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

the first day, only now everything had changed for me. When scantily-clad women walked past, my eyes didn’t even dart over for a second. Why look at apples when I was already full from apple pie? Apple pie with cinnamon, and maybe some vanilla ice cream on top.

“What’re we looking for?” I asked.

“First we go to the booth,” Red said, leading the way. “We found you, but the team stayed to see if they could find any soon-to-be Myths, others with power who might someday prove themselves worthy of the titles. The essence draws them.”

“So whoever wields Arthur’s sword, once connected to the essence, can also attract them?”

“Correct.”

We kept walking, turning past a large statue of Thor that caused Pucky to scoff.

“They have it all wrong,” she said.

But when I looked back, it wasn’t the statue I was paying attention to, but my buddy Chris. He was staring at me in confusion, one arm around a woman dressed as She-Ra, and when we made eye contact he let her go, coming for me with a smile spreading across his face.

Pucky noticed and leaned in, speaking quickly. “If they see he’s connected to you, his life will be at risk.”

“Shit,” I said, glancing around and then said, “Find me on the other side,” before ducking into a Minecraft maze. It was complete with people dressed as creepers and coming for me, saying “Boom” whenever they got too close. I supposed it was like a weird version of a haunted house.

“Jack, buddy?” Chris called out. “You in here?”

I kept going, no answer.

“Jack!” he called again, running now as evidenced by his heavy breathing, so I ran too. “Come on, I thought you were dead or something, then I see you walking in here with three super-hotties. What’s the deal, bro?”

Even if I made it out of here now, he’d be asking around. Calling out my name. I needed to think smart. At the end of the maze there were several blocky trees, so I darted into them, ignoring the little kid who stared up at me as if I was part of the attraction, and was glad to see him leave.

“Here,” I hissed when Chris nearly ran by. “Quickly.”

“Bro.” Chris glanced around, furrowing his brow in confusion.

“Come on, we need to chat.”

He came over, and I pulled him into the trees. “There’s been an incident…”

“The shooting, yeah, they shut this place down for a day. Since nobody heard from you, I—I mean, I assumed you were either hit or ran off to hide or something. But… here you are.”

“And here you are.” I glared at him, cocked my head, and said, “What the hell, actually? You thought I might’ve been dead, but came back to get with She-Ra?”

“That’s not fair,” he said, frowning. “I had no idea what happened to you. For all I knew, you’d said screw it and abandoned me.”

“Not at all, but… listen. I need to go away for a bit. Don’t ask questions, please, but…”

His hand was moving in his pocket in a weird way, and I froze, then took a step away. “You motherfucker. You’re supposed to be my friend.”

“It’s not like… not like I had a choice,” he said, pulling out a phone, as I’d suspected. “My family… they saw me and you together, then got to my family. I’m—”

Whether he meant to say ‘sorry’ or not, I never got a chance to find out, because the wall to our right came crashing down. Sharon the Big Bad Wolf was standing there with her crazed eyes, a tracking device in her hand that she quickly pocketed before leering at me.

I prepared for a fight, noticing Red and the other two among a crowd who had just turned to see what the commotion was.

“You still have time,” Sharon said, growling.

“What?” I looked from her to Chris, but he seemed just as confused.

“They’re coming,” she said. “Your friend did his part, his family will be safe. Now you… you need to run.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I replied. “Not without the sword.”

She grimaced, a shudder running through her and darkness clouding her eyes. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

“Jack!” Pucky shouted, catching sight of me at last, and the three of them running back my way.

“Get to the booth!” I replied, ignoring the shouts of bystanders as Sharon transformed into a massive wolf on its hind legs.

“Fuck this,” Chris said and took off. I’d never seen him so terrified. As mad as I was at him, it wasn’t like I could fault him—yes, he’d betrayed me, but I’d seen what we were up against, and if they had any way of getting to my parents, I’d be equally freaking out. I had to trust Pucky though, that at least some level of magic was protecting them.

Sharon was on me, clawing and gnashing her teeth, but oddly, holding back. There was something about the way her claws hit, enough to hurt, but like it was a warning. She would lunge, strike me to the floor, then look around for others to attack in a way that made me think she was giving me an out, a moment to catch my breath. The third time this happened, she pinned me down, teeth bared with wolf-saliva dripping next to my head.

“Why can’t you turn and run away?” she said, eyes returning to normal within that wolf face of hers. “Go, I won’t chase you. But if you stay for the sword, I’m compelled—”

A strike hit her and the shadows returned as she snarled and swung back to face her attacker. It was Red, who’d thrown her magic blade and buried it in the wolf’s shoulder. Sharon lunged at her, the strike knocking Red back. Now Sharon turned to intercept Pucky, knocking her on her ass and preparing to go after Elisa as she approached. I wasn’t going to let this monster hurt my team, so I scrambled to my feet and charged in with a series of punches and kicks.

Although I’d gotten