Page 43 of The Gargoyle and the Songbird

I let out an “oof” of surprise, glancing down to find a small sprite child clinging to my waist, her iridescent wings fluttering madly.

“You’re Ecco Waverly!” she squeaks, luminous eyes huge in her heart-shaped face. “I love your songs! Especially ‘Enchanted Kisses’!”

Warmth balloons inside of me and I beam. “Aww, thank you sweetie! What’s your name?”

“Karisse!” she chirps and promptly loses her grip, pinwheeling backwards through the air.

I catch her before she can hit the ground, scooping her up and spinning her around until she’s breathless with laughter.

When I glance back, Graeme is watching us, something unreadable in his expression. For a moment, I imagine I see a flash of longing, there and gone so fast I’m not even sure it was real.

Shaking it off, I follow the last stragglers inside, Karisse still giggling in my arms. She talks my ear off the entire way, her questions for me coming a mile a minute, moving on to the next one before I can even answer.

“What’s your favorite food? Mine’s cotton candy, I eat it every day! What’s your favorite color? I love pink, my whole room is pink! Did you always know that you wanted to be a singer? Did you have a favorite class in school? Do you have any pets? Who’s your best friend? Do you have abooyyyfriend?”

The satyr—Mrs. Merriweather, Jessa called her—rushes over to me, relief etched into every line of her face. She looks like she’s aged a decade in the two minutes it took to get everyone settled.

“Oh, Ms. Waverly! Thank goodness you’re here,” she gushes, clasping my free hand between her own and cutting off Karisse’s barrage of questions. “I’m afraid we’re a bit of a mess at the moment.”

“Please, call me Ecco.” I squeeze her hand reassuringly, taking in the general disarray—sheet music scattered everywhere, kids draped over chairs and each other. “And don’t worry, this is nothing. You should see some of my studio sessions.”

I wink at Karisse and she blushes and squeaks.

Mrs. Merriweather sags, some of the tension leaching from her shoulders. “I can’t tell you how much we appreciate you taking the time to work with the children.”

“I’m happy to help. Truly.”

There’s a tug at my sleeve and I look down to find Jessa. “Ecco, can you show us the new song you’ve been working on? The one about magic and moonlight?”

I laugh—someone’s been keeping up on my latest interviews!

“Of course, Jessa.” I set Karisse down in a chair and start straightening things up.

For the next hour, I lose myself in the music, all my attention focused on coaxing surprisingly lovely harmonies from this pack of rambunctious children. Occasionally, I catch glimpses of Graeme, standing guard at the door. He’s as serious as always, an unmoving wall of muscle and watchful vigilance.

But every so often, when he thinks I’m not looking, I see him crack an actual smile at the antics of the unruly kids.

It makes something flutter wildly behind my ribs, a swooping sensation that could rival the chorus we’re currently belting.

16

GRAEME

The joyful sounds of children’s singing drift through the door of the town hall, their bright young voices belting out an upbeat melody. But the cheerful music contrasts starkly with the tense conversation I’m engaged in on my phone—my weekly check-in with my boss.

My uncle.

“You’ve been there four extra days, Graeme? Really?” Uncle Alvric’s disapproving tone crackles through the speaker pressed to my ear. “Must be nice taking a little… vacation.”

I clench my jaw. “It’s not a vacation. The whole town’s snowed in.”

Alvric scoffs. “And what about this stalker, hmm? Any brilliant insights on that front? Or are you too busy playing in the snow to do your job?”

I take a deep breath, struggling to keep my temper in check.

He has a point; we’re no closer to identifying or apprehending Ecco’s stalker than when we arrived. It’s been so quiet, I’m starting to think the creep got left behind in the human lands after all, and Ecco’s vision at the rehearsal dinner might have been just nerves.

But still...

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