Page 27 of The Gargoyle's Gift
I shrugged, shoveling in food while I thought up a reasonable response. “I’ve got some things to take care of.”
After the last big gathering, the one where the clan had welcomed Grace along with Calla and her mate, Rylan, as well as Greta and her mate, Vassago, I’d been left with an assortment of fabrics by the aunts. They hoarded beads and thread for our traditional gowns, but sometimes I got lucky and they’d leave me the cast-offs or bits they couldn’t use elsewhere. I had some very fancy bandages at one point, in fact. The heavy canvas I’d been given would be wonderful for a chair. I just had to figure out how to get a proper frame made that lined up with my specifications, ones I’d been working on during spare moments since my hunt for a better chair for Gaius had been so unnecessarily frustrating.
“How busy are you? Can you help me with a special project, or should I go into Revalia to a smithy?”
“Get me the measurements, and I’ll let you know.” Imogen looked at me sideways one final time before getting to her feet.“You’re not doing anything reckless, are you, Lovette?” Her grin taunted me.
“No. Should I be?”
She barked a laugh. “You probably should, actually. But I was just checking. My duty as older sister, after all.”
“What about you?” I challenged. “How’s Brom?” Imogen got to her feet. “Just doing my job as annoying younger sister, after all.”
She left the meetinghouse without saying another word, but her lack of response and extended middle finger was enough answer for me.
When I finally got over to the infirmary, I had to reacquaint myself with the room. I stopped at the supplies cabinet, ran my fingers over the tools, checked on the stores of alcohol and medicines. I felt oddly distanced from it, and I wasn’t sure what that meant.
After finding the fabric, my shears, and a measuring tape, I remembered that while fine stitchwork on wounds was my specialty, I was no seamstress. While the concept I’d thought up was fairly simple, the execution was anything but. It turned out it didn’t matter, however, because I’d barely had time to get my initial measurements made before a cluster of young gargoyles came crashing through the open doorway.
“Healer! We’ve got injured!”
Four of them carried two men between them, a trail of blood staining the floor as they traipsed through and dumped their cargo on my cots.
Heart pounding, I abandoned my project and peered into the face of the first man, shocked to my core at who I found.
Chapter 14
Gaius
“By all the saints, what aretheydoing here? And why are they bleeding so much?” Lovette demanded, voice raised as she pushed the soldiers out of her way and began to gather supplies.
“I should think it obvious, daughter, that they’re herebecausethey are bleeding.” Magnus wore a grin. He’d enjoyed our early questioning of this pair as much or more than I had.
She clucked her tongue at him, hands full of bandages. “Fine. But my question still stands. It is rare that council members leave the council building, is it not? Why are they utilizing the conclave for healing instead of their own infirmary?”
“Ah, well, that would be due to the fact that we abducted them for questioning,” he answered. “Their answers were not overwhelmingly forthcoming so…” Magnus pulled a face, gesturing with his hands as though their current state explained everything his words didn’t. “Besides, it wasn’t just us. We stopped at d’Arcan on the way so our friends and relations could clear up some things with them as well.” He gestured to some marks on both of the councilmen’s clothing. “It’s Rylan’s fault they smell of scorch.”
I hadn’t realized how unhinged my old friend could be until today. I’d seen one of the demons in action against the hordes, but I had a new appreciation for them both after witnessing firsthand the grace and technique they used to encourage Hugo and Augustus to talk. My mistrust in them simply because they were demons had faded to nearly nothing, and I was grateful to have them as allies.
Lovette gaped back at him, her mouth open and eyes blinking slowly. “Honestly,” she swore, shaking her head.
“Help them so they can heal up properly in stone sleep, if you can, Little Dove.” Her eyes flicked to me, and my skin warmed as I realized the endearment had slipped out.
“Of course I can,” she said indignantly. Then she ordered the soldiers who hovered by the beds watching our conversation with amusement to move Hugo and Augustus to her liking. I didn’t bother to stifle my smile when they groaned out as their idea of “properly positioned to receive medical care” was proven to be vastly different than hers.
“You’ll face trial for this, the both of you!” Augustus choked out, groaning as Lovette packed a sizable wound in his abdomen with gauze and wrapped him with a wide bandage.
“Unlikely,” I said, crossing my arms as I settled in to watch her work. “I’m fairly certain the other council members will have plenty of questions for you as well once we present our findings.”
“Findings?” Lovette asked, moving on to treating Hugo.
“I’m very much looking forward to confirming my suspicions about several things. Let’s leave it at that for now,” Magnus said.
Lovette focused on her father’s face. “The… What you’ve been searching for?”
He smiled broadly, a mix of satisfaction and relief on his face. I wasn’t sure what she was referring to, but with Magnus looking like that, I guessed it was important.
“Yes. I hope so.”
