gotten a few bites in when a shouting match erupted outside. Two men came into view, Marcos and Abhijeet.

Of all the jinns for Marcos to be meeting, it had to be Abhijeet? He was unstable and prone to violence. I thought about stepping outside, but one glare from the watchful waiter told me I was only doing that if I paid first.

My issue was resolved when both men stepped out of view. A moment later the shouting stopped and two moments later Marcos came back into the dining room.

Before the yelling match, Marcos had actually been attentive. But after he’d come back from that argument with Abhijeet he had gone back to being distracted. I was surprised that someone with, shall we say, Marcos’s delicate sensibilities would actually fight with a jinn. Granted, the twins weren’t really known for their magic skill level. Rumor was that the magic of one jinn had been spread across the three of them. Leading to three mediocre or worse magic users, who were pretty much outcasts from their own people.

That being what it was, Abhijeet was really the only one that was dangerous, yet Marcos had picked a fight with him and come back victorious. Well, at least he had come back intact and undamaged and Abhijeet was nowhere in sight.

“So you were telling me about your dig today?”

He wasn’t but I needed to do something to get his attention back from the window he was back to staring out of.

“What?” He slipped forward with a start, almost knocking his wine glass off the table. “I’m sorry, I just need to check something.” He stared at something only he could see in the window, then rose to his feet. “I’ll be right back.”

He took off as if I was a snake. Or a dead body. Looking around, I made sure that we hadn’t found one of those in the restaurant. He really didn’t react well to them.

The snooty waiter made his way back to the table. Why was it the only time the man came by was when Marcos was gone? Once the food had been thrown at us, he’d done a great job of avoiding us.

“Has the young gentleman left for good this time?”

I looked at the door, then at the plate of half-eaten food at his now empty place. I really hoped he hadn’t. If I had to pay for both of our meals it was going to wipe out any money I’d earned this week. Not to mention I’d be really pissed.

“No. The young gentleman has not left. He had an urgent issue.”

“With a jinn again, no doubt.” The tone of his voice was one level below the one used when telling someone about the dog poo they’d had to scrap off their favorite boots. “I see. Well, we do close in an hour. Please see that you have finished and paid by then.” With a huff so loud he practically shook the windows, he minced off. He was too snooty to even stomp properly.

The outer door swung open again, and Marcos sauntered back in. I had no idea what he’d been doing, and he’d only been gone a few minutes, but he came back a changed man. Not only was the charming gregarious man who had shown up at my house an hour ago back, he’d put some extra swagger in his step.

“Ah, my lovely flower, I am so sorry I had to abandon you for so long.” He picked up my hand and trickled kisses down my palm.

“You were just gone a few minutes.” He was incredibly cheesy, but too damn cute to let it bother me.

“But it seemed to be so much more.” He took one look at the plate he’d previously been wolfing down, and shoved it away. “I am hungry for other things. Do you think the cleaning crew has finished your home?’

His deep eyes were so mesmerizing it took me a moment to remember the cover story I’d fed him about Alric. “I’m sure they should be done by now.” Alric better be long gone.

Before I’d even finished speaking he waved down the imperious waiter. Without breaking away from staring into my eyes once.

The waiter himself looked startled at his rapid appearance at our table.

“I will take our bill now, good sir. The lady and I have another engagement.” Whereas before Marcos’ handling of the waiter had been hit or miss, he now seemed in complete control.

“I do hope you are prepared to pay with proper—”

“Is there a problem with my money?” Now Marcos did face the waiter. He waited as the befuddled man stared at a pile of gold coins that hadn’t been there a moment before. Clearly some of Marcos’s gypsy ancestors had passed their quick moves down to him.

“Why no, sir. This is fine, sir. Will you be needing change, sir?” The change in the waiter was amusing even if the drool trickling down the side of his mouth was a bit gross. I couldn’t blame him though. There was enough gold on his little plate to buy the restaurant.

“Not tonight, my good man, keep the change.” The corner of Marcos’s eye gave a twitch but his smile just grew larger. “My lady?” Standing up he walked around the stunned waiter and held his arm out for me.

I refrained from sticking my tongue out as we walked around the still drooling waiter. I wanted to but didn’t want to ruin the moment. Besides, his eyes could see nothing but the pile of gold in front of him.

The night air was warmer than it had been an hour ago, or maybe it was just the company.

The small talk on the way back to my place was forgotten the moment it left my mouth. This man was something I had been waiting for and I was going to enjoy him. Never mind that he screamed and ran away at dead bodies. He was walking sex, and that was just what was needed after the last couple of weeks.

It took twice as long to get back to my place as it had to leave. He kept pulling me aside in dark doorways for a quick kiss and cuddle. By the time my apartment was in sight, I was ready to rip off his clothes and ravish him in the street.

“You know you are at risk, yes?” He whispered in my ear as he kissed his way down my neck. This was going to be a problem because I kept dropping my keys every time he did that.

Fumbling around I reclaimed my keys and looked him in the eye. “And why is that?”

“Ah, because when gypsies make love, we touch the soul in such a way that no other man can satisfy.” He gave a lascivious grin and licked the side of my neck. “I will ruin you for all other men. But it will be worth it, I promise.”

Taking a deep breath, I kept my hands steady long enough to unlock my door. I went through first, but Marcos was still attached to the side of my neck so he followed immediately. I felt a jerk go through him as we crossed the threshold and he pulled back.

“What has happened? Why can’t…I…” He stumbled past me and further into my living room, stopping only when he hit the sofa. With a jerk he flopped into it.

Had someone shot him with a dart? He was acting as if poisoned. I ran to his side, but his shaking grew worse. His eyes rolled back into his head and he started to separate.

That was the best word for what he was doing and I scrambled back a good foot or two. My head was clear, but somehow, on my sofa, Marcos had grown an extra set of arms. Then legs, then a third set. I backed up all the way to the door, and kept one foot across the threshold. Considering my recent event with my landlady, I wasn’t going into another shape changing attack unprepared. I knew running away would probably be the best idea, but some perverse side of me needed to see what was happening to him.

Eventually three bodies separated from each other with some strands of a gooey slime pulling apart between them. All three male, all three about the same height, same coloring, and very naked. I couldn’t see their faces but their movements indicated they were in extreme pain.

Then one of them twisted my way.

Abhijeet.