Page 56 of The Eternal Mirror
I feel it.
Or rather, I feel him—like someone just yanked a thread in the center of my chest. Sharp. Sudden. Alive.
Khaosti is close by.
I know it.
I don't say anything. Not to Zayne. Not to Josh. But I feel it in my bones, like a vibration only I can hear. The bond is awake, and it's burning. So I do what I always do when my emotions try to hijack me: I shut them down.
Taking a deepbreath, I peer around.
Up ahead, maybe a mile away, I can see the lights from the rebel camp. It sprawls across the valley like a beast crouched for battle. Tents. Barricades. Lots of fires sprinkled around the place, smoke drifting in the air. And people. So many people. I think there must be thousands. The rebellion is far bigger than I expected. It's not just a few people moaning about wanting to make a change. It’s an army. And somewhere inside this storm of activity is Khaosti.
And my heart won’t settle.
“Come on,” I say. “Let’s go see if they’re friendly.”
It’s about a fifteen-minute walk to the camp. As I get closer, I spot the sentries, and I raise my hands. Beside me Zayne and Josh do the same. Nobody shoots us, but they do raise their weapons and by the time we’re inside the camp, we’re surrounded.
I’m scanning the group, looking for whoever is in charge, when something slams into my legs. I look down and grin.
It’s Grimlet.
I stagger back as the gargoyle wraps himself around my knees, like a gremlin with separation anxiety.
“Are you trying to kill me?” I ask.
“Grimlet missed his pretty witch,” he sings, his voice muffled against my leg. “Grimlet was bored, and Killian tried to make me do gargoyle magic.”
“Killian’s here?” That’s good news. So Khaosti did follow my advice after all. Wonders never cease.
“Yes, Killian is here,” he says. “He is locked up and guarded. But they didn’t shut Grimlet in. Maybe they think Grimlet is not dangerous.”
“Well, they’d be wrong, wouldn’t they? They haven’t been on the receiving end of some of your fabulously aimed lumps of rock.”
I glance up to find Zayne and Josh looking at the two of us as though we’re crazy. Not to mention our reception committee.
“What is that thing?” Zayne asks.
Grimlet stiffens, and a little growl rumbles in his chest. He turns to Zayne, and I see his little fingers reaching out, clearly looking for a projectile to send my brother’s way.
I cough. “These are my brothers,” I say to Grimlet. “This is Zayne and Josh. And this,” I say to the two who are still staring in disbelief, “is Grimlet.”
I realize how much I’d left out of the story of my visit to Hell, with Grimlet being one of those things—perhaps the only good thing to come out of that visit.
The rest was all death, destruction, and pretty much misery.
I extend my hand, and Grimlet scrambles onto my shoulder and clutches my hair. He’s a comfort.
“I met Grimlet in Hell,” I say. “He was a friend of my mother’s. In fact, he was my mother’s only friend. He looked after her for a long time, and he came back with me and Khaosti when we left.”
“The witch destroyed Hell and the Dark Lord,” Grimlet says.
Zayne shakes his head. “But what is it?”
Grimlet stiffens again. “Grimlet is a gargoyle.”
Zayne scratches his head. “Well, that explains everything.”
