Page 12 of The Gargoyle's Gift
Father gathered Grace up in his arms with a grin, releasing his wings. She gave an audible squeak as he pushed off the earth in a gust of wind, her amused laughter chasing behind as they flew away.
“She’s good for him.” Imogen smiled, patted me on the shoulder, and turned away, not waiting for a response.
“She is,” I agreed, though she was already too far away to hear it. I was ready to find my sofa, a book, and perhaps some chocolate.
I looked up again, though, which was a mistake. It was hard to make out features from such a distance, but I knew without a doubt the dark-winged shadow headed in the direction of Revalia was Gaius.
If I followed him, I was doing exactly what my father had just asked me not to. But if I didn’t go and something happened, I would never forgive myself.
With a curse on my tongue, I took to the air, thankful for the new dagger on my thigh and worried I was about to regret all my choices where Gaius Caledon was concerned.
Chapter 7
Gaius
Four guards were on patrol at the council building when I arrived. Immediately, the hair on the back of my neck prickled. There should have been six.
I landed as silently as I could atop one of the pillars surrounding the flat roof. It was one of the two closest to the door that led into a private meeting chamber and then down into the main parts of the expansive building. Each of the pillars was ironically adorned with stone kin carvings—three were gargoyle, with their mouths formed into water spouts, and three grotesque. None of them were animate, they were decorative only, but I’d always wished I could free them from the bricks and cement anyway. Perhaps I’d get my chance soon.
Settling in, I channeled every ounce of patience I possessed as the guards performed a monotonous march across the roof. They paced down the edges of the short sides, up the longer ones, turned, then they’d switch with their counterpart. Repeat. Switch. Repeat. There was a commotion in some trees nearby, but I couldn’t take my focus from the door to check what it was. Probably just a raccoon or birds getting into a row over sleeping arrangements, anyway. My chest was burning again, something that seemed to be happening more and more frequently nomatter what I ate or drank. I’d be reduced to asking for some kind of remedy from Lovette soon.
Shortly after the clock chimed the hour, the doors opened, and my targets walked out into the moonlight along with the two missing guards. The fools were nothing if not predictable.
The guards dispersed to stand along the pillars, allowing the councilmen a sense of privacy near the doorway.
“Everything is fine, Hugo. The concerned members can be assuaged with some sweet words and promises that everything will be buttoned up.” Augustus, a large man with perhaps four remaining white hairs swept across his bald head had always left a sour taste in my mouth.
“You seem so confident,” Hugo replied.
“Should I not be? It’s always worked like that before.”
“The fae informant is missing, Auggie. Likelydead. The one who’s been partnered with us all this time. Doesn’t that worry you?” The slight man bounced on his heels in his excitement, making it necessary to push his wire-rimmed spectacles back up his nose with his thumb.
Augustus chuffed. “Not in the least. If he’s dead, then that’s one less end to tie up, isn’t it?”
“Perhaps, but any who knew of his connection to us will be looking our way when they also realize he’s gone missing.”
“They won’t, Hugo.” Augustus sounded exasperated with his friend. “That fae was known for his temperamental nature and only appearing when he felt like it. Put this worry out of your mind.”
“Fine, but the necklace we confiscated is counterfeit, which means the real one is still either in the possession of a founding family descendant or just loose out in the world somewhere. Do you really think nobody else will notice that detail should they go to examine it further?”
“Why would they even bother to look? It’s been catalogued and stored safely in the archives. Your concerns are understandable, Hugo, but misplaced.”
“Fine. But even you can’t dispute the others are getting increasingly suspicious. Everything we’ve been working toward is beginning to crumble. Not to mention the incidents with Caster and the merchants. None of the local humans are talking, and I find it unbelievable that nobody saw a damn thing! That all had to have been Caled?—”
There was another rustle in the trees behind me, enough for one of the guards to tilt his pike as he peered over the wall.
“Quiet!” Augustus hissed the word, flinging his wide arm out to silence his coconspirator.
He glanced around, posturing like he was preparing to fight, but the guard relaxed. They shifted to take positions at the four corners of the roof, one now almost directly below me. He stood rod-straight, only his eyes and head moving as he continually scanned the area, but he never looked up. Foolish and short-sighted not to consider that the enemy might fly.
I leapt over to the top of the doorway, causing the councilmen to gasp and the guards to jerkily rush in response. I’d landed too heavily on my bad leg, tilting dangerously to one side. It was ungraceful, if nothing else. I swore under my breath as they collected themselves below me.
“Did I hear my name?”
“You!”
“Me.” The need for justice, for revenge, surged through my body. It felt like a thick sludge moving through my veins. I embraced the darkness that resided within me as I dove down on top of the councilmen. I nicked one with my outstretched claws as he dodged away and the others with the pointed spurs on the ends of my wings as they tried to flee back inside.
