Authors: Lisa Blackwood
Stone's Kiss (34 page)
“Do you feel it?”
Just as she was going to say no, she heard the distant echo of another mind; its enraged thoughts broadcasted its loathing. She sent her consciousness in the direction of the disturbance. Her hamadryad’s mind surrounded hers. It was strangely comforting and Lillian forgot what she’s been doing until Gregory mentally nudged her.
“Come. You need to see this so you’ll no longer doubt yourself.”
Another tortured, infuriated scream reverberated throughout the internal world of the hamadryad. It was so full of hatred Lillian shivered at the sound.
“That’s my demon isn’t it?”
“Yes. You hamadryad has trapped it.”
The demon howled again.
Lillian continued to follow Gregory’s spirit until she sensed they were deep in the hamadryad’s wooden heart. Ahead of them, golden power coiled and twisted around something of darkness. The two forces were joined in a fierce battle beyond Lillian’s understanding. What she saw wasn’t fought in the physical world; this was a battle between two spirits. Somehow Gregory was using his power to show her what was going on inside the hamadryad.
Gregory drew back from the fight and urged her along with him. Lillian swayed and found herself back in her body, staring at the trunk of her Redwood.
“I don’t understand. How can my hamadryad trap the demon soul? Wasn’t the demon … part of me?”
“The demon was grafted onto your soul—the ancient essence of the Sorceress. You feel empty because you are no longer the Mother’s Avatar. That power now belongs to your hamadryad. In essence, she is now the Sorceress.”
“Gregory,” she held up her hand, “you’re giving me facts, not an explanation.”
“Sorry.” He had the grace to look embarrassed. “I’ve been telling you half–truths for so long… .” He sighed and bowed his head. “While the hamadryad was healing you, she saw a way to strike at the demon. One I hadn’t thought of. Apparently, the demon hadn’t either. To heal you, your tree needed to call power from the Spirit Realm. Something both you and the demon were too weak to do, so the hamadryad called your shared soul to her. The tree became the Sorceress. Seeing no other way for its host to be healed, the demon allowed this, but it had to go with the soul, into the hamadryad.”
“The hamadryad took my soul?”
Gregory curled a wing around her shoulders and guided her away from the tree. The warmth of his body pressing against hers triggered an answering heat in her belly. As if he read her thoughts, he bowed his head and nuzzled her shoulder.
“Stop that.” She slapped his nose away. “You’re trying to distract me. Did you just say I’m soulless?”
“Of course not. Your hamadryad is a part of you. It doesn’t matter to me which vessel the other half of my soul inhabits. In my eyes you are one being. My love.”
“Good for you. Why don’t you send the Redwood chocolates?”
Focus Lil. It’s not Gregory’s fault you’re scared shitless. Suck it up.
“I’m sorry. It’s just been one hell of a week.” She scowled in the direction of the hamadryad. “So my tree has trapped the demon.”
“Yes. The demon is tied to the Sorceress’s soul and can’t escape. A hamadryad is different than her dryad. A demon must prey on emotions of jealous, greed, rage, and fear to overwhelm it host’s mind and take command of the body. Unlike a normal host, a hamadryad lacks the type of emotions a demon can manipulate. The demon is rendered impotent.”
“I don’t trust the demon. She’s a cunning bitch. She’ll find a way to hurt or corrupt my hamadryad.”
“The demon can’t hurt your tree. Your hamadryad is doing more than passively trapping the demon.” Gregory pointed at the Redwood, then made a sweeping motion to indicate the far distant forest. “What do all trees do?”
Lillian didn’t think Gregory wanted a scientific answer, so she waited.
“A normal tree can purify the soil and water. A hamadryad does much more.”
Lillian looked back to her hamadryad with renewed interest. “My Redwood is purifying the demon?”
“Yes. Killing its evil. But hamadryads work slowly.”
A new concern wormed its way into Lillian’s mind. “How long with this process take?”
“Two or three seasons,” Gregory answered, reluctance clear in his tone.
“So I can’t reclaim the powers of the Sorceress until then. That’s going to be a problem.”
Gregory nodded. “I fear so. The Lady of Battles will send her minions before the hamadryad has killed the demon. You can’t merge with your tree at all until the demon is dead or it will migrate back to you with your soul. And it isn’t stupid enough to be tricked a second time.”
