AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Now, what would be the fun of that?” he asks. “I’ll do my best to make this next part up to you later.”
“What next part?” My last word cuts off when he lifts into the air, his enormous wings beating hard enough my hair floats around my face. I scramble to press myself as close as I can to him. My heart tries to climb up my throat.
A glance at the roof of the house that’s now close enough to reach, Val’s car that’s growing smaller, and ocean waves so very far beneath of us has my stomach dropping. This is worse than the roller coaster I let my friends talk me onto. With the gargoyle, there’s no seat belt, no safety measures, and no way back to Meg, Val, or Ava.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I don’t dare kick or struggle. Not when it means I might tumble to my death.
“No, no, no,” I chant.
“Rosemarie, look at me.” His voice comes from all around me, making it over the wind and the crash of waves from below. Below. Oh heavens, I can’t think about that. “I’ve blocked the view if that’ll help.”
“It won’t.” I peek out of one eye. A dark cloud wraps around us. Huh, what do you know? Hiding the view did help a bit. My nausea recedes until I can speak without vomiting. “Please, tell me what’s going on.”
“I’ll let Atticus do it. He’s the bossy twin.”
“And you are?”
“The fun one.” He flashes a smile that shows a hint of fangs. The guy has fangs—claws, wings, and fangs. But he flies smoother than his brother with not the least hint of letting go of me. And while he looks capable of violence worse than the smack that asshole mugger gave me, the gargoyle carries me as if I’m precious.
Goodness, I haven’t felt this wanted, this seen since losing Lala. Still, I didn’t sign up for a freestyle flight with a gargoyle as part of my haunted house tour.
Sharing names and keeping calm are the first steps to building a rapport with a patient. It can’t be too different with a kidnapper. But keeping calm isn’t happening, so I go for the other. “What’s your name?”
“Jace.”
The powerful name fits him. “Why take me?”
He glances at me, and I want to tell him to keep his eyes on the sky. “Ask Atticus. It was his idea.” The gargoyle carrying me doesn’t sound too happy with his twin’s decision. His expression closes off, and I know better than to press him for more on Atticus or his ideas. Not until I have my feet firmly on the ground again.
I change tactics. “Where are we going?”
“Home.”
9
JACE
JUDGMENT: REFLECT AND RECOGNIZE
Because a Reckoning is Coming
Icircle above the cemetery with Rosemarie in my arms, descending slowly in the darkness. From the first moment I touched her, the gut-level need to protect, reassure, and treasure her hit me harder than a charging minotaur. Her scent is intoxicating. She’s everything I’ve imagined while watching her these past few months.
But I screwed up my first chance to make a good impression. Within moments of meeting her, I snatched her away from her friends and pushed her fear of heights to the extreme. Not the best way to gain her trust, and I need her to trust me if I’m going to convince her to listen to reasons why she should run from the queen trials as soon as I can find an escape for her.
“This might get a little bumpy,” I warn her. I hit the ground on my feet, whipping my wings forward and running a few steps to make the landing as smooth as possible. “We’re here.”
“Your home’s a graveyard?” she asks.
“No, but the portal’s here.”
“I thought we were running away from portals.” The duh in her tone shouldn’t be so charming.
This woman slays me with her snark that hits a thousand times more sweet than sour. “The other ones, sure. Who knows where they lead to? All kinds of monsters lurk in the realms behind those doors—minotaurs, krakens, demons, and everything in between. But we’ve run to this one because it leads home.”
“Where I’ll be safe? Since you said you’d talk then?” she parrots my earlier promise back to me.
She won’t be safe in our realm. Not if the Bridge of Souls doesn’t choose her. Or if she makes the same tragic decision that Dyphena did. “Bringing you here was a mistake.”
