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

“What?”

“Turns out we don’t even need a tracking spell.” Hekate glanced over at our new friend, sharing a knowing look. “We’re going to have to go back to visit an old friend. Ali Baba.”

“Bingo,” Toewi said. “He stole it not so long ago, apparently in an attempt to find the Golden Goose herself.”

“Great,” Sharon growled.

“So, what?” Pucky asked. “We open a portal, go back and ask for it?”

“Yes,” Mirna replied, nodding to the door. “But they won’t work in the house until we get the wards off. For now, we’d best be moving.”

“And why do we need her?” Mirna said, eyeing Toewi with contempt.

“I can open the portal, but we’re going to want to just send one of us through, the rest staying here, ready to make a break for it.”

“One of us?” I asked.

Elisa nodded. “That makes sense. We all show up there, we’re bound to trip alarms, or scare the hell out of him if he’s hanging around like last time.”

“I guess that’ll be me, then.”

Nobody argued.

“And why we need Toewi,” Hekate said to Mirna, “is because nobody knows the wards here better than her. Seeing as I’d imagine we already triggered the signaling wards or she wouldn’t be here—”

“Correct,” Toewi said, grinning wide.

“—I’d say we need to get new ones up, ASAP, along with cloaking and whatever else we can to keep ourselves from being a target, at least until Jack can return with the feather.”

“There you have it,” Toewi said, then nodded to me. “But you had better get going, because we’re only going to be able to hold it for so long.”

My glance at Hekate told her I was ready, so she set up the portal. Having the witches on our side made all the difference. With a ‘here goes everything’ glance to my team and then Chris, I stepped through at the same moment as an explosion sounded, screams erupting from somewhere, and all of it cut out as chanting sounded louder, closer… then gone.

I found myself back in Ali Baba’s living room, with the knowledge that the others were under attack. I had to find that feather, and find it fast.

61

Ali Baba’s living room, though clearly the same room we’d visited before, was changed beyond all recognition since last time I’d been there. For one, while before it had looked like a normal room but cluttered with odd artifacts, now it was empty except for several trip wires and clear traps set up for the defensive.

“Ali Baba, please,” I started, knowing taking a shot here wouldn’t be good for me or the future of humanity. “I only have one request, something that…”

The wall suddenly exploded, turning into a massive mouth that came at me, accompanied by a flight of arrows and waves of magic. Whatever this man was expecting, I hoped he hadn’t set this up for me. My only chance of escape here was the window behind me, as the expanding wall that had come to life had already covered the portal.

So I thrust myself backwards, runes lighting up on my skin as I relied on their power to push me through. The last thing I needed was to slam against the glass and bounce back to be eaten by that wall. Luckily, the glass shattered and I went crashing through, and started to fall.

Double luckily, I had a flying lion that burst forth from my chest, so that mid-fall I was able to grab hold and go soaring out over the streets lined with yellow-brick red-roofed houses.

“I’m glad you’re with me,” I shouted to the lion, as we swept around to see the rest of the wall follow in the pattern of the window, exploding outward as if a bomb had gone off.

Holy hell, if my team had come with me, I imagined half of them might be dead at this point. As for Ali Baba, I had no idea where to start.

As fate would have it though, more attacks came my way a second later and provided me with more answers than I imagined my attackers would’ve meant to give up. For example, if they had simply left me to fly off, I never would’ve had the idea that the next building over housed the enemies who’d set the trap, or that Ali Baba wasn’t himself behind it.

I dove down on my flying lion, easily avoiding crossbow bolts and even a barrage of bullets, and my mind starting to fill in the blanks. The enemy had some reason to want him, right? Had they been waiting to kill him, and I’d foiled it?

Only way to find out would be to get one of them alive. I reminded myself that this had to be quick so that I could get back in time to help my team in the fight back at the witches’ mansion.

“Can you get me in there?” I asked Roar, and he roared in response, diving toward one of the balconies below where the attacks were coming from.

We stormed through, twisting and weaving, and then he dove and I jumped, landing on the balcony and slamming through the glass door. Yeah, that hurt, but my tattoos activated and gave me the boosts I needed. No recovery required, I was in and charging up the stairs. The first of the goons met me there, trying to shoot at me. I threw up my forearm so my shield formed, deflecting the shots and making me feel very much like Captain America, but then I was leaping up and maiming them with my blade, each strike making it glow more with blue energy, until the moment I charged into the room above and was able to slam it down and send a shock wave through a group of them.

“Who the fuck are you?” a woman shouted in a thick accent, standing and aiming a pistol at me.

That threw me for a loop, but I aimed my sword back at her, ready to bring up my shield.