Stone Guardian (18 page)

“Not even in one of the human machines?” He could see no pleasure in flying if it was in one of those contraptions. Where was the pleasure without the wind on a face or the force of wings slicing through air? No, it would only be good as a means of transportation.

She shook her head. “No. My only family lives here, and dad said there was no reason to go elsewhere.”

He had never thought to ask her, afterwards. Understandable. While at the end of that first night a cautious truce had been declared, she was a far way from trusting him and he wished to make no mistakes that would change that. “Did you enjoy it?”

“That’s the thing. There was so much going on, and I couldn’t see beyond my own fear and then later my exhaustion. But I think I might under other circumstances.” She reached out to touch his wing but caught herself, bringing her arm back with a little jerk. “Would it be possible for us to go flying another time?”

To have her in his arms. To cuddle her generous body against his and have her arms wrapped around his neck, her warm breath rhythmic against his neck. “I would enjoy that very much.”

“You would?” She let out a small, audible breath, and it was only now when she let it go he saw the nervousness interwoven throughout this entire conversation. “So would I.”

So appealing
… “Why not now?”

“Really?” She looked around, though what she thought she would see he did not know. “Are you sure it would be okay?”

He held out his hand. “Come, little human. Let me show you your city from above.”

She stared at it for long moments, and as she looked, he began to see the appendage as it may look from her point of view. Did the sharp claws frighten her? Did the grey skin bring her distress?

She laid her small, soft hand in his and her gaze showed no distress when it met his, only excitement at this new adventure.

He came to stand in front of her, taking in those miraculous blue eyes. He bent to accommodate her smaller frame. “Wrap your arms around my neck,” and the words were a rumble, coming out from part of him he dare not explore.

She was hesitant, her fingers first resting on his collarbone before moving over the planes of his shoulders to twine around the curve of his neck.

His arms snaked around her, one over the long curve of her torso to rest at the small of her back, the other curling under her lush thighs.

With a sharp exhale that had nothing to do with physical exertion, he brought her fully against him.

The movement brought their faces within a beat of space. Larissa’s gaze darted to his mouth.

Terak flung himself from the building. Larissa’s sharp inhale as they plummeted and then her small, relieved gasp of breath as the wind caught under his wings ringing in his ears.

He went as low as he dared over the city, but after a few moments of this she shook her head. “I have no desire to see the city, so don’t tempt fate over being caught. I want to fly.”

As though to emphasize her words she nestled her head into the valley between his neck and shoulder, a placement that would give her limited visibility but allowed him the full experience of her body against his.

He took her outside of the city. He flew high, the chill in the air biting into even his skin. He went low, where there was the chance of feeling the scrape of foliage.

She egged him on with her sounds and her sighs. She laughed and she screeched, and during one sedate patch she stretched her neck out and tilted her head, her hair a banner behind them.

“I can see why you love this. I do too.”

The pleasure from those words was out of proportion to their importance.

She leaned up, her eyes on the sky. “Gods, look at that sky. It’s amazing. You can’t see a sky like that in the city.”

“Why have you never travelled outside?”

She was quiet, her exhale forceful. Finally, she said, “Dad never had much use for the New Realms, but I could never blame him for that. My mom died in the Great Collision.”

“I am sorry.”

“I…” she exhaled, and from her weighted pause he knew this was the part that was hardest for her to share. “She died giving birth to me. There were complications during the birth, and in the chaos after the collision the hospital was overwhelmed. Probably any other day she would have survived, but I chose to make my appearance in the world right then.”

She looked up at the sky again, and her eyes held a sheen that told of tears. The burden she carried was palpable, the blame she accepted immutable and undeserved. There would be future days to tell her this guilt was misplaced, but now was the time to be quiet and listen to her story.

