Myths and Gargoyles Jamie Hawke (i read a book .TXT) 📖

“Oh, no,” Steph said. “No, no, no…”

“Steph?”

She turned to me, hands on Ebrill’s, guiding them down. “It’s me. The real me, this time.”

86

“I don’t… understand,” I admitted, sounds of roaring and the shaking building around us as I stared at Steph, no more malice in her eyes.

“Maybe I can help with that.” Ebrill turned to me. “It was a curse. They’re sort of my specialty, and I instantly recognized the one on her.”

“She was cursed?” I took a step toward them, very confused about not only the situation but how I should react. I’d been fairly intimate with Ebrill, while assuming Steph was trying to kill me. Well, she was, but because she was cursed. “Steph, was that before or after… us?”

Steph’s cheeks went red and she bit her lower lip. “I don’t remember, exactly. I mean, I remember us, of course—how could I not? But… when the curse—”

Her sentence was cut off as Ebrill put a hand on her again. This time, the gargoyle’s eyes went purple momentarily, then she withdrew her hand. “Better?”

“It’s all…” Steph put a hand to her mouth. “Oh, God. There was this woman, she came to me and I remember her sitting with me in a coffee shop. I thought it was weird that she was talking to me at all, but then the barista came over with two macchiatos, and when she offered one to me it looked so delicious. But,” she turned to Ebrill, “what, she drugged me?”

“Maybe? More than likely, to get you somewhere secluded where she could then perform the real curse on you. An alley, a—”

“Car, yes. It’s all coming back.” Steph’s eyes were wide with sorrow and horror as she remembered.

“So, the death knights, those weren’t you, either?” I asked.

“The wraith knights?” she asked. “Those are mine, as is my magic. But I was coming to find you at your aunt’s beckoning. Gertrude called to me and… oh, no, no. It’s all coming back.”

“You killed her,” I said, nodding solemnly.

She eyed me, then slowly shook her head. “J… No. I didn’t.”

“Well maybe not you, but those others you were with.”

“Not us.”

I frowned, confused, noticing how her eyes had moved past me, widening. If she was about to accuse Ebrill, I was going to have to call bullshit. The gargoyle had been stone, only woken by my touch. But when I turned around, it wasn’t Ebrill that Steph was looking at. Fatiha stood there. Dust from fallen debris covered her sweat-soaked forehead, and her hair looked wild. It was her eyes that caught my attention, though, because they were filled with hatred as she stared at Steph.

“What’s she doing in here?” Fatiha hissed. “She’s evil.”

“Not anymore,” Steph replied, taking a step back. “And that was only because of you. Jericho, this is the woman.”

“It can’t be…” I shook my head, not accepting it.

“She was the one. In the coffee shop, and… after. I’ll never forget that face.”

“Jericho, this is ridiculous.” Fatiha took a step forward, hands out. “We were cuddling, lying in bed with my hand on your manhood and you—”

“She what?” Steph asked, and then looked at Ebrill with narrowed eyes, as if waiting for her confession next.

“To be honest, I didn’t know it was her hand,” I said.

“The point is,” Fatiha continued, “how can you doubt me right now, after what we’ve shared?”

My eyes met Ebrill’s, and that was enough. If she said she had broken a curse on Steph, I believed her. Which meant that I wasn’t sure I could believe Fatiha. There was only one way to find out, as far as I was concerned. One thing I could say that would be the ultimate test.

“We’ll all leave here, together. Leave this all behind… and abandon the search for the Liahona.”

As I’d expected but hoped wouldn’t be the case, Fatiha’s reaction spelled out her position. While Ebrill looked confused and Steph relieved, Fatiha’s eyes flashed with fury.

“You can’t!” she shouted, stepping toward me, hand up and moving in a pattern I hadn’t seen yet. “I trained you for this. Taught you how to harness the magic your aunt left behind, and now you want to waste it?”

“I’m not wasting it. I’m saying that if the item is gone, maybe that’s for the best. The enemy sure seems to want it, so we should leave it hidden.”

“No.”

“No?” Ebrill stepped up next to me, staring intently at Fatiha.

“Don’t you start!” Fatiha turned on her. “You weren’t supposed to come back. That wasn’t part of the plan. Keep your trap shut.” Turning back to me, she finished with a movement of her hand and said, “I didn’t want to do this, but since you give me no choice. Gorffwys!”

As she spoke the word, my mind went into a daze, the house and all gone, me back with the elf version of Ebrill. She spun to see me, eyes wide as she held a leg of what looked like chicken to her mouth.

It only lasted a moment, not even long enough for her to set the chicken leg down, and then I was back as a shout sounded. Steph was there, shoving Fatiha with both hands so that the older woman went flying into the wall and slammed her head against it, crumpling to the floor. Fatiha shrieked in pain, then turned, pointed a finger at Steph and opened her mouth to cast a curse. But suddenly one of the shisas came charging in, snapping her hand clean off and then turning to her as blood fell from its lips. Damn, if it hadn’t been on my side that would’ve been terrifying.

The other shisa followed, when another section of the building tore out and the serpent appeared, mouth open and consumed the shisa in one bite. It spun around, coming back for us as Ebrill grabbed me and pulled me with her.

“Steph, was it?” Ebrill shouted. “You want to live, run!”

Steph was with us a moment later, wild eyes taking this all in, the surviving