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

“She’s bringing them through?” Elisa offered.

“That’s what I was starting to wonder about, yes.”

“So we all go into the mists, seek her out,” Red offered. “Put a stop to this.”

“I think the fact that she’s shown herself to Jack means something,” Arthur replied. “He’ll go back again, tomorrow. But this time—really focus. You’re not going out there just to train, though you should get every opportunity you can. Your goal is to find her. Got it?”

I nodded.

He patted me on the back, indicated Sharon, and said, “Work with her on the Shadows, making sure you can keep it at bay when challenged, and then get some sleep. Back at it tomorrow and then… We’ve been experimenting with the lake and Nivian’s powers, making progress, and I think it’s almost time you all made a return to Earth.”

54

The rest of them went off to gather more food and put together a fire, while Sharon waited for me, her arms wrapped defensively around her body.

Her smile faltered when I approached, replaced by a look of apprehension.

“That bad?” I asked.

“What?”

“I don’t know, my stink or something?” I chuckled. “You got this super nervous look in your eyes as I came toward you just now.

“No, it’s just…” She glanced around, nodded for me to follow her, and we walked off a little way into the woods. Stopping there, she took my hand, eyeing it apprehensively. “Shadows… you know. I’ve only really started to master this myself, and now I’m supposed to show you.”

“Good point.” When her eyes met mine, I added, “But I believe in you.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m putting myself in your hands, Sharon.”

She smiled, gave my hand a squeeze, and then said, “In that case, try to keep up.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, but she was already running.

I chased after her, jogging at first, then sprinting, wanting to ask her how she expected this to go. She knew I’d been leveling up, that her speed couldn’t match mine, unless… The realization hit me at the same time as she started to transform, first just wolf ears and claws, a tail, and then she was lurching forward, going full wolf on me.

And when I say wolf, I mean a huge wolf. Her eyes met mine and she growled, then pushed on, at least twice as fast as I could go at my top speed.

“There’s no way…” I started, and then blinked. Did she want me to actually become the wolf, too? Granted, there was still some of that left in me, but the only time I’d let it out, it had taken complete control. Then again, doing so made sense considering what she was trying to teach me. If I still had it, control was necessary.

Dammit.

I pushed on, reaching deep within, trying to find that wolf in there. It was no good, but it wasn’t like that was a surprise. More was needed to reach that point. Not just more focus, but a darker focus.

Remembering what it had been like to be out there killing Shades, focusing on the anger that had taken over when I’d seen Red and the others in harm’s way before, and letting the rage boil over, I felt it coming.

Trembling at first, everything around me darkening as if the shadows were reaching out for me. Then they were on me, taking hold, and I was growing, transforming, taking on the form of a wolf. Nothing like her as far as size goes, but nothing to laugh at either. And maybe she was going slower than normal, or maybe it was my upgrades, but I was catching up.

She sniffed the air and turned to see me running up at her side, welcoming me with a howl, and then we were in the hills, running like nothing else in this world or ours mattered. Two wolves, owning the night, the wind coursing through our fur, the ground flying past underneath our paws.

A growl caught me off guard and she lunged at me, but I pulled back, out of the way, and stared, confused. She was circling me, teeth bared, eyes ferocious. My shadow started to deepen, my desire to tear her limb from limb sending an acidic saliva dripping down my chin.

Only here, eyes didn’t show shadow, they didn’t show a red glow or anything like that. This was her, testing me.

With that in mind, I was able to focus on her, to remember the way she’d squeezed my hand before running off… and the shadow faded. Seeing her like that, now, still circling me, putting on a show, ignited another part of my wolf form that I hadn’t even considered. Having a wolf boner was a strange sensation, in part because it was about four times what I was used to, and also because it was dangling out for all the world to see.

She noticed—how could she not? And paused. Was that a smile?

With a nod toward the hills, she took off in a trot, starting to change back as we reached a cave. Our clothes were gone, lost somewhere along the way, likely torn. Maybe we’d find them on the way back. Hopefully repairable. But we didn’t care. I was following her into a dark cave, my eyes still not fully transformed so that I could better see where I was going.

With a snicker, she disappeared through a corridor, but her laugh was cut off. I ran, worried something had happened to her. She was standing there, eyes full of wonder as she took in what I then saw was an underground network of pools of water.

They were turquoise, a white and blue glow coming from the center of each, tiny speckles of light rising up like bright dust on a lazy sunny afternoon.

“Spiritual pools,” she said, and began working her way down the slope toward them.

I stood there, watching her bare back, her beautiful ass. She almost slipped, and I darted forward to catch her. She smiled up at me, licked her lips at my