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“I won’t.” I land as gently as I can on the ground. “I wasn’t going to, baby girl. You are who I came for.”
“What? Why?” She frowns.
My defenses are chipped away further.
Rook, Dredd, Stiel, and Knox land with a cloud of dust in front of Julianna and me.
“Is Jules hurt?” Dredd asks. I don’t question why he suddenly cares about Julianna’s well-being, not yet, but it’s a reminder that I will have to thank him for his aid today.
“No,” Julianna says at the exact same time I say, “Yes.”
I stare down at her and shoot her a look of disapproval. She is bruised and bleeding, and I’ve yet to check for broken bones or worse.
“Where is it?” Knox asks, head swiveling as he scans the destroyed parking lot.
“It’s gone, but I will get it back. I promise you, brothers.”
Julianna shifts in my arms, but I hold her to me tighter.
“No, it’s still here, I feel it,” Knox says.
“Me too,” Rook agrees.
“I’m sorry, brothers. It’s the residue of its magic. It’s how the coven has been able to track the past locations of the Relic Room. I’m sure it feels like it’s here, but I lost it—”
“I swear…” Stiel starts.
“No,” Julianna shouts to be heard and wiggles in my arms so much that it’s safer to put her on the ground than risk her falling out of them. “It’s here.”
“No, baby, and that’s okay.”
She doesn’t listen to me. She runs between the cars, and I follow her. Darting one row over, she pauses to count several cars and moves one row back. I look at my brothers, who all stare at her with the same confused look I know I have on my face.
When I turn back, she’s on her belly, shimmying, until half her body is lost under a silver sedan.
“What the hell are you doing?” I kneel at her side, cataloging every cut and scrape I will clean and treat.
She pops out from under the car, holding something high above her head. Dirt covers her beautiful face, but it can’t hide her brilliant smile. Her eyes sparkle, looking like fresh rich earth after rain.
“Praise the Gods, you have it!” Knox shouts, and I’m vaguely aware that my brothers are running over to us, pulled to the object in Julianna’s hand.
“You’re amazing, baby girl.” I hold her face in my claws. I want to kiss her. “You could’ve given them the Keystone when he threatened you. No one would have blamed you for that. But you fooled a gargoyle with little more than a bluff.”
“I’m a damn good actress, that’s all.” She gives me a weary grin, and I fight the urge again to press my mouth to every square inch of her. But I won’t, not until I see that she truly isn’t hurt worse.
Rook reaches us first, and it’s only when he grabs the Keystone from Julianna’s hand that I finally look at it. I prepare to feel the Pull drag my allegiance back to the object, but I only feel happiness for my brothers when I look at it. What I want most in the world is already in my arms.
“It’s a little cracked—okay, maybe a lot—but that’s not my fault,” Julianna adds quickly. “I fell pretty hard when I was trying to hide. Some chunks of the stone are still in my bag. But it was definitely made worse when Titan threw the spiky-tailed one and he hit the car.”
“Flynt.” I fill in the blank for my brothers.
“Flynt?” Stiel asks, his voice filled with surprise. “He survived?”
“Yes, he’s unconscious at the back of the lot. I will need you to bring him to the cave. When he wakes up, I have questions for him.”
Stiel doesn’t wait to hold the Keystone like the other gargoyles. He heads straight to Flynt.
“Knox, go with him, and fly over the loft on your way out. Grab my emerald ring if you can. It should be in the bushes at the front.”
