Page 68 of Titan

I was just doing my duty. It didn’t change because she decided to leave the penthouse. And she was right about one thing in her outburst: Richard might still retaliate.

Just as it was my responsibility to make sure I couldn’t be used against her in their lawsuit, it was my responsibility to make sure no harm came to her because of what I had to do. And today, I heard her lawyer confirm the case was dropped, and whether she would admit it or not, I had made that happen.

“I like her enough.” Dredd lets out a heavy, graveled sigh.

That makes me stop, and I look back at him with narrowed eyes across the spacious living room. He is framed by the large windows. The city lights are bright enough that they shine through the holes in his left wing. His shoulders are hunched, and his wings droop. He looks as tired as I feel.

“We’ve been alone for a long time, Titan,” he says.

The image of Julianna crying from relief on her balcony instantly invades my head. I could hear the relief in her voice, but she was alone. I was watching her, experiencing some small part of that relief, but I was alone too.

“True,” I confirm. “It was what we were created for.”

When we get the Keystone, our singular purpose will be solidified, and the distraction of Julianna and the rest of the human world will fade away. That pang I felt not being able to celebrate with her will be erased by the Pull of the Keystone. It will overpower what she makes me feel, I’m sure of it.

“Does it have to be?”

“Yes,” I insist.

“Why?” He looks at me, worry banding across his face.

I stare at Dredd and shake my head, not believing what he’s saying. He was the most determined among us to return to our positions at the Relic Room, I’d been sure of it, but there is loneliness in his stone gaze that I’d last seen mirrored back to me in my own eyes.

“Drusila is waiting for you in the library. She has a couple witches with her.” Rook charges in from the library, skittering to a stop as he sees our faces. His voice drops to an uncertain mumble. “Or I could ask them to wait.”

I don’t know how to answer Dredd. “Why” has never been an option for gargoyles. How can we question our purpose when the Pull makes everything so certain?

“No, let’s get this over with,” I growl.

I stride into the library, Dredd following slowly at my back, to find Knox and Stiel already at the large oak table. Drusila and two other witches sit across from them and are dwarfed by the massive chairs. I’m close enough to feel the unique Strange magic that radiates off of them, and I’m surprised to sense that Drusila holds the least power amongst them.

“Drusila.” I nod in her direction, then turn to the pink-haired witch with vivid tattoos that stand out on her freckled white skin. “Hazel.”

“Long time, Titan.” Hazel grins. She’d had a short fling with Knox years ago. It ended on good terms, but she used to be a regular at the penthouse.

“Titan, meet Violet.” Drusila gestures to the petite Black witch seated to her left, her long thin braids threaded with purple, matching her equally vibrant dress. I’m terrible at estimating human ages, but I guess that she is the youngest of the group, if not the entire coven. “This is who I told you about last time. Just moved to Los Angeles and joined our coven. She was instrumental in creating the unlocking spell for Freddy’s vault as well as helping us locate the Relic Room.”

“Thank you, Violet.”

“I’m just happy it worked out so well.” Her eyes are wide as she takes in my brothers and me, and her gaze fixes on Knox’s claws as he rhythmically taps their sharp points on the table. Drusila said she was new to the city, but she must also be new to the Strange at large. With so few of us in the world, it’s not unusual for those who can pass as human to miss out on the rest of the Strange. And I recognize that look on her face as one I’d seen on Julianna’s not all that long ago.

Julianna should’ve run in fear from the penthouse that first morning. The moment she saw me as the monster I am, I should’ve insisted on it. It would’ve been so much easier if it had ended then.

But then she’d still be dealing with Richard, and I know exactly what he would’ve done with those P.I. photos and the transcript of their Sweet Arrangements conversation. No, whatever happened between us, including how we ended things, was meant to occur, just as the Pull is meant to guide me back to the Keystone.

Drusila tosses me a small leather bag, and I’m so lost in my thoughts, I almost miss it.

She narrows her eyes at me but stays on topic. “Once you’re alone upstairs with the vault, you’re going to want to pour that at the base and sprinkle it on the lock itself.”

“It will take at least a minute to work,” Violet interjects, reading from a notebook she holds tightly in front of her. “We’re working on something for the surveillance setup, but it will take a few more days for the potion to be complete.”

“That’s fine. Knox will be our distraction, and Rook will be the one to set off the second spell to disrupt the security cameras and all the electronics in the area.” I start relaying our plan to retrieve the Keystone. Though the brotherhood and coven already know it, the repetition of the plan keeps me focused and keeps my mind from wandering back to Julianna’s crappy apartment balcony and everything I overheard.

“I can keep my distraction going for as long as you need,” Knox jokes. “Just say the word, boss, and I’ll transform out of human form and streak past their windows.”

He elicits a few laughs from the witches and gargoyles, and Hazel rolls her eyes, but I’m silent. I can’t stop thinking about how I watched Julianna cry happy tears, heard the relief in her lawyer’s voice, and then moments later, she had cursed my name. She recognized what I did for her, and instead of thanking me, she screamed into the night air.

“Are we done here?” I ask sharply, my tail thumping the floor with irritation as a sudden flash of anger courses through me.

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