A Kind Of Magic (13 page)

“Don’t count on it,” Val said.

Roderick look at his friend. “Why? What happened?”

“After they knocked Elle out of your arms and you two fell into the time tunnel, I saw the harpies return for Alex, grab the necklace, and find a tunnel themselves.” Roderick rose to his feet and paced in front of the table. “They would only venture into the tunnel if they knew where we were.”

“Exactly,” Val agreed. “I expect them to show themselves at any moment.” Roderick glanced at Hugh and Mina and knew he couldn’t put them in danger.

“We need to leave.”

“I’ll get my stuff,” Elle said as she rose to her feet.

“Nay,” Hugh and Mina said in unison as they stood.

“You’re better off making a stand against the harpies here,” Hugh said.

Roderick shook his head. “I cannot put the two of you in danger.”

“This is what I agreed to when I decided to stay,” Hugh argued. “Mina and I have been preparing for something like this.”

“It’s more than just the both of you. There is an entire village full of people that will be put in danger.”

Hugh smiled. “After dealing with the gargoyle and the prospect of future occurrences, we had each cottager dig a chamber below them to hide in. There is food and water in each that is changed out each month and will last them a week.”

“Trust me, Hugh,” Val said. “These harpies are nothing like the gargoyle.” Hugh stared hard at Val. “We will find a way to kill them just as we did the gargoyle and the many other creatures we have faced.” Roderick knew he should take Val and Elle and leave, but making a stand at Stone Crest was a good idea. He turned to Val. “What do you think?” Val thought about it a moment, then raised his eyes to Roderick. “We stay and prepare for them.”

“Elle?” Roderick asked. Since her life was also at stake, it was only right that he ask her opinion as well.

“Personally, I would rather never see them again, but if they’re coming for us, then I agree with Val.”

Roderick sighed. “All right.” He resumed his seat, as did the others.

Hugh was the first to break the silence. “Why did they follow you?” he asked Roderick.

“They

want

Elle.”

All eyes turned to the woman beside him. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair and glanced at him. He wanted to reassure her, but in truth, he couldn’t. There weren’t reassurances in this battle.

“Why?” Hugh finally asked.

“We not only found the stone and the creature while we were in the twenty-first century, but we also found Elle. She bears the mark Aimery told us about.”

“You do?” Mina asked breathlessly to Elle.

Elle slowly nodded her head.

“So do I.”

Roderick watched the excitement register on Elle’s face. Two of the five women had been found. It was amazing, but he wasn’t going to question it. He was just glad that two had been found.

“We will talk later,” Mina said, a huge smile on her face, “once everything has been decided here.”

Elle nodded and turned to Roderick, her eyes bright with happiness.

“Do you think the stone was sent to Houston because of Elle?” Hugh asked.

“I don’t know,” Val said. “I hadn’t thought of that. How could they know where the women are if the Fae cannot?”

“Now that’s a question I would like answered,” Roderick said. “It is very plausible that they might know the locations of the women, but to actually become close to them?”

“What do you mean?” Hugh asked.

“I had the necklace in my hand,” Elle said quietly, her eyes downcast at her folded hands.

“Necklace?

What necklace?”

Roderick took pity on Hugh. “The blue stone was put into a necklace that Elle’s friend stole from a man to give to Elle.”

“Jennifer didn’t know what it was,” Elle said in defense of her friend. “She paid for it with her life.”

“I’m sorry for your friend,” Hugh said gently. He lifted his eyes to Roderick and Val. “Why didn’t you two destroy the stone when you had the chance?” Again Elle spoke. “I wouldn’t let them. At the time I still wasn’t sure about everything I had been told. I asked for one night to think about it. When I woke up the next morning, Jennifer had come and taken the necklace to give it back to Alex.”

“The man who controlled the harpies,” Val supplied for Hugh when Hugh frowned at Alex’s name.

“You shouldn’t have given her time,” Hugh said.

“It was her necklace given to her as a gift by a friend, Hugh,” Roderick said in Elle’s defense. “We had the stone, we had Elle. I thought one night would be enough time for Elle to come to grips with all she had been told.” Roderick held Hugh’s gaze, daring him to say more on the matter.

