Page 65 of Hidden By the Gargoyle

His cell phone stopped ringing and mine started. I knew then that it was likely my aunt. I wondered if she’d had a premonition.

I turned on my heel and headed toward the stairs, but Dax beat me to it. His wings expanded and he swooped up to the loft with one powerful leap.

By the time he made it, my cell had fallen silent and his was ringing again.

Definitely my aunt. She wasn’t going to give up until she got ahold of one of us.

I heard Dax’s rumbling voice as he answered. I ran up the stairs in time to see him turn toward me, the phone to his ear.

“She’s okay, Minerva. Just shaken up.” He stopped and listened to whatever she was saying. Then, he replied, “I think you should. There’s something I want you to do.” Another silence. “Okay. See you soon.”

When he hung up, he tossed his cell on the bed and headed toward the closet. “Your aunt is on her way. When your magic hit the ward, it woke her up. Apparently, she included some sort of warning in the spell so she would know if it was attacked or breached.”

Dax disappeared into the closet and, when he came back out, he was pulling a t-shirt over his head.

“I won’t ask her to suppress my dreamwalking ability,” I stated, planting my feet, and crossing my arms over my chest. “And I can guarantee you that she won’t do it once I tell her everything that Talant explained to me tonight.”

Dax stopped at the end of the bed and put his hands on his hips. “You’re not going to ask her. I am.”

His comment enraged me. My tenuous hold on my temper snapped and I felt the heat rising from my chest, up my neck, and into my cheeks. Even my scalp tingled and burned with the force of my ire. I dropped my arms and stalked forward, poking him in the chest with a finger.

“Youhave no right to ask her to do anything to me or my magic. My body and my power belong to me. You have no say in what I do with either of them.”

He bent down, looming over me with a fierce frown on his face. “I do when I’m in charge of keeping you safe.”

“If you try to force this, I will pack my shit and take my chances staying with Minerva, no matter what her premonitions say. This is one boundary you don’t get to cross.”

Dax rose to his full height, his skin taking on a greyish tinge and his muscles swelling as though he was about to take on his gargoyle form.

“If I’m guarding you, there is no boundary there. You do what I say when it comes to keeping you safe because that’s my job and I understand it better than you.”

“And this is my body and my power, and I understand it better thanyou,” I hissed, leaning forward. “When I tell you that I need Talant to train me because I could end up killing someone, including you, with my magic, you do what I say!”

I was yelling now. By the goddess, I was so fuckingangry.

I stared up at him, breathing heavily. I wasn’t going to back down on this. I needed Talant’s help. There was so much I didn’t know or understand.

Dax, being Dax, didn’t rise to meet me with anger. He went stone cold. “I’m not going to argue with you about this. We’ll give Minerva the facts and let her decide. You should probably get dressed. I’m going to call the clerk on duty at the front desk tonight and make sure that our guests aren’t freaking out about the light show or magical shockwave that just went through the resort.”

He snatched his cell phone up off the bed and headed downstairs.

I watched him go, my eyes narrowed. What he didn’t understand is that Minerva would most likely side with me in this. She understood how dangerous uncontrolled magic could be and the damage that I could do if I wasn’t properly trained. She would also understand that she wasn’t the right person to train me if she didn’t know what an Anointed witch was.

I stomped over to the closet and grabbed a pair of sweatpants off one of the shelves. I needed to do laundry soon or have Minerva bring me more clothes. I was running out of things to wear.

Then again, if Dax kept fighting me on the dreamwalking, I wouldn’t be here much longer anyway. I’d been telling the truth when I told him that I would leave if he tried to force me to suppress my ability to dreamwalk.

I jerked my pants on, grabbed a sweatshirt off a hanger, and pulled it over my head. Then, I left the closet and went straight to the dresser, grabbing a pair of thick socks from one of Dax’s drawers. My feet were still frigid from being outside without socks or shoes.

I dropped onto the bed to yank the socks on and grabbed my phone before heading downstairs. Dax was pacing in front of the woodstove, the phone to his ear.

Figuring that he was still on the phone with the night clerk, I stomped to the kitchen and set about making tea. Goddess knew I could use some. My emotions had run the gamut of terror, concern, exhaustion, and anger in less than an hour. I needed something to soothe my nerves.

By the time the water was boiling, Dax was off the phone. He had stopped in front of the woodstove and was staring at it, his hands on his hips.

Though I was still irritated with him, I made three cups of tea. Minerva would likely be here any moment.

The tea had just finished steeping when there was a knock at the cabin door, and I knew it was my aunt by the sound of it.

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