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“He knew we were coming,” Drake said, taking off his shirt and covering the girl. “Harlow, go carve out the sigil on the door and call Ivar. I meant to do it when I found it a few days ago, but got called away. We can’t dispose of bodies here but he can.”
“Okay.” I uttered the word, my mind stunned into near silence. Things were escalating swiftly, and I didn’t like the taunting Vane was doing. He was far more psychotic than anyone admitted to this godforsaken hospital.
The sigil was just inside the door, behind a coat rack. My body froze as a figure moved to stand in the doorway, looming over me as if to dare me to continue. Letting out a growl at the hallucination, I shoved the rack down and took out my dagger, stabbing it into the wall repeatedly, using it to get out the horror and devastation I felt for the dead girl in the other room.
The figure continued to move closer as shadows closed around me. I ignored them as I tried to move past the biggest emotion I couldn’t shake.
Guilt.
She died because she looked like me. I hadn’t realized I was crying until my vision blurred with tears. Even then I didn’t stop stabbing the wall, cutting through the ward.
This time, I didn’t have to call for my monster, he just came. The shiver of cold my only warning before he pulled me into his chest and away from the wall.
“Stop, little human, you’ll hurt yourself,” he demanded, clearly annoyed by my dramatics.
“Sorry,” I muttered, letting his presence push away the bad feelings. “I hadn’t expected this to hit so hard.”
“You avoided it before, we shouldn’t be surprised,” Hiro said with a shaky laugh, stepping up close enough to run a hand down my back. The fact he comforted me now meant he was pushing away the initial reaction. Hiro approaching Monty to do so was a huge sign of that. Hell, at this point he was doing better than I was.
“Listen to your human, he probably knows,” Monty said but he gave me a long hug before passing me off to Hiro.
“You’re here. Come look,” Drake called out. He had yet to move away from the body.
“I’m not here at your beck and call half breed,” Monty said but it lacked the usual ire. The curses followed a moment later.
“What’s going on?!” Kol yelled from the hallway before he burst through the door, his huge body taking out half the door frame. “Is something wrong with my mate?” Apparently there was even more to this connection with him than I realized. If ever there was a high-emotion moment to call him, this would be it.
“And we’re the dramatic ones?” Hiro whispered, and I couldn’t hide my chuckle from Kol.
“I felt you. What happened?”
“That guy you’re looking for?” I had to wait for him to wrench my body from Hiro and inspect me to the point I was hiding an eye roll, to continue.
“What about him?” he finally husked out.
“There’s a body that looks like me again, though a bit more violently placed. But this is the place Vane raped me, and many others. The memories hit me and so did that, I didn’t take it well. Sorry, I didn’t mean to alarm you, I didn’t know you could feel my emotions,” I said, not sure how to process the latest mindfuck. There wasn’t even a hint of snark in my voice. That should have been enough to worry the gargoyle.
Kol’s response was to let out a roar, his features distorting even further to fit the rage my gargoyle was feeling. A hot, wave of power exploded from his body.
“Get back, Harlow,” Monty yelled, moving between us faster than should be possible while Drake went to Hiro.
“He won’t hurt me,” I protested but it didn’t ring with confidence. I’d yet to see Kol lose it like this, and I was genuinely startled as saliva fell from his fangs, and he could barely close his mouth now that they’d elongated. His wings spanned, nearly knocking Drake and Hiro out if they hadn’t dove out of the way. He took a horn from his pocket and blew it, the entire office rattling with the force of it.
It was mere seconds before the rest of the gargoyles were with us, far more than I thought possible as they surrounded us and spilled into the hallway.
“We find Vane, now. He’s harmed my mate, he will pay with his blood.” Kol’s deep voice echoed in the space, so gravelly it sounded distorted.
The gargoyles collectively slammed a fist to their chest and the entire brood left the room without a second glance.
The silence in their wake was almost deafening. Even Monty’s usual petty snark was absent.
“Come on,” Drake said. “Look for anything on the demons. We have to figure this out. And Ivar, if you could get rid of the body, please.” I raised my eyebrows at the “please.” They were working shockingly well together.
“We need blueprints of Dark Haven as well,” Monty said as he walked toward the body. “Harlow pointed out that the wards against me could point us in the right direction.”
“Impressive,” Drake agreed, already shuffling through book after book, tossing the useless ones aside. Hiro went for the computer, and I grabbed the secretary’s laptop.
Monty made quick work of the body, his shadows filling the space for a second, but I couldn’t bring myself to watch. Not when I just now found composure.
