Guardian of the Abyss (16 page)

"For now," Abaddon growled.

She looked taken aback. "He can't be alive. He would have come back for me."

"He wouldn't have, even if he hadn't thought you were dead," Abaddon informed her. "He wanted you dead, and was satisfied at his belief he had most likely accomplished it."

She sat the plate down and scowled at him. "That's not true."

"His intent was easy to read," Abaddon told her. "He was broadcasting it loudly. He feared you might be able to make it to the surface, so he tried to fool you into believing he was dead in case you did. But if you were the one to die, he hoped to profit from it in some way."

"He's my friend. I can't believe he would do that."

"He burned with envy." Abaddon put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it slightly as she reacted to his comment with visceral pain.

"James Halloran?" one of the werewolves suddenly asked.

Sarah's head snapped up. "Yes."

"His boss disappeared and he had her declared dead. The court gave him a two year waiting period, after which the terms of her will are to be ratified, making him sole owner of the company. Holt Outfitters, I think the company is called. The waiting period is up in four months, when he intends to take the company public." Everyone was looking at him in surprise. "What, it's a big deal in the diving community. Holt has always promised to never go pub--"

"That son-of-a-bitch!" Sarah roared, leaping to her feet. Her wings snapped out, shredding her blouse and literally flinging people and breaking through the walls. White chunks and rock rained down from the ceiling as they slammed up into it.

Startled, Sarah spun in a circle, and with cries, people dodged the massive, iridescent wings. As light and ephemeral as they looked, they should have bent or even broken, but instead, they tore through stone easily, squealing as they dragged across the ceiling.

"Oh my god, make it stop!" she cried.

Abaddon leaped up from where the emergence of her wings had knocked him against the wall and ran to her. "Stop!" He wrapped his arms around her, just above her wings. "Just be still. You have to calm down. Relax."

If anything, his comment distressed her more. "He's going to take my company public! He's going to ruin everything I worked for! How can I relax?"

"Because if you don't, you'll kill somebody with those things."

She blinked at him and then looked around again. He could see when she realized that she had met--and exceeded--his own damage. "Oh... oh wow. Dear god, I did all that?"

"Close your eyes." He watched her obey as he spoke privately to her through their bond. "Now, imagine your wings shrinking and drawing into your back. Just imagine it, you don't have to do it."

For a few minutes, nothing happened, then slowly her wings folded and shrunk until they appeared proportionate to her body for daily activities, rather than for flight. He waited, but they didn't budge beyond that.

People around them were cleaning up a bit from the plaster disaster, but beyond that, there was quiet. No one spoke, and for long moments, he stood that way with her. "They're still there, but they're manageable."

"I'm so destructive." Sarah was looking around them, clearly appalled.

"You won't be, once you control it."

"So we all want to know how Sarah became a gargoyle." Perched in a chair with Thanatos behind her, Alexis seemed to show no response to the destruction around her at all. "After that, maybe we can find a way to save Sarah's company." He understood her through Sarah's understanding and the bond.

"Alexis, I'm so sorry--"

Alexis waved her hand negligently. "Thanatos has done worse. At least you didn't do it in the kitchen."

Thanatos shifted uncomfortably behind her. "I got it fixed. And upgraded."

"Which you wouldn't have had to do, if you hadn't had your tantrum in my kitchen."

Thanatos scratched behind his ear, looking sheepish, but didn't say anything. Despite many years out of society, some things apparently never changed. Men still got chastised by their wives about past misdeeds that had never been forgiven.

People once more sat down, or stood back up from ducking wings. Abaddon continued with his story, explaining how sick Sarah had been, and that he'd felt he had no choice but to use his sorcerer's skills to turn her into a gargoyle. He'd chosen a statue much like his, one that could be either a water spout or a grotesque. But the statue had also been made of different types of stone, so he suspected that was why Sarah could color her skin and hair.

"So you can turn people into gargoyles?" Alexis was sitting forward, hampered by her belly.

Abaddon shook his head even as Thanatos objected. "It's risky and terribly painful. If Sarah hadn't been dying..." he took a deep breath, hating himself for the truth, "...and if I hadn't been so selfish, I never would have done it. It's very, very rare for anyone to survive the transition to gargoyle. She was on the verge of death, or I wouldn't have even tried. She had a few hours left, at most, I think."

Sarah's hand slid into his, and she pulled it against her cheek. "Don't feel guilty. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me." Her abyssal eyes met his and he felt emotion choke out his ability to speak for long moments.

Someone coughed, bringing him back to the moment. Clearing his throat, he continued the story, choking up again as he told about his continued fear that she would die. He left out details such as her ability to dream and what had happened between them, stating only that they grew close during that time.

A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell, after all.

When the conversation was done, the were who had discussed James earlier leaned forward. "So, I had an idea of how we might save your company, Sarah. It will take a vampire and a goblin, though, which means money. However, you can't tap into yours. So if Abaddon has a hoard--"

"I have very little in my hoard of value," Abaddon stopped him. "Of value to anyone else, at least."

"We'll use mine," Thanatos interjected.

"No," Abaddon refused. "I've done enough to you, I won't take from your hoard--"

"I owe you." Thanatos' firm words brooked no disagreement.

But Abaddon could not be swayed by a firm tone of voice from his son. "It's my place to provide--"

"There comes a time in every father's life where he must allow his son to prove his worth." Thanatos' arms were crossed and now he looked at Abaddon with challenge.

Abaddon rose to his feet, facing his son. "Your worth will never be in your hoard, my son. Never. You have proven your worth many times over, and that's only in the time that I had the honor of watching your life unfold. Clearly, in recent years, you have surpassed yourself." He indicated Thanatos' family, his son climbing into Alexis' lap as they spoke.

