Page 54 of Let Go My Gargoyle
“I think she magicked herself up there.”
“Well, how do we get her back down here?”
“We either go up after her or wait for her to figure out how to get herself down.” He took in his surroundings. “This space is too small to shift in. We’d totally draw their attention. So we need her to do it on her own.” He heard a sound behind him. “Or better yet, let her stay up there for a while.” He turned around.
“What? Are you crazy? She could—” Sofia turned around too and abruptly stopped talking. Three warlocks were walking toward them with menacing looks on their faces.
“Here’s the thing about warlocks,” Griffin said as he eyed the enemy and shifted his stance so that he stood slightly in front of Sofia. “They’re really hard to kill. Like damn near impossible. Delilah could probably do some damage, but what we really need right now is a Daughter of Light who has actually come into her magic.”
“That’s not particularly reassuring,” Sofia said, “since there isn’t one handy at the moment.”
“Yeah, the only other one I’m aware of is Argyle’s daughter, and last I heard, she and Argyle are in Asia. Which means the only option we have is to fight our way out and get Penelope to the City of the Dead. There are so many charms and curses around it that they won’t be able to enter. She’ll be safe there until we can call in reinforcements.”
He could hear the sounds of a scuffle, which he figured was the rest of the warlocks battling with Antoinette and Ketu and the other dragons.
The three stalking warlocks were about ten feet away now. Griffin reached out and snagged Sofia’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “This is really lousy timing, but I want you to know that I love you.”
“What?”
He glanced down at her. She was staring at him like he’d just told her the president was a warlock.
“I told you my timing sucks. But I just want you to know.”
“This is not a conversation I’m willing to have with you right now.”
“Because you love me too.”
“Because it doesn’t matter,” she snapped, and then she gave him a shove that sent him stumbling backward while she swung at the nearest warlock, catching him on the chin and sending him stumbling too.
“It totally matters,” Griffin insisted while he tackled a second warlock, grabbed his head, and slammed it against one of the steel bars attached to the shelving unit where Penelope was hiding. The entire thing shuddered, and he cursed his own stupidity.Next time, slam the guy into the wall.
“Even if we get out of this thing alive, you can’t have a relationship, remember?” Sofia said as she kneed a warlock in the groin.
Griffin winced while the guy fell to the ground and curled into the fetal position. “It’s important that you know how I feel. Besides—”
A warlock jumped onto his back, and he headbutted the guy, then shoved him into the wall. It gave under the pressure, and they both tumbled through into the front section of the antiques shop.
Sofia stepped through the hole in the wall behind them. “Why? Why would you do that to me? Why is it so important that I know how you feel when you won’t do anything about it?”
She stood there with her hands on her hips while Griffin and the warlock scuffled on the floor. After a few moments, she reached down and punched the warlock in the face, and Griffin scrambled out of his slackened grip. He stood and brushed drywall dust from his shirt, making Sofia cough and wave her hand in front of her face.
“I can’t, Sofia, not won’t. At least, I thought I couldn’t. But maybe—” He punched the warlock again, knocking him out, and then headed back toward the storage room.
“Maybe what?” she demanded, following him.
“Duck,” he shouted, and she did. A warlock went flying past, crashing into a display of centuries-old Mardi Gras decorations.
“I want to complete the dragon mating ritual,” he said.
She paused in the middle of a fist fight with a warlock. The guy took advantage of the distraction and punched her. Griffin roared, grabbed the guy by the head, and slammed him into the concrete floor before kicking him in the kidneys.
“You okay?” he asked Sofia.
She brushed off his concern. “You would seriously mate with me?”
“Are you kidding? Hell yes.”
“If you could.”
