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“She doesn’t look like that now.”
“Doesn’t she? There must be some similarities in spite of time and the inevitable decay. Your magical ability is a grave danger to the world.”
I sobbed a laugh. “Wow. That’s good to know. Is this the part where you shove me off the roof to end what you started the last time you tried to kill her? Are you the one who did it, who broke her mind and her body?”
He sat down, leaning over his legs, still with the wings. “I am not. I would like to find the person who is responsible and do very painful things to him, but unfortunately, I have yet to discover those truths in our past.”
I slowly sat down next to him, staring at the distant line of trees. The grounds were proportioned to the house, so enormous and empty. My mother was a sorcerer? He could be lying. In fact, he had to be, because she’d be a sorceress, not a sorcerer. Everyone knew that.
“Why do you call her a sorcerer instead of a sorceress? Is she actually possessed by some evil male soul?”
“She was raised by a man who competed as the Grand Sorcerer, and won for a decade before he decided he’d had enough and turned to making money instead. She competed in sorcery against the sorcerers, so she won the title, the Grand Sorcerer. She broke all the records, every single one, so she’ll probably keep the title unless you decide to try to claim it from her. I don’t see the likelihood since you haven’t been working in the dark arts since you could say the words, not like she was.” He sounded so emotionless about it.
“She wanted to compete against the men? Women aren’t just as good?”
“Male or female, no one was as accomplished as she was.”
Was. Past tense. The woman he’d married, this beautiful, brilliant, ambitious person, was now running around in questionable nightshirts, obsessing about sushi, and watching reality tv. It must be incredibly depressing for him to finally find her and see how far she’d fallen, unless he still hadn’t seen her.
“Are you still married, or did you get a divorce?”
“Legally, we are married in spite of her being declared dead.”
I took a shaky breath. “Wow, so my mom’s actually a zombie. That explains so much. What are your intentions towards her?”
“I would like her to be protected.”
“That’s why there are bodyguards at the healery right now, more to protect her than from the demon threat?”
“They are both issues.”
“But you don’t have any personal interest in my mom anymore? I mean, if she just disappeared, shouldn’t you be working through shock and stuff? Maybe that’s why you have the emotional depth of a jelly bean.” Oops. I probably shouldn’t have said that out loud.
He turned his head to study me for a long moment. “It was a great shock to see you at the ball and realize who you were and that she must be alive. And there you are, my long-lost daughter betrothed to none other than the elusive Marigold heir. You are being surprisingly intelligent about him, not spending more than the required time with chaperones while you focus on your studies. Typically with love mates, the marriage is performed as soon as possible, but you seem quite level-headed.”
I blinked at him. “Um, thanks? What do you mean about love mate?”
He held out a hand, pointing at the horizon, the tip of his nail slowly turning to stone, then his finger, then his hand, until he was stone to his elbow. “There is a very strong instinct to nest and raise the next generation of gargoyles, which afflicts a very small percentage of my kind, only enough to ensure the continuation of the species. It is a magical compulsion based on our very natures, beginning with the first two created gargoyles thousands of years ago, up to this day. When you have your first changing, you will feel that instinct compounded by the attachment you already have for your betrothed.”
I licked my lips. This was sounding way too serious. It was time to break up this imaginary betrothal before he started planning the wedding. It was just as well. I’d had a hard time focusing lately when I had Percy pinned to a mat. “Have you talked to him very often in the past two months?”
“Of course. He gives me updates on your progress, which he says is quite impressive.”
See? They were already gossiping about me together. They didn’t need me as a go-between at all. “So, you’ve already developed a relationship with him and wouldn’t mind doing deals or whatever between your two families?”
He raised a brow. “There is no trust greater than allowing him to marry my daughter. He could be less vain, but he has ideals.”
Allowing him to marry his daughter? Seriously? I didn’t snort or roll my eyes. “We’re breaking up. I mean, we’ve been broken up for a few weeks, so now we’re just friends, not betrothed, but I’m glad to see that you find his character upright and that he can be rewarded from his efforts to help me meet you.” I smiled brightly and leaned on my elbows, not looking at him and trying not to feel like I was betraying Percy.
“You have told him that you no longer wish to be with him? He allows that?”
Like he got to allow what I did and didn’t do. So delusional. “He’s fine with it. We were in a more technical betrothal than emotional.” Whatever that meant. It meant nothing, because it was a complete lie.
He tilted his head as he studied me. “You turned to stone when you came in contact with a gargoyle, correct? Describe him.”
Why did I have to be interested in some guy? Couldn’t he accept that I was fine on my own? Although, maybe if I described him, he’d give me some breathing space so I could see him again. “He’s amazing. He saved my life from the vampire and the cat shifter, sweeping me away from Song like a bird of prey. We danced in the moonlight and…” I realized how dreamy my voice had gotten, and tried to sit up straight and sound serious. “That was before I became betrothed to Percy.”
“You danced with him? Was that really enough to trigger your change?”
