Myths and Gargoyles by Jamie Hawke (interesting books to read in english txt) 📕

For the first time, I wanted to listen to them. Even if everything they were telling me was pie in the sky insanity, they had basically just said I’d get to hang out with them more. Wasn’t part of the reason why I’d come to this fest to meet a woman? Now there were two who wanted to spend time with me, and prospects of more. Plus some woman definitely had attacked me on the stairs, and somehow these two did know about her biting me, which seemed to be out of nowhere.

But then again, they were nutso.

I was about to shake my head to refuse, when the shouting started and then I heard an explosion of gunshots.

5

My eyes went to the two ladies. They were already up, weapons drawn, shouting commands to the others. Another round of shots rang out, followed by some strange sounds like explosions, but mixed with twangs like music.

“Magic,” Red explained, and then took off toward the noise, red cloak streaming behind her in a way that seemed unnatural at first. Then it was shooting out like long tendrils and she was in the air, only a stream of red where she had been, shooting toward the wall and then gone.

Pucky grabbed my hand and said, “You’re with me. Stick close,” as she pulled me toward the door opposite the commotion.

“Wh—where’s Red?” I shouted, unable to control the volume of my voice now, and starting to really freak out. If this was some sort of game or setup, the special effects were out of this world.

But after seeing what I’d just seen, combined with everything else, out of this world was beginning to sound about right. Pucky’s hand was still clasping mine though, and she’d paused, staring back at the sounds of the fighting, her chest rising and falling, her jaw clenched. For the first time I realized this wasn’t only about me. Whether they were crazy or all of this was legit, her feelings were real and she was terrified. Maybe for our safety, or maybe for that of her friends. Either way, I put my other hand on hers so that I was holding it with both of mine, squeezed gently, and said, “I’m here with you. Don’t worry.”

I don’t really know where the words came from, they just felt right. And they seemed to work, because when she turned back to me her posture straightened and there was a curl to the corner of her mouth.

“There you are, Protector, showing your true colors.”

“Sure,” I replied with a laugh, now very aware of her small hand still in mine, the warmth of her flesh, the way she was glancing down at my hands and biting her lip. Trying to keep focused, I added, “I just… wish I knew what was going on here.”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Pucky said, kicking open the door and pulling me into the dark of the night—when the fuck had it become night?—only to come face-to-face with three men in black suits, one even wearing shades. They looked every bit the part of Secret Service.

One had a pistol drawn, the other two were reaching. Only they weren’t normal pistols at all but had strange canisters on the side that were filled with blue and green liquid, I guessed, like squirt guns. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or run.

But Pucky wasn’t playing around. She pulled me close to her, so tight that those breasts I’d accidentally caught a glimpse of moments ago were now pressed against me, her head to my chest as she whispered, “Hold tight.”

I did, freeing one hand and wrapping my arm around her. Then one of the men cursed as they fired. Time seemed to almost stop: everything seemed to happen in slow motion. First came the pistol shot, then a bullet that was glowing… see-through, even. Except they were all kind of transparent, and Pucky and I were sort of coming in and out of focus. I felt our bodies rocking like the world had fallen off its axis and then we were between them, coming into focus again and then gone, finally flashing back in and time resuming as we stumbled at the far end of a parking lot.

“Into the car!” she shouted, indicating a black one that I was quick to assume belonged to the agents.

“If they’re FBI or Secret Service or whatever—” I started, turning to see that the agents were confused, but one had started to turn our way.

She took me by the back of my head, fingers gripping my hair, and said, “Sorry to do this,” before thrusting her lips on mine. When she pulled back, her horns were glowing a soft pink and she hissed, “In the car, now.”

No debate this time, I scrambled to do her bidding as fast as I could while she took the driver’s seat. She held up her hand that had been free during our crazy whatever-the-hell-had-happened moment and revealed keys, then quickly stuck them in the ignition and we took off.

“Phone!” she shouted.

“Huh?”

She held out her hand. “Give it, now.”

I handed over my cell, and watched in horror as she crushed it in her hand then tossed it out the window. First, holy shit was she strong. Second… “What the fuck?”

“Traceable,” she said. “They’re the government, remember.”

Damn. I sat back, watching trailers and buildings fly by, totally freaked that she was about to crash the car, unable to comprehend what had happened back there… and suddenly wondered where the hand on my leg had come from. A glance down showed her small hand gently squeezing mine. I followed it up her arm to her head, where the glow on her horns was just fading.

“Now, Jack, I want you to know that I had to get you out of there, to protect you.” She quickly glanced at me, then back to the road to focus. “When this wears off, you’re going to be mad, you’re going to—”

Her