“Dad never blamed me,” she said, looking up at him with the defense of her father. “Dad never spoke about it much, except to say how much mom loved me, and he knew she was happy, because she finally got her little girl. When I turned twelve I tried to combine my birthday with a memorial for mom. Dad wouldn’t have it. He said that there were other days and other ways that we loved and honored mom. My birthday was a celebration that I’d been brought into this world.”

“Your father is a good man.”

“My dad’s the best.” Her eyes shone with pride. “My whole family is. I couldn’t have had better if I had been able to order them to my specifications. Well, except for the over-protectiveness.”

“Over-protective? Your father makes my Clan look permissive by comparison.”

She laughed. “You got that right. It’s probably one of the reasons I came to enjoy history so much – I got to investigate actions and ask questions and actually have them answered.” She took another deep breath, her mouth turning inward. “I can’t blame my dad too much, though. Dad was a cop during the Great Collision. Now that I’m older and realize how horrible the first few months were, and then the uncertainty the following couple years… I can’t blame dad. He did his best to care for and protect us while the world was going crazy and had taken his wife away from him.”

“That is all any of us can do, they best we can under the circumstances we are given.”

She nodded. Her fingers were curling themselves in his hair. The unconscious stroking soothed him, the intimacy of the act yet another chain binding him to her. “What about your parents? What were they like?”

The air shifted around him, its currents disturbed. He tightened his grip on her, pulling her close, so close her face smashed into his neck. “Terak, what’s wrong?”

From the left it whizzed by them, clipping his wing enough to throw him to the side until he righted himself.

“Terak?” and all pleasure was gone from her tone.

It came down from above several yards in front of him, far enough away that he could pull himself short and hover there, his wings flapping to keep them steady in the air.

A human woman, with Asian features and hair such a blinding color it hurt his eyes. “Boo.”

“Like I said, romantic. Can I call them or what?”

They landed some twenty feet away from the waiting group in a cleared section of woodland, far outside the city limits. It was Fallon who had called out to them, that giant sword strapped to her back, with the same combo of black leather-ish clothes, though this time she wore a coat that fell to the ground. Laire was standing to the right of the swordswoman, her outfit tonight a neon-blue ode-to-naughty Alice in Wonderland ensemble, full of lace and Victorian trappings, but if she bent over, Larissa was sure any underwear would be exposed to the world.

If she wore underwear.

Shaking off
that
thought, Larissa turned her attention to the third and final member of the gang. Her breath hitched as she beheld the newest woman, the same wonderment she experienced moments ago as she flew in Terak’s arms spreading through her now.

This woman’s height was average, but nothing else about her could be described that way. Her pale blue eyes glowed against the light tan of her skin and her long silky hair was so black it had a blue sheen in the moonlight. Her face had an appealing pixie-ish quality, but Larissa could tell nothing about her body, which was hidden underneath a long brown cloak.

A gust of wind ruffled her hair, giving a glimpse of a long neck, delicate jaw, and pointed ears.

“You’re an elf, aren’t you?”

The woman inclined her head. “I am Aislynn.” Her voice held the clear luster of ringing bells.

Being in front of an elf must not have had the same sense of awe for Terak, if his clenched jaw and the tight lines of his body were anything to go by. He said, “What is it you wish, Dragon Slayer?”

Dragon Slayer
In reaction to his words Fallon held herself even straighter. Why would he call her Dragon Slayer?

Fallon said, “I make no move against you or yours, Clan Leader of the Gargoyles, but I wish to talk to this woman. She is a human who lives in the City, and thus is under my protection.”

“I saved her. Therefore, she is mine.” Terak’s voice pitched low while his clawed hands flexed, and while it held warning for the women in front of them, for her it sparked a heat spiraled through her torso and down the length of her body.

“Is that so? Shall we take it before the Seven Houses to hear their verdict?”

Terak held himself still, but his anger was palpable. “Beware casting your fate in that direction. Do not think my Clan powerless.”