“Fair enough,” Hugh said when Mina touched his arm.

Roderick relaxed against the back of his chair. “The harpies want to kill Elle, and I’m assuming any other women that came from her realm.”

“Then we keep her and Mina safe at all costs,” Hugh said.

Val nodded. “Roderick lost his weapons when the harpy threw him over the building.”

“You know where the armory is,” Hugh said. “Take what you need until Aimery supplies you with new weapons.”

Roderick nodded. “My thanks.”

“What else do you need?”

Val snorted. “A plan.”

“What about what we used for the gargoyle?” Mina asked Hugh. She turned to Roderick and Val. “We cut a tree and shaped it into a large spear, then pulled it back amidst trees. When the gargoyle set off the trap, the tree impaled him.” Val shook his head. “The harpy’s wings are made of metal.”

“And when I cut one, she healed instantly,” Roderick added.

Hugh shook his head. “Just as the gargoyle did.”

“Then how did you kill it?” Elle asked.

Mina smiled. “We had to wait until he was asleep, and then we pushed him over the side of the old monastery, and he smashed to bits.”

“Too bad the harpies don’t turn to stone,” Elle grumbled.

Roderick thought the same thing. He shifted and grimaced as his arm pulled. He needed the shoulder put in place soon.

“By the gods,” Val roared as he jumped to his feet. “You still haven’t seen to that?”

“Seen to what?” Elle asked Val, then turned to Roderick. “What haven’t you seen to?”

“He’s injured,” Val answered her. “His shoulder is out of joint.” By Elle’s horrified expression, Roderick knew she was thinking of him carrying her. He wanted to explain that it didn’t hurt, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t believe him.

“I wish Gabriel were here,” Val said as he went to Roderick.

Roderick jumped from his seat. “There is nothing Gabriel could do that I cannot do myself. His herbs cannot put the joint back in place.”

“Then I will.”

There was no way he was letting anyone do it but himself. “Nay, Val. I will see it done.”

He walked to one of the stone pillars, closed his eyes, and gritted his teeth from the pain he knew would come. After several deep breaths, he opened his eyes, reared his shoulder back, and slammed it into the pillar.

The first hit put it back into place, but the pain brought him to his knees. Small hands touched his face, and when he opened his eyes it was to see Elle kneeling beside him.

Sweat poured from his face, and his body shook from the exertion it took not to cry out. His breathing was labored, and the pain put a dull haze around him. Now was when he needed one of Gabriel’s foul tasting concoctions.

“What do you need?” Elle asked.

You.

He shook his head and leaned half against the pillar and half against her.

“He needs a bed,” Hugh said as he and Val walked up.

Roderick wanted to shake them off as they took hold of him, but his strength was depleted. Hugh took Roderick’s good arm and looped it over his shoulder to support his weight. Roderick kept his injured arm against him while Val carefully took hold of him to help Hugh carry Roderick up the stairs.

It wasn’t long after Roderick was laid on the bed that something was pressed to his lips. The smell alone nearly made him gag. There was no mistaking one of Gabriel’s mixtures.

“Gabriel left me a few things as well as instructions,” Hugh said. “Now drink.” Roderick wanted to say nay, but he knew after drinking the awful brew he would be almost back to normal with very little pain. He took the goblet in his good hand and drained the contents.

Sleep pulled at him, but he tried to keep his eyes open. Elle walked to him and laid a hand on his arm.

“Sleep,

Roderick.”

“I’ll see her safe,” Val said from beside her.

Roderick trusted Val with his life, but he had made a promise to Elle. How could he keep that promise if he was asleep?

Despite what he wanted, the medicine didn’t give him a choice. He tried once more to stay awake, but the darkness pulled him under.

Elle sighed when Roderick gave in and slept. She had been worried he would continue to fight it. “Will he be all right?” Val nodded. “He’s immortal, Elle. There is only one thing that can kill him. He can get injured, and he might suffer some pain, but he will be fine.”

“I know. I just needed you to say it.”

Val chuckled and turned to leave the room. She looked at Mina and Hugh. Hugh stared down at Roderick as if deep in thought.

“Thank

you.”

