Page 60 of Hidden By the Gargoyle

It was the first time, in my eyes, that he truly resembled the god he was. His muscles were drawn taut and stood out in stark relief. His eyes glowed like amber and ruby fire. He suddenly seemed huge, as though he loomed over me.

I stammered. “I-I-I woke up in a cave, but it was dark and really cold. There was only an oil lamp so I couldn’t really see anything. Then, he moved around in the shadows, freaking me out for a few minutes, before he finally talked to me.”

Talant’s fingers tightened around my arm to the point that tears sprang into my eyes.

“You’re hurting me,” I whispered.

He glanced down at where his hand was gripping me and released me as though I burned him. “I’m sorry, little witch,” he said.

I took a step back. “You sound like him.”

He looked sickened. “What?”

“He called me little witch, too.”

Talant scrubbed his hands over his face in a rough motion. “I’m sorry, Ally. Come sit down and tell me what happened.”

I wanted to tell him there was no way I was sitting on the bed where he’d been lying naked moments before, but my body was beginning to shake, and my teeth were chattering.

“Please, Ally. Come sit.”

I let him lead me to the edge of the sleeping pit and wrap a soft blanket around me. It wasn’t the fur he’d been using earlier, so I didn’t complain.

He took my hand in his. “What happened with my…” He swallowed before he completed his question. “Brother?”

“He offered to reward me if I made sure that I woke you. He said that he would give me my heart’s desire and that he didn’t like to break his toys the way that you do.”

The fire was back in Talant’s gaze, flickering madly. Where his brother was full of black smoke and violet electricity, Talant was flame and gold—glittering with beauty but still deadly.

“And he knew what I want, deep down. He said that he could make Dax love me and want to be with me. I didn’t believe him at first because gargoyles are immune to magic, but he said that Dax’s heart was susceptible to magic and that he would get it for me.”

As I spoke, my words ran over each other in a rush. I hated admitting all this out loud, giving Talant all my secrets, but I was beyond frightened. Whoever this being was, whether he was Talant’s brother or not, he scared me more than being vulnerable.

Talant’s expression was thunderous by the time I was done. He scowled down at the floor, the muscle in his jaw ticking madly.

“Is it true?” I asked.

“That he can make your gargoyle love you?” Talant shook his head. “Not the way you want him to love you. He would be bespelled, which never works out in the end. At some point, the magic would twist him and this ‘love’ that he felt for you. It would become dangerous, maybe even lethal, for him. And for you.”

Tears pooled in my eyes and, for once, I didn’t try to fight them back. “I was going to tell him no, but then he…he…”

Talant’s fingers squeezed mine gently. “He didn’t touch you, did he?”

I shook my head. “No, but he, well, he hit on me. He said that he would give me anything and everything I wanted. It wascreepy.” I winced and glanced at him. “I know he’s your brother, but it was creepy. I don’t know him, and he attacked me with magic a few days ago and now he’s decided he wants to be my boyfriend? It doesn’t make sense.”

The ghost of a smile crinkled Talant’s eyes. “It’s because he’s my brother that I know what you mean and, you’re right, it is unsettling when he does things like that. Which is exactly why he does it. He wants to keep people off balance. It gives him the upper hand and makes it easier to manipulate people into doing what he wants.”

That made sense because it had definitely thrown me off balance.

“It was right after that when I stepped back and the floor just disappeared. I was falling really fast, but I eventually started to slow down. There was a light below me and when I fell through the hole, it was your cave. And you know what happened since then.”

Talant asked, “When you were falling, did you think about slowing down?”

I nodded. Then, I remembered, “Oh! I forgot. He said that the power I’ve been using isn’t my actual power. He said I still haven’t manifested yet and that the magic I’m harnessing is like surplus and is leaking through the binding on my magic. He said that the closer I get to manifesting, it will get worse. That it will pulse and expand, but I don’t know what that means.”

Talant sighed. “I know what it means but I fear you won’t appreciate the answer.”

“I still need to know,” I argued.

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