“What can I do?”
“We’ll unite the all the Clan and the Coven and create a force to battle the Lady herself. And I still am the Father’s Avatar; I’m far from helpless. As long as the hamadryad holds the demon trapped, it can’t reach me through you.”
“I’m glad you’re safe from the demon, but we’ve just traded one problem for another. Without magic, I’m useless. I’ll be a liability when the Lady of Battles comes calling.”
“That Lady can’t actually come to this Realm. We’ll just have to deal with her underlings.” A glint of humor sparked in Gregory’s eyes. “I don’t think you’re half as helpless as you think. The demon is gone, your hamadryad had blocked you from touching your dryad magic, and that of the Sorceress. But if I am not mistaken, you still have one formidable talent.”
“What? Polishing swords?”
He looked baffled for a moment then chuckled. “It does have to do with weapons. Natural weapons.” Gregory flared his wings and gave them a little shake.
Lillian’s mouth dropped open. He didn’t mean? Surely not.
“The power to shapeshift into a female gargoyle is a power that has nothing to do with your power as the Avatar. Up until now, there were no female gargoyles but because of the Lady of Battles’ …” Gregory paused, seeming to search for the correct words, “because of her breeding program, you are now the first female gargoyle. You are equal parts dryad and gargoyle. Where the other female dryad children sired by gargoyles carried the potential, none of them had the ability to take that next step and become gargoyles themselves.”
“You’re talking about the genetic code—recessive and dominate genes.”
Gregory looked uncertain.
“Nevermind.” She grinned from ear to ear. “So I can be a gargoyle if I choose?”
“You’ll need rest and then training first, but yes, my lady, you are still gargoyle.” He reached for her hand, his engulfed hers.
“I can be your …” She’d almost said
your mate
, but chickened out at the last. “I can be like you.” She squeezed his hand. After what the demon had forced her to do, Lillian wasn’t sure what Gregory wanted. Yes, he loved her. He’d always loved his Sorceress. But she was no longer the Sorceress. She didn’t even have a soul.
“I love you regardless if you’re dryad, gargoyle, or demon possessed,” he tapped his fingers on the back of her hand, “my mate.”
Of course, they were touching. He could read her every thought and emotion. Heat mounted her cheeks and she stared at the ground. Even without looking at him, she saw the bright flare of magic along his skin. When she looked up, she was staring into the very human face of her human–formed gargoyle.
A finger under her jaw tilted her head up. His lips were descending toward hers one slow inch at a time. His warm breath washed against her cheeks. She was wrapping her arms around his neck just as the sound of hooves on gravel intruded.
Gregory sighed, then gave her a quick kiss, just the lightest caress of lips, before he lifted his head. He rested his chin against her hair. “It’s probably that one–horned fool. Unicorns have the worst timing.”
“You don’t say?” She chuckled as she curled her arm around his waist. “If he’s here, Gran can’t be far behind. She always knows what I’m thinking before I do—she probably knew down to the hour when my hamadryad was going to go into ‘labor.’ ” As Gregory had predicted, it was a white blur that bolted from the nearest maze entrance. The unicorn galloped toward them, grass and clumps of dirt flying in his wake. “Bet Gran has a feast laid out for us.”
“I hope so.”
Lillian took note of her gargoyle’s eagerness at the mention of food. “Come on, let’s go greet the unicorn and then eat.”
“Mmm, unicorn meat.”
She swatted Gregory in the arm, then took his hand as they walked out from under the canopy of her Redwood. Once again her maze felt like home, her life complete, the void of missing memories no longer important. Some things she could live without. Gregory wasn’t one of them.
THE END
About the Author
Lisa Blackwood grudgingly lives in a small town in Southern Ontario, though she would much rather live deep in a dark forest, surrounded by majestic old–growth trees. Since she cannot live her fantasy, she decided to write fantasy instead. An abundance of pets, named after various Viking gods, helps to keep the creativity flowing. Freya, her ever faithful and beloved hellhound, ensures Lisa takes a break from the computer so they can rid the garden of cats with delusions of conquest.
To find out more about me and what I'm up to come visit my website.
And my blog:
http://www.blackwoodsforest.wordpress.com/
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