Page 43 of Let Go My Gargoyle
Sofia wanted to shout “Yes!”
But Trennon shook his head. “It’s not the same feeling I get when he’s around. I don’t know; it’s hard to describe. And even harder when I’m coming down from being high. I don’t know why anyone would willingly ingest that stuff.” He shuddered.
The butter began to sizzle in the pan, so Sofia poured in the egg mixture. A sound resembling a herd of elephants pounded on the stairs before Henri and Penelope appeared and hopped off the bottom step. “Morning,” they sang in unison.
“Well, aren’t you just two peas in a pod?” Delilah said, grimacing and sipping her drink.
“Are you a Daughter of Light too?” Penelope asked the older woman.
Delilah snorted. “I wish. I have a lot of magic, but not that much, unfortunately. Plus, I’d probably not use it altruistically, which is what I understand you’re supposed to do.”
“What’s alto-altru-alt…?”
“Altruistic,” Sofia said. “It means do noble things. Good things for other people. Be a helper.”
Penelope tilted her head and studied Delilah. “You don’t like to do good things?”
She rolled her eyes. “So boring.”
“Don’t be like her,” Sofia said, using the spatula to point at Delilah.
Delilah shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m pretty happy with my life.”
Antoinette entered the kitchen, and her eyes widened as she took in Delilah and Trennon’s worse-for-wear states. “Good gods, what happened to you two?”
“Long story,” Delilah muttered and did not elaborate, which Sofia found interesting. She’d been willing to tell Sofia about being drugged, but not her reeve?
“Are you just getting home?” Antoinette pressed.
Trennon, at least, looked abashed, whereas Delilah shrugged. “Yes, Mom,” she drawled.
Sofia cleared her throat. “Um, breakfast is almost ready, if someone wants to set the table.”
“Come help me, kids,” Antoinette said. “Sorry about them,” she added after Delilah and Trennon slipped around the corner and out of sight.
“You don’t have to keep apologizing.”
Antoinette handed the kids each a handful of forks and told them to place one at each setting on the table. “I just don’t want you to worry. Penelope really is safe here.”
Too bad I’m not.
***
They had just loaded the last dish into the dishwasher after breakfast when the doorbell rang and Antoinette excused herself with a muttered, “Where the hell is Maria?”
When she returned, Griffin and another gargoyle were with her. Sofia deliberately ignored Griffin and gave his companion a tight smile. The man had shaggy, light brown hair and vibrant blue eyes that made her think of a surfer.
“Sofia. You are looking well.”
It took her a long moment to figure out how this man might possibly know her name: he was the gargoyle who had accompanied Griffin to the bar the night she’d spilled all the drinks on her tray.
“Um, thank you. I don’t believe we formally met.”
He inclined his head. “We did not. I am Oliver. I run the local gargoyle brethren.”
Interesting. She hadn’t expected Griffin to come back at all. In truth, she’d assumed that he would send his replacement over with a half-ass apology she would promptly refuse to accept.
Instead, he’d returned with his boss.
