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

“Which is?”

Looking at the bottle of wine and then my glass, I took the bottle and raised it. “To the amazing lives they lived.”

I took a swig of the wine, then passed it to Steph at my side. She smiled, raised it, and said, “We remember them, and celebrate who they were.” She took her swig. It continued like this with each commemorating the lives that Draedar and the senator had lived.

“We have work to do,” Megha said when it was over. She waited until Aerona nodded at her. “The maps.”

Standing, Megha pulled out the book with the maps from before, setting it on the table and turning it so we could see.

“What are we looking at?” I asked. The book was opened to a page of D.C. As we watched, bits of the city lit up, tracing magic activity. “Why would there be magic like that, unless it’s tracing fights or something?”

“Can you imagine a scenario where the Yenifer you saw yesterday is out there and not fighting?” Kordelia asked with a chuckle. “The question is—who is she fighting?”

“And why?” Aerona added.

“She didn’t attack us, at least,” Ebrill pointed out.

“So, is there a third party, someone controlling her?” I asked.

“Possibly. What’s for sure is that she isn’t in her right mind.”

Watching for a few more moments, the light vanished. “She’s not…” I was about to say ‘dead,’ but then it lit up again.

“That happens occasionally,” Aerona said. Again, the light faded, this time taking longer. Circling an area of the map, she said, “So far, the activity seems to be sticking to this circle. Might be there’s something special about it.”

“Related to the portal, maybe?” Megha offered. “Or the magical items.” At that, she giggled.

We all looked at her like she was crazy, but then I saw the lump moving in her dress, coming out on her shoulder—that strange creature that Fatiha had been using as a magical item to pull on the runes that were keeping the portal open.

It looked at us. Its eyes went wide, and then it disappeared with a pop and flash of light.

“Still getting my new friend used to you all,” Megha said with a shrug.

“Friend, or pet?” Kordelia asked, frowning, apparently not liking the little guy.

“No difference,” Megha replied. “I like to think of all of you as my pets, too.”

I laughed, but she stared at me, stone-faced. It was hard to tell whether she was joking.

“Sorry, but… what?” Riland was the one to speak up.

“At least as long as I’m here.” Megha offered me a wink, as if that would mean anything to me in the moment. “Who knows how long that will be? Maybe I’ll take off after we find Yenifer, or maybe after we kill this Fatiha bitch. Tough call, really.”

“Why would you leave?” Ebrill asked. “We’re finally all getting back together.”

The question had been on the tip of my tongue, the idea of any of this new group not sticking around bordering on incomprehensible. Especially after the moments we had shared, the intimacy.

“Let’s stay focused,” Aerona said, waving her off.

“You don’t think this is a big deal?” Ebrill countered. “One of our teammates leaving?”

Aerona eyed Megha, then Ebrill, and gave her a humored smile. “Dear, this is Megha we’re talking about. She comes, she goes. Nothing unexpected about what she’s saying.”

“That was why she hadn’t been with the main group that day,” Riland added, nodding. Turning to her, frowned. “Hadn’t you even been thinking about going to the other side?”

“I did go to the other side, as a matter of fact,” Megha replied, earning a couple of gasps. Before more could be said, she held up a hand. “At Rianne’s command. I was fighting to get back with you when it all went to hell—which is one reason I ended up as I did, instead of…” She put her hands on her head, forefingers up to show horns.

“That explains a lot,” Kordelia replied, the glare still there.

“Where do we start, as far as tracking down Yenifer?” I asked. “Last place the light went out?”

“I’d think so.” Megha adjusted the book, then chanted a word I didn’t catch, causing the book to float up and become an outline of light. In a way, it wasn’t so different from what I had done with the Llyfr Sillafu spell book. While my version had been digital to resemble a game screen as I was used to, hers had more of a magical, fantasy feel.

Seeing my surprise, she grinned. “Nothing as fancy as you, but I know a trick or two. This will show up when I summon it, giving us a way of at least tracking her last known position.”

“Great. And what’s our means of transport? Teleportation? Flying?” I glanced at the gargoyles’ wings, then to Steph and Megha. “Brooms?”

“Do you see brooms anywhere?” Steph asked with a laugh.

Before I could respond, Galahad appeared at the door and said, “Aerona, you requested two cars?”

Aerona smiled my way as she said, “Correct.”

“We’re… driving?” I asked, not sure how I felt about that. “Won’t we be kind of exposed?”

“Using magic to try and find her wouldn’t get us there any faster, and would expose us even more,” Ebrill explained.

I simply nodded and gestured for them to lead the way. Riland gave me a ‘here goes’ look as he walked past, and Ebrill took my arm as she went.

“Come, driving will be fun. There’s a lot of this city I’d still like to see.”

I chuckled, walking with her to follow the others. “It’s not exactly an open-top bus tour.”

“You don’t know, maybe that’s what Galahad got for us?”

As expected, it wasn’t. But what he had was much better—two large SUVs with our own guard, the type you might see in the president’s motorcade.

“You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow,” Galahad said as he held the door for me, Ebrill going first. “Try not to forget that.”

I nodded. “Everything seems to be a priority, now.”

“Indeed.” He nodded, shutting the door after I’d entered