Enough of this. Whether this was jockeying for some kind of position or they really thought they could argue about her as if she was a lost pet, it was over now. “Don’t talk about me as if I’m not even here,” she said, meeting the eyes of each of the women before turning a quick glance toward Terak. “I’ll decide who I’m going to talk with and when, and flying out of nowhere and then hitting us with these intimidation tactics isn’t going to endear you to me.”

Aislynn came forward, bowing slightly. “Forgive Fallon. She is so single-minded she forgets to show any manners.”

“Hey!”

Aislynn continued, not sparing the swordswoman as much as a glance. “We have not detained you for any fight-”

“Speak for yourself, Ais.”

Aislynn rolled her eyes heavenward but showed no other sign that she heard Fallon’s voice behind her. “-but we must ask you questions. The appearance of the orcs signals an escalation. We must discover the reason behind this.”

How had they connected her? Was this a shot in the dark? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Fallon started looking around her, quick movements of her head in all directions. Laire was watching her teammate with a puzzled expression on her face. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for a brick wall to hit my head against. I’m sure I’d have more luck with it than with her. You know, Teach, you might want to stop and think for a moment. Do you really believe Terak is the only one watching you now? How do you think we were able to plan this
tete-a-tete
?”

Oh gods, why hadn’t she thought about that before? These people knew everything about her. Why wouldn’t they also be watching her? She had been so focused on Terak…

A warm, calloused palm met hers, and Terak’s large hand squeezed, snapping her out of her daze. She raised her face to his. His dark eyes reassured her.

She squeezed back, and was rewarded with that almost smile.

Aislynn took another step forward and spoke not to Larissa, but to Terak. “Clan Leader of the Gargoyles, while we may not be allies, we are not enemies. Our goal is a common one, to protect this woman. Everything we have done has been with that purpose.”

“And how would you do this?” Terak inquired of the elf, his voice stilted but no longer furious. “You have not protected her thus far.”

“We have tried. We would have protected her had you not that first night.” Terak tilted his head as if acknowledging what the elf said, but didn’t speak himself. Aislynn continued, “We ask to be brought into your confidence. We may have information that you do not, as you may also have information unknown to us. We wish to protect this woman. We wish to protect the Realms. We wish to defeat the necromancers. Surely these commonalities outweigh our differences.”

A play of emotions crossed Terak’s face as he kept his gaze steady on Aislynn. Larissa wasn’t sure what she thought about what was being proposed, but there was no doubt in her mind that the elf had been brought here as the peacemaker and dealmaker. The other two women deferred to her, keeping silent as she talked to Terak. Larissa would place money that wasn’t a common occurrence.

Decision sharpened Terak’s expression, and he looked not at the elf, but at Fallon as he asked, “And which of these goals is your priority?”

Fallon’s head tilted, assessing Terak. “Why do you ask? Isn’t it enough they are goals we share?”

“No.” Terak’s baritone was laced with finality. “Only when there is no conflict can there be truce. We are not the same, Dragon Slayer. Even if you could bring yourself to lie and tell me otherwise, we both know the truth.

What was he talking about? But even before the echo of the words faded from the night air Laire’s expression turned serious in a way Larissa never would have believed possible. She reached out her arms in front of her, fingers splayed wide, and with a quick movement flung her arms out to the side.

Around them dozens of floating spheres appeared, bright white with a core of black through the middle. Laire clenched her hands into quick fists, and the spheres went up in balls of flame. “We need to leave,” Laire said, but before any movement could be made Laire jerked and fell forward as if someone punched her in the stomach, though no one was near.

Fallon was at her side in two quick steps, grabbing the mage’s arm and helping her straighten up. “What’s happening?”

A howl sounded, far away, and then a legion of answering howls, growls and almost-human screams of such menace that blood turned to sludge and flowed through her veins, weighing down her limbs and making fleeing impossible. Terak wrapped his arms around her, bending to speak into her ear. “Calm, little human. I will protect you. Have I failed you yet?”

No.
No, never.