"Let me help Sarah," Thanatos said, his voice suspiciously thick.

For a moment, Abaddon felt challenged as a man. He should be able to provide. Yet he had been frivolous in his collecting a hoard, focusing on personal matters rather than accumulating wealth. Now he must pay the price in pride.

"Thank you." His voice sounded gruff even to him as he acquiesced.

Chapter 21

That evening, the werewolf, named Kyle, laid out his plan, and goblins were sent for. Sarah sat at Abaddon's feet again while he dwarfed a lazy chair that had been clearly reinforced in some way, yet still groaned beneath his weight. Sarah felt a burning rage at James. The person she'd thought was her dearest friend had double-crossed her to try to steal her company.

A heavy, gentle hand caressed her hair, calming her before her wings could snap out again. It had taken all of her concentration to finally get them to go all the way back in. She was still in shock at the damage she'd done, given that she'd barely felt it. In a part of herself that she tried to hide from Abaddon, she was stunned by what she had become.

It hadn't dawned on her before just how destructive she could be.

"So what do you have in your hoard?" one of the gargoyles was asking Abaddon.

Abaddon shifted and she felt his radiating embarrassment. "Portraits, mostly."

"Portraits? If they were done by the right artist, they could be worth a fortune on today's market." Sarah felt excitement run through her. What if Abaddon had unknown portraits done by greats like Michelangelo or Da Vinci?

He was now positively squirming. There was a long pause from him, then, "These wouldn't fall into that category."

The goblin had arrived, and Sarah was surprised to see how accurately Abaddon had remembered them. He looked like a child had put him together, his body almost square, with tiny stick-like arms coming out of the top corners, and sticklike legs coming out the bottom. His vaguely toad-like head wobbled uncertainly on its short, skinny neck.

He summoned gold and gems with a sparkle of real, live magic that looked amazingly like special effects from a movie. Sarah stared in awe as Abaddon watched her.

"So while he's here, we want to see one of your portraits." Sarah smiled up at him.

He shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"It's a great idea," Thanatos interrupted their apparently not-so-private exchange on the gargoyle communication bond. "I would like to learn more about you."

She watched Abaddon as his mind churned. She felt conflicting emotions running through him and wondered what he was thinking. At length, he seemed to come to a decision, stepping forward to let the goblin put his hand on his forehead.

There was a brilliant sparkle of magic and an oil painting appeared, falling towards the floor. Abaddon grabbed it. He turned towards Thanatos, too far away from her for her to touch him.

Sarah almost stepped forward, but something told her that this was a powerful moment between the two gargoyles. She watched as Abaddon spoke to Thanatos in Latin. Then they both turned to look at the portrait. Thanatos replied to something Abaddon said, his voice raw with emotion.

When he stepped forward and embraced his father, Sarah felt a tear run down her cheek. Her eyes met Alexis', and she saw that Alexis was crying, as well. The two men held each other for a moment, Thanatos taller than Abaddon, but not nearly so broad. It was poignant to Sarah to see Abaddon at last have such a moment with the son he had loved so dearly for so long. The only son he had left. He had loved them all dearly, but only Thanatos remained.

She didn't understand why the painting was so bonding for them, though. It was a picture of a simple peasant family. Then, she looked more closely, realizing that she recognized them. She got up and walked over, ignoring everyone else in the room.

Her heart clenched. It was an incredibly, unbelievably accurate rendering of Thanatos' mother and her human family.  She was so lost in the portrait that she didn't know Abaddon had put his hand on her shoulder until his voice sounded in her head... "I painted it so that I would never forget her. I wanted to give it to Thanatos, but he refused to ever accept anything from me." She looked at him, feeling his overwhelming peace and joy. "Now I have finally delivered it." He leaned his head down to place his forehead against hers. "Thanks to you."

"I didn't get us out of there," she reminded him.

"No," he agreed, his hand running through her hair. "But without you to motivate me, I would never even have tried to get out." He gathered her against him. "You have restored my son to me and set me free from a prison I was locked into for four hundred years."

"But now you're locked into this one," Sarah said, pained. "I saw that you couldn't come outside."

"Yes. I fear that the barrier that imprisons Thanatos recognizes my energy as well. Apparently it is too close to his. But this prison has freedoms which that one did not. Here, there is comfort... and family."  He kissed her, holding her head with both hands, his touch gentle, perhaps even reverent. "If I were free, I would be right here, anyway."

He turned to include Thanatos as he said, "Now, we must rest before Sarah goes to complete the plan to save her business. If you will beg our pardons to your guests, please?"

Thanatos nodded, his eyes still and deep, his cool sandstone skin so different, yet so like, his father's. Sarah felt affection for him well up in her. She had hated him for hurting Abaddon, but now she couldn't help but feel tenderness. He had suffered, as well.

Letting go of Abaddon so that he wouldn't know what she said, she stepped up to Thanatos and laid her hand on his cheek. In English she told him, "I forgive you for hurting him so much, for so long."

He grasped her hand, his face tightening with pain. He squeezed her hand gently, nodding slightly. Then he let her go.

Sarah turned back to Abaddon. "Let's go rest, my love." They walked back towards the bedroom they'd been given, only to find the door ripped from its hinges.

Sarah raised an eyebrow at Abaddon. He shrugged. "Whoops." She turned her lips down in a mock scowl. He shrugged again. "It was very fragile."

With a wry chuckle, Sarah shook her head. "Come on. Alexis said there were more bedrooms."

They found one with an intact door, and Sarah turned and locked it when they were inside. The sudden shyness that rose in her took her by surprise, so she stood and looked at him. His back was to her, and he stood in the middle of the room. His broad, powerful back gleamed gold, while a brilliant glow emanated from inside him and overlaid his entire body. His thumbs were hooked into the front pockets of the borrowed jeans.