Page 11 of The Gargoyle's Grace
Sara giggled. “I will.”
As she scuttled off to collect her sisters for dinner, our resident posh, fair demon ambled into the dining room.
“Grace,” Vassago said with a gentle smile, inclining his head slightly as he approached.
“Mr. Feland. What can I do for you?”
“Please, call me by my name. There’s no need for formality between us.”
“As you wish. How can I help you, Vassago?”
He smiled. “Could I trouble you for some wine and a few things to eat in my room?”
“Of course, that’s quickly becoming my specialty,” I teased. “Give me just a moment, and I’ll put something together for you. Unless you’d like to come into the kitchen?”
He seemed nervous by this suggestion, which amused me to no end. The men were all terrified to encroach on what they considered my domain, though I’d never even once brandished a knife at them in threat. Not that I could recall, anyway.
“Would you mind?”
“Not at all. You can tell me what you like, and I’ll be sure to keep it around.”
“That would be lovely, thank you.”
Like his brother, he was well over six feet tall. There was something about the men who gravitated to this building being oversized. Likely it was something to do with their lack of human genetics, but that was just a guess.
I pulled out another big basket and started to pack it with dishes. He selected a bottle of wine from the rack, and then I moved on to food. “This platter was prepared for Calla,” I said, poking around in the ice box. “With them gone, you’re welcome to it. Cheeses and meats, mostly. I usually just send up a whole tin of crackers or a loaf of bread. There’s some fruit and even some vegetables if you like. Cookies? Cakes? Your preference.”
I looked at the man whose light-gold eyes had widened, clearly overwhelmed. “Ah… whatever you’d send for them is fine, I don’t want to be any extra trouble.”
I smiled and nodded reassuringly, packed the basket to the brim, and handed it off to him. He had a place to put it in his suite, so I knew it wouldn’t go bad before he ate it all. “There you are.”
“Thank you, Grace.”
“You’re welcome to come find me or pilfer the pantry at your leisure. Just make a note if you take the last of something so I know to add it to the market list.”
“Certainly.”
I saw him hesitate. “Is there something else?”
He actually blushed, which was truly something to see. “I’ve invited a visitor to come tour the campus. A chemist. I don’t know how often she’ll be here. Just thought it worth mentioning, I don’t want to put you to extra trouble unnecessarily.”
“How lovely! I’m excited to meet her. We can always use new brilliance around here. I’ll be sure to have an extra serving or two built into my plans, though I never seem to make too much, no matter how much I pad the menu.”
He bowed out with a thanks, leaving me in the quiet room by myself. I prepared the girls’ dinner, snacking as I went. I was too nervous to eat a whole meal myself, mainly because of where I planned to go. Taking the opportunity presented, I stole up to my room and gathered my things, heart thumping nervously behind my ribs.
I was really doing this.
When I got back downstairs, the girls were busily eating their meals at one of the long bench tables. I reminded them again to clean and close, then slipped out into the hall. Before I could change my mind, I continued on until I was out the doors, then the courtyard gate, headed into the center of town for the second time in a week.
Chapter6
Magnus
Following Grace into the city under the cover of darkness had quickly become quite the bad habit. It had been pure luck that I’d seen her leaving the campus grounds that first night, but now it was part of my evening routine to see if she wandered back into the city after supper.
While patrolling the city at night was technically my responsibility, perching myself on a bakery’s roof to watch her work the evening away at a beer garden certainly was not. I’d been a soldier for centuries, but I’d be damned if I was going to prioritize some questionable merchant practices over finding out what this infuriating woman was trying to do by going to such a place. Alone. At night. In secret. Towork. Besides, I was a general. I was the one who doled out the patrol assignments, and she was now my number one priority.
I flew among the shadows as long as I could, the flare of her skirts a beacon below me. When space became too limited for me to fly between the cramped buildings near the center of town, I leapt from roof to roof, careful not to disturb the occupants inside. More than once, I’d accidentally knocked over an entire row of heavy clay flower pots or a laundry line and the whole neighborhood had come out to investigate. I was quick, stealthy, but some situations were difficult to escape or explain.
