AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A couple of girls who were near enough to see what was happening screamed and raced off in the other direction.
"Damned spell worked all right, but instead of leading us to the harpy, it brought the harpy to us," I muttered.
"Whatever the case, she doesn't look happy. Oh shit—look out!"
Chase's shout roused me from my shock. A good thing, since the harpy chose that moment to take a swipe at me. I ducked as her claws ripped past. Her fingernails were the length of small paring knives—and just as sharp. I didn't relish being on the receiving end of one of her love pats. Rina was not-so-living proof to what this demon could do.
I sucked in a deep breath and called out to the Moon Mother. I might not be able to see her, but I knew she was there, above the layer of clouds and daylight, and I could feel her energy resonate in response to my touch. "Lady, don't fail me now," I whispered as I brought up my hands to catch the ball of glowing moonlight that was forming in front of me.
"Attack and subdue!" I shouted, commanding the energy to attack.
The glowing orb stretched out like a luminous blade and slashed at the harpy. She shrieked and took a step back, her gaze fastened on me. Just then, Chase leaned around my right side, and an explosion rang out, startling the hell out of me as he aimed and fired his gun.
"Damn it, you'll ruin my control of the energy—" I said, but it was too late. The ball of moonlight had taken on a mind of its own and it apparently decided that it wanted whatever was in the bag the harpy was holding. It lashed at her, and she dropped the sack on the walkway. Chase's bullet had done no damage whatsoever to the demon.
I pushed him out of the way, trying to regain control of the moonlight but to no avail. I'd lost it, and it would go on doing whatever it wanted to do. And what it wanted to do was to curl around the sack and shield it. The harpy hissed, then apparently decided she'd lost that battle. She turned back to me.
"We need her alive, Chase." I sidestepped the glowing circlet of moonlight, focusing on the harpy, as I once again called out to the Moon Mother. Light raced down my arms into my hands, and I brought them up, pointing at her.
"Attack and subdue!" A beam of quicksilver poured from my hands, taking aim at the harpy, and this time it met her full-force. She soared into the air and hovered over the edge of the guardrails as the ray streamed toward her. I only meant to contain her, but apparently I'd put a little too much oomph behind it, because the light enveloped her, draining the flight from her wings. With a long, echoing shriek, she fell out of the sky and barreled to the ground below.
"Oh hell and bother!" I raced to the safety rail and peered over the side, Chase right behind me. The harpy had landed full-force on the sidewalk and was now one big red splat. The sound of scurrying feet told us that security guards weren't far behind. I turned to Chase. "What should we do? We can't let them find out about the demons."
"I'll talk to them. I'll tell them it was a Faerie who committed suicide," he said. "I'll get the OIA team out here. Go on!"
I grabbed the sack that the harpy had been holding and did the only thing I could think of. Hoping that my magic would work without a glitch this time, I gathered the light in the air around me and cloaked myself. Thank the gods, more than my clothes vanished from sight. Stepping between shadows as silently as I could, I crept toward the stairs, leaving Chase to clean up the mess.
As soon as I slinked back to my car, I leaned against the seat and closed my eyes, waiting for the spell to wear off. With my luck, it would take all day, and I'd be stuck until somebody came to pick me up. Cars didn't drive down the street by themselves, and I didn't want to draw any attention, considering the fact that at least two more demons were prowling the city. We might have taken care of the harpy, but Bad Ass Luke and the Psycho Babbler were still on the loose.
I'd never had to tangle with an actual demon before, and the encounter had left me unnerved. Not something I cared to repeat, but somehow I didn't think my wishes counted for much.
However, today luck was with me. My hands began to fade back into sight, and as I stared at my fingers, I had one of those aha moments and groaned. I had to remember to call Chase—if he could get the medical examiner to chop off one of the harpy's talons, I might be able to use that as my payment to Grandmother Coyote.
I thought about returning to the shop but shifted gears when the bundle that I'd snatched away from the harpy started to wriggle in my lap. What the hell? Cautiously, I untied the knot on the cloth and opened it. What had the moonlight been protecting from the demon?
A baby gargoyle stared up at me, her eyes glowing a brilliant topaz. A tortoiseshell, she was covered with a soft, downy fur, and on her face was the sweetest look that I'd ever seen.
"Well, hello," I said, gently lifting her up. Her wings were still far too small to carry her; she wouldn't be flying anywhere soon. In fact, she looked too young to be away from her mother. As I gazed at the cub, I had one of those flashes that told me more than I wanted to know.
Gargoyles and unicorns tended to be among the favorite foods of some demons, and rumors had been circulating for years that they kept them like livestock in the Subterranean Realms. If so, the cub had probably been intended as the harpy's midafternoon snack. Cringing, I gathered the gargoyle to my chest and held her tight. She let loose with a loud burp and then a faint cry as she clawed at my breasts.
"You're hungry. I'm afraid I don't make milk, little one," I said, holding her up. "But I bet we can find you something at home." She clutched at my hair as I disentangled her and set her back in the scrap of cloth that the harpy had carried her in. I finally figured out how to fix the seat belt so it held her tight, and then as the last bit of my toes flickered into sight, I pulled out of the parking garage and headed for home.
"What are you going to name her?" Chase asked. He'd arrived at the house as soon as he finished wrapping up things with the harpy, and now sat at the table, playing with the gargoyle cub, trying not to look astonished. I could see the laughter—and shock—in his eyes.
"Maggie," I said. "She just looks like a Maggie to me."
"I thought gargoyles were just statues carved out of stone," he said, tickling her tummy as I carried a bowl over to the table and placed it near her. She took a hesitant step, then her tongue flickered out and she leaned over the bowl, clutching the edges with her tiny hands. As she lapped up the liquid, Chase asked, "What are you feeding her?"
I settled into the chair next to him and leaned forward, staring at the creature who was now slurping up her lunch. "A mixture of cream, sugar, cinnamon, and sage. I have to get her started on the sage right now."
"Why?"
"Because gargoyles need it to further their development. This cub will never see her mother again, so I'm going to have to do what I can to make sure she develops as normally as possible. There's something odd about her, though…"
"You mean besides the fact that she looks like a bewinged, misshapen cat?" Chase snickered, but I noticed his gaze was firmly latched to Maggie, and I realized that he was enchanted by her. So Chase liked animals, be they Earthside or from Otherworld. The thought made me like him a little bit better.
"Gargoyles only look and feel like stone when they're bound to a quest. By nature, they're watchers—observers. The creatures are intelligent to a degree and have a limited vocabulary, but they don't think like we do. They're also incredibly long-lived, even more so than the Sidhe. Some of the gargoyles you see on the walls of Notre Dame and other cathedrals are in stasis, watching and keeping track of what goes on Earthside. They've been there so long among the statues that they may never be able to change back. I don't know their whole history, but I should start reading up on it now that Maggie's here."
