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I follow his gaze up, and my heart sinks.
Jesus fucking Christ.
I understand the “we” now.
Two more gargoyles, ones I’ve never seen before and are certainly not part of Titan’s brotherhood, are poised at the top of the building next to the parking lot. Maximus lets out a sharp whistle that pierces my ears and launches the other gargoyles into the air.
My breath stops as they descend.
The ground shakes when they land, setting off several car alarms. My piercing scream joins the cacophony as their bodies block out all the light.
ChapterEighteen
TITAN
The new sensation, the new Pull, which is all that I can think to call it now because it seems to have so thoroughly replaced the demanding grip of the Keystone, turns into something desperate and all-consuming as I watch the blond man follow Julianna across the loft. He is just far enough away and slowed down enough by the swell of the crowd that, to the untrained eye, he would look like any other guest enjoying the event. One might imagine he was simply joining the group surrounding the platform.
But I see the look of rage on his face when he doesn’t make it to the elevator in time, missing Julianna, as the doors close in his face.
“Titan,” Dredd says. His voice in my ear is the buzzing of a bee in comparison to the burning thump of this new Pull.
My chest aches, my forearms tense, and I feel my true form, my gargoyle claws and horns and tail, pushing against my glamoured human skin. My body is ready to break free of this false container, but this drive to Julianna is different from the one to the Keystone. There is choice where there wasn’t before. My true form begs to be released, but I know I can contain it if that is what I truly wish.
“Titan,” Dredd repeats. This time his whisper is harsh with urgency. “It’s Jules, isn’t it?”
“I don’t want to hear it,” I say through gritted teeth.
I won’t tolerate listening to Dredd’s dismissal of Julianna. He can yell at me all he wants when she is safe back at the penthouse.
I sniff out the scent of her fear still lingering in the air. The blond man slaps his hand against the metal doors of the elevator and stabs at the button.
I look to the staircase, my way to the vault and the Keystone. I’d set Rook and Knox off on their missions early. Any moment now, Rook will be cutting the loft’s electronics, and I overheard Freddy and his men discussing how best to deal with the federal agent downstairs. They’ve moved him to a backroom, and they are attempting to figure out the easiest way to get rid of him. Lucky for Freddy, Knox knows I only need a few minutes. Unlucky for Freddy, everything Stiel was able to find out about his illegal collection will be sent to the proper authorities. He’ll have human justice to deal with, flawed as it might be. But I can’t think about that at the moment. If I’m going to move to get the Keystone, I need to do it now before the chaos ends.
But I’m stuck in place.
No, not stuck, I realize. Pushed back to her, always her.
“I can see him through the window, Titan,” Dredd says. “He is looking for another way down. He is hunting Jules.”
“Where?” I swivel to find the man in the crowd, not questioning why Dredd seems to be watching Julianna just as closely as I am.
“The stairs,” Dredd says quickly.
“Thank you, brother.” I force out the words because I’m not sure how to explain the sudden shift of my Pull.
It shouldn’t be possible. I serve one purpose: protecting the relics of the Strange. But I’d seen her that night in the bar, and I’d felt it even then, the need to protect her, to spoil her, to be at her side. I can see now that it had only grown stronger the longer we spent together, slowly shifting my allegiance from one chosen for me to the one I choose.
“You look at her the way we used to look at the Keystone, Titan,” Dredd adds. “The Pull is taking you to her, isn’t it?”
It seems he understands more than I could know.
“I have to go after her.”
“I know.”
The fire in my chest roars, and I feel her touch on my bones. My feet are moving before my mind has time to catch up with Dredd’s seemingly sudden seismic shift in viewpoint.
I’m going to find Julianna, and when I do, I will do whatever it takes to keep her.