He raised his eyes to her. “For what?”

“For opening your home to us. I’m a stranger who didn’t destroy the stone when I had the chance.”

“If Roderick trusts you, then I trust you. We have been together so long that the men under my command are more like brothers than my soldiers.”

“From the way I heard Roderick speak about you, he felt the same way.” Hugh smiled. “Thank you for that. I never thought to see either of them again, especially not this soon. Come,” he said. “Let us go below and eat.”

“What about Roderick?” Elle was loath to leave him. He might need her.

“When he wakes, he will be virtually as good as before he hurt his arm. Gabriel’s mixtures are magical I think. No one knows what the herbs are, or where he gathers them. They have saved each of us on more than one occasion.” Still Elle didn’t move.

“You need your strength as well,” Mina said. “We have a long night ahead of us planning for the harpies. Let us get some rest before then.” Elle let Mina and Hugh lead her from the room. She took one more look at Roderick sleeping in the large black canopy bed.

“He’ll be fine,” Mina said again.

But Elle was more worried about herself. She had never known such panic as when she saw Roderick crumple to his knees. He might not have cried out, but she had when she had heard the joint pop back into place.

She didn’t fear the Harpies, she feared the loss of her heart.

During the meal, Elle and Mina talked nonstop. Though Elle had believed Val and Roderick about her coming from another realm, to actually meet someone who also bore the mark was profound.

There was no doubt now.

She and Mina compared lives. Whereas Elle had grown up without a family, living in foster care, then setting out on her own with nothing more than the clothes on her back, Mina had been raised as a lady. She might not have gotten along with her brother and sister, but she had been a part of the people of Stone Crest.

The only thing they had in common was the fact that neither of them had felt a part of a family. Mina had been raised as a lady of Stone Crest, but the family that had taken her in had never included her in that family.

Mina was a link to a past that Elle couldn’t remember. Yet, that link connected her to something, and she didn’t feel so alone.

“I cannot imagine being a mother and sending my infant off into a world I knew nothing about to never know if they lived or died,” Mina said.

Elle nodded. “That’s true. It must have been very hard, but when faced with the alternative of certain death, I would gladly see my child given a chance.”

“Aye. I as well.”

“What I would like to know is what our parents were like,” Elle said. She had dreamed of parents when she was a kid, parents that loved her and were there for her. A far cry from the awful foster care she was given.

“For all we know you came from a noble house, and I was a peasant,” Mina said with a laugh.

“Why think on something you will never know?” Val asked.

Elle shrugged. “Why not? You knew your world, Val, but we have only known this. ‘Twould be the same as if you had never known your parents.” Hugh leaned over and kissed Mina’s cheek. “Maybe when the others are found there could be more answers.”

“How, if we were all infants?” Elle asked.

It was Val’s turn to shrug. “Only the gathering of the other three will answer that.”

“I cannot wait for that time,” Mina said wistfully.

“Do not wish too hard,” Val cautioned. “I have a feeling that once we gather all of you the creatures will attack.”

Elle saw Hugh frown. “We need more information,” Hugh said.

“First, we need a plan for when the harpies attack,” Elle pointed out. “I’ve no wish to be caught off guard again. They are tall, strong, and very dangerous.”

“Then tell us all you know,” Val said.

For the next two hours Elle told them everything she had uncovered about the harpies while looking through the books in Roderick’s penthouse. By the time she was finished, Val and Hugh look aggravated.

“In other words,” Val said, “they cannot be killed.”

“Everything can be killed,” Elle pointed out. “In my world, they had a show where certain people were immortal, and the only way to kill them was to behead them.”

“Show?” Mina asked.

Elle didn’t know how to explain, but fortunately Val came to her rescue.

“Pictures that move and make a story.”

“Oh,” Mina said, her brow furrowed.

Then it dawned on Elle. “We cut off their heads.”

“And if they grow another in its place?”

She whirled around to see Roderick standing at the foot of the stairs. He looked fit and hail and hearty as if he had never been injured. She knew she was grinning like a fool, but she was thrilled to see him up and about.

“I somehow don’t think they will,” she answered. How she remained seated instead of launching herself into his arms, she would never know.