Page 44 of Petrified

That distraction lasts less than a second, but Amand doesn't need more. He crosses the distance to Medusa before the gargoyle can decide whether the scent is real, catches the wrist holding the knife, and twists hard enough that bone cracks. The blade hits the floor instead of Medusa’s snake, and I'm already moving before the gargoyle can recover.

I hit him from the side hard enough that we go through a stack of broken limestone. Stone explodes beneath us, his camouflage dropping under my hands as his body shifts back into something solid enough to fight. He is heavier than he looks, though, and proves it by throwing me hard enough that my back slams into one of the support pillars.

Pain tears down my spine before I get my feet under me again. The gargoyle rises from the rubble with one wing spread and the other folded tight, his skin changing rapidly between mottled gray and the darker stone underneath while his eyes lock onto mine.

“You,” he growls, putting enough hatred into the word that I almost smile.

“Yeah. Me.” I barely get it out before he lunges.

I catch his forearm before the claws reach my throat and drive my other fist into the side of his face. Punching him feels like hitting a wall, but his head still snaps sideways, and he answers by burying one shoulder into my chest and driving me backward into another stack of stone.

Something breaks beneath us, and I'm reasonably sure it's not me. Behind him, Amand has Medusa clear and is cutting through the restraints around her wrists while keeping himself between her and the fight. The second her hands are free, every snake on her head lifts.

The gargoyle sees that movement and turns toward her, which gives me exactly what I need. I catch the base of his wing and yank hard enough that he roars, then keep pulling when he swings back and catches me across the jaw. My head snaps sideways, but the joint beneath my hand finally gives with a wet crack that is satisfying enough to make the pain worth it.

He spins and drives one clawed hand into my shoulder. The pain is hot and immediate, but there is no spreading cold beneath it this time, no stone creeping through muscle or locking around bone. There is only blood, and something ugly inside me settles when I realize the stolen petrification is truly gone.

He almost killed me with magic he stole from her. Now all he has left is himself, and I can work with that.

I catch him around the waist when he tries to pull away and drive him down hard enough to fracture the floor beneath us. His damaged wing scrapes across stone while his claws tear at my back, but before he can twist free, several of Medusa’s snakes strike at once.

Three latch onto the softer skin along his neck and jaw while two more wind around the damaged wing. He roars and tears one loose, but Medusa keeps coming, her expression gone flat in a way that has nothing to do with fear anymore.

“You should have stayed gone,” she says.

The gargoyle bares his teeth at her. “You took it from me.”

“You cut it off my fucking head.” Medusa steps closer while the snakes around her face lift higher.

“I made it useful.”

Every snake on her head rises at once.

I feel Lev reappear somewhere behind me before I see him, his earthy scent settling back into the chamber while Amand moves to my other side. The three of us close the remaining space without needing to discuss it, and the gargoyle finally looks between us with something other than anger in his face.

He tries to shift back into stone.

Lev catches the change before either of us does. “Left side,” he says, and I move the instant the words leave his mouth, trusting him enough that I don't need to see what he sees first.

I grab where Lev points before the camouflage finishes changing and find solid flesh under my hand. The gargoyle jerks in surprise, and Amand catches the other side before he can disappear into the pillar behind him. That is the difference now: he can still hide from most eyes, but he cannot hide from Lev.

I drive him forward and slam him against the floor while Amand locks down one arm. Medusa comes in from the front with every snake drawn back except the one he almost cut, and she reaches down to wrap her hand around his throat.

Her snakes strike together before he realizes what she intends, several wrapping around his damaged wing and throat while the others snap close enough to his face to keep him from turning toward Medusa. He bucks beneath us, but Amand locks his arm tighter and I force his shoulders flat against the fractured floor.

Medusa keeps her hand around his throat and looks down at him. “You wanted to cut another piece off me and start again.”

The gargoyle lets out a low growl. “I would have taken as many as I needed.”

Whatever hesitation might have been left in her disappears. She looks at me once and gives a small nod, and I lock both hands around his head before he can begin blending into the floor again.

I wrench hard. Stone cracks beneath my palms, followed by the deeper break underneath it, and his entire body jerks once before going heavy. Amand keeps hold of him while Medusa watches his face, several of her snakes still wound around the damaged wing until she finally lets out a slow breath. “Now he’s dead.”

I stay where I'm long enough to make sure she is right. Nothing shifts beneath my hands, his damaged wing doesn't twitch, and the stone covering him doesn't begin that subtle slide back into whatever surface surrounds him. When Lev finally steps closer and touches my shoulder, I release the gargoyle and push myself upright.

The movement pulls at the claw marks across my shoulder, and Lev’s expression changes the second he sees the blood. He reaches for the torn fabric before I can stop him, so I catch his wrist and tell him, “Don’t start.”

“You are bleeding enough that I'm absolutely going to start.” He pulls free and peels the fabric away carefully, glaring at the wound as though I created it specifically to inconvenience him. “You were just turned to stone three days ago. Maybe stop collecting medical emergencies for five fucking minutes.”