Page 30 of The Stone Curse
Willowman’s eyes rolled in our direction, his gaze settling on me. He said my name, muffled and almost incoherent behind the gag, and my blood boiled.
“Get the fuck away from him!” I rushed forward and shoved the alchemist so hard he went flying into the desk.
Derek blocked him from bouncing back at me while I focused on Willowman. “Willowman, shit, are you okay?” I tugged the gag out of his mouth.
“Head…hurts…” Willowman’s eyes slipped closed.
“Where are the keys to the cuffs?” Shar demanded, her voice a menacing growl.
“Answer her!” Derek shook the alchemist like a rag doll.
“The desk. On the desk,” he cried.
Orix went for the keys while Touron dropped to his knees to untie Willowman’s legs from the chair.
“You can’t do this,” one of the other alchemists said. “We have the authority?—”
“Shut up!” My voice was a gravelly boom because my beast was desperate to maim and hurt someone, and these alchemists were the perfect target. “One more word and I won’t be responsible for what my beast does to you.”
Derek gave the alchemist he was holding a final shake and then shoved him toward the others.
They shrank away from us, and I turned back to Willowman, gently cupping his head while Shar undid the cuffs on his wrists. He groaned softly, his eyes drifting open for a moment.
“Cameron…he’s gone…Varsa is gone.” There was a deep sadness in his eyes and a thickness to his tone. He was grieving, and these bastards had done this to him.
I scooped him up into my arms. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. We’ll go to Arcadia together and put him to rest.”
I turned to the door to find it blocked by Ulrickson’s large frame.
“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded.
“I could ask you the same thing.” Why the fuck was he still here?
“You cannot interrupt an alchemist interrogation,” he said.
“We can if it’s unlawful,” Palia said. “Section 139.5a of the Gargoyle Codex highlights the binding law, which states that a deep dive can only be performed on a gargoyle in the presence of strong physical evidence of his or her involvement in a crime and?—”
“Willowman is not a gargoyle.” Ulrickson’s lips curved in a smug smile.
Palia’s eyes narrowed, and she strode forward. “If you’d allow me to finish,” she said coldly. “Section 139.5aalsogoes on to state that the deep divecannotinanycircumstance be used upon a creature with human genes as it would invariably result in that creature’s death.”
Ulrickson’s smile dropped, and his gaze flicked to the shadows in the corner of the room. Someone was standing there. Had been there all along.
The figure stepped forward now. Hooded and robed like the alchemists, it was one of them, and yet there was something still and ominous about this one. It pushed its hood back to reveal an austere face with deep lines bracketing a mouth I couldn’t ever imagine smiling.
“Patrick?” Ulrickson frowned. “Is this true?”
Patrick’s dark gaze settled on Palia. “The Gargoyle Codex is not a free text. Which means your reading of it was unauthorized.”
“That hardly fucking matters,” Curi snapped. “Your investigation is illegal. You were going to kill him.”
“Is that what you want, Ulrickson?” Shar demanded.
“No,” Levi said. “He wouldn’t. He didn’t know, did you, Father?”
Ulrickson’s brows came together. “Of course I didn’t,” he said quickly, then fixed a glower in Patrick’s direction. “You will be answering to the council for your negligence.”
Patrick smiled coolly. “I don’t answer to the council, Ulrickson. I answer to the collective, and their only goal is to stamp out this rising incursion, no matter the means. But I’m sure the council will be happy to explain to the Arcadian committee how Stonehaven was breached on so many occasions.”
