Page 44 of Let Go My Gargoyle
“Sofia…” Griffin started, but she deliberately turned away from him, although not before she caught his wince.
“May I see the child?” Oliver asked, the epitome of politeness.
Sofia assumed he was referring to Penelope, who had gone outside with Henri. “Yes, of course.” She hurried across the room to the French doors to call out to her daughter, but she was greeted with a frantic Henri, who rushed inside and bounced off her legs like he was a racquetball knocking against the wall.
She reached out and grabbed his shoulders to keep him from falling backward. “Henri, are you okay?”
He shook his head like he was trying to dislodge something and said, “Yes, but they took Penelope!”
Chapter Fifteen
Griffin was across the room in an instant. “What did you say?” he demanded of the little boy, who ducked behind Sofia’s legs.
Sofia dropped to her knees and gave Henri a hug. “It’s okay, sweetie. He’s just worried. Griffin is one of the good guys.” Her gaze slid his way and then dropped again. “Sometimes.”
He wanted to protest, but he knew better. To her, he was most definitely not a good guy. Not only had he slept with her on three different occasions and left immediately afterward every single time, but now it sounded like he’d lost her child.
“Where is Penelope?” he asked.
Fat tears rolled down Henri’s cheeks, and he rubbed at his eyes with his fists. “They took her. Dragons. Bad dragons.”
“Dragons?” Why would dragons kidnap a Daughter of Light? Unless… “Darius,” Griffin blurted.
Sofia’s eyes went so large they took up half her face, and he didn’t need her to plead with him because he could see it there in her pupils. She was begging him not to say anymore.
But he had to. Penelope’s life was in danger, especially if, as he suspected, Darius had kidnapped her. And the only reason Griffin could imagine Darius wanted the child was because he needed something from Sofia.
“What does he want, Sofia?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do. He took her because he wants something from you. What is it?”
Antoinette, Ketu, Delilah, and Trennon had all moved closer to their exchange. Henri pushed away from Sofia and ran to his mother, who scooped him into her arms.
“They took her,Manman. The bad guys took Penelope. We have to get her back. Please get her back!” He started wailing, and Antoinette placed her hand on the back of his head and pressed his face against her shoulder as she whispered soothing words into his ear.
“We will get her back, Henri,” Griffin said with so much conviction he honestly surprised himself. “But first, we need a better understanding of why she was taken at all.” He glanced at Oliver. “I don’t think it is because she is a Daughter of Light. At least, not directly.”
“I know,” Oliver said, as calmly as if they were discussing the weather. Which was a little off-putting, because when he had finally returned to the City of the Dead this morning and Griffin admitted that he needed help with Sofia and Penelope’s protection, the gargoyle hadn’t known Penelope was a Daughter of Light. He’d truly sent Griffin to protect Sofia.
From her own brother.
“Sofia, we are here to help you,” he said in an effort to placate her so that she would tell the group what was going on with this contract she had with her brother.
“Well,youare,” Oliver said while rocking on his heels. “I would actually like to speak to the Daughter of Light.”
“Darius took her, Sofia, I’m sure of it,” Griffin said, clutching her by the biceps.
“No,” she whispered, but there wasn’t much conviction in the word. She knew it, she was just afraid to face it.
“We can get her back. If we understand the why of it.”
“Can’t we just go search for her?” Sofia pleaded. “Without discussing the reasons behind it?”
Ketu said, “We’ve been trying to track down Darius for almost a year now, with no luck. I wouldn’t know the first place to look. We need something—advice, clues,something.”
“H-he might be in Hammond. North of Lake Pontchartrain,” Sofia blurted.
